The Lazy Gather

A need to get some sheep in and treat them for lice. They were running on an enclosed piece of hill ground alongside cattle. The cattle are fed on silage, which is laid out on the ground for them each morning. The sheep can't help themselves when a free bite is on offer and they come forward to share the fodder with the cattle.

A lazy mans approach, but it was hoped all the sheep may have congregated with the cattle, if this was the case it wouldn't be necessary to bounce around the hill ground on the quad to gather everything in.

So it was then that old Glen and I cut some corners and collected this bunch of sheep from where they were sharing a bale of silage with the cows.

Glen soon encouraged the sheep to leave the tasty silage behind and do as they were told, gather up in a bunch and move where they were required to move to.

All was going well until we had this obstacle to pass through. Just a gateway, but the brakes were engaged, sheep did not want to move forward.

Poor old Glen found himself having to do some leg work as sheep tried to break back to whence they had come. Whichever side the dog ran to saw sheep trying to break away on the other side. He had his work cut out for a while.

Eventually one kindly soul decided to head through the gate, it only takes one, the others will soon follow.

Glen still acted as back stop, ensuring no sneaky creature got a chance to turn back.

The sheep were streaming away across the next field whilst the last few were tip toeing through the gateway.

The gateway in question. The reason the sheep were reluctant to go through it. A huge puddle across the width of the gateway which had also been frozen. The bike, on the journey out to get the sheep, had broken through the ice but the sheep were more concerned about getting there feet wet than anything else, they really don't like clarty gateways.

The next gateway was drier and sheep were willing to go through it. Upon reaching the sheep pens the sheep were counted. 212 was the number I arrived at and upon enquiring how many there ought to be I was told 212 - great news! It meant the lazy gather had been succesful, there were no sheep left out on the hill ground, all were accounted for. The ploy had worked and had saved a lot of time in the process.

A couple of hours in the pens and home they headed, far more enthusiastic to go through the clarty gateway this time, in main due to the fact that this direction was taking them home.

I shot forward to open the gate onto the hill, the one which had been closed to ensure the cattle didn't wander away in, whilst Glen quietly followed on, he had no hard work to do, these sheep were heading for home, knew where they were going, didn't need steering or encouraging just needed Glen to gently wander along behind them. He was happy in his work.

January 2012 - been and gone

Blimey! We're into February, the shortest month of the year, where did January go?

Frost. Yup we had some of that in January.

The month started off wet and windy although we were fortunate enough to have one or two frosty days which saved the clarts being dragged around on the wellies.

Ground which was quite literally dripping wet soon transformed

to a solid mass, unfortunately it equally as soon transformed back again.

I think I would almost sum the month up as wet and icy if that makes any sort of sense.

There was a great deal of beauty during the transformations

Much to marvel at

Tups were brought off ewes. Sheep found themselves dosed for fluke, some were coppered, others treat for lice, the dogs were kept busy. The scanning season commenced - goodness! that time of the year again, won't be long 'til it's lambing time at this rate!

Shep did manage an odd day off, finally getting shot of nasty cold which had been lousy company, it was important to try and catch up with family and friends. Visiting an uncle (and godfather) who no longer knows me, but still good to see him all the same. There was a long list of many to visit upon, some still to be ticked off but I will get there before lambing is upon us. I also took a trip down into the lake district to get a car, yup! another car!! For a short while I was the not so proud owner of three motors, I am slowly whittling them down at the time of writing.

January has been a busy month in many ways. It is also my financial year end which means some knuckling down as the annual book work needs doing - urgh! There are still jobs awaiting being done, some stone walling for instance, a wee bit of fencing and of course that dreaded paperwork, it already feels like the year is marching on....... Where does the time go?

coppering and frost

A trip over into Cumbria once again, I hadn't enquired what necessities required doing to the flock but I had presumed a fluke dose would be what was required. I had completely forgotten about the necessity to copper the sheep. It's strange the way the seasons vary so slightly from in-bye and out-bye.

Having recently being assisting to get tups off and setting ewes back to the hill it almost seemed too early to be coppering sheep. A job done half way through pregnancy, or ten weeks from lambing, I had overlooked the fact that some of the flocks I assist throughout the year have earlier seasons than others. There must have been a look of shock when the copper was brought out alongside the fluke dose for this particular flock.

I wont bore you with the reasons for and against the need to copper sheep, it ought to be catalogued on this page http://blog.tarset.co.uk/2010/02/coppering-ewes.html

I was introduced to a new copper product, as you will see from the above link there are a variety of types, this to me is a new product but one which is undoubtedly designed for the job. The density of the liquid and the strong colour of it had me thinking back. Back many years to the original copper I used to administer to sheep in my early shepherding years. A product produced by "Youngs" which was called Swaycop. It came in individual syringes and was a thick paste which was injected under the skin of the sheep.

The above product was also injected under the skin of the sheep (subcutaneous to the intellects out there), by means of an automatic syringe which would draw out the required dose from the attached bottle.

Life wasn't so simple way back in the Swaycop days. Each syringe had to have a needle attached to it, once used the syringe was discarded and another used on the next sheep, boy how we've moved on!

The memory that held strongest in my mind though was the viscosity of the copper used back then, 'twas thick stuff, so thick in fact that it was necessary to keep the syringes in your jeans pockets to keep them warm or the paste wouldn't run through the needle. On really cold frosty days a bucket of hot water sat in the sheep pens and the syringes found themselves chucked in it before being used to give the thick stuff a sporting chance of thinning down and running through the needle - must have been uncomfortable for the sheep having sludge administered under their skin.

Now we have one bottle capable of treating 50 sheep, an automatic syringe, no hot water necessary and not loads of disused syringes lying around at the end of the day - life really has moved on!

On the subject of cold, frosty days......

that is exactly what the weather is gracing us with at the moment

It is much appreciated by both man and beast

Dry underfoot and good, healthy weather

Hard to believe tho' that these photos were all taken in the afternoon, the sun had not managed to burn off the hoare frost or soften the ground. Much to my surprise later that afternoon I found myself in the company of two peewits. A beautiful sight and sound so early in the year. T'was so cold our bedroom fire found itself lit in an endeavour to get some heat into the house at night and hopefully prevent us from both coughing frantically (due to colds) when we hit the cold air in the bedroom, the competitiveness of the other half can get somewhat tiresome as he tries his hardest to cough the longest! I try equally as hard not to let the side down!

Tuberculosis testing in cattle

This posting has absolutely nothing to do with sheep. Tuberculosis is a notifiable disease, should any farmer suspect he has an animal suffering from TB he is bound by law to notify the necessary authorities - DEFRA. However, in this instance we are talking about cattle, as sheep, suprisingly enough (and horses), are resistant to the disease - amazing to think there is something sheep are less likely to suffer from!

So why am I writing about TB when it has absolutely nothing to do with sheep? Well due to the fact that the majority of the farms in Tarset also run cattle I thought it might be of interest to some to know about the regulations these farmers have to adhere to.

All cattle within the British Isles have to undergo regular tuberculosis testing. The parish of Tarset and Greystead is a 'clean' area and so undergoes their testing every four years - which just so happens to be this year.

So what is TB? Well it is a disease of the respiratory tract spread by a bacteria and passed from animal to animal but will also cross to different species, therefore it is possible for cattle to be infected by badgers, which is a long standing issue which preys on many farmers minds. Badgers carry the TB virus in this country but they are also a protected species. Many years of fighting beaurocracy still seems to be drawing blanks even though a promise of badger culls in the worst infected areas of the country was finally given. Badger numbers have understandably been on the increase since they received their protected species status in 1973.

Cattle can easily pick up the TB bacterium by grazing in areas where badgers frequent, even if you keep your cattle away from areas where the badger actually lives they do tend to wander around quite a lot (badgers that is) and so in a densely badger populated area it would be almost impossible to prevent cattle from having access with badgers. Even when housed for the winter cattle are still not safe from the badger as they will often enter cattle sheds and yards to forage, eating the same food as the cattle have access to.

We know that badgers carry TB and are the greatest threat to contaminating cattle, which are the most susceptible domesticated species to the bacteria, but deer, alpacas, goats even cats and dogs can be infected as can humans. It is the threat to the latter species which causes the disease to be notifiable under British law, the threat to humans.

There are a few strains of TB and in actual fact only half a percent of all people affected in this country have been infected by bovine TB - an interesting statistic! If meat is properly cooked and any milk consumed is pasteurised then the only way anyone could be infected with bovine TB is if infected cattle with full blown TB sneezed or coughed over them and they inhaled the bacteria. Which brings some to question why we still battle on with government enforced cattle testing.

For the time being at least cattle testing is still on the agenda for cattle farmers in this country and as already said this is the time for our parish to have it's cattle tests.

The vets inform the farmers that their test is due and a date is set. Winter time is preferrable for many as their cattle are mainly all housed and so easier to handle. Held together in sheds rather than running all over the farm. Cattle are not always co-operative when it comes to moving them and bringing them into the steading (farm yard), they tend to know something is up and can be wound up to high dough (over excited) before the proceedings get underway. During the winter months and housed they are already 'cornered', makes life a little bit easier!

Within this parish, due to it being a four yearly test it is only necessary to test animals over two years of age (there is an odd minor exception but I don't want to complicate things). Each animal is walked into a cattle crush for ease of working with and operator/livestock safety. A cattle crush is a device designed to hold the animal as stationary as possible and as comfortably as possible, it has an unfortunate name, it most definitely does not crush the animal, although it will often restrain them by the neck in a guillotine type fashion. This may sound inhumane but believe you me it is anything but, years of improvements have produced excellent and safe cattle handling facilities for both man and beast.

Once held secure the vet reads the ear tag number. All cattle in the UK are registered (a legal requirement) and all carry tags in their ears with the required registration data. The tag number of the beast is recorded along with it's age and sex. Access to the neck is necessary as the hair is shaved off two small areas one a distance above the other. The skin at the bare areas is then measured with calipers and the measurements recorded prior to the sites being injected with a laboratory produced TB bacteria. Avian TB as well as bovine TB is injected, the avian is injected in the top area with the bovine further below. Once all the cattle have been dealt with the vet will depart and return in 3 days.

Should an animal be carrying Bovine TB it will react to the injection it was given, the avian injection is given to enable the vet to compare the reactions to the two different forms of TB. When the vet returns to re check the herd he again measures the skin and records the measurements if necessary. It is not unusual for there to be raised areas at the injection sites, however, should the lower area be more pronounced than the higher site (the bovine react more than the avian) then the beast will be classed as being inconclusive and a further test will have to be run in 60 days time.

All in all it is a quite a stressful time for both the farmer and his cattle. The farmer has the concerns that maybe his cattle could be carrying TB, there are not bound to be any signs as it can lie dormant for the whole duration of the animals life, causing no problems to anyone, not even infectious to the other cattle, so a farmer would never know until a test proved positive.

As for the cattle? Well they find themselves being handled twice in one week which can find them getting wound up. Cattle don't always take kindly to seeing strangers, they don't always appreciate being put back through the cattle crush when their memories are still fresh from the incidences of three days ago. It can get them worked up and stressed which in some weather conditions could always lead to them going down with pneumonia, the last thing any farmer would want.

Due to the poor weather conditions at the end of last year many of the cattle tests in this area found themselves postponed until a later date. Even if the snow hadn't caused a problem the ice did. Icy concrete yards are not ideal for moving cattle on, their cloven hooves struggle to purchase in such conditions and it wouldn't have been safe for their welfare or those handling them to work under such conditions. Therefore many of the tests are now taking place which sees the better half helping out many farmers to get their cattle forward for the vets inspection.

Are the tests proving to be clear? Well most are, there has apparently been one inconclusive result which will see the vet return to that farm in March to test that one beast again. Hopefully all will be well and there will be no reaction on the second test. However, should their be a reaction again the farmer will find himself held under strict movement regulations, further tests of the whole herd and more stress. Any animal which is deemed to be a reactor is automatically sent for slaughter, the farmer receives a compensatory payment from the government (which is rarely the value of the animal).

There are many countries which have managed to eradicate bovine TB by testing and culling as our country does, however, it is highly unlikely that the problem will ever be eradicated in the UK as long as the badgers carry the disease. I was told by the vet that it would be highly unlikely TB would kill many cattle, they were more likely to die of other causes or be naturally culled out of the herd by age than end up having full blown TB and die of it. So why test then? Presumably to keep those who work with cattle safe from catching it, as to the normal person on the street who cooks their meat and drinks pasteurised milk bovine TB ought not to be a threat.

Frosty days

Life in Tarset is frosty. Not the frosty, cold shouldered type of frosty, y'know, the anti-social don't want to speak to you sort of frosty. No, it's natures frostiness, cold, minus figures on the thermometer, frosty.

Why should Shep be surprised that after the cold snowy spell and the hard frosts endured on the run up to Christmas that life in Tarset is still frosty?? Well, due in main to the fact that Shep and the other half disappeared for the first fortnight in January, we left the snow and frost behind and departed for warmer climes. Camping, followed by budget back packers accommodation in a country where the temperatures ranged from the high 20's to mid 30's made me forget about the cold, until our return and we find that little has changed!!

That is grossly untrue. Much has changed. The snow has all disappeared (an odd little bit can still be seen in a sheltered spot), we returned to flooding, rain and mild conditions, enough rain to see the North Tyne river burst its banks and have those that know better than I say it was the worst it has been since Kielder Dam was built. Still 'jet lagged' after 36 hours of travelling and five different flights the floods were of little concern to me, I seemed to be in some sort of comatose state, which I now regret as there were some good photo opportunities.

So by the time Shep regrouped and felt like she belonged on this planet it had once again turned frosty, -7 and -10 being recorded at the back door over the last couple of days. Brr.. my tan is fading rapidly!!

I'm obviously slow in coming to my senses at the moment, this frosty photo was taken at lunch time, does show how much rind there was still remaining at midday but I'm sure the picture would have been far more dramatic earlier in the day. These cold days are giving many hours of sunshine during the day, although it struggles to burn the frost off, especially in the more sheltered areas.

The above photos were also taken heading into the afternoon, moss and grasses growing on a wall which were slowly loosing their frosty burden.

'Tis the time of year for fluke dosing of sheep, some have already dosed as their tups came off, others have yet to start. It depends on how badly your ground is affected with the fluke parasite and how your sheep are looking. Some will try to hold off until scanning time, those who scan later wont want to wait that long as their ewes could lose condition rapidly if they have a fluke burden. All in all there will be many sheep dosed in the forthcoming weeks.

The cold days are leaving us with some beautiful sunsets. How does the saying go? "Red sky at night Shepherds delight"? - sounds alright to me, we all appreciate a spell of settled healthy weather.