Archived News

8th September 2010

It’s been a week of mixed emotions with our pigs, Prudence and Phoebe going off to slaughter and two new calves born yesterday.

I’ve become quite attached to Prudence and Phoebe over the last couple of years as we reared them from weaners when they were small enough to pick up and loved to have their tummies rubbed. 

The gilts grew into friendly sows due to the amount of time we spent with them and they still enjoyed a good scratch on the side as they matured. They each had three litters of piglets and on the whole were excellent mothers; it was a real joy at farrowing time and watching them raise their young, hence my bond with the sows and sadness that they had to go to slaughter.

Christopher went to the abattoir with the sows which I thought was quite a brave thing to do, but he dealt with it in a practical manner just as he needs to do if he decides to go into farming.

Thankfully there are many distractions on the farm.

After pregnancy scanning back in the spring by the vet, we were given a rough guide of July – August for nine Belted Galloways to calve and have been keeping a close eye on them throughout the summer.  Yvette has looked fit to burst for weeks but still no sign of action from her!

Mid August, Flora miscarried and just before the end of the month Harriet gave birth to a lovely bull calf named Alfie, he’s a strong little chap, either dashing about the field or bouncing around like a spring lamb! He seems quite a character.

Duchess calved in the Rookery yesterday morning and later in the day Diana calved at Churchfield.  Lets hope the remaining six cows calve by the end of September.

As Duchess was out in the field we took the cattle grab with us to capture the heifer calf, separating it from the mother just long enough to apply the obligatory double ear tags, whilst providing us with a safe area in which to work as cows are naturally protective of their young. 

Duchess overlooks her heifer calf, named Lily