Getting ready for farrowing!

ewes and lambs scampering down the hill
for their feed!

Emma (the vet) and
Alan drenching the ewe

We have had a busy week ....we moved the 13 ewes and 18 lambs down to the bank field, as they didn't have enough grass up here.  It was a tricky manouvre; we put the lambs into the small open top trailer, and normally the ewes run along behind - but this time they were more interested in eating ....and some ran off down the road instead of across the field!  a few of the them even got into the cricket pitch...(not actually ON the pitch i hasten to add!) We eventually got them all down into the field, and then let out all the lambs...they were thrilled to get some decent grass.  The lambs look fantastic in the main - we are still feeding them once a day on hard feed to keep up the milk supply for a while longer.  We brought Alice and Annabel back to the farm, so that we can continue halter training them.  Sadly one of the last two ewes to lamb; has gone rapidly down hill.  She was due to have twins, and suddenly stopped eating on Thursday - we've had the vet out twice, and been drenching her with a glucose/mineral fluid, and serious antibiotics, but she is still not eating any hard food.  She is out in the Care Farm Garden today and at least eating a bit of grass, but i am not hopeful about her chances / or the lambs....we rather fear she could be carrying dead lambs, or has 'absorbed' them...the trials of sheep farming.

Sandy is looking 'imminent'....i reckon she will farrow within the next 48 hours - i'm really hoping she doesn't start till Monday, when Gerry is back!  We have her in the nursery all ready, and the heat lamp is rigged up just in case....

We have another bantam sitting on eggs in the poly tunnel - the other one is out with the hens in the main run - unfortunately 3 of her 5 chicks are cockerels...!

We have had 4 chicks hatch over the last 24 hours in the incubator - let's hope they aren't all cockerels!

We have loads of seeds coming up in the poly tunnel, and have been planting out broad beans, and onions and getting the pots ready for sweet peas.  We have planted carrot, beetroot, and pea seeds out, and sown more salads inside the poly tunnel.

we were really lucky to be given funding for two new pig arcs that arrived from Devon on Thursday....our others were inherited second hand, and very delapidated, and definitely wouldn't do another winter, so we are really thankful to The Cotswold Primrose Trust for their help, and to 'Traditional Pig Arks'.

preparing woodland for the new
pig arks

all the buckets cleaned out after lambing!

Nearly finished!

Lambing has nearly finished.... 13 of our ewes have lambed and we have 9 ram lambs and 9 ewe lambs!  They are a cracking bunch of lambs, and are all out in the field next to the Care Farm.  There is a real shortage of grass though, so we are going to move them back down to the bank field next week.  We still have two left to lamb so they will stay up here, and we will (if she will come to call) catch Alice up again, and bring her back, so we can continue to halter train her with the students.
The students all helped today to catch the lambs, and separate them so we could worm their mothers....it was a great team effort.

We brought Sandy down to the Nursery on Monday ....it's all ready for her to farrow at the end of this month.  She is certainly looking pregnant again - so fingers crossed they will arrive the last week of April (if not before)  Hazel is with Perry, and so she should be pregnant too....we will wait and see for a few more weeks, before moving him out.

We have two lots of eggs in incubators at the moment; one lot are due to hatch this weekend.  We are trying a new method as we had such bad luck with hatching them last year ....no water in the incubator until 4 days before hatching, when you take out the racks.  Who knows whether it will be a success...i will keep you posted on that!

All our seeds are coming along brilliantly in the poly tunnel, and we planted out beetroot and pea seeds today, in the raised beds.  Each week, the students have been turning over the beds, and adding compost where needed - it all looks very professional, and hopefully we will get a really good cropping of vegetables for our veg boxes.

This weather is a real pain....really warm one minute, then pouring down with rain the next - and then freezing at night - nothing is growing quick enough for us.  Apparently we may even get snow on Saturday!

LAMBING HAS STARTED!

We had our first set of twins at around 2am Tuesday 29th March!  I came out to check the ewes in the yard (we bring them in each night now so it's easier to keep an eye on them / keep them warm) and there they were...clever mum!  We have had a lovely big single ewe lamb, and one other set of twins so far....two or three others look very close and with the lovely sunny days we are having they should arrive soon (I hope,  as it's exhausting getting up in the night twice for days on end)

Mike at one of our Easter
Parties

Sad news, a good friend, and former volunteer passed away recently; Mike Hyams.  He was one of our first volunteers here at the Care Farm, and will be sorely missed.  He also helped out at the RDA at Coates, nr Cirencestser, and was the most gentle of men, and always got on so well with everybody.
Gerry and i represented the Care Farm at his funeral this week.

Mike working with Mark
fixing our recycled hay rack

Gerry and i went to a very interesting talk and presentation last weekend, on the history of Oxford Sandy & Black pigs...so we now know how the breed was started,and all the finer points on 'breed standards'!  We also picked up some 'Vorwerk' eggs for our incubator - let's hope we have better luck this year than previous years....watch this space!

Off to check on those ewes again now.....

Happy Easter!

We have had a really busy couple of weeks, starting with our Open days last week.  The students were great showing our visitors around ...they are really proud of what they accomplish.

This week, we have been moving our livestock around - firstly, we moved Perry the boar in with Hazel...she was thrilled (not so sure about him...) although they seem very settled now.  Sandy is having a lovely time on her own and putting on weight - so hopefully piglets towards the end of April.  We will leave Perry in with Hazel for at least six weeks, to make sure she is covered.

We then brought the 14 lambing ewes back up to the farm.  They are amazing....coming to call and walking back across the fields with the students; straight down the track and into the field here!

Sunset at the Care Farm

Alan on duty!

Yesterday, we took the Annabel and Alice to a 'transition event' at the National Star College for the day, along with 4 hens and the bantam and her chicks...!  Gerry, and Alan were on duty with two regular students - they all behaved beautifully!

The other two ewe lambs that we are training have gone down to join their friends at Perrotts Brook for a week or so and then we will move them back to the bank.

The ewes should start lambing this weekend, so we will bring them in each night from now onwards.  They are having two hard feeds per day (approximately 1 1/2 lbs each) and hopefully that means they get enough to support the growth of their lambs.

Today to end the term we all had a picnic....in the poly tunnel!  It was the largest space inside and warm - we are thinking of loaning it out as a venue now....all the tables and chairs down the centre and a 'pick your own' salad each side!  Thank you to all our staff, volunteers and students that supplied cakes and salads.

When we start back again on 11 April, we should have lambs!  Happy Easter everyone!

photos!

one of our bantams getting a bit too friendly!

feeding the pregnant ewes

Patch!

post half term break!

the students are back and at last we have some beautiful weather cold but glorious sunshine!
We decided the monday before half term was the very WORST day's weather we had ever had, and as it was SO cold and wet...we gave ourselves a treat, and cooked up some of the OSB sausages and bacon for break!    It's really hard to keep the students' spirits up when it's that wet and cold...but luckily we have the poly tunnel to plant seeds/salads in, and the portacabin to keep warm in.  We spent a lot of the morning, pricing up the bacon, sausages and pork for selling locally.

It was so windy last weekend that Perry and Sandy's pig sty blew up on end...they looked really pathetic trying to snuggle up together with nothing to cover them!  Luckily it wasn't raining ....and after much heaving Mike and i managed to get it back over while they were eating.
Sandy is looking pregnant we think, so within the next two weeks; as soon as Hazel comes back into season next door, we are going to move Perry in with her!  Sandy will then spend a bit of time on her own, before coming down to the 'nursery' at the end of March ready for farrowing in April.

The hens are all starting to lay again thankfully, and the ducks are laying 3 blue and 3 white eggs per day at the moment....we have taken some up to our local post office shop in Rendcomb to sell.
We've got a bantam sitting on 6 eggs (a bit early) but she is very broody, so we may have some chicks in a couple of weeks....

Yesterday, as the weather was so perfect we took the students on a lovely countryside walk - taking in our woodland.   We came back armed with lots of empty roman snail shells, fur cones and bits of wood for making an insect sculpture / mosaic in the garden.  It was lovely to be able to spend some time out and also get a good deal of exercise into the bargain!

When i figure out how to get the photos off my new phone i will upload some - i know YET again....i am useless with technology!

SCANNING!

We brought the ewes (and Tonto!) back to the care farm this wednesday ready for scanning.  They are incredibly well behaved sheep ...just two of us walked them back across the fields and down the track, and they went straight into the yard!  We managed to get Tonto separated eventually the following morning...although not without incident - he did try to head butt Mike and Phillip...through the hurdles!  But patience won out, and with some food in a bucket he walked calmly into the trailer.  We delivered him back this weekend to his rightful owner in Chedworth.
The scanning went really well - we are having 8 singles, and 6 sets of twins - this suits us, as singles grow so much quicker, and we don't want the flock to get much larger anyway.
All the ewes look really well, so let's hope we get some sunshine (after the next appalling week of rain!) to bring them on for the Spring.   By our calculations, we should start lambing at the end of March - so watch this space!.

Perry has been running with Sandy the sow for about 6 weeks now, so hopefully she is pregnant, and the piglets will be due at the end of April.  We will move him in with Hazel within the next month or so.. then hopefully get two litters this summer.

The hens and ducks are all laying well again - although it's a struggle with this weather with all the animals...so much mud!

We collected lots of bacon, sausages and pork this weekend, so do call in and buy some - we are open monday, wednesday & thursdays...ring first just in case!