The Babysitter and the Playgroup.

As I was heading out this morning for supplies I noticed a cow seemed to be watching over several of our new Autumn calves. When I returned the cow had moved away but there was a larger group of the calves gathered together.  I approached them for a photo but they all took off down the paddock. We have had a problem with milk fever this year, but there is only one cow left to calve and we have started feeding hay.

On the Farm

"All is safely gathered in ere the Winter storms begin"

Well, not exactly the "Harvest" but it is always a relief to have the hay done and stacked, especially when there is more rain expected and it doesn't feel like hay weather. This is from just one of our hay paddocks, the rest is in a shed near the road for easier access during winter.

Lamb Tales

As Spring goes on and the weather improves, it is time on the farm for lamb marking. We have about 260 ewes, divided into 3 mobs. Each mob is herded into the yards and the lambs are separated from the ewes via the drafting race. Ewes go in one pen, lambs in another. It is very noisy with all the ewes and lambs bleating for each other.

Each lamb is lifted up and secured in a specially designed holding cradle. They are inoculated, earmarked [hence "lamb marking"] and an elastrator ring is put on it's tail. This cuts off the bloodflow and the tail eventually falls off. The ram lambs are de-sexed using the same method. Doing this ensures a low risk of flystrike during the warmer months. By counting the number of tail rings used, we are able to work out how many lambs we actually have.

The whole family gathers for this annual event and their help is greatly appreciated.  They make a great team working together to get this essential farm work done. It is also wonderful to have everybody at home sharing tea breaks and meals and spending some time together.

"Fly away home"

After hanging about for a couple of weeks, Walter pigeon has gone. I hope he went home and did not meet a sinister end. There was a cat about and something spooked our rooster and hen the other night so badly they will not go in their own shed at dusk. Bruce has to catch them and put them away after they have gone to roost in a tree.

Zorro, our rooster.

Lamb Tales

Bruce picked up this abandoned lamb yesterday. It doesn't drink very well yet but I will persevere. The poorly ram twin died last night which is a bit disheartening.

Lamb Tales

Ginger

The wind has been cold lately but we have not had a lot of rain. Hopefully there will be some fine weather this weekend so the lambs can go in their grass pen in the garden. They have lucerne chaff as well as their milk and they are growing well. I still have one in a coat and the ram twin is not thriving as well as the others. The ewe twin is quite a tubster and had her first stubbie of milk this morning, finishing it with ease.  Walter pigeon continues to loiter in the machinery shed eating hayseed and will soon be too fat to fly.

Walter

Walter the Pigeon

The lost racing pigeon is still with us, eating seeds that have fallen from the bales of hay. We never see pigeons here but of course they are very common in cities and a pest. Buck has tried to see him off, but he seems to realise the food here is plentiful. I suppose that is why he looks like he is laughing.

Ginger Lamb, not a recipe.

Ginger

Tangle of lambs in the sunshine.

One of my gang of five lambs is one of triplets and she has her own story. Lambing this year has been difficult with prolapse and toxaemia common throughout the district. We had a ewe with prolapse but Bruce had treated her successfully. When she started lambing he decided to assist her and he delivered two live lambs. When I checked on them later there was a third dead lamb with her.  One lamb was lively and vocal and she appeared to be mothering it, but the little ewe lamb was quite weak so I decided to bring her in by the fire and bottle feed her.

We had to treat her for pneumonia, but she gradually improved. I called her Ginger because of the colour on her face and legs and she is easily distinguishable from the other lambs. Unfortunately her sibling died, but little Ginger Ninja [as Nique calls her] is now growing well and thriving.

Lamb Tales

The morning after my chaotic night home alone with the five lambs, we were able to foster the noisy and the quiet abandoned lambs onto a ewe. Her lamb had died, but she wouldn't leave it so she really wanted to mother something. This has been a success and they are thriving.

The twins were kept in the woodbox and fed cow's colostrum, then milk. The little ewe, who had been partially cleaned up was really lively and continued to thrive. Her brother, who had not been cleaned up at all wasn't very well for a few days. We gave it an injection of a drug we use in these cases and added yoghurt to their milk and he improved very quickly.

When I started to put them out during the day in a small pen we have I put a little coat on him I had made out of an old coat sleeve. It looks a little strange, but it does the trick, keeping them warm in the changable weather.

Lamb Tales

"All young animals are appealing but the lamb has been given an unfair amount of charm"  James Herriot, "If Only They Could Talk" 1970

It has been a hard Winter this year, continual rain, knee deep mud, and cold!  Our big Tractor has been in for repairs so the little one has been used for feeding the cows their hay. It has no cabin, so avoiding the rain has been difficult and the mud is making for very hard work.

A Tangle of lambs

 We have been lambing for some weeks now and we have lost quite a few ewes to Toxaemia and Prolapse. One really bad day I had 5 cardboard boxes with lambs in them in front of the fire. One set of twins, one triplet, one very noisy abandoned lamb and one quiet abandoned lamb. As the evening progressed I was able to feed them a little cow's colostrom Tom had collected from the dairy. The living room became very noisy as the lambs dried out and warmed up and by 12.30 three were off to the woodbox in the shed with a hot water bottle and the 2 quieter ones settled down by the fire for the night.

On The Farm

The weather has been great and all the calves are growing well. At this time of year the young foxes have been left by their mothers to fend for themselves. They can be quite bold and I have seen them trot very close by our old farm dog as if they know he is tied up. The poor old dog is very blind and deaf, but still loves to help with the sheep. And he will still let us know when he smells a fox near the house! 

On the Farm

It is Autumn and we have new calves. There is plenty of feed  thanks to exceptionally good rain this Summer so we can save the hay for Winter. Our crossbred calves get numbers, but Tom & Nique's stud cattle get names. This year they will all start with G.