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The man from the Soil Association came
and he went and we got lots of gold stars! Apparently we are the first farm he
has come across to only have purchased homeopathic remedies, not an allopathic
medicine in sight. One entry in the report that amused us was the answer to the
question of vermin control: it is carried out by a “team of non-chemical pest
control agents” so the dogs
are on the staff and certified by the Soil
Association!
Lambing was very successful this year: six ewes produced ten lambs, all of whom are growing away well. There are three calves to date-all boys so we reckon that the bull only knows how to make boy babies, as it is a 100% record so far. Shetland cattle do calve very quickly- about an hour from start to finish. Two of the mothers were heifers at calving which meant that it was their first calve. In both cases the calves were slow to get up and start suckling which meant that we had to help them. For the sake of its health the calf must suckle within six hours of being born. Only problem with this is that new mums can be very protective of their brand new babies, as we were to find out.
The first heifer to calve was Gemma and she was a complete gem in her nature as well. She calved outside one beautiful-do not believe the weather reports, we are having a wonderful summer in Orkney- Saturday afternoon under the discrete supervision of Billy who comes and helps us on Saturdays. She calved a fair way from the steading (farmyard) so Billy picked him up and I ushered Gemma along. We were able to get them into one of the calving pens quite easily and Billy was able to teach Buster what the udder is for. Not an easy task as Buster had quite definite ideas as to where he wanted to put his head and did not take too well to the guidance given but the message did eventually sink in!
Next to calve was Gilda, another
heifer. Now Gilda has always been somewhat aloof, not worried or frightened by
us, more of a “I won’t let you near me because I do
not like people”. As frequently happens she had become more tolerant once she
was in calf and I was able to scratch her itchy bits like I do all the rest of
the cows. All this changed once she became a mum and how! Stewart was away but
Billy was in attendance. Again the calf was slow to get up. As Gilda knows me
best I tried to get to the calf to pick him up so that we could again get them
in to make sure he suckled. Despite very patient and considerate approaches
Gilda let it be known in no uncertain terms that this was not acceptable.
Problem: we needed to ensure that the calf suckled without getting any of us
hurt. New plan of attack was drawn up with me driving the land rover and Billy
in the back to snatch the calf up and in to the back of the vehicle which then
hopefully Gilda would follow. We got the calf in while she was eating the
afterbirth, she spotted where he was and continued,
quite unconcerned to eat the afterbirth. Reverse back, snatch afterbirth as
well and the calf shouted a bit so Gilda twigged that she was to follow the
car. Stopped outside the cow shed and I shooed the cattle in. We were then
able to put the calf into the calving pen and after a bit dextrous manoeuvring
with the gates let Gilda in with him. Phew! Halfway there.
Next Billy lassoed Gilda and fastened her to a post so that he could help the
calf to the udder without Gilda being able to hurt him. Again the calf had
definite ideas about what he wanted to do with his head but we got there in
the end, some four hours after the calf was born. I am pleased to say that as
her hormones settled down Gilda became much more reasonable and mother and son
are doing fine.
Next to calve was Maggie and this was a completely different story. Bruce practically walked out of the womb, had his first drink of milk in about thirty minutes and has not looked back since!
The two left to calve are both heifers …….mmn!