April
is the best month for blossom. Starting with sparkling white blackthorn
early in the month quickly followed by more bride-white pear (so early
they can easily succumb to late frosts), then rosy-pink apple and
sweet-smelling lilac, and by the end of the month, may-blossom, cherry,
damson, quince and plum.All of this free nectar and pollen tempt the honeybees out, and the orchard-hives have been buzzing with their frenetic activity. In the woods, there are carpets of tiny, nodding wild daffodils, while under the orchard trees and all along the lane violets and cowslips, celandine and daisy take their turns to delight.
Not to be outdone, the birds don their finest plumage and sing their hearts out to attract a mate, and the swallows end their long journey from Africa in our barns. Whether or not it’s as a result of the wettest winter on record I couldn’t say, but this spring has been quite the most spectacular I can remember.
April also means lambing here at Green Farm, and – spot on cue; our first three (twins and a single, all ram lambs) arrived conveniently at 8 and 9 o’clock on the morning of the first – my little April Fools! My lambing notes read as follows:
Did 4a.m. lambing shed check this
morning, ewes 10 and 20 doing a bit of ‘nesting’. At 8a.m. 10 had given
birth to twins … and as she was nursing one, 20 decided to steal the
other, licking it furiously and looking very pleased with herself!
Retrieved 10’s lambs and put them all in a pen. At 9a.m. 20’s lamb
showing – a nose and two tiny trotters; shortly after she delivered a
very good-sized lamb. Penned up. Tally so far: 3 excellent ram lambs
I find keeping detailed notes like this really helpful; I know which ewes are good mothers and which might need help. Ultimately, it informs my decisions about which ewes, and which of their daughters to keep in the flock.
Apart
from one case of mastitis, which we successfully treated with a course
of antibiotics (but have been bottle-feeding her twin lambs), we’ve had a
pretty good lambing this year. The ewes and lambs are now all out in
the field on some of the best grass we’ve ever grown, and it’s a lovely
sight to watch the ewes cudding while the ‘lamb gangs’ hurtle about – no
gentle ‘gambolling’ here, they do everything at top speed!Interestingly, we’ve had strong gender theme with our lambing this year; of the 21 lambs born, only 5 are ewe lambs!
To keep the ‘spring’ theme going, we’ve also hatched some chicks; not as many as I would have liked – of the 14 eggs we put into the incubator only 4 turned out to be fertile, so I shall not be using that source again! However, the four we have are all robust little things, and, at a week old, are beginning to feather up well. The two lighter chicks are New Hampshire Reds, and the two darker ones are Cuckoo Dorkings, one of which we know is a cockerel as the breed is sex-linked – meaning the early plumage is different in males and females.
Cuckoo Dorking chick
New Hampshire Reds
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