A Month on the Farm
by Libby and Lisa Buchanan
I fear we must begin with sad news. One of the twin calves died suddenly. The only upside is the remaining twin is thriving without having to share the milk.
Now for the good news! The cattle are out in the fields where they truly belong and are so contented. It isn’t quite as straightforward as you might think - one of the big puzzles of the year is working out who goes where. The cows and calves must not go on the fields through which the public footpath runs - it isn’t
safe. Then we have to ensure the bulls go with the right cows - fathers on daughters or brothers on sisters is not a good idea and leads to all sorts of problems. The young heifers must be kept as far away as possible so they don’t encourage any straying by the boys! Finally, we have nine left to calve on whom we need to keep a close eye so they are near the house. It is annoying to have this late group - any farmer’s ambition is to keep the calving period as tight as possible - but it happened because a bull went lame at the critical moment last year.
With the cattle out, the yards seem like a ghost-town and the rhythm of our day has changed completely. When they are in, it normally takes most of the morning to scrape out their standing areas, bed them down with fresh straw and feed them. Now the day begins and ends with a careful check that they are well and still in their right field. Already we have had one group of escapees, which is stressful! One of the important things to watch for at this time of year is something called ‘staggers’, which is caused by a deficiency of magnesium. It can be deadly if not treated quickly. The cattle literally stagger about before collapsing. Recently calved cows on grass are susceptible so every day we put magnesium in their water.
The big job now is mucking out the yards. The dung is piled in carefully chosen spots around the farm, near where we need it for spreading in the Autumn/Spring and away from water courses to avoid any leaking of nutrients which damages aquatic life.
This time of year really is utterly magical and every day is a delight. We saw the first swallow the other day, the larks are singing, the wildflowers are spectacular, the butterflies and bees are busy and the trees and hedgerows are bursting with that very special green. We are so blessed to live in this special part of the world - and our hearts go out to all those whose Spring this year is filled with fear and fighting. May God be with them and may we be forever grateful to be here.