Sorry

Dear all

There is nothing going on at the moment, so if you have any questions about any aspects of farming I will be willing to answer them. Just leave me a comment and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Thank you
Jack

Week Eighteen

Hi all,

Sorry I have not been blogging. I have been so busy with school and hockey. I play hockey for Worcester hockey club. I am a goalkeeper. There is not much going on at the moment with the sheep but the tup will be going home soon. It has done his job (I hope) and will not be needed for another year. I will hopefully I will be showing you pictures of lambs in Febuary. They will all be killed for meat eventually.

Thanks for reading,
Jack

Week Sixteen and Seventeen

Hi

These past few weeks have been mad because I went back to school. At my school we start our GCSE subjects 1 year earlier than others schools. So this means that this year we start our GCSE subjects. I chose English, Maths, Computer Studies, Geography, Triple Science, Drama, Business Studies and French. We have started all of our subjects now and I love Drama and Business Studies.

The sheep are looking great at the moement. Mr tup is looking good and the ewes are all tupped. (I HOPE!!!) Today I changed the Keil on the tups breast so we can see if he is still working. You change the Keil colour every 17 days. Red is new colour!

Here are a few tips about choosing your tup for tupping:

1. Find a tup you like the look of. (Pick a few!)
2. Make sure that the tup has a even pair of testicals!!
3. Make sure they have a good backend. (Make sure there is a plenty of meat!)
4. Check the tups teeth.
5. Make sure the tup walks well on its feet.
6. Make sure it has a good level back.
7. Set yourself a limit on how much you are going to spend on each ram. (If you are at a sale make sure you don't bid over your limit!)

Here are some Pictures of the tup:

Here are some Pictures of my ewes:

Thank you for reading

Jack

Week Thirteen - Fifteen

Hi again
I am so sorry about not writing anything for a while because I have been up north for a month and there is no Internet connection.

I have been working non stop. I went up on the 5th of August and started work that night.
The next day we weaned the cheviot Texel lambs off their mothers and gave them some mineral drench (two different types). We got 70 lambs off the ewes (they were all twins sire by a Suffolk tup) and 7 fattening ewes for Market at Acklington. After that we took them to the field where they will be for about three to seven weeks ( for most of them because they need to go to Market). After lunch we moved the pure texels in to the pens and weaned the lambs.
The next day we went up to the hill farm and brought in the Blackface ewes with their mule twin lambs. We sparated the wether lambs from the ewe lambs.We took the wether lambs down to the main farm (my uncle rents 3 farms. One is a hill farm which we have had for years, one is the main farm and the other is a lowland farm called Rock) and left the ewe lambs up there.
Later on in the week I went up to my other uncle's farm and helped him A.I. his pure Suffolks. The flock is one of the oldest flocks in the world. Now they have texels and BFL. When we got there we got the first ewes and gimmers in to the A.I. pens and I was put in charge of getting the ewes and gimmers ready to get tipped on to trolleys and then A.I.'d Before we could get started we had to get the sperm of the tup. (The tup is called Deveronside Palmal) Then we fetched the ewes and gimmers to AI. We got the next tup out and collected the sperm.(this tup was called Forkins Figoro) After we had got the sperm we had to AI more ewes and gimmers. After lunch we went down to the pens to shed the ewes and the gimmers in to two different groups for two different tups. We brought them up to the AI pens and got the tup lamb out and it took about 30 mins to get the sperm out because it would not jump. (The tup was called Roseden Park Lane) We then put the ewes and gimmers in on to he trolleys and AI them. Then we did the last lot of ewes and gimmers. The last tup we used is dead but we had some sperm frozen before he died (The tup was from the Bentley flock). At the end we had 3 ewes that we had AI'd but might not be in lamb so we put the ram lamb on Roseden Park Lane) to make sure that they are in lamb.
On a Thursday it is mart day and we try and send something there every week.
I was up at 6:00 to go and helped my uncle to load and shed the ewes and lambs. When they were loaded we took the big livestock trailer. There was 92 lambs and 30 ewes on the trailer. Grandad and I went to Rock to do the cows and sheep. My uncle picked me up at Rock (the other lowland farm) and went to the mart. When we got to the Market we gave in the livestock form. We got these prices:
For lambs
31 Tex x 40kg £75.50
2 Tex 47kg £82.00
2 Tex 41kg £78.50
3 Tex 44kg £81.50
4 Tex 40kg £78.00
9 Tex x 43kg £73.50
12 Tex x 45kg £78.50
12 Suff x Mule 49kg £79.50
17 Suff x Mule 43kg £75.50

Ewes
1 Suff £126
5 Tex £123
5 Chev Mule £82
10 Mule £89
1 Chev Mule £96
2 Lleyn Tex £83
4 Suff x £100

When I eventually came home from The North,  I went straight to my sheep and fed them. My sister and my mum have been looking after them for me. The tup is going to the ewes on the 5th of September. I am using a Texel tup and I am putting a raddel on the tup to make sure he is doing his job. Next week I will be able to tell you how he is getting on.

Thank you
Jack

Weaned - taking the lambs of their mothers.
Mule - a type of sheep breed.
Wether lambs -male lambs that have been castrated.
AI - Artificial Insemination.
BFL - Blue Faced Leicester a type of sheep breed.
Raddel - to make sure the tup is working. It leaves a coloured mark on the ewes bum.

Week Twelve

Hi

This week has been my first week of summer holidays. It was boring! (I kind of want to go to school) The sheep are looking fine and ready for tupping. I am going to use a Suffolk ram. I will use raddle on the ram to check that it is working. If the Suffolk ram dosen't work after 2 weeks we will use a Texel ram. If we use a Texel ram we will be producing commerical lambs. (This could be good and bad)

This week we have also made hay using an Edwardian method. We had to make Edwardian hay because we can't get a tractor into the paddock. If you want to make Edwardian hay just follow these few steps:

1. First you need to cut the hay with a sythe or you can cheat and use a strimmer.
2. Next you need to row it up and turn three times a day unless it has rained then you need to leave until it gets warmer and then start turning again
3. Then you need to put them into cocks.
4. After that you need to put it in to a stack.
5. Finally put a cover over it leaving a little bit of air to keep it cool as you don't want it too hot inside.

Thank you for reading my blog and hope you read my next blog.

Jack

Sythe = An cutting devise.

Cocks = Small piles to let the hay dry.

Stack = The final pile it will be in.

Week Eleven

Hello again,

This week I have been on an activity week with my school. It was great fun. As I was away my sister has been checking my sheep for me. I have been up to check the gimmers yesterday and - to my amazement -the gimmer that had the problem on her leg is much better. This means that I will not need to bring her back in and give her some more penicillin.

Yesterday I went to Shewsbury Livestock Market to see the National Suffolk Sheep Show and Sale. There were 234 Suffolk Rams entered and there was about 200 present. Some farmers think that their sheep will not sell or they think it is to far to go and if they don't sell they have to bring them back so they don't bother taking them. The top price was 23,000gns sold by Chris Holmes with his Ram Lamb which won at The Three Counies Show. Chris also had a lamb at 2200gns and 1500gns. Robert H Wilson bought the top price Ram to use this year on his flock. The champion Lamb was from J G Douglas which made 2000gns and the reserve champion was from Myfyr A Evans and it made 7200gns. Also other top prices were from G C Beacom which went for 9000gns, W G Troup Ltd which made 70000gns and Mrs J J Tooze had a lamb that went for 2200gns. Messrs A E Weaver & Son bought that ram. The top price for the Shearling rams was from Messrs T C & C A Harding which made 1600gns.

The average for the Shearling Rams is = 1012gns.

The average for the ram lambs is = 1171gns.

It is the stirling sale coming up and it has entries  200 Rams and on the 12th of August it is the Carlisle sale and if you would like to enter there is still time, so go on to this website to enter. http://www.livestock-sales.co.uk/

I am still looking for a pedigree farmer who uses BASCO to tell me how to use it, that would be great. I also need to learn how to read the notches in the ears to be able to trace their history.

Thank you for reading,

Jack

Gns =

Week Nine and Ten

I have been on holiday to France for the past week so I have not been able to keep you up to date.
When I came back from France I saw that one of the gimmers looked lame. I asked my dad to come and have a look just to make sure that I was not imagining things. We took the foot shears and the spray as well as the string. Dad said that I was correct and there was a problem on the front left leg of one of the gimmers.  We had to move the ewes from one side of the field to the other. (I had to get them through the small gate with food) Once they were through I had to set up the pens with dad. We had left gates up from last time we had to work with them. We put some wire up so when we try and get them in they will not run the other way. Once I had got them in I got dad to tip her up as I am not strong enough. I saw a hole in the top of her leg. Dad said it was an abscess that had bust and it wasn't that bad but we put some spray on it to make sure that the flys wouldn't attack it. Two days after we treated it, she is putting presure on her leg again and that is a great sign. If it does get worse again we will give her an injection of penicillin.

There is no more to tell you about my sheep but there is some more show results:

Great Yorkshire Show:
Champion: Lilburn Estates Farming Partnership, Wooler, Northumberland
Reserve Champion: Lilburn Estates Farming Partnership, Wooler, Northumberland

Well done Lilburn Estates Farming Partnership.

As I am just starting in the farming world could any pedigree farmer who uses BASCO tell me how to use it, that will be great. I also need to learn how to read the notches in th ears to be able to trace their history.

Jack

Penicillin = Penicillin (sometimes abbreviated PCN or pen) is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi.