We cleared the poly tunnel today & have made some progress in clearing space to actually plant something, we managed to put in runner beans, cucumber & courgettes. Lots more to do & we plan to put in raised beds for more vegetables & when ready the potatoes outside.
For something completely different:
I have a few carnivorous plants so had the opportunity to split some of the sarracenia in the hope of new emerging plants, enjoyed doing this again & I may look to get some more highland plants such as nepenthes which I have have grown previously.
An excellent book to look up carnivorous plants is " The Savage Garden " by Peter D' Amato.
Lots of rain today which will help get the grass growing & hopefully us look to move the ewes & lambs back up to the land - just hope the temperatures rise !
Ystwyth Badgers
Torddu
Monday 22 April 2013
Thursday 18 April 2013
All the ewes & lambs appear to be well bonded & making good progress, they are all in the one shed now so lots of confusion lambs looking for their mums & vice versa.
We are letting them all out during the daytime into the yard with lots of bleating for food every-time we go anywhere near.
We are continuing to feed ewe 18 premier nuts with additional haylage, making sure they have access to fresh water day & night. Not much growing up on the land so will probably wait 2 or 3 weeks before moving them or until we run out of haylage !
All the ewes with lambs have been wormed, foot trimmed & replacement tags inserted if required that all seemed to go well - we got better at the foot trimming as we got through the ewes so may have to revisit the first couple...
We are really pleased that all the ewes lambed unassisted & all appear to be great mothers maybe this is just true of mountain breeds ?
Or have we just been very lucky.................
So we have doubled our breeding flock plus we have 2 yearlings that we can breed from in the autumn in addition to the ewes who have just lambed.
Need to think about Heptavac now & wondered if the vet could provide individual doses at a smaller cost than purchasing a whole bottle hmm.
We are letting them all out during the daytime into the yard with lots of bleating for food every-time we go anywhere near.
We are continuing to feed ewe 18 premier nuts with additional haylage, making sure they have access to fresh water day & night. Not much growing up on the land so will probably wait 2 or 3 weeks before moving them or until we run out of haylage !
All the ewes with lambs have been wormed, foot trimmed & replacement tags inserted if required that all seemed to go well - we got better at the foot trimming as we got through the ewes so may have to revisit the first couple...
We are really pleased that all the ewes lambed unassisted & all appear to be great mothers maybe this is just true of mountain breeds ?
Or have we just been very lucky.................
So we have doubled our breeding flock plus we have 2 yearlings that we can breed from in the autumn in addition to the ewes who have just lambed.
Need to think about Heptavac now & wondered if the vet could provide individual doses at a smaller cost than purchasing a whole bottle hmm.
Tuesday 16 April 2013
http://www.lambbank.co.uk/
Worth checking out the lamb bank service is a free service to put those with surplus lambs in touch with those looking for additional lambs.
Worth checking out the lamb bank service is a free service to put those with surplus lambs in touch with those looking for additional lambs.
Sunday 14 April 2013
http://www.rwas.co.uk/en/garden-festival/
The Smallholder & garden festival is on the 18th & 19th of May 2013 at the Royal Welsh Show ground Builth Wells.
check out the link
The Smallholder & garden festival is on the 18th & 19th of May 2013 at the Royal Welsh Show ground Builth Wells.
check out the link
Saturday 13 April 2013
For sale registered section A
Just about to turn four years of age section A filly with very good breeding, dam Cilsane Misty Maid young mare class winner at Royal Welsh 2009/10, Sire Knolton Daylight.
She has been backed last summer & left to mature over the winter, now ready to bring back into work or alternatively would make excellent brood mare with Eppynt, Trefaes & Synod bloodlines.
£399 contact for more information:
chris.charl.91@gmail.com
Just about to turn four years of age section A filly with very good breeding, dam Cilsane Misty Maid young mare class winner at Royal Welsh 2009/10, Sire Knolton Daylight.
She has been backed last summer & left to mature over the winter, now ready to bring back into work or alternatively would make excellent brood mare with Eppynt, Trefaes & Synod bloodlines.
£399 contact for more information:
chris.charl.91@gmail.com
Lambing is over
6 ewe lambs & 2 ram lambs later from 5 ewes not bad going all appear to be doing well & all were unassisted.
1 ewe aborted earlier in pregnancy & has gone back up on the land with last years lambs, all the others are happily accommodated in the stables.
Managed to move my old Land Rover yesterday by pulling it away from the entrance of the stables it is now in a position for it to be renovated and has cleared our access to the stables.
I will post some photos of the landie when I begin the restoration - the landie has been restored previously whilst in our possession but has been left (by me) to sit and eventually seize up.
1 ewe aborted earlier in pregnancy & has gone back up on the land with last years lambs, all the others are happily accommodated in the stables.
Managed to move my old Land Rover yesterday by pulling it away from the entrance of the stables it is now in a position for it to be renovated and has cleared our access to the stables.
I will post some photos of the landie when I begin the restoration - the landie has been restored previously whilst in our possession but has been left (by me) to sit and eventually seize up.
Monday 8 April 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02tGxAoi8Ps
Gareth Wyn Jones: Hill farming in a Spring disaster - Inspirational footage
Gareth Wyn Jones: Hill farming in a Spring disaster - Inspirational footage
Twins again
Okay another set of twins, this time from our eldest ewe Marge yesterday no assistance required she did look like she was going to produce triplets due to the size of her but we are happy with twins & more ewe lambs at that.
One more ewe to lamb, current count is 6 ewe lambs & 1 ram lamb.
Fingers crossed she lambs tonight.
One more ewe to lamb, current count is 6 ewe lambs & 1 ram lamb.
Fingers crossed she lambs tonight.
Saturday 6 April 2013
Another new arrival
Well done to Charlotte for getting up early & discovering that our three year old ewe had indeed produced a lovely single lamb (another girl). This lamb seemed quieter than the others maybe as being a single ?
We were not certain that she had latched on properly & mum was very noisy pawing the ground & encouraging the lamb. We later decided to give colostrum could not do any harm ( please note our first time/ attempt at this).
Got the lamb settled on my lap, Charlotte prepared the barrel & tube 50ml of made up colostrum & tube lightly lubed with vegetable oil all going well. We fed the tube gradually over the tongue of the lamb aiming to have 5-6 cms left not sure if we achieved this on the first attempt as Charlotte had neglected to take the sleeve off the barrel so when she gently squeezed the barrel I ended up covered in colostrum spraying from the end of the barrel !!
Second attempt Charlotte held the lamb & fed the tube down & we successfully provided the lamb with 50ml of colostrum, since then the lamb appears to have picked up successfully & has latched on now.
Nice to see the two sets of twins out in the yard playing, bouncing around I will post some photos later.
We were not certain that she had latched on properly & mum was very noisy pawing the ground & encouraging the lamb. We later decided to give colostrum could not do any harm ( please note our first time/ attempt at this).
Got the lamb settled on my lap, Charlotte prepared the barrel & tube 50ml of made up colostrum & tube lightly lubed with vegetable oil all going well. We fed the tube gradually over the tongue of the lamb aiming to have 5-6 cms left not sure if we achieved this on the first attempt as Charlotte had neglected to take the sleeve off the barrel so when she gently squeezed the barrel I ended up covered in colostrum spraying from the end of the barrel !!
Second attempt Charlotte held the lamb & fed the tube down & we successfully provided the lamb with 50ml of colostrum, since then the lamb appears to have picked up successfully & has latched on now.
Nice to see the two sets of twins out in the yard playing, bouncing around I will post some photos later.
Friday 5 April 2013
http://bcove.me/6jqbekzs
Useful link on livestock health videos
Farmers weekly is campaigning to raise awareness of the responsible use of antibiotics, vaccines and wormers in livestock.
Please check it out now - click on the link above.
Lambs first venture outside
Our first set of twins ventured out into the yard for the first time today with mum close by, having said that we did subject mum to a manicure, replacement tags & worming she was not impressed.
Lovely to see the twin lambs springing about the yard it really feels like spring has arrived at last !
I hope I have not spoken too soon.......about the spring weather here in Wales.
I meant to post earlier about yellow poo that had been visible from the first set of twins - being our first time lambing we were not quite sure about this, especially with our second set of twins displaying no such symptoms.
Following much searching on the web it appears that the yellow faeces is indeed simply due to overfeeding.You see it more often in bottle fed lambs but if the ewes nutritional level jumps up you can see it briefly in a few ewe - fed lambs, and then it will disappear. It's more or less harmless as long as the lamb is clearly still feeding and the faeces are not getting darker and thinner ( indicating dehydration in the lamb).
If symptoms persist or you see blood in the faeces check in with your vet as concerns such as colibacillosis may be present - if you are concerned get it checked out.
Its a good idea to keep the area inside where you may be keeping lambs to be clean & ensure fresh straw avoiding any build up of heat in the bedding that may be a breeding ground for bacteria.
No more lambs to date but our three year old ewe looks a possibility for tonight...
On another note we had moved our quail to a new residence only to find that there was probably too much headroom !!
Spooked by well just about everything they were in a state of panic finally resulting in the ladder to the upstairs bedding area to fall on a couple of the unsuspecting quail now sporting injuries & blue antibiotic spray the rest of the birds were returned to the safety of the previous residence.
A shout from the kitchen alerted us to the fact that the presumed safe residence of the quail had a door wide open into an enclosed pen, however following much searching we realised only one of the Japanese Quail was missing if you do come across her she will be sporting blue colours!
Lovely to see the twin lambs springing about the yard it really feels like spring has arrived at last !
I hope I have not spoken too soon.......about the spring weather here in Wales.
I meant to post earlier about yellow poo that had been visible from the first set of twins - being our first time lambing we were not quite sure about this, especially with our second set of twins displaying no such symptoms.
Following much searching on the web it appears that the yellow faeces is indeed simply due to overfeeding.You see it more often in bottle fed lambs but if the ewes nutritional level jumps up you can see it briefly in a few ewe - fed lambs, and then it will disappear. It's more or less harmless as long as the lamb is clearly still feeding and the faeces are not getting darker and thinner ( indicating dehydration in the lamb).
If symptoms persist or you see blood in the faeces check in with your vet as concerns such as colibacillosis may be present - if you are concerned get it checked out.
Its a good idea to keep the area inside where you may be keeping lambs to be clean & ensure fresh straw avoiding any build up of heat in the bedding that may be a breeding ground for bacteria.
No more lambs to date but our three year old ewe looks a possibility for tonight...
On another note we had moved our quail to a new residence only to find that there was probably too much headroom !!
Spooked by well just about everything they were in a state of panic finally resulting in the ladder to the upstairs bedding area to fall on a couple of the unsuspecting quail now sporting injuries & blue antibiotic spray the rest of the birds were returned to the safety of the previous residence.
A shout from the kitchen alerted us to the fact that the presumed safe residence of the quail had a door wide open into an enclosed pen, however following much searching we realised only one of the Japanese Quail was missing if you do come across her she will be sporting blue colours!
Thursday 4 April 2013
We had a quiet night last night no new lambs but still incurred the frequent checks throughout the night, we were highly surprised when my 15 year old son declared that he would be setting his alarm for 4am to help out with the checks on the ewes & lambs !
Seems this lambing business is having a good effect on everyone including the eldest daughter at home who has claimed the one & only Ram Lamb as her best friend........
Wednesday 3 April 2013
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Twins
Delayed posting on the blog today due to the arrival of another set of twins born last night, plenty of commotion from the stables.
We had spent most of the evening out in the stable awaiting the arrival of the first lamb - typical we pop for a cup of tea & a warm & on our return a beautiful new born lamb & very attentive mother, probably 40 minutes until the arrival of the next lamb.
When the time was right we then shepherded the ewe & lambs into the nursery part of the stable for mum to spend more time bonding, thanks to #Gareth Holland for the assistance !
Need to identify some time now to get this blog started properly.
We had spent most of the evening out in the stable awaiting the arrival of the first lamb - typical we pop for a cup of tea & a warm & on our return a beautiful new born lamb & very attentive mother, probably 40 minutes until the arrival of the next lamb.
When the time was right we then shepherded the ewe & lambs into the nursery part of the stable for mum to spend more time bonding, thanks to #Gareth Holland for the assistance !
Need to identify some time now to get this blog started properly.
Monday 1 April 2013
The rest of the crew
Well that seemed all reasonably easy - starting a blog uploading photos why have I not done this before ?
Introductions
We have over the years had various livestock but at the present time sharing our lives are of course my Badger face sheep 6 ewes in lamb, 2 yearling ewes, 1 wether and 1 ram (Elvis) on loan !
Horses
One cob type (Lady) 27 years old
One Welsh mountain cross (Penny) 12 years old
One Welsh Cob (Bonny) 6 years old
One Welsh Section A (Peppa) 4 years old later this year & for sale
Birds
Toulouse Geese
Assorted poultry will go into more detail later as we have just had a nasty visit from Mr Fox !
Quail
Aylesbury Ducks
Assorted call duck & silver appleyards
Eggs always available :-)
Dogs & Cat
Astra rescued German Shepherd (loves Charlotte) very protective.
Flik my Welsh blue Merle sheepdog in training !
Tom our black cat
I think I have included everyone oh sorry yes nearly forgot........the kids !
Next time I post info & photos of where we live & our famous extension.
Introductions
We have over the years had various livestock but at the present time sharing our lives are of course my Badger face sheep 6 ewes in lamb, 2 yearling ewes, 1 wether and 1 ram (Elvis) on loan !
Horses
One cob type (Lady) 27 years old
One Welsh mountain cross (Penny) 12 years old
One Welsh Cob (Bonny) 6 years old
One Welsh Section A (Peppa) 4 years old later this year & for sale
Birds
Toulouse Geese
Assorted poultry will go into more detail later as we have just had a nasty visit from Mr Fox !
Quail
Aylesbury Ducks
Assorted call duck & silver appleyards
Eggs always available :-)
Dogs & Cat
Astra rescued German Shepherd (loves Charlotte) very protective.
Flik my Welsh blue Merle sheepdog in training !
Tom our black cat
I think I have included everyone oh sorry yes nearly forgot........the kids !
Next time I post info & photos of where we live & our famous extension.
Easter Lambs
Okay here I go my first venture into keeping a blog, by the way my name is Chris & I live in Mid Wales with my lovely & better half Charlotte & our three children.
I will start this blog by telling you about what happened yesterday & hopefully I will then be able to provide a little history of what has happened & happening in our lives especially in our trials and tribulations in some mild attempt to be smallholders & enjoy (not sure that is the right word) the "Good Life" !
March 31st 2013 our very first Badger face Lambs have arrived - twins one of each & no assistance required.
I will post photos of the first Ystwyth Torddu badger Lambs very shortly.
Information
Badger face sheep are a Welsh pure breed of mountain sheep there are two types Torddu, white with a black underbelly running from below the lower jaw all the way through to the end of the inside of the tail.
Torwen, black or dark brown, the lower jaw should be white and run as far as possible down the throat.
This is my interpretation however for more detail on the points of breed access the breed society page:
http://www.badgerfacesheep.co.uk/index.htm
I will start this blog by telling you about what happened yesterday & hopefully I will then be able to provide a little history of what has happened & happening in our lives especially in our trials and tribulations in some mild attempt to be smallholders & enjoy (not sure that is the right word) the "Good Life" !
March 31st 2013 our very first Badger face Lambs have arrived - twins one of each & no assistance required.
I will post photos of the first Ystwyth Torddu badger Lambs very shortly.
Information
Badger face sheep are a Welsh pure breed of mountain sheep there are two types Torddu, white with a black underbelly running from below the lower jaw all the way through to the end of the inside of the tail.
Torwen, black or dark brown, the lower jaw should be white and run as far as possible down the throat.
This is my interpretation however for more detail on the points of breed access the breed society page:
http://www.badgerfacesheep.co.uk/index.htm
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