Woolly Bears, Dog and House Martins

 We are renewing some of our hen equipment with two new houses and new feeders, There are a plethora of feeders on the market, we have bought one of these Emperor feeders which so far seem robust and despite having constantly open feeders they seem to produce very little waste. Another advantage is that the feed constantly visible the chickens are more interested and take in more feed.

 The Tomatoes are out of the tunnels now ready for planting Spinach, Spring green and Salads.

 While clearing the tunnel we noticed an infestation of these woolly bear caterpillars they have been around for a couple of years in the tunnels but only this year have they been causing appreciable damage. They seen to live off anything from Nettles, Tomatoes to brassica and Nasturtium. We picked up these above from about 1m2 after the Tomatoes were removed. I have no idea what species they are but do know they develop into a small moth with red wings.

 Tomatoes picked for ripening in the greenhouse before sale on the market.

 Following the loss of my dog Millie we have bought an older trained dog to do the work. This picture is when she first arrived looking very nervous. She is much brighter now and is working sheep well. More on her later.

An image from August of the House Martins getting ready for their trip to Africa. in years gone by there would have been ten times this number but we have seen a steady decline over the past ten years. I fear the time is not long away when there may be none at all arriving in spring.

The Autumn so far

The summer as has been documented was one of the worst growing seasons in living memory. Most crops have been between three and four weeks late right through the season. In my experience most crops catch up by mid summer but this year crops stayed behind for the whole season which effectively meant three weeks lost from the season.
Surprising for me was the fact that Leeks that need lots of daylight were early compared to last year, nothing is straight forward with organic growing. Most of our various crops are or have been harvested but production is generally much lower than previous years.

The Ram is in with the ewes and has done his job on 3/4 of them. We are looking at lambing from the end of March onwards. At the Hill Radnor show and sale I sold all the ewe lambs except one and they fetched a reasonable price. This year will see the last of the other breeds of sheep on our farm and we will concentrate on Hill Radnors.

Following the loss of my sheep dog Millie we bought a trained dog which we've called Shiv. A mature dog who initially was very shy and nervous, she was unsure of everything so was 'sticky'  when working and hesitant taking instructions. Now after four weeks of back to basics training she is starting to show what she is capable of.  

The bees have produced about a quarter of last years crop which in itself was poor. The main concern though is how well the colonies will winter. The poor summer will have meant patchy mating of queens  which could result in high losses during winter due to queen failure. There is little we can do to influence this we just have to wait and see.

I just lost my best mate

 At just three years old we have lost Millie our working sheepdog, and companion. We had Millie as a pup and spent two years training her and she has been my constant companion in almost anything I have done for the past three and a half years.
She would do anything for me ,always was keen to please and never let me down.

Millie was gathering sheep with her usual enthusiasm and style. When and rounded a bush out of sight and must have ran into a sharp branch or similar, she damaged her skull and the vet thinks she had a brain haemorrhage. She some how managed to get back to me but collapsed at my feet. She never stood again. Millie died in my arms on the way to the vet.

We are left with a huge Millie shaped hole in our lives. Some say you only get one really good dog  in your life, if that's the case I've just had mine.

We still have four sheep from last year waiting for the Farmers Markets. These are Badger Face with one Wiltshire Horn cross, looking good with particularly neat hair or fleece style all hand finished.

Working the dog with Badger Face is different from Hill Radnors our usual breed. Badger Face will take off at the slightest approach from the dog. Seen below Millie has got them to a standstill but she has to work well back, any closer and they will bolt and they can really shift - the only sheep I've seen move quicker are the primitive sheep like Hebridean and Soay.

This years lambs

Millie about to round up the lambs for a quick inspection

This years crop of lambs looking good so far, I am hoping to sell the ewe lambs at the annual Radnor sheep sales while the males will be fattened and sold as mutton

Hand shearing, progress made

 So far all the sheep here in Hopesay are done. See here some examples of my work.

Speed is  (slowly) increasing and the amount of collatoral damage seen as small dots of blue spray are reducing.

The whole process is strangely empowering as although the time taken and cost are far in excess of contractor shearing, we now have control of timing and are not reliant on the availability of busy contractors.  

Summer and un-sheared sheep have always been a time of worry for me as a small flock keeper with the spectre of fly strike at the back of my mind. So far we have only had a single fly strike incident. One of the few benefits of this cold wet season is that the fly population like every other insect is significantly reduced. Every cloud......  

Sheep Dog Trials

Millie enjoying her trip to her first sheep dog trial

The weather was damp, rained all day with a cold wind but better fort trials as the dogs get less stressed than in the heat.

So it came to our turn. How did it go?

Well the good thing was ... nobody died, but the story goes down hill from there.

I sent her out and she doubled back to where she had seen sheep taken to the holding pen. So I sacrificed any possible points and walked her halfway up the course where the sheep were being held. Couldn't find them so I sent her on the other flank and after crossing twice she spotted the she and ran straight at them , ran round them and started pushing them the wrong way.
To cut a long painful story short we ended up with sheep scattered across the field and a stunned silence from the other competitors when I brought the run to an ignominious end.

The end I suspect of our short trialing career.

To err is human to to make a really big cock up you need an excitable collie and a handler who knows less than he thought he did

This is the first day of lambing in theory, the ewes were mated five months to the day. So far no sign, we haven't had them scanned so have no idea what we will get, We know that the Tup has done what he can, he was 'raddled' so theft his mark but what the ewes will produce is unknown.

These Radnors do not bag up like the Lleyns making it difficult to see how far on they are, we shall just have to wait and see.

Millie here playing with the neighbours Collie Rob who despite looking so similar doesn't share any of her breeding. Rob doesn't work sheep as he apparently developed a lameness problem when working so has been let go as a companion.
Millie not showing any signs of a season yet but should be some time in March

Season so far

We are in an unusually warm spell at the moment a trend which has developed over the past few years of warm period late winter early spring. We may gamble on that next year and bring lambing forward by a month to February.

Lambing is on schedule for first week of March, the ewes are slow at putting on condition so I've upped their rations Perhaps it is a feature of the breed but they will need more condition during lambing, something we will need to keep an eye on over the next few weeks.

The bees have been fed twice during the winter and have been treated for Nosema, I have omitted the Varroa treatment this year a fact I am increasingly uneasy about. I may resort to a late treatment with Oxalic acid over the next week, will have to see how the time goes. I think that to allow some pressure from Varroa every now and again is useful in preventing Varroa resistance to Oxalic or Thymol. But that doesn't stop me worrying about the upsurge in Varroa especially in this warm winter.

The vegetables have not got going yet, Broad Beans, Garlic and Spinach are all in and growing and we have just planted the Leek seeds in a cold frame.

As for the year ahead we are hoping to expand the bees, transfer the sheep flock over to Hill Radnors exclusively. Perhaps move at last to Care farming and last but not least have a litter of Pups from Millie. She has been going great guns recently but more of that in a later post.

Hill Radnors ready for the tup

Just one more week and we put the tup in with the ewes, this time we will only put the Radnor ewes our Radnor Tup. Last year we tried a Lleyn Radnor cross but were disappointed with the results. We were hoping for some hybrid vigour with the resultant lambs but their growth rates were less than the pure Radnors.

The ewes and the Tup are both on our best pasture in an attempt to 'flush' the ewes and so improve conception rates. We recently had blood tests done which showed up a Selenium deficiency which we have rectified via a Selenium injection.

As we have such a small flock we don't have teasers,( sterile rams which help to bring all the ewes into season together) so we have kept the tup and our ram lamb in the field next door in the hope of synchronising the ewes seasons. Next spring will tell.
Millie as always is keen to help with the final sorting of the Ewes before the tup goes in, once he starts serving the ewes we won't move them for a few weeks. Any disturbance at that initial period before the embryos are set can result in loss of the embryo and the ewe will be at least one complete cycle out from the others.

Millie has continued with her training, now just over 2 years old she is driving well, flanks are OK but could be wider and her fetch is acceptable but she needs to keep a back off the sheep more. Seen below I stopped her on the drive to avoid the helter skelter run and chase you get with the dog trying to catch the sheep and the sheep running faster to keep in front. She will (hopefully) get to understand that she can control the sheep from a distance.


Millie has got to the stage when she can help me with the sheep on a regular basis, you can see her here 'walking the troughs.' When we start feeding the ewes before lambing they become less repectful of the shepherd and can be a problem trying to get to the trough before I've finished putting the feed in. Millie keeps the sheep back until I've finished putting out the feed.

Millies first go with the whistle

Millie's first introduction to the whistle, not that interested in the house. will have a go outside.

I am using a standard shepherds whistle which goes inside the mouth when blowing, takes some getting used to. You need to develop your whistles for stop,come here, left, right and walk on. there must be consistency with each whistle command to avoid confusion for the dog.

So far after one lesson she understands stop and come here and responds much quicker to the whistle than voice command. I suspect that she is finding it more interesting to learn new skills.

Just a quick check

As usual on a Thursday I was in a rush to, check the Hereford sheep, pick up the additional items for the market, collect chicken food from Batchley Mill then up to Shrewsbury set up the market and back for tea at 7. Bit late setting off should have just enough time arrive at Stoke Prior 2.30pm

So First stop Millie and I walk into the orchard to check the sheep.

Away she goes rounds up the sheep ready to be checked, OK seven healthy sheep no lameness,scouring or other obvious problems, that's good ....except, there should be 16. Nine sheep gone. With a rising pulse rate I check all the fences no holes, they must have been nicked.

The thing is to keep calm do not panic... a whole 12 months worth of sheep work lost. Check the neighbouring field. That's clear only another farmers sheep about 1/4 mile away 9 in a 20 acre field. Wait a minute 9 sheep in a massive field,the little buggers have legged it and taken up unauthorised residence in a neighbours farm, look pretty relaxed for gate crashers.

Off we trudge Millie rounds them up narrowly avoiding mixing them with a flock of 100 sheep in a nearby paddock, we get them back by lifting the fence line and pushing reluctant ewes under, a temporary job on fastening the fence down. Now what to do, can't leave them here or they will be off before the morning. The only option move them to a secure field before the night is out. Time now 3.00pm

Plan one off to the owner of the field and borrow his trailer and move the sheep now, just changed my mobile so don,t have his number. Nothing else for it I'll have to drive up there and talk to him. Needless to say he's gone on holiday and the house sitter doesn't have a key "don't worry he'll be back next Thursday" she helpfully suggests. Next Thursday they will be halfway to London by then. Wasted time now its 3.30pm

I know Batchley Mill have a trailer I could pick up the fruit from Phoenix Organics, as usual they are well organised and I get loaded quickly and then hot foot to Batchley pick up chicken food and the trailer move sheep jobs "a good un". Arrive at Batchley load feed but no sign of John or Mary so no trailer. Time 4.00pm, market closes 6.00 so need to be there before 5.30 to have time to unload

Plan C go to Shrewsbury set up as planned (although time is running out) and borrow Ken's trailer from the village. Call him, no answer leave a message hope he's not on holiday.

As fast as legally possible drive up to Shrewsbury Millie is loving this rushing around and chasing sheep. First thing to go better than anticipated arrive at Shrewsbury market 5.15 so enough time to unload.

So back home cup of tea to keep me going then with Nicky over to Ken's to hook up his trailer, but not before he shows us his Downs cross lambs now 7.30pm. Right we're off the Stoke Lacy, pick up the sheep still in the field thank goodness and over to drop them at Butford. Back home to put the chickens away (late) at 10pm. Not bad for a quick check.

Sheep and dog

Millie bringing the sheep to me at Stoke Lacy, she is still too fast and close but is improving slowly. The main problem is with the "Lift" when she gets the sheep moving, the sheep tend to get spooked a little and start a helter skelter movement with Millie in hot pursuit.But she is slowly getting under more control. To the extent that she can keep the sheep close too while I check for fly strike or lameness, so far as you can see we have kept clear. We are using an organic fly repellent based on garlic and haven't felt the need to use harder chemicals such as "Vetracin" which is allowed under organic rules with a derogation.
Close up they are looking good, they will probably go over the winter months for mutton to a local butcher.

Update sheep

We have had a mixed year with the sheep, only one lamb we suspect that the tup is firing blanks. But that lamb has shown us that early lambing is both possible and preferable avoiding as it does the really busy April period when the bees and vegetable are demanding attention.

The sheep are all sheared in timely fashion the local sheep by Ken while an organic farmer friend of mine did the sheep in Herefordshire.
The hay is in and stacked safely in the barn via my trusty truckMillie of course provided proper supervision, she loves being involved with everything on the farm. Special mention to both Bryony on her way to Manchester and Mark who runs Setonaikai.co.uk in Shrewsbury, who came all the way to south of the county to help load and stack the bales before the rain.

Friday, market day

Up at 6.00am, harvesting lettuce, spring greens and rhubarb, Then off to the market and carry the produce from parking spot to market about 1mile. Seriously underestimated the weight of rhubarb. Spent the day on the stall not a bad days takings, then delivered three peoples shopping on the way home.

The other half picked up 25 day old chicks from Cyril Basons', they will be placed under a broody hen when it gets dark. Then had to take Millie to the vets with conjunctivitis, she came back with green eyes

Thursday Sheep bees market

First thing John came round our part time help and he started planting the last of the onions, that job all finished now except that there is a serious patch of Couch Grass invading the allium beds which will have to be hand pulled. Millie helped move some sheep who had escaped into the wrong field.
After organising a visit to check Mum in laws new chair I picked the spinach for Fridays market and set off to pick up the vegetables to supplement our own on the market. On route Millie and I checked the sheep we have in Hereford and took the opportunity to do a little training.
Next stop was to check the third of my apiary sites which had taken a big hit,loosing 75% of the colonies. Six now are left two of which are Nucleus hives still needing feeding. I sorted out all the now spare boxes and stacked them out of the way and checked through the remnant colonies. They seem in reasonable nick and will be checked for brood disease next Monday.
Then off to pick are additional produce from our wholesaler and back home to add our home produced stuff. The market is the next stop where I set up the stall ready for Friday morning. Then back where my day ends after putting chickens away and seperating a broody hen ready to take the chicks we are due to collect tomorrow.

Millie

A couple of pictures of our trainee sheep dog, seen here holding our Hereford flock in the corner ready to be loaded. We collected and loaded the sheep, we wouldn't have won One Man and His Dog but we got the job done


Millie proving she can concentrate when needed, showing "eye" on the ewe and lamb.

Plans for 2010

Looking at the list of projects we had planned for 2009 it struck me how much we have changed course without realising it,
We planned to continue to raise Mutton, increase the flock size and train our own sheep dog.
Well we have increased the flock but have also decided to switch breeds fro the lowland Lleyns to the Hill Radnor Sheep which are a local breed and very rare (about 900 registered ewes). I did buy a sheep dog and her training is ongoing as we speak, she will be 12 months old on the 2 Feb 2010.
I anticipate that we will continue to buy in more Hill Radnor Sheep and gradually reduce the Lleyns.
We sold some of our meat to a local butcher as opposed to selling direct on the markets, this worked reasonably well. Less money but also a lot less preparation time and costs.

The straw bale barn planned for last year has not been completed but planning permission has been obtained and we are still hoping to complete this year.

Training courses were a big part of our plan last year, but we have found them complicated to set up and are still deciding what to do in 2010.

Increasing the bee colonies to more than 100 was in our plan but we had another poor year (3rd in a row) so have stabalised at around 80, am undecided what expansion to go for this year but we are hoping to buy in some different stock of bees with hopefully more ability to cope with our conditions.

One more possible venture for this year is starting a small care farm helping people with rehabilitation and training.

Millie at 10 months

A couple of photos of our young sheepdog Millie, she is 10 months old now, her training is progressing with commands and a half decent stop. That is until we work on the small flock of welsh mountain sheep we have in Hereford, then she becomes a whirling dervish cutting the flock in half and generally acting like a young hooligan. This will change as she gets older (I hope)