I’m not used to getting up early. Neil got to Garth Hall way before me. He had replaced the trailer wheel before I got there. Oops. He fed the rams in the barn and I fed Elsie. I wasn’t expecting her to want her bottle. I thought she had self weaned. I was wrong. She chugged through her half bottle. Then we went down to the alpacas because we had to drench (worm) Al Paccino. He’s looking a bit under the weather.
I got some food in a small bucket while Neil moved some barriers. I heard his phone ring from where I was. He talked on the phone for a while. Then he told me he had to go. There were some letters for Garth Hall that had been dropped of at one of the other farms. I knew I wouldn’t see him for about an hour. He would be ages talking to Richard. Farmers often avoid people and aren’t generally chatty until they get together with other farmers. That’s it then. Hours of talking. Weather, the price of fuel, the price of feed, the weather, the price of fertiliser, what everyone is getting for the lambs and rams, the weather. The things only other farmers understand really. We were all in school together as well so, I knew I had a while.
I went to check the girl alpacas, it’s easy to check the boys as I’m passing them. I fed the ram lambs with their new ram mix. The girls were interested in the bucket. I didn’t want to feed them yet. I just wanted to count them and know everyone was OK after the wet day and night. Everyone was accounted for. Looby Lou was actually in the paddling pool though. Really? Wasn’t it wet enough for her yesterday 😂 I took a quick photo which I’ve shared. I had the opportunity to get some of the poo from the poover into bags. I had a feeling I would get it emptied. Four bags down and I hears the quad. I nearly dropped the bloody shovel. He hadn’t been gone very long. I looked up as he drove passed. He had no idea where I was 😂 I finished the bag I was on and picked the feed bucket back up. By the time I’d reached him, he had the barriers sorted. I called and waved the bucket, they came to the fence and Neil shut the barriers. I got the drench while he caught Al Paccino. That didn’t take us long. Job done.
“I saw the ewe that was caught on the fence. I need a look at her.” “If you can manage that, I’ll feed the girls.” He drove off again. I got the bucket again. Ted was lurking by the gate. I told him “No!” But when I turned around he was behind me. Little bugger. I waved the bucket at him to get him back out but he was having none of it. He was head down, bum up, tucking unto the grass. He didn’t take their food so I left him. That and the fact I couldn’t get him to come out 🤦♀️ I was done. I put the buckets back and then started my walk up. The quad was by the cowshed so I went to the barn. He must have got her in ok.
She was in the pen. We gave her a dose of painkiller. She isn’t getting better. She will very likely to have to be put to sleep in the next few days. She is only a young ewe too. Such a shame but they will keep trying to escape. Sheep have two wishes in life. To escape or die. And if a sheep can die whilst trying to escape that would be the ultimate. She has painkiller for now to see if there’s any improvement over the weekend. We were done. I went to open the wall garden gate but it was open. Just far enough for small silvernoses to fit through. Chances are, Petra had been scratching her arse on it so frantically that she had pushed it open a bit. The minute there’s a gap, the gang of 4 are through after food. I opened it a bit further and Neil rounded them up. Now if Petra scratching her arse like Baloo is funny, watching her run is is also comedy gold. All the curls bouncing and her chubby little legs. She’s gorgeous.
Tomorrow there are two walks planned. The weather forecast for the morning is horrendous. I’ve been in touch and we’re going to see how it is. We may have to reschedule. We were also supposed to sort the sheep for the next market. Again we’ll see how it is in the morning.
Helen x
