Tim took the last 12 gimmers to the butchers early this morning, so we are now down to our core flock. The numbers won't stay this low for long as our first lambs are due on the 3rd April.
What a difference a week of sunshine makes to the land, animals and us. Most mornings we have woken up to a heavy frost, which has made taking hay out to the barn really easy as the land is frozen, but within a couple of hours the ground has thawed out and we are walking through mud again. But as the week has progressed, the land has dried out a great deal, but not enough for us to consider letting the ewes back out into the fields. We've moved a hay feeder into the small handling area at the back of the lambing barn, so the ewes can enjoy the nice weather without doing anymore damage to the fields.
My seed potatoes arrived this week and so are "chitting" out in the shed, some broad bean seeds have been sown in pots and are residing in the greenhouse. Today, I spent a lovely couple of hours digging over part of the veg plot to plant a small rhubarb root. I had to soak it in water for a couple of hours before planting as it was a little dry so I'm hoping it will grow well this coming year.
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2 comments:
I'm praying for more of this sunshine and frost, it is drying the land up wonderfully. This time last year we were up to our backsides in mud, on one occasion my Mother went face down in the field and it had taken her ages to get up again and find her wellies which had sunk.
They donkeys are my job now, I am expendable..!
My local farmer has lost a few ewes with Twin Lamb Disease, he is being philosophical......
It is so nice the ground is drying a little, all the mud was getting very tiresome.
Good luck with lambing
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