August 2014

Having now lived and farmed at Green Farm since 2005, I’ve come to the conclusion that any problem, of any kind, is best dealt with sooner rather than later – and I firmly believe in the old adage that Prevention is always better than cure! So at the start of the month I arranged a visit from the vet to take blood samples from a selection or our ewes to determine whether our two lambing losses earlier this year were caused by an infectious disease that could be pinpointed. I was thinking specifically of Toxoplasmosis, or Enzootic Abortion, and our vet also suggested the possibility of Campylobacter.

While the vet was here, it also made economic sense to gather some faecal samples from the lambs for him to take back to the lab for Worm Egg Counts!
Our basic handling system comes into its own on these occasions, enabling us to gather the flock and separate specific animals for inspection or treatments in a calm, quiet manner – a far-cry from our early days of ‘sheep-grabbing’ which was frustrating for us and inevitably stressful for the sheep.

The test results from the vet confirmed that none of our ewes carried any disease or infection that might cause barrenness or abortion. Based on this, we’ve decided to remove one ewe from the flock as she’d had problems 2 years running, but all the others were fit to breed – depending on their condition pre-tupping.

Since we’d gathered the flock, it made sense to wean the lambs; at 15 weeks some of the ram lambs were getting frisky and we certainly didn’t want any unexpected Christmas lambs! Two days of pitiful bleating followed, but the plentiful, clover-rich pasture soon distracted them.
We’re really pleased to have sold some of our best lambs for breeding this year.

As a pedigree breeder, there is nothing more rewarding than selling good quality breeding stock, especially rams, to commercial farmers; their choice has to be based on sound business criteria, so it’s particularly satisfying for us to sell rams that will join a commercial flock of ewes, especially when the same farmer returns for more in subsequent years!

Conversely, our poultry-breeding this year has not been as successful! Our spring hatch turned out to be 75% cockerels – I would expect the odds to be roughly 50:50 male to female ratio, so this is rather a disappointment as we’d hoped to add to our laying flock. However, the cockerels are extremely handsome, especially the Red Dorkings – quite rare, with exquisite plumage – but, unless something happens to Eric, our Welsummer cock, they will all end up in the pot! At least the breeds, New Hampshire Reds as well as the Dorkings, are both large so will at least make a good family meal!

The end of August marks another transition: that from summer to autumn, and the signs of the changing seasons are all around us. Our summer visitors, the swallows, have had an exceptional breeding year here, and the numbers that gather each evening have filled the skies like I’ve never seen before; it’s a fantastic sight to watch them performing graceful aerobatics to catch the flies and midges against the amazing sunsets that the waning summer has brought this year.

Carole Youngs of The Smallholder Series has written a comprehensive guide to TAKING STOCK OF YOUR FLOCK for the autumn edition of Practical Sheep, Goats & Alpacas magazine, which is currently on sale in all good newsagents – or, better still, take out an annual subscription and receive a FREE copy of “Establishing Your Flock”, the first of four titles in the “Sheep on Your Smallholding” DVD set presented by Adam Henson.

www.smallholderseries.co.uk