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Sheep |
Cattle |
Crops |
Other |
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Ewes and lambs start eating our
own fields of kale or finishing off
neighbour?s fields that have grown
winter vegetables such as
cauliflower or calabrese.
Vaccinate the February lambing
ewes for 8 clostridial diseases
including tetanus. This is an
annual injection that protects the
lambs they are carrying as well as
the ewes
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Lambing our young ewes ? first
time mothers can try you?re
patience!
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Male cattle sold at
2 years old |
Small amount of nitrogen
applied to promote early grass
growth.
Other nutrients applied if soil
samples demonstrate shortages
e.g. sea sand to correct soil pH.
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Wean lambs born in November,
select the ewe & ram lambs we
want to keep for breeding & start
selling the others.
Vaccinate the lambs we are
keeping for breeding for clostridial
diseases. They need 2 doses in
their first year. |
Most of the calves
are born
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Sheds cleaned out and farmyard
manure spread on the fields
More nitrogen applied to fields
where hay and silage will be cut.
Fields ploughed and drilled for
Spring Barley ? these are usually
fields where kale was grown for
the sheep
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Tailing ewes. A tidying up job,
shearing off all the dirty wool
around their tails. |
Cows and calves
put out to grass
Yearlings put out
to grass
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Mend gates
and fences
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Shearing ewes. We have 3 shearers that come in and shear all
the ewes in about 3 days. The
wool goes to the British Wool
Marketing Board depot.
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Silage fields cut and grass made
into big bales and wrapped in
plastic to make them airtight |
Repair stone-
faced hedges |
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Put the rams in with ewes on 6th
June for lambing from 1st Nov
(usually 1 ram per 40 ? 50 ewes)
Take dung samples from the lambs
and do faecal egg counts to check
whether they have too large a
worm burden. If they do, give them
a worm drench
Keep a sharp look out for blowfly
strike in the lambs. The blowfly lays
eggs on the fleece which in wam
weather can hatch out into
maggots that burrow into the
animal?s skin. We prevent this by
applying a pour-on insect growth
regulator to the back, neck and tail
of the lambs to prevent the eggs
hatching out. |
Limousin Bull (called
Preacher Man) put
in with cows for
calving in March
Creep feeders put
out with cows and
calves so that the
calves get a bit of
extra barley & GM
free protein.
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Mend water
troughs and
check for leaks
Dig out or spot
spray thistles
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Take rams out so that we finish
lambing before Christmas
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Hay fields cut and grass turned
for several days until it is dry
enough to bale (weather
permitting!). All hands on deck
to carry bales into the shed
before it rains.
Winter sown barley and winter
oats combined. Grain and straw
stored in the shed for the winter |
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Spring sown barley combined
and carried.u
g
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Ultrasound scan ewes due to lamb
in November to find out whether
they are in lamb & if so, whether
they will have 1, 2, 3 or even 4
lambs.
Start feeding ewes carrying twins,
triplets or quads at the end of the
month.
Put the rams in with ewes on 6th
September for lambing from 1st
February. These are mainly ewe
lambs that were born the previous
November and will lamb for the first
time when they are 15 months old.
Also any of the November flock that
were scanned not in lamb.
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Fields ploughed ready for
winter sown crops. One field of
stubble left over winter to
provide food for birds (they also
pick up corn when we feed the
sheep in the fields in the
winter) |
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Vaccinate the November lambing
ewes for 8 clostridial diseases
including tetanus. This is an annual
injection that protects the lambs
they are carrying as well.
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End of October
calves are weaned
and housed in the
next door pen to
their mothers for
the winter
Last year?s heifer
calves sold at 20
months old |
Winter crops sown |
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Lambing. We see the ewes every 3
hours day & night when they?re
lambing.
Put ewes & lambs out on our grass
fields or on neighbouring dairy
farms who like the sheep to tidy up
the grass. They are fed on barley
with some additional GM free
protein & minerals.
Creep feeders in the fields let the
lambs have a bit of extra feed that
the ewes can?t reach. This is a
special mix for young lambs that
we buy in. Again it?s GM free.
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Lambing
Ultrasound scan February lambing
ewes to see how many lambs they
are carrying. Start giving
supplementary feed to those
carrying more than one lamb.
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