Two of our ewes, and their lambs, have found a way through our electric fence. I had to round them up and walk them through to field 1 and put them in there. Field 1 was where we had been keeping them previously but we moved the sheep to field 2 so that field 1 could recover from 3 years of constant grazing. Two ewes and two lambs in a two acre field should mean the grass continues to grow quicker than it is eaten for the time being. Nevertheless we needs to sort the electric fence and find where they are getting through as our Hebridean sheep are due to go onto field 1 in mo ..read more

  Flystrike is when flies lay eggs in the wool of a sheep. The resulting infestation of maggots eats the wool and can eat into the flesh of the animal is left untreated. At this time of year we are on constant lookout for flystrike. We have found 2 incidents this year and the video above shows how we dealt with one of them ..read more

  We installed an electric fence across field 2 recently and moved the sheep there from field 1. The sheep proceeded to eat the grass, requiring our moving the electric fence another strip up the field. You can see the difference in the photo above. Now that the sheep are on the field, we have been able to stop buying in feed for them. They love the grass and there is plenty for them. We will gradually move the fence up the field throughout the summer. In the meantime, field 1 will be left to recover from intensive grazing ..read more

  Another big crop of rhubarb was ready so I picked over 20kg today. Most of it has gone to a local fruit and veg shop but we have kept a small amount back for ourselves. We will be making jam, pies and liqueurs ..read more

 Penelope, one of our goats, is producing big amounts of milk. In this video I use some of the milk in bread making. Essentially, I've replaced water with milk and fat (I normally use cooking oil) with goat cream. The result is a bread with a velvety texture ..read more

  Yesterday we went to our first agricultural show of the year - the Northumberland County Show at Bywell. It's great to be visiting the shows after the pandemic caused many to be closed. The video I filmed gives a taste of the show ..read more

  On our Farside allotment, we have a small paddock which has been used for holding goats and chickens in the past. Since November however it has been empty. The chickens had gone into runs on our Nearside allotment due to avian flu restrictions and the goats were down at the farm. As we are now well into spring, the paddock has become overgrown and we want to move our surplus cockerels into it. So we have moved our two smallest goats - Janey and Dolly - into the paddock so that they can eat their way through all the vegetation. We are also trimming the hawthorn hedge though we are check ..read more

  One of the hens on a neighbouring allotment went broody last month so I put 6 of our eggs under her. The result was 5 chicks though 2 have subsequently died. Meanwhile, our first attempt of the year to incubate eggs was a disaster. We put 10 call duck eggs into the incubator and not a single one hatched ..read more

  Two more lambs have been born this week. They are the last of this spring. So 7 in total, 2 of which are being hand raised. The next arrivals will be in the summer when the Hebrideans are due ..read more

  Last week, the government lifted the requirement to have all poultry caged. The restrictions had been in place since November to reduce the spread of avian flu. They ended a bit earlier this year though avian flu continues to stalk the land. The video above was filmed on the day the poultry was able to go free range again ..read more