Village Voice December 2013/January 2014 | Page 17

inspection began, firstly checking all facilities including feed stores, water supplies, buildings, storage of chemicals, etc followed by a walk around the livestock and then inspection of the medical store and records. Once this side was complete we sat down to go through the paperwork including cattle passports, movements and feed records, emergency procedure book, amongst other things, plus completed the questionnaire on his laptop. Several hours and cuppas with two packs of biscuits later, it was a huge relief to have passed the inspection and informed I would have FA status from the following day. a first-time mum, producing her first female pup extremely quickly in the back of my Discovery and just as well Hubby was monitoring her, as the sac was firmly over the pup’s nose. He quickly removed it, and rubbed the pup vigorously until she took her first breath. Lilly and pup were taken home to the waiting whelping box and an hour later a male pup arrived. Unsure how many she might have, I spent the next five hours by her side but that was it, just two! I am grateful now, as the pups approach five weeks old; full of mischief, they just love attacking any feet with their razor-sharp teeth. I would put my slippers on but they have already eaten them! I then arranged an appointment with the representative from a local abattoir to assess the fattening cattle. It was agreed several beasts were fit to go and so booked in. The base price for slaughter fluctuates during the year and payment is worked out using a grade scale depending on the age, weight and quality of the beast and paid per Kg on deadweight approximately 50% or so of its live weight. A few of the fattening cattle were some weeks away from finishing so I decided to sell them through the store ring at the livestock market rather than purchase additional finishing concentrates; the extra cost and time to finish them myself is not always financially beneficial. On the clear TB test, Hubby and I took the cattle to Frome in Somerset. The lovely old-fashioned bakery at Frome Market sells very tasty food, the steak and stilton pasty was followed by a very moist and sticky Lardy cake, worth the journey just for the lunch. I always think once Alresford Fair has been and gone, followed by the clock going back, winter is truly on its way. The night of high winds at the end of October made a very sad sight, devastating many extremely old oak trees, including several in the cattle fields; thank goodness none of the cattle were under or injured by the fallen trees, a major clearing job now required during the coming months. Time now to bring the cattle home from their summer grazing, weaning of the older calves, preparing the winter housing and oh… start calving again, busy, busy, busy. Sarah Jackson Beef and pork in stock, for price list phone [01962] 733969 or mobile [phone]. Email: [email protected] October was a quieter month and much needed to re-charge the batteries and although every day was a workday I did have time to catch up on some odd jobs, although the ironing pile never seems to diminish. Lilly, our young collie, has become 15