understatement this year; the change in the
weather has affected the cattle: two cows
had pneumonia, one was very poorly with
the vet attending twice and several calves
also required medication as early signs of
pneumonia were detected but thankfully, all
are recovered and well now.
The calving slowed down through April so it
was great to have eight hours of sleep in one
go and I must thank hubby for doing many
of the late-night checks and for the help and
support he and my family give me.
The new bull ‘Fitzzy’ passed all his vet
checks and has now arrived. To help him
settle he was put with three cows and their
calves and let’s just say, proved himself very
quickly.
Those of you passing the farm may have
noticed the tiny New Forest/Shetland colt in
the roadside paddock; his name is
‘Blakewater Arashi’, Blakey for short. I took
a steer to the fat stock show at Salisbury
market last December; Harriet came to help.
She went to get me a bucket of water and
spotted the ‘poor, tiny little pony on its own
looking so lost and sad, how could she leave
it there?’ ‘Easy’ was my reply, but as you
can see, he came home with us. He is really
cute and funny but can be rather naughty
like any baby; he was one in May.
Update – Polly the house pig gave us a
scare in March; one afternoon I noticed she
was a bit off-colour and within two hours her
head had become very swollen and she was
having a problem breathing. A call to the vet
was made but it was all rather puzzling.
Medication was collected and administered
fairly quickly (not easy with a pig) and within
an hour or so the swelling began to subside.
On closer inspection Harriet found what
lo