Marching into Spring
Busy blogger Jack takes a short break from lambing duties to share a quick update on life at Hill Top Farm.
Preparations
There’s no avoiding it, lambing is just very busy. But, we are always trying to think of ways to make the workload a bit more manageable. The new system for getting water to the small pens was working out well. Feeding the ewes in the nursery pens is one of the most time-consuming jobs, so we hoped this would be a way to save a few minutes. We put together a simple network of pipes, with a gap cut into the top of the pipe in each pen for the ewe to be able to drink the water. Instead of carrying buckets for each ewe, we just put the hose pipe in one end, turn on the tap and watch the pipes fill with fresh water. With a shortage of Spectum this year we also had to look for new ways to combat bacteria to keep the young lambs healthy. Dad thought he’d try wood chip in the bedding as there are anti-bacterial properties in the sap. Apart from those additions, it would be business and usual and we could all expect a draining few weeks.
Prognosis
Breakfast is all about the weather forecast for the week. There would be bright and sunny days ahead – a bit of a reprieve for Dad, who was starting to feel it, as the ache of lambing got into every part of his body. The weekend was going to be busy too. Our cousins Annie and Greg were coming to stay over. I thought this was a great idea, but Dad wasn’t so sure, as lambing was really gathering steam. But, Annie and Greg were excited and couldn’t wait to get on their overalls and help in the shed. Annie even offered to do the night shift, but Dad thought that her offer of help during the day would be more than sufficient.
Annie and Greg arrived just after breakfast time, and with no time to lose, we set off down to the shed to get the morning jobs done. I showed Annie and Greg how to feed the tiddlers. Annie picked it up pretty quickly and Greg didn’t seem to mind when the littlest one – a Beulah Speckled – decided to have a wee on his leggings. I think he realised that it just comes with the territory. We helped Dad move out the strongest pairs of twins into Top Field and then put down some fresh bedding in the nursery pens for the new lambs and their mothers. The last job before coffee time (or ‘bait’ time as it’s called in our house) was putting the feed and water in the small pens. We surveyed our handiwork, decided that no more could be done before we’d had a bacon sandwich, and headed up to the house.
Problems
We could hear Dad shouting as we crossed the lane. It’s never a good sign, so we made a dash for it, back to the sheep shed to see what was happening. There he stood, in a pool of water in the alley way, with the hosepipe in his hand. It didn’t take us long to realise that the tap had been left on. There are quite a few things that mildly irritate Dad, but the one thing that really makes his blood boil is waste, and especially wasted water. I looked at Annie, Annie looked at Greg and we all decided that it must have been Sal who left the tap on. By the time we had picked up all of the sodden bedding and replaced it, and said sorry to Dad quite a few times, there wasn’t much time left for a bacon sandwich.
Jack – Farmer in Training
Jack was born to farm. He just loves helping out his dad, and his trusty dog Meg is never far away. Farming is in his blood and bones. He has his own small flock of sheep, a few hens and some calves. He has great plans to expand his own enterprise (though Dad says he has to learn to walk before he can learn to run). He may be little but his ambitions are huge.
