Learning curves

I am sure that Brian Phillips on the Isle of Seil - who is a real sheep farmer - would have had a laugh or two at my expense this week and that Peter who sold me the sheep is still laughing behind my back.
Examining the two ewes in the light of day after they had been sheared, it was clear that they must have been on very thin rations for a few weeks. In addition, the grass on our paddock was a bit too lush for them and particularly for one of the lambs. Ended up at the vet's on Monday evening with a very bloated lamb which needed to be treated with 5 ml of washing up liquid followed by some antibiotic, feed supplement and bottled milk.
After an anxious night - under a heat lamp in my workshed - he was well enough to join the others who had been moved into another shed - via Linda's flower beds.
Linda was right into the bottle feeding but when it came time to encourage him back onto his mother's teat, she felt a little too close to the action.
On the same night, when we were concentrating on moving the sheep, Molly the donkey took advantage and went for a wander - she almost made it into the vegetable patch before we caught up with her.
Then, just to make it interesting, the contractors showed up to cut, bale and wrap the grass on the paddock for silage. By the time they finished it was after midnight and we had 4 bales of silage which I have traded with Keith for some hay later in the year.
This evening we had to vaccinate all the sheep - my 5 and Keith's 16. Mine were easy - confined in a limited space - while catching each of his 7 sheep and 9 lambs in his large shed was like playing a game of 7's. Not only was I bruised and sore by the end of it, I also had that distinctive odour of sheep.
After we had finished and let them out into the field he realised that we had missed the youngest lamb and we spent an amusing 10 minutes cornering and catching it - flat out rugby tackle to catch a hind leg in a field recently grazed by cattle was effective but resulted in an odour of a different type.
We are off to Waterford tomorrow to see the Tall Ships and we are both really looking forward to a day off!

Just for Jim

Realise that it has been a very long time since my last post - 11 weeks for those who were counting - and that there has been lots going on here at Moyhill that I could have written about.

My only excuse is that life here has been busy with animal and poultry husbandry and with preparing and planting our new veg beds - Linda currently has 20 different vegetables planted out. We still have the hockey girls and Rocky, 5 ducks and three meat hens which will be ready for the chop next week and we have already butchered two meat hens and 9 bantam cockerels - so there is still plenty in the freezer.

Jim commented today that he was missing the blog not knowing that it was a special day here at Moyhill because we have just collected our first sheep - two ewes already christened Maureen and Isobel (Mo & Izzy for short) - with three lambs. Should have lamb ready for the freezer by late October!

Will try to report on a more regular basis - and perhaps even catch up on some of the things that have happened over the last month or two.

Can now add 'sheep farmer' to my CV!!!

Say hello to Rocky

Mistaken Identity!

After a couple of days of our new rooster's hen-pecked performance, we decided to check him out in more detail only to discover that Reginald was actually Regina. It turned out that Pat - who had supplied the rooster - was in a bit of a rush that morning and picked up the wrong bird.

All was put right this afternoon when we returned Regina to her flock and picked up Rocky and introduced him to the Hockey Girls. No messing this time -Karen pecked at him once and he grabbed her by the back of the neck and Wham, Bang, Thank you Mam!! Then off to strut his stuff around the pen, and see if any of the others were interested.

Still on Calf watch and despite regular checks, went down this morning to find that the second cow had calved on her own without any problem while the last of the ewes had just started to lamb - luckily Keith arrived before I had to get my hands dirty!

Along with the day old chicks and the ducklings which arrive on Friday it is a busy place at the moment - helps to keep one's mind off the economy and another bloody war.

Another addition to the CV!

As we sat in the sunshine with our mid-morning coffee (it was 15C by 11.30), Keith called to tell me that one of his cows was about to calf and did I want to watch.

Within 5 mins I was in the cowshed - sleeves rolled up, blood, shit and afterbirth everywhere -helping to get the calf jack in place to help the poor cow deliver a very large calf which had started in an awkward position. Not sure how to describe this new skill on my CV but it was a challenging 20 minutes or so. The calf was a heifer which is good news - worth a lot more than a bull calf - and seemed in good health - it was so big with such long spindly legs that it was having trouble standing to feed. As a result, I spent half hour this evening bottle-feeding it as Keith was hand-milking the mother.

As if that wasn't enough for one day, our new rooster arrived today as well. A very smart speckled Maran cockerel who seemed very sure of himself - until he met the hockey girls!!

They seemed less than impressed and gave him a very hard time -Karen in particular was very agressive.

However by bedtime they were a little more accommodating and allowed him into the henhouse. Hope they are all well when I go to feed them in the morning.

Had originally planned to name him Rocky after the hero of Chicken Run but given his performance today, Linda has decided to call him Reginald.

Don't know how I cope with such stressful days - and Keith has two more cows which should calf in the next day or so.

Spring is definitely here

Wednesday 23rd March - 16C at Moyhill this afternoon and the weather is settled until the weekend at least. Pity its still snowing in Toronto


Have been getting the veg plot ready for planting and digging a new plot for the potatoes and Jerusalem Artichokes. Linda ordered a variety of seeds and tubers from Irish Seed Savers before we left and they were here waiting for us when we got home - all we have to do now is plant them!


The hens have settled in well and the egg production is back to normal. We are getting a rooster this week to keep the girls happy and ensure that we don't sleep too late in the morning. If he is too noisy he will probably end up in the pot.


We are planning to raise some goats for meat this year and will probably raise some hens and ducks for the freezer as well. Could be tempted to try another couple of pigs but we still have at least half a freezer of pork to get through before I dare suggest this.


So life is back to normal - had our first Burren walk - on the green road at Fanore - on Monday and managed to spot some of the earliest wild flowers although the atlantic winds were a little cooling.

St Patrick's Day

This time last year we were at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun with our Canadian friends and their kids for St Patrick's Day. It rained from dawn until dusk and the entertainment team worked very hard to keep us amused with green beer, dancing competitions, Irish quizzes and a variety of games. After the evening karaoke (did we really sing Hotel California??) I somehow ended up in the mirror pool in the lobby with a 6ft 2in mexican leprechaun on my shoulders and still managed to stumble through the beach disco - although my drinking buddy Mark sloped off early to bed (lightweight)!

This year was a little less lively - champagne, guinness and the Ennis St Patrick's Day parade - but still good fun and in brilliant sunshine.

We brought the hockey girls home last night and I was welcomed this morning with 3 fresh eggs - we thought it would take time for them to settle in but apparently not.