March 2013

So much for the saying that March comes in like a lamb and goes out like a lion – according to the Met Office, the past month saw the most ferocious March weather for over 50 years, with a chilling NE wind keeping the temperature well into low single figures throughout the month. Our thoughts have been with the farmers hardest hit – mostly in the north, Scotland, North Wales and N. Ireland, who have seen snowdrifts over 12’ deep, burying ewes and new-born lambs and preventing the farmers getting fodder to them, as well as out-wintering cattle.

This chilling photo was taken by a Fell farmer who I know on Twitter as @herdyshepherd1- throughout the worst of the weather he posted a series of images of his flock of Herdwick sheep that starkly illustrated the harsh conditions farmers and their livestock endured through the coldest March weather in over 50 years. Early reports indicate that several thousands of sheep and cattle, including youngstock, succumbed to the harsh weather, leaving farmers with the almost insurmountable problem of legal disposal of their fallen stock (though thankfully it looks as though Defra will approved some alternative plans), not to mention the emotional and financial hardship of loosing so many animals.

Another moving account of a Welsh farmer’s efforts to rescue his sheep and Welsh Ponies from the snow can be found on YouTube HERE.

The ‘take-home message must be to support British farming and BUY BRITISH!

We’ve been so much more fortunate here in the south. Although the mercury barely rose above zero and there has been no grass growth to speak of, our now heavily pregnant ewes are safe on our lowland pastures (or mud-flats!) and have been tucking into a good ration of ‘home-mix’ morning and evening, according to the number of lambs they were scanned for (we separated the single-bearing ewes from those scanned for twins and triplets). They’re all in good condition, but these last few weeks before lambing (they’re due around 11^th April) is critical for lamb growth and udder development (did you know: a growing lamb will drink 3 litres of milk a day!). As the growing lamb restricts the ewe’s rumen capacity, she needs quality feed, rather than quantity – too much concentrates and she’ll suffer from acidosis. So in addition to good quality hay (which I had analysed earlier in the year), their feed has good quality, highly digestible protein, comprising cereals, beans and sugar beet.

Despite the horrible weather, our chickens have been in a frenzy of laying – from our 9 hens we’ve been collecting an average of 35 eggs a week, so I decided to try doing some pickled eggs as a means of preserving them. We found some great recipes that take the humble pickled egg into realms beyond the pub bar snack, and are happy to share them HERE.

We also despatched and dressed a couple of cockerels for the table. These were from the Light and Speckled Sussex clutch of eggs that we hatched last autumn. For the first time, we used Semark Pliers to do the deed – I’m not really sure that they are any easier or more humane than simple neck dislocation, but it was a quick and effective job. As we currently have our “Poultry on Your Smallholding” DVD series in production, this is one of many aspects of keeping, and breeding, poultry that we’ve spent some time researching – with the aim of helping viewers decide whether they want to deal with this aspect of breeding, or not. I’ve always believed that the more knowledge you have, the better able you’ll be to make the right decision for your circumstances!

Meanwhile, our older run of chooks has been infested with horrible lice. Despite regularly picking up and checking all our birds (for weight, as well as parasites), when I discovered the lice, it was obvious that the birds had been hosts to these unwelcome guests for some time – my guess would be at least 3 weeks, based on the quantity of ‘nits’ (louse eggs) on the underside and around the vent of the birds. Since these creatures, and several other types of parasite, can be very harmful to poultry we’ve created a new guide to Poultry Ecto-Parasites, which will help you to identify exactly what is bothering your chickens, how to rid the birds of their pests, and measures you can take to protect them in future.