Well, we all survived the weeks of snow and
ice and regardless of weather the day to day work of running the holding continued.; in
fact, we seemed to be busier than ever!
The young male goat we had 'staying'
subsequently moved on to a friend a few miles away who also had a nanny she wanted
covered. Our two girls are due around second week of May and both are looking very
fit and well. On a sad note, our very aged Pygmy Wether contracted pneumonia
(as well as having a heart murmur) and despite numerous doses of antibiotics he finally
passed away in his sleep at the end of January. He'd lived to a good age and
although he annoyed the hell out of us at times, he was a real character and is still
sadly missed when going into the Goat Shed.
We 'finished' our remaining Berkshire and GOS
weaners in early February (several weeks past our planned date due to the weather) and
despite the fact there is risk of pigs running to fat if taken on for too long, these
girls, having the benefit of rushing around outdoors, 'finished' with a perfect level of
fat and as always the most beautiful flavour. On
this occasion we used the services of Dragon Farm Foods (near Tregaron) who are a
small family butchery business and we (and our customers) were absolutely delighted with
the butchery and the presentation of the pork.......We'll be using them from now on and
can highly recommend their services.
Still on the subject of pigs, our Gloucester
Old Spot Sow Gertrude is due to farrow around 23rd March and she too is looking very happy
and well. Daisy the Berkshire, currently has Bertie the boar
staying with her at the moment (this is a Champion Peter Lad Boar belonging to Chris Impey
of Cwmbran) and they are both holed up in the newly refurbished dutch barn, and looking
very snug as you can see the from the photo.
Finally we get to the sheep and all 22 of in
the in-lamb ewes are now safely bedded down in the new barn. Our first is due
around 9th March, which is one of the Ryelands, and we'll then be on sheep watch day and
night for about 4 weeks.
As mentioned in the final update of 2009, due
to the snow, snow and even MORE snow.....feeding and watering of livestock took on a whole
new regime. Water pipes and subsequently - water troughs...were freezing
up on a daily basis and meant not only constantly having to break ice, but also bucketing
water to those troughs that were no longer self-filling. The Pigs and
Goats revelled in having extra Haylage (which they all absolutely ADORE), but the sheep
were a different story. We have 18 breeding Ewes and 2 rams about half a mile
away and this therefore meant taking daily rations of Hay to them......and the only way to
get there was on the Quad.
