There's been a takeover!
In the garth behind the Reading Rooms, Holly, Willow and Freckle have ousted the lambs from the shelter of their trailer and have taken over residence.. the lambs have resorted to sitting under it to keep dry...
After feeding all the lambs this morning, with everyone being a little damp, but fine, I spotted one lamb in the big field, which seemed remarkably muddy for some reason... I came home, reported it to Nigel and then opened the shop for the customers who were looking in at the windows..... and then the phone rang..
There was report of a lamb with it's head stuck in the fence so Nigel and I went back up to the field to see what was afoot!... There was a muddy patch were a lamb had been trampling round, and a very wooly square in the wire of the fence, an explanation for what I'd seen earlier, but the lamb was with it's mum so no harm done... thanks to a kind employee of the caravan site which runs along side ........ Steve had come to see if everything was ok... he owns the field and had phoned me..... we all walked accross to the gate where there is a division in the field, checking the flock again as we went and intreagued to see how the other side was growing........
We have plans on haymaking this half of the field so that we can provide our own winter feed this year,.. it should give us several hundred small bales, easy for me to handle as it'll be the one lugging them around.... All the hogs trotted along with us and wanted a fuss... Peewee is a bit odd with other people so kept fairly close to me, but Dixie would move from where she stood...
I called her name...." Dixie"... and she replied as she knows her name.... I repeated it again and she kept on baaring but wouldn't come to me... so I made my way slowly to her.. wondering as I got close what the pile of wool was doing by her side... As I got to her I realised, to my horror, that it wasn't wool at all, but the tiny, still body of a perfectly cleaned premature lamb........ Dixie was trying to make it stand up, and wanted me to help her........ it was pittyful... I called Nigel over and we lead her to the barn where we could catch her and check she was alright. We were followed by all the reporbates who got really bouncy and excited for some reason.... I was accompanied all this time by a small eager Winkle who never leaves my side whenever I'm in the field.....
We had no idea that she had been in lamb... none of the dates matched to her being with a tup for a birth at the end of May?... the only explanation is that Jonty isn't castrated properly, which could be a disaster as he has been living with all these hogs....... since last autumn... Oh boy....
Anyway we will keep an eye on Dixie as she has mik which should dry up in the next few days, and we need to make sure she stays healthy... The picture above was take last summer when she was still with her mum, Mitsie... who has unfortunately passed on some of her more appauling habbits!!... Dixie is a treasure and we love her..... I'll take an up to date picture of her when the sun comes out again......... when we left her she was munching grass with the other and seemed much more content.... I'll keep you posted..........
Max, by the way, is putting on weight and all his little bones have disapeared completely!
In the garth behind the Reading Rooms, Holly, Willow and Freckle have ousted the lambs from the shelter of their trailer and have taken over residence.. the lambs have resorted to sitting under it to keep dry...
After feeding all the lambs this morning, with everyone being a little damp, but fine, I spotted one lamb in the big field, which seemed remarkably muddy for some reason... I came home, reported it to Nigel and then opened the shop for the customers who were looking in at the windows..... and then the phone rang..
There was report of a lamb with it's head stuck in the fence so Nigel and I went back up to the field to see what was afoot!... There was a muddy patch were a lamb had been trampling round, and a very wooly square in the wire of the fence, an explanation for what I'd seen earlier, but the lamb was with it's mum so no harm done... thanks to a kind employee of the caravan site which runs along side ........ Steve had come to see if everything was ok... he owns the field and had phoned me..... we all walked accross to the gate where there is a division in the field, checking the flock again as we went and intreagued to see how the other side was growing........
We have plans on haymaking this half of the field so that we can provide our own winter feed this year,.. it should give us several hundred small bales, easy for me to handle as it'll be the one lugging them around.... All the hogs trotted along with us and wanted a fuss... Peewee is a bit odd with other people so kept fairly close to me, but Dixie would move from where she stood...
I called her name...." Dixie"... and she replied as she knows her name.... I repeated it again and she kept on baaring but wouldn't come to me... so I made my way slowly to her.. wondering as I got close what the pile of wool was doing by her side... As I got to her I realised, to my horror, that it wasn't wool at all, but the tiny, still body of a perfectly cleaned premature lamb........ Dixie was trying to make it stand up, and wanted me to help her........ it was pittyful... I called Nigel over and we lead her to the barn where we could catch her and check she was alright. We were followed by all the reporbates who got really bouncy and excited for some reason.... I was accompanied all this time by a small eager Winkle who never leaves my side whenever I'm in the field.....
We had no idea that she had been in lamb... none of the dates matched to her being with a tup for a birth at the end of May?... the only explanation is that Jonty isn't castrated properly, which could be a disaster as he has been living with all these hogs....... since last autumn... Oh boy....
Anyway we will keep an eye on Dixie as she has mik which should dry up in the next few days, and we need to make sure she stays healthy... The picture above was take last summer when she was still with her mum, Mitsie... who has unfortunately passed on some of her more appauling habbits!!... Dixie is a treasure and we love her..... I'll take an up to date picture of her when the sun comes out again......... when we left her she was munching grass with the other and seemed much more content.... I'll keep you posted..........
Max, by the way, is putting on weight and all his little bones have disapeared completely!
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