the accidental smallholder :: diary archives

Farmrite - top service

Yesterday lunchtime I ordered a pair of hoof shears for the sheep from Farmrite. The website was easy to use, and it had a little box to fill in to say what to do if we weren't in to take the delivery (leave it in the greenhouse). This morning at 9am they dropped through the letterbox in a jiffy bag.

The price was extremely keen, the delivery charge reasonable, and they put a little sticker on the front with the instructions I'd put on the form. I'm quick enough to moan about bad service, so here's to Farmrite - they'll be getting my custom again.

First pedicure

We trimmed our sheeps' feet for the first time yesterday. It wasn't as traumatic as I expected - for anyone!

Ian, husband of Jane, who bred our shhep, came down to lend us the clippers and offer advice. He also brought the "purple spray" in case we got carried away. However, Jane and I had discussed this on the phone and agreed that we'd rather be cautious and trim more often than risk cutting too far.

Once we got the lambs caught and tipped over on their bottoms, they co-operated fully while I snipped away. I think I may have been a bit over-cautious but will have more confidence next time. I did two and Dan did one, so we both got a chance to try it.

So we're going to invest in our own clippers, since we'll have sheep for a long time (hopefully).

Shearing next...

Ear tags

Jinx has lost her ear tag - well, technically it's not lost - it's on top of the key cupboard in the scullery. But it's not in her ear, where it should be. And she now resembles some kind of punk sheep with her ear cut in two. It's a hell of a wound to have been made by a plastic tag. I think her show days are over before they even started!

We were checking them over today and immediately noticed that her ear was bleeding and the tag was gone. She must have caught it in the hay net - so no more hay nets. I've sprayed the wound with iodine and it stopped bleeding - fortunately, it's past the time for flies. Other than that, I'll leave well alone.

I spoke to her breeder, who's a friend of mine, and she told me that this had happened to one of her sheep, on a hay rack (dangerous business, this hay stuff). On Jane's advice, I'm not going to retag her just now but will keep the tag in case we sell her (not likely) or send her for slaughter (even less likely).

Jane's coming next week to deliver a masterclass on foot trimming, so that should be interesting.

Rosedean Flock of Pedigree Ryelands

Finally, the Ryeland Flock Book Society has sent me a form to upgrade my membership to "flock-owning". So Juno, Jura and Jinx are now the foundation stock of the Rosedean flock of pedigree Ryelands. I don't think they are awfully impressed, though.

It's funny how their personalities are showing through now they've settled in. Jinx was really shy and skittish when we got them but she's now the boldest and the most vocal. She also has a very distinctive voice - actually, I think I can recognise all three now.

Now that they are "official", I should start halter training them just in case I'm brave enough to show them next year! I've bought a halter so should make a start - they're only small so what can go wrong...

I wish I'd had my camera...

because yesterday, I saw something I'd never seen before and wished I could have recorded it. I popped out to collect eggs. As I went into the field, I looked left under the willow and saw the three sheep lying down. Nothing unsual in that, but one of the young cockerels was lying on Juno's back. Now, I've seen lambs lying on their mother's back, but a cockerel? By the time I got back with the camera, everyone was up and looking for food, but I definitely saw it...

Settling in

Well, our three Ryelands seem to have settled in fine. They like the grass covered mound of rubble in the field - gives them a good vantage pont to keep a lookout for anyone who looks like they MIGHT have a bucket with them.

The judicious use of small amounts of sheep mix means that we can now get hands on two of the three - Jinxy is proving a little shyer than Juno and Jura. A friend of mine thinks they look like Ewoks, which is pretty true.

I'm just glad we managed to move them between outbreaks of FMD. Our pigs are due to be slaughtered on 16th October, which should be OK if nothing else changes. If we can't move them to slaughter, it's a bit of a pain and we'll be paying for feed we don't need, but for commercial farmers it must be a nightmare.

Juno, Jura and Jinx

There was great excitement today as the foundation stock for our pedigree Ryeland sheep flock arrived.

Dan was out at the crack of dawn finishing setting up the new electric fence. To be honest, we've not had good reports about sheep and electric fencing, so we'll try it and see how it goes. At the moment, it's only used to keep them out of the orchard, so if they get through it, it's not a great disaster. The first to get zapped by the fence was a Black Rock hen - no eggs from her today! The second was Meg, who had been through the fence fine but on the return, she stopped half way with the middle strand on her back. What a yelp! I felt so sorry for her, but she's none the worse for it.

Jane and Ian, the breeders, kindly delivered the three ewe lambs this morning. To save them coming right along with the trailer, Dan lifted them over the stile. Two are quite small - the dark brown one is somewhat larger!

I want to spend the next week or so getting them tame - they already recognise a bucket, but don't recognise me yet. The dark brown one, Juno, is the boldest and also the greediest (or maybe the greediest and therefore the boldest). She's also about half as big again as the other two, although she is about a month older and was a single lamb whereas the other two were twins (not with each other - each had a male twin). They are all half-sisters.

These girls are well used to dogs - Tess tried to move them and they lined up and looked her her as if to say "Oh yeah, you and who else?". To be honest, our dogs aren't that interested in sheep any more.

My only concern is their ears. They've just been tagged, so I'll need to watch for flies.

They are terribly cute, as you will see from the photos. Naturally, we will keep the diary updated with progress.