An eventful day !

Today has been very busy, but then Offley days are always busy!

Jon got the water bowser stuck this morning on the way round with the water for the livestock and despite emptying 2000 litres out he still couldn't move the Manitou so he had to detach the bowser completely and pull his way out with the front spikes and use the pick up hitch as an anchor to stop the machine sliding backwards.

This afternoon we moved the cattle park from Kings Walden park. I will post the pictures later after the camera has re-charged in order to download the pictures. It was a complex operation using the estate farm and maintenance department staff and vehicles. It is 2 a mile journey along single track lanes to the farm, with several junctions where the cattle have to be directed which way to go. On the whole the operation went well with a slight diversion across an arable field where there were no hedges to keep them on the road. It took 2 hours from start to finish to get the cattle here and then we weaned the oldest calves, vaccinated them all, and put the cows and a bull and 6 youngest calves in one shed while the other calves joined up with the ones we weaned previously. We finished just as it was too dark to continue and since the shortest day is past we now look forward to the lighter nights.

All the cattle are now inside for the rest of the winter and this will cut down on some of the feeding and watering outside, only the sheep and pigs remain outside now. However feeding and bedding the cattle indoors is still a big task every day. We used to winter all the adult cattle outdoors however the weather last winter and again this year has brought about a major rethink and we will see how this winter goes, and then work out what works best. Anything that is weather dependent, as most of farming is, is not an exact science and plans do have to change.

It will be another noisy night or two until the cows and calves settle down, the calves are just outside our bedroom window and the cows are in a shed towards the village.