Friday 20 January 2012

Happy New Year bloggers and another lambing season is looming

It has been a long time and I have to apologies for not keeping it up last year, but will try to do better.

It was indeed a good year for sheep in 2011, spring was good weather meaning not to many lambs died, the summer produced good grass (not to much sun though) thus  lambs grow well and fatten for the butcher easily and on top of that prices were better than for years, so sheep farmers generally have been as happy as they get, of course costs have risen just like everyone elses.

The last of the crop of 2011 lambs are in the sheep shed being fed well to go to butchers before the middle of Feb. when we start to think about housing the first ewes to lamb. Hugh our scanning man has pregancy diagnosed the first half of the ewes and unfortunately the Beloved Whiteface Dartmoor have let us down or rather the ram has, unfortunately one ram was infertile and 50 of his ewes are not in lamb, which of course will mean a loss of income for 2012/13. The ram is for the chop and the girls have been sent to Roborough Down to graze, saving the good field grass for the profit making pregnant ewes.

Hope you have been to see War Horse as our Whiteface Dartmoor ewes feature there in the Dartmoor scenes as Chris Evans (radio2) discussed live with Mat yesterday morning, so maybe they have a reprieve having earnt their money on location.

Time to go  bye