Preparing for lambs

Fencing virtually all day today.  Finally the whole of second field is stock fenced which means I have been able to take down the electric.  After the lamb got caught in the electric last year I did  not want lambs born anywhere near electric fencing.  The sheep all waited relatively patiently in the  top bit of second.

 

Now they have fresh grass and can, hopefully, get on with having their lambs - shouldn't be long now.  I also have the most exciting development to tell you about in my  Mule Saga.  The Mule has not been able to cope with the mud and ha been out of action for months which has been hard work with all the water and hay carrying.  However, I now have a new field vehicle which had it's first outing this evening - CD player, air conditioning, adjustable wing mirrors, hay carrying rack - more on this tomorrow when I have a photo.

 

I have done the deal with the Shepherd and a trio of ducks awaits the building of the duck house which Carl is doing right now.

 

Sam wore himself out!

 

Busy, Busy . .

Yesterday evening there was no time to blog as we were rushing around getting ready to go out, a very rare occurrence.  Before we went Carl had to weld up part of Sam's truck which failed it's MOT - they are taking it down there at the moment and hopefully it will now pass.  I had to get my hair done in honour of the occasion as well as all the normal jobs but we made it and had a lovely meal with Reddingvale despite the presence of arm bandages!

Today Sam and I did the sheep feet which little Shovel took great advantage of, sneaking in for a drink from Grace.

Baby (still no name as no one will let me call him Pitbull - despite the rather tasteful addition of McCoy, Pitbull McCoy sounds good to me) has a fond aunt in Bert who is as proud of him as if he were hers.  The rather large one in the background is Sam's Bianca.

Baby was 10.5 kg at birth and is a very strong little chap.  The sun we are having is helping but the forecast for tonight is not good.  The chickens were enjoying the weather today.

Now it is a question of who is next and if the ones who are supposed to be pregnant really are.  Cassie certainly is.

But Emily is an increasingly doubtful one.

Sheep watching

This morning I was back to two jumpers, body warmer, winter socks and gloves - plus I  had to scrape the car.  By lunchtime the gloves, body warmer and one jumper were off and by coffee and a Garibaldi time the second jumper was off - strange weather!

Much of the afternoon was spent sheep watching as, although not due till next Sunday, a couple were doing a bit of pawing the ground and there was a bit of rolling from Old Grey.  Rolling is quite scary as they can only do it downhill and it takes a bit of effort to get going.  If they don't get going fast enough they end up threshing around on their backs until gravity takes over!  Most of the Welsh Mountains look like large black splodges when they are resting and about the thinnest is Teddy - posing by Sam's home made water drinker - borrowed from the alpacas!

Bugatti Veyron Super Sports

Very windy today and the feed bucket blew out of my hand - full of feed of course - and careered down the hill, chased by Bianca (one way of getting her to run I suppose!).  The sheep were very naughty.  It is good to have them very friendly most of the time but when I am taking hay in and they are all pushing and shoving me it is not quite so pleasant - I ended up drenched and in the mud!  I was told that if you smile at sheep they like it so have been grinning inanely at them for a while now.  I am not sure if that has made them very friendly or it is just that they are so used to me but they do stare at me in a very quizzical fashion.

I took pity on Trouble this afternoon, the bottle fed, as it was so horrible in the fields.  I made her up a little bottle but she only really drank half of it.  I think she just likes a bit of a chat every now and again!

The worst thing of all at the moment is the mud - acres of it - and I have lots of toenails that need doing.  This is what I dream of at the moment not a Veyron, it would only get stuck in the mud,  http://barnacre-alpacas.blogspot.com/2011/11/counting-sheep.html !!!
A barn with a concrete floor!

Shed Clearing

Firstly, sorry for no photos - I have misplaced the camera.  We had a major attempt to finish clearing Carl's shed - and it is very difficult.  He refuses to throw anything away - old bits of pipe, planks of wood, rusty screws, parts for bikes he sold years ago, an old tractor seat, carpet from two houses ago - all will, apparently, come in useful one day.  It shows how often he actually looks at half of it as there were three full bottles of Stella Artois in one of his tool chests.

I sloped off with Sam and did a bit of body scoring and a surprise mating to a female I thought was definitely pregnant with a boy I hadn't used before - we'll see next year!

The sheep are waiting for the arrival of The Shepherd's ram.  He is down in the village at the moment but should be up soon.  Sam has, I think, agreed to give me one of his black ewes in exchange for all the looking after while he is now at work.  I am torn between number 6, number 8 and number 32 - all of whom are super friendly and like a little back scratch and a bit of hand feeding.  I am hoping to find a few more Southdowns to swell numbers but The Shepherd is having a job locating any for me at the moment.

I also did a good bit of poo picking - the poo picker is holding on with the aid of a bit of tape. I was a bit shocked to hear the price of new pipes so am trying to make this last as long as possible.

After all the activity we went to Mum's for dinner this evening and head the most superb bit of beef I have had for a long time.  It came from The Gentleman Farmer and was very tender.

Waiting!

The weather is starting to turn a little here - it is very windy this evening and I am wearing a jumper for what feels like the first time in months.  It feels like we are waiting for something and I think the animals feel it too!

I can't believe it is almost time to get the ram again for the sheep.  We are having the Shepherd's old boy back again I am pleased to say - he did us proud this year.  I am not sure about Grace though.  She has recovered a well but her skin is still tender at the back and a crack has opened up at the top of one leg, I think I will see how she goes on over the next few weeks.

And I don't know what has got into Sapphire today - she has even been pronking with the babies, must be the wind I think!  She is the brown straight ahead at the back, not pronking in the photo - I couldn't catch that!

P.S. I have had a bit of trouble with the GWR show results and website but they are all up now and the link is -
http://www.gwralpacafleeceandyarnshow.co.uk/fleece-a-yarn-show/show-results

A day for yawning

Shopping this morning while Sam got the 'new' chain harrow ready for action - it is very big!

We then checked over the sheep and I am very pleased to report that all eyes seem to be clearing up well.  I had half an eye on the alpacas all day but no one produced and I could not really kid myself that anyone was likely.  In fact everyone looked a little tired and listless.  I don't think Greeves could yawn anymore than he was!

Tapping is about to begin

Despite the fact that it has been intermittently raining all day and that we haven't finished shearing - thoughts are turning to hay making.  Carl has the mower in bits getting a bearing sorted, then the bailer needs a service, then the barometer is going to need daily tapping in preparation.  Inspection of third field is due tomorrow (not that we have time to bale yet anyway as we have lots of shearing booked in) - inspection of third field is bound to involve a lot of tutting, picking blades of grass and staring skywards (none of it of any real value as what we will really do is look out the lounge windows and wait for signs of anyone else baling!).

I have mostly been alpaca watching today but I did manage to clean out the chickens and somehow allow my sheep to escape.  Trying to get Stumpy back was a bit of a nightmare as she is like an unstoppable steam roller coming towards you at full pelt with ears flapping in the breeze!  They are now all safely back in with extra strengthening on their gate which they appear to have pushed open somehow.

Been a little hectic!

I am really sorry about the lack of blogging!  Life has been a little hectic with 19 lambs charging around.  Their favourite game seems to be all trying to balance on their mother's backs.

In the end just 3 of the sheep needed help - one set of enormous twins from George who are now very healthy, and two of the black sheep who had lambs in the wrong positions.  One was a bit hairy but we managed - although she is now very friendly -!  The triplets mum developed mastitis which has meant milking her twice a day to get rid of the horrid turned milk, unpleasant but tonight we started getting proper milk from one teat.  The twins are still being bottle fed and had joint ill.  One is now fully recovered and very sweet but the other is still limping.  She limps very fast though, so I think she will be okay.  Two Tone, one of last years bottle fed orphan lambs meanwhile is becoming very jealous and likes to try jumping on my back whenever I am feeding the twins - not so cute now she is so big!  Here she is trying to look cute through the pylon!

Greeves looks tiny now he has been sheared but is no longer thin.  He is very small though!  Islay is still his favourite alpaca in the whole wide world and he has now gone off me and no longer wants a cuddle, which is not a bad thing.  We sheared him as quick as possible and deliberately tried to leave it a little longer so it is not the neatest shearing in the world - but at least all the hay is out.

So - - don't be surprised if I don't blog again until the weekend!!

We now own a Gremlin!

Rather a busy time here today.  The triplets Mum has mastitis which means the twins need bottle feeding and Mum has to be milked out several times with injections to follow up.  The Shepherd then came and put some penicillin tubes in her teats and we are hopeful she will recover.  Despite the twins Joint Ill they are drinking their bottles well and are desperately trying to play - though not terrifically successfully as they tend to fall over!  They also need antibiotics so I'm getting through needles quite fast.  We had a huge stuck little boy who came out with help and a little altering of leg positions - trouble is, in the process of doing this I got covered in fluid and baby now thinks he has two Mum's!  Mum spent some time licking my hands after he was born and she now seems to feel we are sisters which is a little weird in a Welsh Mountain who normally runs away from you!  We have 17 lambs all together and just my George and one of Sam's still to lamb.  The Shepherd took Rammy back home this morning as it is time for him to be sheared - I don't think he was very keen to go!

Once sheep were sorted this morning we got on to the big and scary job of the day - shearing Greeves.  He was little before and now he is tiny - and he made little bleating noises all the way through.  His fleece is a complete mess - full of hay and seeds - and now he looks like some weird gremlin, particularly once he had rolled in the dirt bath.

We also sheared Cassie, Belinda and Flamenco as they should be my first to birth and I wanted to get them done earliest.  Cassie looks very elegant now and she was the best alpaca ever to shear - so calm.  In fact Carl really didn't need anything on her neck she just lay there and seemed to know when to turn her head!  I forgot a picture of her but will do one tomorrow.  Just one of a newly shorn Belinda for now!

Knockers and Smells

1. Single, very lively black lamb born this morning.

2. Little Wee (Mitzi) was spayed this morning and she was furious about it.  When I picked her up the vet said she was quiet and would not eat so to keep her quiet and not let her out for a few days.  Maybe try her on a spoonful of special recovery cat food later - but I knew, Little Wee was giving me A Look!  As soon as we got home she shot out the basket, ate an entire tin of Whiskas and three saucers of milk, shot out the cat flap before I could stop her and then spent the rest of the day following me around biting my ankles!  She is currently rolling around on the floor attacking my skirt and a pen simultaneously - she is okay!

3. A nasty smell in the bedroom - the hairdryer glowed a bright orange colour and started to smoke, I have just slung it into the garden for investigation when it has stopped smoking.

4. Really, Willie, Stumpy's baby is ugly - even worse today than yesterday.  She appears to be partly orange and with big ears!  Photo tomorrow!

5. The Shepherd gave Sam a large tin of dented red oxide which he spent most of the afternoon using to paint his trailer - - - and the chicken water bowl (by accident) and himself (hopefully by accident) - can't rent out Sam for any job involving paint - Judi!

6. Serious bottom wiping for one of the pairs of twins.  A bit of diarrhoea and sadly with the sun it dried solid blocking them up and one has a sore where it had pulled.

7.  Cassie has taken to guarding the foot water trough now so extra water troughs are being made.

8.  Carl and Sam have been over to Landrover Man's this evening to weld up 'The Knocker' for Valtra Man.  He came round this afternoon upset that he'd broken his knocker so he couldn't bang his post in - all sorted now.

Bed time, I think!  Well, after checking if any more lambs are likely tonight.

Fun in the Sun

No!  I don't want to be an arable farmer - no where near enough excitement!  It's been a great day today!  The wheat would probably get mould or rust or whatever it is it gets anyway!!  We do have one or two of what we like to call 'Roger Related' problems but I have a feeling all may get better in the not too distant future.

Saw a lovely black stud on Barbara at Beckbrow's blog which inspired me, the twins (the ones that once were triplets) are completely cute - they charge over for a bottle top up, have a cuddle and then race back to Mum who stands and watches.  Her afterbirth finally dropped after another injection and she is looking perkier so hopefully the milk will flow more easily.  And then - Stumpy had her lamb!  A big lamb - born normally and the ugliest thing imaginable!! And then the boys made me have a near trouser changing incident as they tried to race the lambs down the fence.  The lambs can't get too near the fence due to electric fencing but they were clearly teasing the boys - racing up and then backing off.

 And then I had a phone call from a delightful lady interested in alpacas.  And then Sam put up an entire fence - all on his own and very professionally done! 

It didn't all happen in that order - but I am too tired now to get it all right!

AND as if that was not enough - there's the Southdown!  She hasn't got a name yet - but she will have!

Arable farming?

Very hectic today.  This morning the triplets were alive - but only just.  They were very cold and not sucking at all.  First thing it was a couple of squirts of Jumpstart and we had a bit of recovery but for one of the little girls it was short lived.  We struggled on through the afternoon but sadly she has just died.  The other two are shut in with the ewe now and we will see how they are tomorrow.  They have been stomach tubed and have had a top up bottle so all that can be done has.  Their Mum still has not got rid of all the afterbirth but is looking a bit better so that is a start.

We did some ringing on the rest of the lambs - not the triplets - a very unpleasant job and one where all the lambs ended up muddled up so there was much bleating and charging about but everyone is now settled - right mums with right lambs.

Anyway, an unsuccesful shepherding day and one where you feel very helpless and wonder whether it might be better to become an arable farmer.  Let's hope tomorrow is better.

Bit of a rocky day with a very funny end!

Not all plain sailing on the lambing front today.  Twins and a single from Sam's Welsh Mountains and then Angelina Jolie started - and stuck!  One leg and a head appeared and then no progress.  Could I find the other leg?  Well, in the end I did but it was sort of over and tucked round and it was a bit of a struggle to sort things out.  Eventually it came out - a little white boy - but then it just could not find Angelina's udder.  She is very long fleeced.  We had to tip her up and Carl clipped her - with little one latched on at the same time!  He is now fine.

Meanwhile, at the tip of the hill another pair of twins appeared!

As I went over to check them I passed Mum with triplets and gave triplet one a stroke - thinking, that's not right - she should be up and away.  Same happened with two and three - and Mum didn't move when I stroked her.  Normal for my sheeep - not for Sam's.  Further investigation showed she had a retained placenta and the triplets were not feeding properly.  Mum was put back in the field shelter with the triplets. We held them up to her every half hour and they got a little fatter tummied but it still did not look too good.  The Shepherd had a look at them, gave her some antibiotics and recommended ivy - so it was off to chop down a branch and keep trying to top up the triplets with bottles.  We hope they all survive the night.

The Shepherd had actually come to bring me a present, must have forgiven me for not getting one of the triplets onto the single mum!  This is my present - and it is the funniest thing I have ever seen!

In the photo you cannot see quite how funny she is in real life - I'll try for a better photo tomorrow.  She is a Southdown - full grown but little.  She has a bad leg and is sheared rather like a lion which adds to her completely comical look!  She is brilliant - the alpacas think so too!  They are a whole paddock away but as soon as she appeared they were up at the fence - not shrieking but staring!

Little Black Bundles Everywhere!

Triplets, twins and a single to start the day - you don't know which end of the paddock to monitor!  The triplets are very sweet and wait in line to get a feed.  The Shepherd came over this morning when he brought Sam back and was a bit disappointed in me as I hadn't latched it onto the single mum but it just all goes out of your head when you have got little black bundles appearing all over the place!  The triplets are going in the field shelter tonight with their mum.  So far there are 9 lambs - 7 girls and 2 boys, and here is Sam with one of the triplets!

He really needs his hair cut!

In between all this lambing I managed to get the fields and field shelters cleaned - and visit the shops.  Greeves, I am pleased to say, is not quite so cuddly and marches off when I go over to him so I think he is doing well!  Here he is with Cassie - Islay is never far away, you can just see her leg behind Cassie.

Now I must get back to the field as I feel another set of  twins is on the way!

Sammy Davis Junior

Another little lamb today - a little boy this time, born an hour ago.  I have named him Sammy Davis Junior, not sure if Sam agrees!   Sam is like a proud Dad over in the field, strutting around with his shiny new shepherd's crook!

Not a very clear photo of Junior, I am afraid.  His Mum is very protective and does a lot of foot stamping if we get close.  In the photo he is with Two Tone and Pugsly.  They are behaving very badly at the moment and have been head butting the poor ram every time he has settled for a little snooze.  From my very limited experience of sheep it appears to me that one sign they are going to lamb is that they suddenly get interested in the new lambs.  Junior's Mum suddenly noticed the twins just before she started and kept sniffing round them and calling to them - odd.
Yesterdays twins are doing well and getting lively.  They have just started to venture up the hill, with Mum trotting behind them in a panic!  They seem to have grown even in one day.

Two little black ones!

We have the first lambs!  This morning, at the nice civilised hour of 8am, black twins arrived - with a quick easy birth and no need for any intervention.  Very different from alpacas.  If it had been a cria arriving all the alpacas would be up round having a look - not with these sheep.  She went off to the bottom and into the field shelter to give birth and only Two Tone took any notice of the lambs - and that was after about an hour.  They are very little and get hidden by the long grass so none of the alpacas noticed them at all until lunch time when there was suddenly a great deal of screeching from Zara who had finally noticed them two paddocks away!  Sam was at work so I rang him and he and the shepherd popped up to take a look.  Sam then went back to work where he helped a ewe deliver twins which were wrongly presented - he is getting the practise in!

So - here they are, the first lambs, two little solid black girls!  (Not sure that in the world of sheep - solid black means so much as it might if they were alpacas!)

No Lambs but Holy Meat!

No lambs!  No Smarty (I don't think that is how you spell it but I can't think how else to spell it and I haven't got time to go up stairs and perch on a chair to  check on top of the wardrobe where they are hidden!) egg for me - unless someone produces in the next two and a half hours!

When Sam returned from work he spent the entire day steam cleaning the SAME - he is not allowed to drive it round until it is spotless  and he is desperate to drive it!  This evening it is sparkling - he has even discovered the SAME imprinted into the metal bits holding the wheels together (axles I think they are called).  Tomorrow he is working with the Shepherd  for most of the day but when he returns he is allowed to drive it!

Carl was out most of the day - returning the excellent spinner - all fields done in less than the time it took to do one little paddock by hand - Thank you Andy!  He then had to return a trailer - or at least that is what he told me he was doing but he arrived back with a mighty big bale of hay for which he must have required a trailer so he has either returned with the same one or acquired another one - not quite sure what is going on there.

We also have a very special dinner soon as we were presented with a lump of lovely "Holy Meat" this morning - excellent!!

False Alarm

Not only were there no lambs last night - there are also no lambs today!  Apparently star gazing and rolling around are only signs things are imminent.  What does imminent mean?  Who knows!  So today we have had more intermittent back hunching, rolling, upward gazing, up and downing - but no lambs.  We now have a bet going - I say one tomorrow, Sam says Monday and Carl says Tuesday.  The prize is a Smarties Easter Egg.  Sam's sheep look very large, hot and uncomfortable.

And here is enormous George (Called Georgina by the Shepherd's Lady as she was born on St George's Day).

This afternoon we had visitors looking at the alpacas and then, with Andy's spinner, Sam got all paddocks that needed it done in a very quick time, I topped a few nettles and docks while Carl was stuck with the job of finishing off the patio doors and window.  He made up for it this evening by steam cleaning the SAME with Sam - which they both found very exciting!

Arching backs and star gazing

Ohh!  I think the lambs - or one sheep anyway - are on the way!  This will be a quick blog as I have to get back to have another look.  Sam is over with them now on the John Deere (garden tractor).  He has discovered that the cutting deck will go under the electric fence and right up to the stock fence which is a lot quicker than strimming although you so have to pull out and put back the electric fence posts as you go.

So just a couple of pictures from a lovely sunny day!  Little Barnaby Rudge who is gaining a bit more confidence but may need to be moved away from Spike and Alf soon as they tend to pick on him a bit.

And  an unlikely pairing - Prue and Zara.  Prue is not a great fan of other alpacas and generally keeps herself to herself, always settling for the night at quite a distance from everyone else.  However, she appears to have taken to Zara and they are quite often together.