Still alive!

It would appear some are missing the musings of Shep. Well I ain't snuffed it, not been on holiday either, nowt exciting other than I've been busy. So this is just a quick posting to allay any fears that I may have gone AWOL (or worse).

The saying goes "no peace for the wicked" and believe you me, I have often asked my mother why I was born wicked!

Having just downloaded pictures off the camera which seem to go back a week or two I can see that I have been busy - taking photos if nowt else!

Much has happened, but most importantly the days are pulling out, it is light by 6.30am and up to 6.30pm. I awaken to the call of the curlew these mornings, a grand sound which marks the beginnings of springtime. The peewits (lapwings) are gracing us with their company and the skylarks have been going ballistic for weeks now, they are such a cheer to hear out on the hill.

Believe it or not but the snowdrops are now well past their best, crocuses are passing over too with the daffodils budding up well and soon to show their spring cheer.

Puddles and wet holes have been filling rapidly and not due to rain water either, in fact the ground is still drying. A fairly dry spell has been the order of the day for some time now, windy and colder weather of late is speeding up the drying process, mind you, there is still much drying to go...............

yup! The frogs have been busy, in their usual place and at the usual time, there were some days the water was absolutely boiling with their activity, I passed them one day and had never seen so many frogs legs sticking out of the water at once, some sort of wild froggy orgy no doubt, unfortunately time did not allow me to stop and snap the sight for you all, it is however stored in my mind and still gives me cause to smile!

Scannings are finally over for another year, horn burning, pre lambing innoculating, dosing, hopefully some stone walling are all on the agenda for the following three weeks before I head off lambing. I just can't wait to get away into those borders, see them cheviots again and have 6 weeks of peace and quiet, the way the time has been flying lately it won't be long before my wish is granted.

In The News

There has been much for the farming papers to report about recently. A new record price for a limousin bull, sold at Carlisle Auction Mart a week past Saturday for £120,000 guineas. Guineas are no longer legal tender in the UK but there is still a tradition of selling pedigree animals at auction for guineas, a guinea equates to £1.05, therefore the said animal actually realised a price of £126,000 – very nice too! See for yourselves in the following link http://youtu.be/l8mwhbkMCWY?a

The Scottish farming press have also reported this week that German farmers may well be on the way to doing all British sheep farmers a great favour. It would appear that the Germans are prepared to file a law suit with regard to EID. That being the electronic tagging which all sheep farmers now have to comply with, an issue that many are opposed to, but no one seems prepared to fight against. Well, it would appear that our counterparts in Germany are preparing to put up a fight, on the terms of animal welfare and overall financial costs, and rightly so.

There will be many farmers in this country who will follow the proceedings with interest, farmers who are nervous to speak out themselves about the ludicrousy and cruelty of the regulations which are being enforced upon them. Good luck to our neighbours over the water.

It is not just the farming press who are reporting on sheep issues, the national press are also finding livestock issues are hitting the headlines. Long covered by the farming papers since the virus first came to notice last back end, our national press have now picked up on the story. A worrying one for sheep farmers.

A new virus has hit our shores, carrying the name of Schmallenberg virus it is a relatively unknown entity which is causing stillbirths and deformities in new born lambs away down south. Todays press reports, some of which could be classed as scaremongering, are claiming that up to 70 cases have been confirmed in the south of the country.

It doesn’t seem long since our shores were faced with the doom of the Bluetongue virus, another expense for the livestock vector as animals found themselves being immunised against the virus. Similar to todays virus this one also started in the South of our country and was also reportedly transmitted by midges or mosquitoes. It is hoped Bluetongue may be history on our island but has it just given way to allow another virus in?

It can be easy for us in the North of the country to feel far removed from viruses which are causing havoc further South, but it must be soul destroying for those facing these challenges, and who’s to say we won’t be facing them in a month or two? After all, some countries in Europe are already worse hit than us.

By the press reports in all of today’s Sunday newspapers it would seem that mature animals don’t seem to show many symptoms relating to this virus, the symptoms are showing up when their offspring are being born, as yet our offspring aren’t being born, we will have a while to wait to find out whether the midges made it this far north. If lambs aren’t being still born they are being born with deformities such as fused limbs or bent necks, deformities which they will be unable to live with and so are finding themselves being put down (put to sleep – killed).

Deformed lambs are not unheard of, there may be cause for an odd one at lambing time. Still births aren’t unheard of either, again, an odd one may occur. However, by the reports I have read today some of the worst affected farms are seemingly losing up to 20% of their newborn lambs – that is an enormous loss and a huge financial loss at that. A heartbreaking position to be in for those involved. One farmer quoted said he had put down more lambs this lambing time than he has in his farming lifetime – not a good place to be.

Time will tell whether this virus fizzles out or not, how far through our country it has spread and whether there will be a vaccination introduced to treat against it (unfortunately it is reported that it may take at least eighteen months to produce a vaccine). To date it would seem it only affects sheep and cattle (and possibly goats).

As with many of these viruses (including foot and mouth) it is of no threat to the human race, other than those farmers whose stock are burdened with it, as they have the stress and worry to contend with, both physical and financial. Farmers are resilient souls but for some they and their businesses can only take so many knocks in life, lets hope they can get through this like they've got through everything else in the past.

Clarts and calamities

Clarts and calamities is actually the title of a book, written by a genius called Henry Brewis. Any one who has never acquainted themselves with Henry Brewis and his cartoons and thoughts about sheep and farming don't know what they are missing. If he were still alive today he would have a hey day recording all the modern day bureaucracy farmers and shepherds find themselves faced with. Anyhow, this posting is not about a book, just shares the title.

Just the other night on the 6 O'clock news there was a report about the droughts down south. Drought? Seemingly it is true, there are five counties away down there somewhere which are seriously suffering from a lack of rain.

I recall just the other day stating that the ground was drying up, admittedly it had a long way to go but drying up it was... then it rained again!

Funny thing. Nature vs Man. Wouldn't you think if we were so clever we could divert this wettness we are experiencing and send it down to those less fortunate, those who are praying for rain. Would be good to be able to turn the tables, but we ain't that clever and turn the tables or divert the weather we can't do. Nature wins again!

Moss doesn't take too kindly to getting his feet dirty, however he has little option through this gateway, neither did the sheep which we were slowly gathering on foot.

Blocked drains may not be helping in some areas. Underground tile drains laid years ago get blocked with roots, tiles moving or the build up of silt which gets washed in with the water.

Whatever the problem Shep had great fun spalshing in puddles, at least my wellies were getting cleaned!

So those photos explain the clarts (mud/mess). What about the calamity?

Not truly a calamity although it probably looks that way. Dead sheep? Poorly sheep? Anyone who knows sheep will recognise the stance - lying on her belly, head flattened to the ground, lugs flattened, body looking tense. It's a sheep huff. Nearly, but not quite as bad, as a man huff.

A fit sheep (which can often be the case), she has just decided that enough is enough, it is pissing with rain, the ground is saturated and she ain't gonna co operate. I have to say a sharp boot up the backside will often see them lift out of their huff but this mule ewe was stronger willed than that.

Shep stood well back and waited. Coz one thing a huffy sheep is very good at is banging to her feet when she thinks it is safe to do so and then generally gallops off in the opposite direction to the one in which you intend her to go.

She raised her head to look around and work out where her mates had disappeared to, then sure enough like a rocket she banged up onto all fours and legged it. I had positioned myself in the field to ensure she had to move in the direction her mates had travelled, she wasn't likely to run towards me that's for sure!

There she goes, nowt wrong with her at all, she was booling (charging) along like the devil himself was behind her. I guess it's the wild instinct in these sheep, as we so often see on wildlife documentaries, animals will often flatten themselves to the ground and pretend to be dead in an attempt to confuse their hunters, this hunter wasn't that easily confused!

Pregnancy scanning again

Blimey! The seasons don't half come around at a gallop these days. Are the winter months getting shorter? y'know, those days when we get an opportunity to recharge the batteries and come out the other end fit and raring to go - them days! I'm sure there's less of them, this past winter seems to have flown by, here we are in mid February, the nights are fairly cutting out, almost light until 6pm now and we're well through the scanning season, another fortnight and it will be all over for the farms Shep works upon, everyone will know what lambs their ewes will be carrying in preparation for the forthcoming lambing season.

Once again sheep are finding themselves heading into the scanning crates all over the countryside. Three different scanning men come to the farms Shep helps out at so the crack can vary from each visit as they all come from different areas of the countryside.

The guys all have similar gear, all are extremely proficient at their job and fly through the sheep at a rate of knots. Could that be a lamb showing on the screen? That is what they are looking for after all.

Sheep do like to follow one another but there are the odd ones which put up a fight and cause agro on the day, the men doing the scanning are generally patient as they are aware that those of us behind the scenes are doing our best to keep everything running smoothly.

Scanning has been fairly well documented on this blog in the past, the following links will take you back in time http://blog.tarset.co.uk/2010/02/pregnancy-scanning-of-sheep.html or there is last years posting http://blog.tarset.co.uk/2011/03/pregnancy-scanning-how-did-it-go.html This year to date all has gone well, no reason what so ever why it ought not to continue along the same vein for the remaining farms which are to be scanned. There are 5 more farms for Shep to assist at in the next fortnight, a rough total of about 5,000 sheep between them and a fair bit of gathering for the dogs to get all the sheep cornered and ready for the scanning day.

The scan men are reporting that ewes are heavier, not heavier in lamb (although some are) but body weight, that is quite apparent when working with the beasts, they have come through the winter very well, the mild grassy start to winter saw them well covered and not much has interfered with their welfare since. It is good to see flocks heading towards lambing time in good physical fettle, much can happen between then and now, not least the fact lambs will begin to drain their mothers bodies as they grow inside their tummies. Let's hope all goes well in the next month or two.

tagging sheep. EID

Tags. Destined for sheep, their ears no less. A legal necessity and one thought by many to be an unnecessary necessity.

It often seems that since 2001 the world has gone potty, and probably going dafter by the minute. EU regulations came in force post foot and mouth which required all sheep to be tagged, Traceability was the word used. A single tag with the holding number had to be inserted into the sheeps ear. Eventually it became a single tag with holding number and individual number per sheep.

We are moving on in the world and since 2010 it has been necessary for all breeding sheep to have a double tag. TWO tags, both with the holding number and corresponding individual number, to add insult to injury one of these tags must also be fitted with an electronic gadget.

EID. Electronic identification. Which by law must be done to sheep which are to remain in the flock within 9 months of birth. So it was, Shep found herself tagging sheep and not for the first or last time this year either.

Sheep weren't meant to have tags stuck in their lugs, they don't like having tags stuck in their lugs either.

Sheep don't have a say in the matter and neither do the farmers seemingly, 'tis the EU who think 'tis good for the sheep industry to spend about 80p on each sheep to ensure it can be traced.

There are choices in colours, however the electronic tag is always yellow.

As said each pair of tags has an individual number, god help you if you don't concentrate and manage to muddle up the numbers, they must be the same on each pair fitted into each sheep.

Should anything go wrong one tag will have to be cut out of the ear and the pair discarded. In the above photo the tag was misfired, finding it clipped together without the ear in the middle, the yellow tag had already been successfully inserted into the ear which meant it had to be cut out. 80p wasted, a cost of £1.60 to tag one sheep.

Then there are the tags which fail to work properly, it is sometimes possible to straighten these out again and manage to reuse them, however on this particular day Shep had two which refused to co operate. Another £1.60 down the drain.

All tags used have to be recorded, any found missing are meant to be replaced, more paperwork for the farmers, more expense for them too. Being electronic means they can be electronically read, which is indeed the whole intention, it won't be long before we're not just handling sheep in the sheep pens but we'll all have to have a computer on hand as well.

Sheep destined for slaughter just require one tag. The first thing a sheep loses at the slaughter house is it's head, which includes its ears - how does that then help the traceability of the meat when the tag has been chucked in the bin full of heads?

Reminiscing

Some could call it day dreaming, I call it reminiscing, something which I seem to have been doing a lot of over these past few months - a sign of age? Probably, but also a sign of recalling happy memories.

I need to do some hunting around for photos taken many years back to be able to reminisce properly on these pages. These sheep and this view hold strong memories

As does this old harness, amazing what jogs your memories when you find yourself tidying buildings out.

This spuggie (sparrow) perch has a story to tell

As does this old chain.

Twenty one years of memories held on one farm, good memories, fun? memories, memories that are history - quite literally. Some day I'll share some of them on these pages, once I've hunted in the archives - back to the days before digital photography, back to the days when shepherds weren't as rare as they are today.