Edward Earle, Gorey, Co. Wexford, works as a quality engineer and farms over 300 ewes in partnership with his parents.
Not often we find ourselves wanting to see rain but boy was I glad to see the rain on Thursday night. Grass growth has noticeably slowed down in the last week for this time of year.
With the rain forecasted, I had spread fertilizer on paddocks that were after being grazed and were slow to come back.
While walking the paddocks Saturday evening you could see the paddocks greening up, which is good to see.
With sheep sheared and all dosed, this was a quiet week on the farm.
Mastitis
On Wednesday morning, while doing the routine checks, a ewe was noticed to be walking very stiff because one of her udders had swollen.
When we caught her and took a closer look, she had a touch of mastitis in one spin. We milked her out and tubed her.
We always take the lambs off the ewe when they are being treated for mastitis for a few hours, just to let the terrixine work.
We gave her a shot of antibiotics as well and put her on a course of antibiotics for the next few days. I am glad to say she is better now.
Masterclass
This week was also the last masterclass held by Agriaware and Alltech on the use of social media.
This week focused on the right content that we should be using to engage with people. As there is now such as disconnect with people and where their food comes from, social media is a tool us farming people can use to educate and bridge the gap with society.
As farmers, we have a passion for what we do so embracing tools such as social media is a must in the world today.
This has inspired me to set up my own Instagram account under @ed_earle89 to show what we get up to on the farm.
It was also great to hear from Amanda Owen (Aka Yorkshire Shepherdess) on how she has amounted such a high following on twitter and Instagram.
