Well we are finally getting around to fencing our top
paddock. Having just one large paddock isn't the way to manage your pasture
here in Tassie. We were used to very large paddocks in far western Queensland
which doesn't work well here. We are cutting it up into five paddocks starting
with a Bull paddock for Monty. John and I were out fencing in the blazing hot
sun last weekend (yes I did say blazing hot). Hey it does get hot here in
Tasmania although it took a little longer to get that way this year. We had a late start to Summer which didn't
help my vegetable seed planting one bit. I've only got a small selection of
veggies growing this season, much less than I originally planned.
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| Fencing time has started. |
This years calves are growing in leaps and bounds and Mums
are doing well too even with this dry feed we have. Can't wait for Autumn to
roll around again and the regular rains to fall. These fenced up paddocks are
going to come in real handy when we are ready to wean them. Two of our Wessex
Saddlebacks (Perky and Petunia) have had another litter of piglets each. They
caught us on the hop late one evening with both of them having their piglets in
the paddock. We left them there overnight as it wasn't cold weather. Both are
very good mothers so we weren't very concerned. Came back in the morning to
check and they had been sleeping facing each other belly to belly with piglets
in the middle keeping warm. We needed to move everyone up to the maternity
section of our shed so the little ones could sleep under the heat lamps in a
sectioned off corner known as 'the creep'. This way they stay warm and also
safe from the possibility of maybe getting rolled on. They are able to get
under the sectioned off corner but mum can't. We moved the piglets first, in a
wheel barrow and a crate and then enticed mums up with some food. There were 25 piglets in total. After a couple
of days we opened the pens up to the outside and everyone can come and go as
they please.
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| A barrow full of piglets. |
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| We moved the piglets in this crate and the wheel barrow. |
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| The 'creep' where babies stay warm and safe. |
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| The Dung Beetles have been busy. Marvelous little creatures. |
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| Hello from Genevieve. |
There's been a bit of news on the sheep front. Our
Black Faced Suffolk girls, Gwendoline and Clover now have a ram to boss about.
His name is Leonardo and he's a good looking Black Faced Suffolk boy. The girls
recently went down the road to another farm to get shorn. They look much better
now with their new hairdos. Less weight for them to carry around too. We got
told they were a tad obese so that was a bit embarrassing. We've put them in
the Jenny Craig paddock for awhile. We sold a lot of Geese just before
Christmas so we are now back to a manageable number again. Hopefully this year
will be better for breeding as last year the flood washed a few nests away.
Luckily there weren't any goslings hatched in any of them at the time as they
had just started to nest. Well that's about all the news at the moment. Life is
still revolving nicely on Leven River Farm. Michelle.
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| It's always nice to get a good licking. |
