Bloody Fox

We have been super lucky to have never had a lamb taken by foxes, and thankfully that is still the case, but unbelievably this afternoon a fox tried to take down Lilly (the first photo below) who is a fit healthy lamb that weighs 20kgs if not more. As its …

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The girls are ready to pop!

The new merino cross sheep we got for training Indi last month have settled in well and are now gaining weight on all the green grass we have. Three of the Wiltipol ewes look ready to pop any day now, unfortunately not knowing when the white dorper ram got in …

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Runner Ducks

We are not ready to get more sheep just yet, so in the mean time I have obtained a small flock of Runner Ducks to help teach Indi how to be a sheep dog. LOL yes that sounds strange, but these ducks walk/run rather than fly, and they have a …

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Harrowing the paddocks with the 4x4

Harrowing the paddocks

It looks like season break is finally headed our way with enough time to harrow the paddocks. It means we lose the remaining standing hay, but also rakes up the horse poo, sticks and rocks to make it easier to pick up. Its a messy, dusty job, the car, house …

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Bangers

Hurry up Season break

With all the trips back and forth to Perth to see G in hospital, I am desperately waiting for season break so that we get some pasture growth and feeding the livestock every day becomes less of an exhausting chore. The animals are happy enough and in good enough condition, …

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Sausage calf

Difficult Delivery

Well it’s been a really long night..and day today, but end result is we have a healthy cow and bull calf. This was a first for me – I’ve re-positioned a lamb but nothing to this extent. Holly didn’t have very strong contractions throughout labour, still, I can’t believe how …

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Holly

The waiting game

Pretty sure now that Holly’s EDD 2nd November. She has had many signs of impending labour on and off for the past week and she keeps going from slab sided to beachball looking (seems like calf is doing summersaults), her bag seems to fill, then gets wrinkles, her teats start …

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Holly

Getting ready for Holly to freshen

I’m not 100% certain when Holly will freshen as T-Bone jumped the fence several times (little monster accepts the bite from the electric fence), but I have bought her up to the top paddock to keep a close eye on her until she calves. I am guessing her EDD is …

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Jersey Journal: traumatic second week Pt2.

When the vets left last night, Holly’s teat canal was able to be opened and was functional when open (well functional in that there were now two holes instead of one which will most likely be permanent).  Talk about dedicated individuals – they were here for nearly two hours and …

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Jersey cow in portable wood crush

Jersey Journal: traumatic second week Pt1.

Holly is still painfully thin in my eyes, but we are following vet advice and she is getting all the nutrition and groceries that she needs. Our second week started off great with a gradual increase in milk production and a big increase in the cream line after I switched …

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