News
2009
Christmas and into New Year
The Turkeys and Geese went off on their final
journey as few days beforeChristmas but getting them there proved to be slightly more
challenging than we had planned due to a snow fall and ice!
However, we did get them to their destination and duly collected the 'Oven Ready' versions
the day before Christmas Eve. The last Turkey to leave Glyn Elwyn was delivered in a bag,
inside a Rucksack and strapped to the Quad......but it was delivered at 3pm Christmas Eve
- We aim to please.
We were very pleased with the extremely
encouraging feedback in respect of the 'free range' flavours . One customer
even said "that was the best Turkey we have ever eaten, and for the first time,
we used every single bit of the bird". Goose was on our own
Christmas Day menu and the dark 'gamey' flavour was truly delicious.
Just before New Year we experienced further
snowfall and feeding of the stock took on a whole new regime!!
December
The Dutch Barn work continues and today
(14th) it is finally completed. We are delighted to have another very useful animal
house and we have several critters lining up waiting to use it!! The
Free Range Christmas Geese will move in tomorrow for their final week. This means
they can put all their efforts into 'finishing' off and be clean and dry for their final
day. On the subject of Christmas dinners....the turkeys too have now
been moved into the other barn for the same reason!
A young Male Anglo Nubian Goat has now come
to stay for a couple of months too and is keeping himself busy "entertaining"
our two Nanny Goats.
So, we have a rather busy Spring coming up
with Lambing in March, Farrowing in April and Kidding in May.........all so exciting and
always mesmerizing as these new lives begin to appear.
October into November
With September and October being wonderfully
dry, November brought with it more damp weather which made all the jobs around the farm
very difficult due to the ground being so waterlogged. However, work carried on
regardless and as you will see from the photos, the old Dutch Barn is being treated to a
well overdue face-lift! The old rusty corrugated sheeting was removed
completely and the inside was reinforced with 5' high concrete block walls. A
new concrete floor was laid too....and the building was finally beginning to look like it
might actually be useful in the not too distant future!
The Rams were introduced to their respective
groups of wives during mid October...and very happy they were too. However, just prior to
these rendevous', a visit to the local Machinery Mart gave us the opportunity to bid on
and (happily) purchase a sheep turnover crate. This piece of kit meant that we
could run each of the sheep through a race and into the crate one at a time; turn them
over and trim their feet before they were released into their respective fields.
Money well spent, and our own Back's saved the agony of manually turning each
one over !!
We were delighted to welcome back our old
friend "Quaker" the Gloucester Old Spot boar and who has taken us residence with
Gertie for a couple of months.
October
The beginning of October saw the last 6 ram
lambs go on their final journey and they are now safely tucked up in customers’
freezers.
In the garden, the Autumn Raspberries are growing in abundance and along with the
Blackberries from the hedgerows, ‘Summer Puddings’ – or maybe they should
be called ‘Autumn Puddings’ – are a regular on the Dessert Menu.
September
Following Augusts’ Rain, rain and more
rain; September was wall to wall sun and dry warm weather - Fantastic. The grass is
shooting up again following the haylage cutting…..actually, we won’t talk about
that – very disappointing crop – but lessons learned for the future. So, lots of
grazing still available for the stock before winter sets in and which is already an
improvement on last year.
We attended our first Sheep Auction in September, which was the Lleyn Sheep Society sale
at Carmarthen. We were on the lookout for a nice Lleyn stock ram to cover our Pedigree
ewes for the next couple of years. There were some nice looking Rams on sale and we
practiced our ‘selection skills’ and picked out 4 that we thought were
particularly good. We sat through the auctioning of all the lambs, yearlings and ewes
before getting to the Rams – which was a very interesting experience. Two of the rams
we’d selected turned out to be much sought after, and subsequently were outside our
price range. The third one we did start bidding on, but again it went over our
‘budget’ which we were determined to stick to and the 4th went straight in at an
opening bid above our limit. So, although a good date, very interesting and educational,
we sadly came away empty handed. However as we were particularly impressed by the one we
were outbid on, we contacted the owner the following day to enquire if they had any others
for sale…..and to cut a long story short – we collected ‘Po’ a few
days later. A 4 year Pedigree Lleyn, bred by the vendors and used by them to produce some
excellent ‘true to type’ stock.
So, we are now a 3 Ram family, and they are all due to start work mid October. We have
something of a complicated flocking arrangement now, what with having 3 different flocks
– White Ryelands, Coloured Ryelands and Lleyns. Our “Rams Gallery” is on
the photos page.
During September, all the piglets went off to their new homes with the exception of 3
which we will raise for Christmas Pork.
August
Well, August came and went with rain, rain
and more rain. However, we did manage to find a few warm, dry, sunny day in order to
make a couple of acres of hay for the winter. Our 'Guru' farmer from the next
village kept tabs on the weather with us and then struck when the time was right and cut
the crop. Derek then spent the next 7 days (in between bouts of rain!) turning it
and Darren was back on the 7th day and baled it for us. We knew we were
extremely lucky to have got it off the fields at all.
Our luck almost ran out when it came to
making the haylage though. Days and days of rain left the ground permanently wet and
so when a gap in the weather meant Darren could come back and cut, out hearts were in our
mouths and our eyes were glued to the internet weather forcast waiting for an opportunity
to bale and wrap. Again, another week passed and with one day only showing no
rain, the big baler turned up at 10.30 pm to bale and wrap our very
disappointing crop. BUT, at least we got it.
On a happier note, our Ryeland Sheep flock
increased early in the month with the addition of 7 Coloured Ryelands. 3
Shearlings, 3 Ewes and 'Harvey' the Ram. Harvey was under the misguided
impression that 'Humans' meant 'Food' !!! Not so mate. After
getting butted on more than one occasion, I took serious measures and armed myself with
the crook every time I needed to go into his field. This, I hasten to add,
wasn't to bash him with, but to simply put across at an angle between him and me, so that
I could reach him to give him a pat, but he was prevented from getting to me.
A month of training in this manner had the desired effect and although I wouldn't turn my
back on him for very long, he does now understand that getting cross with me...doesn't
mean he gets a bucket of food!!!
More on the sheep front, and the first of
this years ram lambs went off on their final destination and produced some very impressive
weights "on the hook". The prices this year have improved and so we
were very pleased with this our first crop. We have 6 more to 'finish' at the
beginning of October in order to supply our local customers, as well as fill our own
freezer.
The other home produced meat - gorgeous Rare
Breed Pork was 'finished' and was snapped up by some very happy customers. the
next batch will be ready just before Christmas. On the subject of
Christmas, the Christmas Geese are all looking good and should make some superb weights
for the table.
One piece of kit that I'd been harping on
about for over a year - was a Quad bike. Having done some research
into 'which one', I'd settled on a Honda being the one to look out for. By
coincidence, a fellow Forum user had exactly the beast I wanted and offered it to me for a
very good price, complete with trailer....AND...delivery from Exeter. Despite Derek's
protests that this was NOT an essential piece of equipment.....he seems to have had a
change of mind having used it for carting hurdles, fencing posts etc AND for even doing
the harrowing without having to churn up the already very wet fields by using the tractor.
Was I right.....or was I right ?
July
Guess what we've been busy doing? Well,
as you can see from the photos alongside, our Sows have been producing some fantastic
litters for us. Daisy, our Berkshire, produced 8 gilts and 2 boars all of
which are big, fat, healthy little critters. These are by last year's Champion of
Champions "Peter Lad" boar belonging to Chris Impey from Cwmbran.
Then the following day Gertie, our Gloucester Old
Spot, popped out 12 gorgeous little bundles of spots! Haven't managed to check out
the sexes yet as there are so many of them dashing around. We are going to have to
have a sort out over the next day or two but for the moment, they are all such a joy just
to stand and watch.
We have also added to our flock of Ryelands
with some 'Coloured' stock. We have 'Harvey' the ram, plus 3 ewes and 2 shearlings.
The first of the 'Welsh Lambs' for the meat
market went off a few weeks ago and the next 4 go at the end of the month. All sheep
are quite high maintenance as there is a constant regime of vaccinating, worming, ear
tagging, foot trimming and so on - so its not for the faint hearted to go into
Sheep-Keeping! 'Tash', our border collie, is an invaluable assett
when it comes to rounding the sheep up and getting them penned in. She's still
learning (as are we), but we know we couldn't manage without her.
With Christmas in mind, we have 6 goslings
grazing in the small paddock next to the house.
For any Livestock for sale - do keep a
check on the 'Livestock' Page for the latest info.,
and more photos can be found in the 'Photos' section.
June
Well every season I think to myself
"this is the busiest season of the year".....but then the next season kicks
off....and I think the same thing again!!! So....when it comes to farming,
even on a small scale like us - there is NEVER a dull moment and it takes a lot of careful
planning to get a day off !!
For starters, the sheep are a constant
challenge. We herded them up and transported them back to the farm and
installed them in the new barn ready for shearing. This gave us the
opportunity to set up the shearing pen and which is a huge help when it comes to having to
do the seasonal 'tasks'. So, all the sheep had their feet trimmed; the adults
had their Blue Tongue vaccines and the lambs had their 1st Pasteurella vaccines.
Then on Sunday 14th the shearing took place and I got some more tuition and
managed to have a go on a few of our sheep. It all looks so easy when the
experts are doing it, but believe me......it is NOT.
We have bought in a new Gloucester Old Spot
sow by the name of Gertrude. She is a fantastic natured pig and thus is very easy to
handle. She is a registered Princess Joan line and is currently in pig with a
farrowing date of 22nd July - so fingers crossed for a nice big litter from this lovely
sow.
On Tuesday 16th, our lovely Anglo-Nubian
'Jane' gave birth to three wonderful kids. Two females and
one male meant that my 'orders' were instantly covered. We'll be
keeping one female back to increase our own herd. At one week old they had the
unenviable task of having to be transported to the vets to be dis-budded (have their horn
buds removed) ; but all went well and all of us were back home from the vets in record
time.
With the very warm weather interspersed with
the occasional downpour, the grass is growing exceptionally well. This has a
two fold effect in that the grass for the sheep grows too long...and therefore has to be
'topped' (which is what Derek is busy doing in the top photo), but on the other hand means
that its growing well in other fields ready to produce our winter hay and haylage.
Aside from all the livestock happenings, the
Poly tunnel is in full flow and is in a highly productive stage. Also, gooseberries,
blackcurrants, strawberries and rhubarb are all giving us fantastic crops and as well as
lots of lovely yummy 'puddings', Jam is again on the "To Do" list!!
You may also remember that our 1953 Fergie
Tractor had moved on and into the hands of a local friend to restore her to her original
condition. Well we were in for a suprise recently when our Fergie turned up, looking like
new, and not showing any signs of her 55 years! Have a look at the 'Before and After' Photos for some more piccies.
May
The beginning of May still sees us waiting
for one last ewe to lamb - who obviously missed the boat the first time around!
Two of the Berkshire weaners from the last
litter, along with Clover our 2 year old Old Spot Gilt are delivered to their new home
just half a mile away. All 3 are destined for breeding and its good to be able to
keep in contact with them.
Daisy has returned home and due to farrow
late July. So we'll again have lots of little piglets running around in the
summer. Orders for both breeds are coming in, although the "Gloucester Old
Spot" seems to have become a firm favourite of late and has developed quite a
following.
April
Lambing continues into April with more large
single lambs and 3 sets of twins. These are moved to some fresh new grazing half a
mile away and its wonderful to see the lambs 'springing' around on the warm and sunny
days.
With one of the last two Lleyn ewes to lamb
showing signs of stress on her 'due' day, this culminated in the vet being called and an
emergency caesarian operation out in the field. Fortunately it was one of
those lovely warm, sunny days and so the conditions could have been worse!
Phil, the vet delivered a very large ewe lamb out the side door
but unfortunately it all got a bit too much for the ewe and we lost her just as the last
few stitches were going in. The lamb took some stimulation as not having come out of
the normal channel, they don't go through the usual 'process' of being born.
However, she pulled through and other than giving us a scare on day 4 when she decided to
collapse (back to the vet.....put on oxygen, filled with antibiotics and vitamins), she is
now doing really well and shows great promise as a good sized future breeding ewe.
Also, and finally, our new barn is finished.
What a relief to be able to store the trailers and other machinery and
equipment under cover at long last.
March
To us, Spring has arrived and so has the
first lamb (2nd March). A tiny ram lamb born to the oldest of our 3 Ryeland Ewes and
who needed a little bit of TLC for the first 24 hours. 2 days later
another ram lamb but this time - HUGE! This was out of one of our original
Crossbred ewes but by our Ryeland Ram, Hywel.
Corky comes home from his stop-over with
Quaker and her litter is due mid June. Meanwhile, Daisy has gone to the
"Champion of Champions" Peter Lad Boar over in Cwmbran. The owner (Chris
Impey) is a very well knows breeder of Berkshire Pigs and has fantastic success on the
show circuit, so we are looking forward to some little stunners from her next litter.
Also, finally, work has started on our new
barn.
February
Snow!! Proper softly falling,
flakey snow fell on us at the beginning of February....along with a good proportion of the
rest of the country. Fortunately for us we'd stocked up on animal feed the day
before (phew) and so were able to stay put for a week without having to venture out in the
car anywhere. The ckickens couldn't work out what the stuff was and stayed
within the confines of their houses. The pigs weren't too impressed either and
decided to hibernate for a couple of weeks. However, we did (of course) manage
to build a Snowman complete with carrot nose and coal eyes etc.
With Spring rapidly approaching we decided to
put a new roof on the holiday annexe and this has now been completed and looks lovely with
its new slates. We then decided the interior needed a freshen up and so we are
currently in the middle of redecorating in preparation for the coming holiday season.
Thousands of snowdrops are bursting forth all
over the garden and hundreds of daffodils bulbs are just waiting for the right moment to
drop their heads and open up. Very exciting to see so much life coming back into the
garden.
Jane, our Anglo Nubian goat had a lodger
staying with her for a few weeks, by the name of Tomas. (Photo on photos page) He
has now returned to his home near Aberystwyth and kids are due early June. Corky the
Gloucester Old Spot has gone to stay with her old mate "Quaker" for a few weeks
and so hope for a better success this time around.
The latter part of this month has been
wonderfully dry to ours and the animals relief. Its amazing just how
quickly the ground starts to dry out after just a couple of days. Pigs busily
rooting around to their hearts content once again. Hens scratching around right
across the fields.....and once again laying copious amounts of wonderful eggs. And
the lambs????........due any day now.
January
On a very wet and windy Saturday in the
middle of January saw us finally dispatching our Sasso Chickens (at
around 18-20 weeks). We enlisted some help from a local expert (Paul) who brought
along his stunner and showed us how to dispatch them. Another local friend from
Talog (David) who actually came along to take a look at an old Finger Mower we have for
sale, also pitched in to help Derek and I with the plucking and we thus set up quite a
good production line in the barn/stable area. Paul finished the process by
drawing the birds for us and we ended up with 10 fantastic looking oven-ready birds
weighing in at a marvelous total of 25 kilos. Fantastic.
Our 1953 Fergie Tractor has also moved on and
is now in the hands of yet another local friend who is lovingly restoring her to her
original condition. We will be monitoring her progress and hope to update the
site with photos showing the changes over the coming months.
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