Fencing

Hi All

What a horrible week. I have had exams all week and to make matters worse it has not stopped raining. As a farmer I should not complain about the rain but it is horrible. I know a local farmer who has silage ready to be cut in the next few weeks but the river that runs next to the field has flooded.  It needs to stop right now and if we then get some sun, there will be grass everywhere.

In the field where the ewes and lambs live, we use an electric fence which splits the field in half. The lambs get through the fence even throw it is "electric". This means that they are not with their mothers, so the ewes go to fing them and they push through the fence too. The ewes can then get tangled up in the fence and it causes mayhem. So we have now decided to put a new permanent fence up. This will separate the field properly.

I have had a comment on my blog from A. M: This is an amazing project! We're doing the same thing with a couple of orphans rearing them on the bottle and will sell them when they reach the right weight. Do you do this by yourself? It's just what I want to do, I'm helping with lambing at the Scottish Agricultural Colllege, and I'm completely obsessed. It's great to know that there are likeminded people my age out there!!! Good luck, and a brilliant blog!

Thank you Annie for your very kind comments. I am really pleased that you are another person starting up in farming. There are not many young people who want to start farming as it is a hard and time consuming job. Make sure you pick the right place to sell your lambs, and make sure you watch the trends in the prices for a couple of weeks before you plan to sell.

As usual send me some more questions and I will try my best to answer them. I will be attending the Spring Gardening Show next week at the Three Counties Showground. It is a great event that I go to every year.I will be buying some flowering plants to brighten up the garden when the rain stops! My main interest in the garden is vegetables. I grow tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, lettuces, cabbages, beetroot, rhubarb, carrots and peas. Mum loves me growing vegetables!

Hope you are all well.
Jack

Photo Shoot

On Monday I moved my ewes and lambs back to our field. The local farmer helped me but we had a problem. One of my ewes lay down and would not stand up. Sheep do this sometimes because they get scared of dogs and they do not like running. The farmer had to drive the quad back to the farm to collect the trailer to put the ewe in. Once we managed to move this ewe in the trailer we drove the rest to the pens and sorted them all. Once sorted the brilliant photographer from the Three Counties came and took some great photos of me and the sheep. These pictures you can see in this page (I like the one of me and one of the lambs!). Once the photo shoot was finished we had to clean the ewe's back ends! it is important to do this often to avoid problems with maggots. We gave them a little shave on the head to tidy them up too! The farmer said we should weigh the lambs. I got the weighing scales and caught the lambs. I was really pleased to know that they were really heavy. The top weight was 36kg which is really amazing in such a short time. I will sell these lambs soon. If there is anything you want me to talk about do not be afraid to ask. Jack

Lambing up North

These past few weeks I have been working on my uncle’s farm in Northumberland, which is where I go most holidays. This is my diary which I kept while I was up north. Tuesday 3rd April 2012 I got up at around 7am and with my Grandfather went along to the main farm to collect the feed for the cattle and sheep to take to my uncle’s other holding called Rock. Granddad checks this farm every day. By the time we returned the snow was starting to fall. It was cold!!!! L We still had get on with jobs. I lambed about 6 ewes today. 4 of them were triplets so they had three lambs inside. The other two were twins. I gave them an injection and put some iodine on the navel. I had to go in about 4 pm because it was so cold (I’ll have to harden up!). Wednesday 4th April 2012 Today I lambed about four ewes. They were all twins. One of the ewe’s lambs came out backwards but they were still alive. The shepherd and I put the big pens up in what we call the hay barn. These pens are for when the lambs have been docked (which is when you put a ring around its tail) and numbered and before they go out to the field. These pens are my responsibility which means I have to check them, fill the buckets up with water, put hay in each pen and make sure the ewes and lambs are all mothered up. I will have to do this twice a day. I put the ewes and lambs into the pens putting different breeds in separate pens and depending on whether or not they are twins or singles. Thursday 5th April 2012 On a Thursday I usually go to Acklington Mart to sell sheep but because we have nothing to sell I stayed at the farm and helped with the lambing. I did not lamb many ewes today because most of the ewes lambed themselves. The shepherd today was taking the first lot of ewes and lambs to the hill. The lambs love going out to the grass and the ewes like the grass as they have been inside for over 2 weeks. Good Friday Today we have brought the rest of the ewes that need to lamb down to the farm. There were 40 single Blackface ewes and about 120 twins. We also took another couple of ewes and lambs out to the hill from the pens that I mentioned yesterday. We took about 2 loads of Cheviot ewes with Texel cross lambs and 1 load of Blackface ewes with mule lambs. I love it when they start charging around the field; I would hate to stand in the middle of the stampede because you would get run over. We also put clean straw in with the ewes that are still to lamb because I would not like to be the lamb being born on dirty straw. Tomorrow I will be lambing some more ewes and doing all the usual jobs. Easter Sunday As it was Easter Sunday we went out for lunch. My grandparents and I were lucky to be invited to a relative’s house. But I still had to get my jobs done. I went to the farm at about 7:30 and did all the necessary work. Then my grandfather picked me up and we were off for lunch. It was brilliant. Tuesday 10th April 2012 Today the weather was terrible but we had a busy night. This meant we had to move some ewes and lambs out into some fields, even though we would have preferred to keep them in for another 24 hours we had to take them up the hill and free some space in the shed. We luckily did not find any dead lambs from doing so. I put some little bales in the big pens so the lambs can shelter behind so they do not get too wet. Wednesday 11th April 2012 I got up around 7am and went along to the farm. Last night our night lamber had quite a busy night. This meant that I had to stay at the one farm instead of going with my grandfather to the other holding. I got all my jobs done and I started to scratch the lambs for orf. We had a lot of ewes and lambs in as the weather was so horrible yesterday. We got most of the ewes and lambs out and then I bedded the big pens. Tomorrow is market day, so we went and drew 25 old season lambs which will go tomorrow. After we drew the lambs, we went back to the main farm and drew 10 ewes. Thursday 12th April I got up at 6:45 and left the house at seven. We first loaded the ewes and then went along to the store lambs and loaded them. We got to Acklington mart at 8:30. We unloaded and the drover put them into the sorting area. The lambs are sold first at about 9:15 but before that I had my breakfast. I had a bacon bun. You cannot beat bacon buns from the mart. I am used to helping at the mart when I go up north. I push the lambs into the ring. Our 25 old season lambs averaged £85.25 which was good but our top weight was 62kg which made £102. Our top price for a ewe was £160 for a very big Texel. We averaged £91.30 which is good for ewes. We went home feeling pleased with the prices. Also I have nothing but good reviews about Country Tastic at the Three counties Show today. My cousins went to the show and they thought it was fantastic especially the pigs and donkeys. Friday 13th April 2012 Through the night our night lamber had lambed over 30 ewes with about 50 to 60 lambs. This meant I had to do my jobs quickly and then go and put some ewes in the pens after they had been cut. When I say cut, I do not mean that they are having a hair cut but having their tail cut by putting a rubber ring around the tail. The tail just drops off in the field a couple of weeks later. If it is a male lamb it means also putting a rubber ring around their testicles to castrate them. Some farmers do not bother putting rubber rings around the testicles because they think they can get more meat on them leaving them uncastrated. My cousin who is a jockey had a race today and she did really well as it was her first proper race as she does a lot of point to pointing normally. This meant that my uncle went to see her leaving one of the shepherds checking the stock on the hill and the other shepherd taking the ewes and lambs up to the hill. This meant I was in charge of the lambing sheds for a couple of hours. In 2 hours I lambed over 20 ewes and about 36 lambs were delivered. I go back home in the morning. I’ll miss helping out in the North but I’m looking forward to seeing my family and seeing how my own sheep are growing. Jack

New Sheep

Hi All,

This week at school we have been given our exam timetable for our Year 9 Mocks. I have about ten exams beginning on the 30^th April. I need to start to revise as I am hoping to get some good grades. I need to do well at my GCSEs and A levels as I want to go to Agricultural college. However right now I’m looking forward to breaking up for the Easter holidays, I bet the weather changes just as the holidays start!.

                                                

This week, my business partner and I have been talking and we have decided to buy another ewe and lamb. When we first started the business we had 4 ewes but a few months ago we sold one at Hereford Market. We had always planned to replace it and this week I have found a good ewe and a very strong lamb to buy. The ewe is a Texel, a breed that we like and have researched.  One slight problem is that the lamb is younger than our other lambs and will take longer to finish than the others.

I am going to move my ewes and lambs to another field for a couple of weeks to allow the original paddock time to grow. It is looking a little brown. This is because of the lack of rain as I mentioned on my last farming blog. The local farmer thinks my lambs are about 24kg now and in another month or so they will be ready to sell. We are thinking of keeping one lamb to breed from.

I’ve got a few plans for the holidays including visiting my grandparents in Northumberland and visiting Country Tastic on the 12^th April at the Three Counties Show Ground (www.threecounties.co.uk). I’ve been to this event for the last few years and love seeing others learning about farming. It’s really popular with younger children and they get the chance to speak to the farmers and see the animals.

Happy Easter!

Jack

Weather

Hi All

In these last few weeks, I have been working hard on my local farm. We have lambed about 500-600 ewes already and we have 190 ewes to start lambing on the 1st April. The farmer was teasing me when I told him that I will not to be there for the first 2 weeks of April as I am going to my Uncle's house, who will be half way though the 2500 ewes that he has to lamb. I love going there, as i get to spend time with my grandparents too.

As you are probally well aware, the grass is not as green as spring grass should be!! This is because there has been no rain. Many areas of England are in drought.

The places that are most affected are the Midlands, Anglia and The South East. In the overall Midlands rainfall trend is  rapidly decreasing. In the South East average rain fall has been below average. Most southern counties are theatening to have hosepipe bans. In the South West of England they have had the driest 12 months since 1975/76. Severn Water companies in the southern and eastern counties of England said that they will put water restrictions after two very dry winters have left rivers and reservoirs below normal levels. Southern Water, South East Water, Thames Water, Anglain Water, Sutton and East Surrey, Veolia Central and Veolia South East are all going to enforce hosepipe bans. All of them have said that the restrictions will start on the 5th April  but Sutton and East Surrey and Anglian Water have said that they will say that they are still waiting to decide when to put in place the ban. “East Anglia and south east England are in drought. Parts of central England, south west England and south east Yorkshire continue to be affected by dry weather. It’s anticipated that the risk of drought in the spring and summer in these areas is high.” – Says the Environment Agency. The drought is slowly rising north and it's expected parts of Yorkshire will probally be included soon. Most reservoirs in the southern half of England are currently below half their normal levels for what it should be for this time of year. In the north many reservoirs are overflowing.

Speak again soon, let's hope we have some rain soon!

Hope you are well.
Jack

Schmallenberg

Hi all,

         Sorry it has been such a long time since my last blog but I have been working every spare minute for my local farmer who is lambing.

         My sheep are looking brilliant at the moment and the lambs are coming on well. They are looking strong and I am proud to say that they are my own. This morning I dagged the ewes (this means I cleaned their backsides which were dirty from being on fresh grass!). I then gave them a dose of worming drench.

         You have probably heard already that a disease called Schmallenberg has hit  England. The disease happens in cattle, sheep and goats. A total of 83 farms in the south of England have been confirmed to have Schmallenberg. Across Europe a total 1,129 cattle, sheep and goat farms have been affected by the new disease. Germany has been the worst affected area in the world. Schmallenberg was thought to be brought over here by biting midges. Cattle and ewes were bitten in Autumn of last year when they were pregnant.

       Schmallenberg virus is the second midge-borne disease known to have invaded the U.K., with bluetongue virus having arrived in 2007. Professor Matthew Baylis pinned the blame on climate change. "The spread of bluetongue virus was driven entirely by the temperature changes in Europe," he said. "Our changing climate is making it more likely these things happen."

      I am lucky as my ewes have lambed but I feel really sorry for all the farmers who have been affected by Schmallenberg and I also feel sorry for farmers who are still to lamb as they do not now if Schmallenberg has attacked their ewes.

Speak Soon
Jack

Lambing Update

Hi
Today my final ewe lambed. She had a ram lamb. It is strong and it has sucked, which means that it will hopefully be healthy.
These are a few photos of my ewes and lambs:

The first Lamb



The First Lamb



Second Ewe and Lamb

First Lamb enjoying the snow!!

Proud Ewe



Today's Lamb



Bit of Fun!!!

Thank you
Jack