FARM DIARY

January  February  March  April  May  June  July  August  September  October  November  December

January
After recovering from Christmas and New Year celebrations our first job is to house as many ewes as we can, normally about 500. This is to prevent them damaging the pasture and enable us to shepherd and feed them easily. Before we do this we have to treat their feet by walking them through a foot bath to prevent foot rot, a bacterial infection that can spread rapidly in housed sheep causing lameness.

 

 

February
At the beginning of February we scan the ewes. This is similar to the scanning of human babies except all we are trying to do is identify the number of lambs so that we can provide the correct level of nutrition and attention at lambing time. Unlike the scanning of humans a contractor is employed for the job and he will scan around 200 sheep in one hour. We are then able to manage the twins and triplet bearing ewes separately to the singles.

March
6-8 weeks before lambing extra feed is introduced for the twins and triplets to compensate for the rapidly growing lambs. This is in the form of an organic feed blocks and organic barley or oats. The singles derive enough nutrition from the high quality organic silage we make on the farm.

April
This is one of our very busy periods. Lambing is in full swing by the April 5th. It can involve very long hours and very hard work, but if the weather is good it is great fun. All the lambs are tagged and recorded at birth.

By mid April we are starting to have some calves born.

We believe that animals must be allowed to calve and lamb on their own as much as is possible. This avoids disturbing the natural mothering instincts and allows a strong bond between mother and offspring to develop quickly. This in turn results in the newborn suckling the vital colostrum (first milk, high in energy and antibodies) sooner. Inevitably we have to intervene on occasions for the well-being of the animals.

May
By the beginning of May lambing is almost over but calving is in full swing. By now hopefully the weather is warmer and the grass is growing. Ewes and lambs move up the hill to some of the moorland grazing and the housed cattle are put out to grass as soon as there is plenty to eat.

Silage and hay fields are closed up ready for cutting in about eight weeks time.

June
This month we start recording weights of lambs for the Sire Reference Scheme. Every lamb is recorded and the results compared to other farms within the scheme. The objective is that we will retain lambs that show good production traits whilst also retaining the breed qualities such as hardiness and mothering ability.

All the ewes are sheared at this time. Wool used to be an important crop to the sheep farmer but unfortunately now the money we receive does not cover the cost of shearing the sheep.

July
Silage is made in the second week of July followed by hay if the weather is promised dry. Hay meadows are cut after 15th July to allow the flowers to seed and enable ground nesting birds to to bring up their broods before mowing.

The bull is put out with the cows so that calving will start again next April.

August
At the beginning of August we wean the lambs from the ewes. The lambs are then put onto the silage aftermath's for fattening. And the ewes return to the hill.

September
Lambs are sold every few weeks, old ewes are sorted from the flock for selling as Mountain Mutton and special attention is paid to the rams to ensure they will be in top condition by tupping time in November.

The spring born calves running with their mothers are offered organic feed to help compensate for the cows falling milk yield and the poorer quality of forage as we approach winter.

October
The sheep farming year begins in October when the breeding sheep are sorted and put into groups for going to the ram (tupping).

The cattle are fed silage and hay as the grass quantity and quality declines.

November
Each ewe is recorded to each ram . One ram serving 50-80 ewes. After 3 weeks the rams are swapped, with a 'terminal sire' (bred for meat production) replacing the Speckle Faced rams. This ensures that all the breeding progeny will have been as a result of service in the first heat cycle. The level of fertility is genetic, so that animals born to fertile parents will have a tendency to be highly fertile themselves.

The spring born calves are weaned from their mothers and housed for the winter.

December
As winter draws on feed is offered in the way of hay or silage and will continue until April or early May depending on the year.

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