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Farmer’s Diary: When the littlest lamb met the biggest horse

Following on from last week’s introduction to Gorsey, the lambs are getting used to this gentle giant moving among them as he tries to steal their meal and drinks out of their water buckets, writes Clodagh Hughes. 

I’m always amazed at how most animals will find a way to live harmoniously among each other, once each respects the other’s boundaries and lessons are learned…fast!                                                                  

The teeniest lamb has been the bravest to face Gorsey and welcome him on behalf of the entire flock.

This week I got the farrier out to give Gorsey a much-needed pedicure, now all I have to do is buy a bridle to fit this beast as the 2 I have from years back are way too small! I’m really looking forward to my first ride out.

I also have a passion for another kind of horsepower, motorbikes.  This week saw my first spin out in 8 months and we’re booked into a track day on Sunday. Two very excited fortysomething-year-olds indeed.

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Wool soaking

My wool soaking project was coming along nicely until I had a monumental disaster while moving the container…it burst on a stone and the precious cleansing liquid spilt out all over the place.

I’ll tell you guys, the air around me was blue for about 5 mins with the amount of expletives uttered. I was disappointed but as the saying goes, “it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good”.     

A friend of mine has 3 Zwartable sheep she sheared recently and is giving me their fleeces.  This is pretty cool as their wool is black/brown and is considered better quality wool than mine for spinning etc. Project wool wash is back on!

Man and quad

I don’t own a tractor so there are a few jobs on-farm that I need to get ‘a man in’ to do, spreading fertiliser is one and I engage the fine services of Seamus Cumiskey, who runs Man and Quad.

He has a great set up for both small and large jobs and as the quad can zip in and out of smaller fields and is lighter on the ground it’s perfect for my location.

Grass

I had hoped to wean my lambs this week but, due to the serious lack of grass available on the farm at present, I’ve had to rethink my plans as I must leave the fields to rest for as long as possible now to allow grass growth to recover.

It’s not a huge issue as the youngest lambs are just coming up to the recommended 14 weeks of age for weaning.

I’ve been feeding the sheep hay for almost a week now and, although it is eating into my profit margins, I’m glad to have in the shed because along with keeping the sheep fed and the lambs continuing to thrive it also takes a little pressure off the grass as they’re not constantly grazing it. Still banking on more rainfall.

More from me next week.

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