October, 2004

What a month! This has probably been the hardest month since those first few when we arrived at Vowley Farm. They say things come in threes... we got a shed load... from what seems like a great height :-((

First off, Crystal, Mark's beautiful grey arab mare took up with another serious dose of laminitis. We were able to bring her into the yard to keep a close eye on her, walk her regularly and feed her on plenty of hay. The hoof care professional came and gave her the once over, leaving Mark with the instructions as to how to trim her feet. She's improving, but it looks like she'll be off work for several more months and that's not only painful for her, but upsetting for Mark.

Saffron, the second of our home grown heifers, set herself up ready to calve one evening. All was going well and we kept a regular and close eye on her out in the field. She didn't want us to have anything to do with the process so we watched carefully from a discreet distance. Things seemed to have ground to a bit of a halt at 11.30pm, but she assured us that she was OK and we were not required. Lorraine was woken up with an urgent request to visit her at 4am. The calf was stuck, dead and Saffron was upset about it. We called the vet and Saffron dutifully followed us into the barn where the vet (Chris, very handsome man!) helped to free the calf. Saffron took one look at it (a beautiful little girl) and happily wandered back out into the field back to her mates.

A few days later, Primrose, who had been looking very blooming and glorious, was looking rather gaunt. She had clearly calved, but where was it? Turned out to be under the hedge, dead, alongside the afterbirth, all in tact.

These two beautiful girls are causing us some concern. They have both lost a lot of weight and we're wondering if it's a bit of post natal depression. We have dosed them both for worms as a precaution and will watch to see if they start to pick up.

Just around the time of these still births, the rain started to come down. We needed to bring the cows in, but the guy who is making the gates for the barn has had some trouble which means they are not yet ready. We were just formulating a plan, using bayler twine, posts and electric fencing when the cows decided new pastures were what they were about and promptly left their field. Visiting the neighbours lawn, they celebrated their arrival with a little frolic which has left some very unwelcome hoof prints and done nothing for neighbourly relationships.

One windy night blew part of the electric fence around the turkeys down... Mr Fox was watching and took advantage of the open house. We found 5 headless carcasses strewn around the paddock, including Mr Wonky - a one-eyed turkey with curled toes who used to wobble his way around often getting "stuck" in the turkey house and calling to his mates playing in the wind outside. Earlier in the month, he's visited and we found one poor hen bird with the whole of her tail end chewed off. She was still alive with her innerds hanging out. Nature is sometimes so hard. We dispatched her and have enjoyed an early Christmas dinner...

As if that weren't enough, Lorraine had several sleepless nights and a visit to the doctor with severe stomach pains. Well, he didn't know what it might be... and now they've gone away... so perhaps it was just the stress of October 2004 on the farm. Let's hope so.