Farm Diary
DECEMBER & JANUARY
Down on the farm we still had all our cattle out on the fields up until the first weekend in December. This has saved a lot of work for this time of year as usually the cattle are in the sheds by the first week in November, Mark cannot believe that it is 2 weeks until Christmas because of this. The Briarhil Ladies were all scanned to see if they were pregnant last month by the vet and all were pregnant except one. The vet said that she has cysts on her ovaries so could prove difficult to get in calf, but he has injected her with some wonder drug and so she is now outside with Clint and four young heifers, we have named the cow "Baroness". The calves born this year will be weaned from their mothers after new year and so there will be a lot of X Factor auditions going on for a week, no more i hope as our bedroom window is just outside the cow sheds and so will have to sleep with ear-muffs on. We have seperate feeds for the cattle, the in-calf heifers will be fed straw as we do not want them to get to fat with calving in spring, the cows with late calves on them still will be fed silage, the weaned calves are fed silage and corn as well as the mature beef cattle. The weaned calves will also have to be wormed after they are seperated. In the last farm diary i mentioned that our last calf born was Twiglet, well Twiglet is now in heaven coral, she was found dead in the field last month which was very tragic as she was the best heifer calf born this year, the vet thinks she twisted her gut, as we are not allowed to bury dead livestock we have a local firm come to the farm to collect the body on which we have to pay for this service and no compensation for the loss.
We have had a very busy time at the cottages with people coming and going during the year. Broadband internet has now been installed in both cottages and this will be helpful for finding out up to date information on places to visit. Almost everyone wants the spa room to themselves but this is not viable due to extra electric and heating costs and turning bookings down and so we are trying a different way for people to use the spa, there will be two periods of use for either cottage and so hopefully every one will be happy with this compromise. Something else new to the cottages is an alternative B@B and this will only be available in Oaktree Cottage. Guests can arrive after 4pm and depart by 11-30am next day. Included will be a DIY breakfast pack, an Indian/English meal delivered to the cottage and one hours use in the steaming hydrotherpy pool. The Oakpond Ladies are going on strike with laying less eggs, this is due to the cold weather, i am now feeding them pasta as this is like a Christmas meal to them and it keeps them happy and warm inside.
Maggie and Macey are counting the days until Christmas as they too have a turkey meal with all the trimmings. Nelson has now had a saddle that fits him which he is happy with, he is getting use to tractors now down the roads which is a good thing and he has put some condition on since he has been here. Nelson will start his dressage lessons in the new year ready for the spring events, he might be rubbish or be good, who knows!
A Merry Christmas and a happy new year from the Oakpond/Briarhill Gang
Bye for now
Mark, Bev, Maggie, Macey, Nelson and the Oakpond Ladies/herd
Bye For Now
Bev and mark and not forgetting Maggie, Macy, Fifi, Bug and the Briarhill Herd
