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Last time I threatened, sorry promised to let you know how the conversion process was going.
May 1 was the official date that the
farm’s conversion to organic status started. Lambing took place in early May
with 4 ewes to lamb. Rather that stocking up with conventional drugs I
consulted “Homeopathy, The Shepherd’s Guide” by Mark Elliot-a vet- and Tony
Pinkus of Ainsworths Homoeopathic Pharmacy and stocked up with remedies
accordingly. In case you are wondering how we actually get the remedies into
the animals then experience has shown that there is little use in trying to
get them to take pills. One of the horses can eat a carrot but still spit out
the little sugar-based tablets included therein- a far cry from the Jack
Russell who will eat them off my hand-and yes they do still work!
I am told
that for the remedies to work they merely have to come into contact with a
mucus membrane, several of which are found on various extremities of an
animal’s body, especially if it is female! So the easiest way to
administer remedies is to add the liquid potency or tablet to water and either
draw it into a syringe or to fill a small aerosol
and then, with either method, squirt into the animals mouth or the other end
for the cows- it even works with the horse.
Lambing was fairly successful with each ewe simply getting on with the job. Given the time of year the ewes lambed outside. This, in its self can prevent a lot of the health problem that occur in conventional farming. We set up pens alongside the bank in the back paddock which gave protection from the east and then put straw bales along the west and north sides of the pens to give protection from those directions. Single doses of appropriate remedies were give to both ewes and lambs to stimulate their immune systems to deal with any likely problems and if certain symptoms were being shown then again appropriate remedies were given. In conventional farming a lot of this is dealt with by routine vaccinations. Generally we found that the best preventative is a thermometer! Prior to the sheep being moved to their summer field we brought them into the buildings and trimmed their feet. Routine foot care when they are close to home is a darn sight easier on all concerned than having to bring them in from a distant field to deal with a limping sheep.
Calving took place at the end of June. Due to our inexperience we lost the first calf but fortunately the heifer- Nina- was OK, unlike at two other farms on the island that day where they lost both the calf and the cow. The second calf to be born arrived fine but had contracted tendons, which meant that he, struggled to walk. Homeopathy to the rescue again. Using ruta grav in increasing potencies for several doses worked so well that I couldn’t catch the little blighter to give him his last two or three doses. We borrowed a foster calf- Bozo- for Nina as she had such a lot of milk. Bozo was a Charolais cross and so was creamy coloured while the Shetland calf- Ben- was mostly white; they looked like a Persil “before and after” advert. Both calves did well. By the end of August Nina was looking a little thin and no wonder as I caught both calves suckling her. So Bozo went home and I took up milking again. When I thought that she had actually dried up I was wrong as Ben had merely worked his charms again and was being fed by both Nina and his mother, Daisy.
More news, next issue. We might even have been inspected by then!
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