The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: twizzel on March 21, 2013, 06:14:03 pm
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Anyone else having a bad time with the weather today... it started raining heavily here at 3am this morning and still hasn't stopped- monsoon rains and wind. Looking at the forecast we've got another 27 hours of heavy rain until it eases :-[
I turned out 7 of my orphan crew 2 weeks ago into the back garden, you might remember I posted a photo. Their shelter flooded today, they wouldn't step foot outside of the shelter for love nor money, so we relented and brought them in. They followed me all the way from the house to the bottom of the farm and have gatecrashed my other 5 lambs who are still on milk for the next couple of days. The other 5 are not impressed, not only do they have less room but I had to take out their shepherdess feeder as the other 7 are weaned :-\ so they are back on the bottle for a couple of days.
Ho hum... can't do anything about the weather can we... it is absolutely vile out there :gloomy:
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Overcast here in Wiltshire but no rain as such.
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We woke to a few cm of snow this morning then the sun came out and it all disappeared. But we've had snow / sleet / hail showers over the course of the afternoon. I'm getting really down about it tbh. We have no grass and no prospect of it growing much at the moment. :gloomy:
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We have two days of heavy rain interspersed with snow forecast, winds gusting up to 36 mph. Lambing was due to begin next Monday but so far we've had triplets and twins, both born 6 days early (earliest ever - sometimes have had an old ewe with twins lamb up to 3 days early). Nice timing, girls!
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Snowing or sleeting with barely a break for 4 days now.....and high winds tomorrow and Saturday....and I have flu.....
The only saving grace is the lambs here aren't due until the end ish of next month!!
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Here's my orphan crew tonight... feel much better now they are all in and drying off :)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/164481_10152069172242923_1846372451_n.jpg)
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Just in from sheep check and although I was winter clad I'm freezing - snowing and high winds - just checked forecast and not due till tomorrow - will now warm up before next check - on the the plus side they looked pretty chilled, hardy wee devils I am leaning to have great respect for them :thumbsup:
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Howling a gale and tipping it down here. Hope the twins we turned out this morning will be OK. Thankfully the sheep have lambed quickly so we have some empty yards we can turn ewes and lambs into if the weather is too bad for turning out.
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Howling a gale and tipping it down here.
Just back in from the barn ::) . All my ewes have taken themselves in there and one side has mothering pens with 3 sets of twins ;D . It is very calm and lovely in there but the horizontal rain is driving through the Yorkshire boarding and my little lambs have shiny wet fleeces >:( . Playing peek-a-boo round the piles of straw :D .
The fields are now starting to flood, they just can't take any more rain. No grass ??? , never been like this before at lambing.
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Howling winds and rain here with snow expected later today. It's bitterly cold and I would have liked to stay in bed! But if I wanted to stay in bed I shouldn't have had sheep!
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Gales here and snow blowing off the fields causing drifting, heavy snow forcast for later today :(
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Have woken up this morning to snow on the ground I'm starting to worry with lambing only a week away, thankfully they are all lambing indoors but I'll stil want to turn them out. The 30 degree heat wave of last march seems very long ago. :fc: For some sun so the grass can grow.
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Snow here over night and now sleeting. Heavy snow forecast for overnight and tomorrow. I could cry, fields are like mush, grass won't grow and lambs have had to be brought back in to the stables. Seems like winter has gone on for ever and quite frankly it's a bit depressing. Vitamin D is needed right now before I decide to hide under the duvet until someone comes to tell me the sun is shining :rant:
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Rain rain rain rain and wind, and then some more rain. Cold too, but that's not as annoying as the rain!
Fields are like mush, grass is zero. Sheep are bleating saying "where's all the grass mummy?!" Lambs are all wet, although they don't seem to be too miserable. Hay stocks down to 1 and a half bales so have to go and purchase some more this evening...
Waiting for the last two ewe lambs to lamb (due sunday and tuesday) before the others can be moved off to another wet wet field which has about a millimetre more grass in it that the one they are currently in.
*sigh*
Also tired now as had to catch the rams this morning to drag them across the (rising) stream onto higher ground before they got stranded. They are such girls and don't like getting their feet wet! haha.
I think we will miss the snow, so I am thankful for that, but I am praying for some dry days and sunshine. :fc:
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I know what you mean a few weeks ago we got another 100 small bales delivered from a guy in Hereford for our sheep and horses, how much would you pay for a bale of organic medium quality hay delivered?
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we pay £4.80 per bale but it's not organic. It's a nice quality meadow hay. The hay supplier lives next door so I don't pay delivery though, how much did you pay?
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£3.95 from eBay I think there is still some for sale if anyone wants some.
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goodness that's cheap, where in the country are you?
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Between Ludlow and Leominster on the Shropshire/Herefordshire border I think the man was based just outside Hereford.
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My fields have been under water since last year! They just haven't had enough dry periods to dry out, now we have snow again and more forecast :gloomy: . I had plans to lamb outdoors but that was not possible and 16 had to be brought in. 8 are stuck in lambing pens as I've got nowhere else to put them at the mo, the other 8 are in a large stable with access to outdoors but it's just a sea of mud. It's been a nightmare with regards the cost of feed and keeping them clean!