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A couple of discussions have taken place recently about pinkeye in sheep. Pinkeye is a perennial problem here, so I thought i'd show a few pics. of the disease. Early pink eye in a ewe In these two pics discharge can be seen around the eye. The first thing that you may notice is that the...

I've been absent for a while from this site....domestic problems. The arrival of this little lady on the scene prompts me to post again. Here's Layla 9 week old Border Collie. Pictured here with my going on 14 old boy Jared. Doesn't she just look the part?

Minnie is an 8 year old ewe who was retired to the 'Old Crocks' field 3 years ago after mild mastitis. She's a Beulah Speckled Face who is a seasonal breeding local breed of wool sheep who should not have oestrus beyond about January. She's a morbidly obese (!) spoilt old pet who has not ever...

Chickens are very much a part of many farmyards, but don't they leave you wondering how their kind manage to survive at all? Currently (as every late spring) I have a rash of broody hens. They are choosing anywhere to go broody. 1) The hay pile I have already moved on 2 previous broody hens...

My avatar....Lleila...she was born as a twin to a 14lb whopper. She weighed under a pound and was too weak to suck from mum, so she became a bottle lamb (though I did not expect her to live) Now she is aged 3. This is her now. Here she is with her huge 2 day old twins. She's quite a big ewe...

Well, i didn't have to tell you this, did I? It's also not just rams who do it. Stacey (don't blame me, i didn't name her) is a Blue Faced Leicester ewe who had two lambs and is currently indoors as the weather is too cold out for her lambs. Stacey was bottle fed and is a bit of a spoilt...

Just a couple of pics. to brighten a virus-riddled world. Martin...BFL lamb Chickens...taking advantage of the hay racks. The two ewes are 'survivors'. The one on the left prolapsed massively 10 days ago. The ewe-harness managed to keep everything in place until her uneventful labour 2...

We have had a day with sun today....believe me, we have had so few that this warrants me talking about it. Well, this uncommon event meant my chickens decided for the first time in about a week that they would venture out of the sheep shed into the sunlight. That reminded me....some of my...

I keep (quite) a few Brahma chickens....lovely to look at, but love to be broody. So.....just started up laying again after the 'Winter shut down' and broody already. Here she sits.... Do I really want chicks in February? No, I don't think so. Anybody else have broody hens right now?

My ewes had their pregnancy scans yesterday and here's some of the girls who are expecting more than one lamb or who need to have a close eye kept on them. Reasons for 'keeping them close' include first timers , certain breeds (like Blue Faced Leicester etc) as well as the ewes expecting more...

So, Baldie is a more than 'averagely' bald Naked Neck who has decided to moult in December. A few nights back the temperature was well below freezing. This is what she looks like. She is indoors until such time she has a bit more than her 'Mohican' of pin feathers. Not a pretty sight!

So, just an excuse to post a couple of pics. of the autumn leaves in my back garden with a few sheep in the background and an uncharacteristically sunny day.

I planned to hatch Ayam Cemani. I bought eggs way back at beginning of August. I began to get concerned when I learnt that the seller took orders and payment for eggs which had not yet been laid (I thought the proverb was 'Don't count your chickens before they hatch.....Not don't count your...

I have kept chickens for years....Brahmas and Naked Necks. Yesterday on a whim I ordered 6 fertile Ayam Cemani eggs from eBay. For those unfamiliar with the breed they are the completely black birds.....comb, wattles, everything. So why? No answer really apart from I love their looks...

I never like any of my sheep to get ill, but sick rams are the worst. Treatments involving restraining, injecting, treating hooves etc are a nightmare with the big boys. Dexter is my 2.5 year old Beulah Speckle Faced ram.....90kg of muscle with horns. It is the horns which are the problem...

British wildlife is not exactly doing well....habitat loss mainly. I do my best to preserve it. I have 'overwintered' hedgehogs who have turned up on site who are too thin to hibernate over the winterThey live over the winter keeping them in an old chicken coop in the sheep shed.They are fed...

Seems to me that hens choose the oddest places to go broody. Recently had to kick one out from my lamb weighing scales where she had decided to sit. Today I found this one To be honest, I very nearly stepped on her.....she began screeching and grumbling as I almost placed my foot on her...

I don't usually leave triplets with a ewe as generally the smallest will be pushed out by the two larger lambs and fail to thrive. In addition, mastitis is far more common in triplet mums due to the lambs constantly trying to get enough milk. Occasionally a young, strong ewe with 3 lambs of...

The ewe momma (Shirley) looked huge. Udder like a cow. Yesterday she gave birth to massive twins. Thankfully that huge udder wasn't a sign of fibrosis.....just commensurate with the size of the babies she has to feed. She has halved in size.

Every year I seem to get a few ewes who suffer with mastitis....always worse when the weather is cold and the lambs suckle hard. This year I have had two so far. The first (mother of Mr Slowroast who was hypothermic and needed to be 'oven warmed') was only found to be present when the ewe came...