Tag: animals

We have put up a Barn Owl nest box today. Our barn that we converted into cottages has got Owl Holes at either end, they would have been there since the barn was built over a hundred years ago, to encourage Barn Owls that would help keep vermin down . Unfortunately they have never been used by Barn Owls. Doves, Sparrow Hawks and other Birds have nested in the loft of the building. We put boxes into the loft when we converted it, hoping that they would encourage a Barn Owl as a roost, but since we have lived at Denbury we have never seen one. The Box we have put up is sited in a modern barn, where there is vermin. At this time of year, this years young will be looking for their own territory and hopefully if one sees the new nest box when hunting, it will use it.

We have also left quite a lot of rough grass land around the farm, in the paddock where the Badger camera is, and other areas to encourage voles, the Barn Owls main diet. As you can see on the webcams, we have our fair share of voles.

We have got a site in Cornwall that we hope to show Barn Owls nesting next year. A new nest box is being made to accommodate a camera to go into the barn that they nested in this year. The new nest box needs to be in the barn by the end of the year to give the Owls the chance of getting use to it. As long as they do get use to the new box and with a bit of luck we will be broadcasting the nesting.

Yesterday we had a person who is a lot more knowledgeable on birds than my self, visit the farm. Whilst walking around the farm a flock of Rooks had been disturbed from the rookery in the woods, the person pointed out a Peregrine Falcon that had disturbed the Birds. We thought that we had seen a Peregrine earlier in the year.

Karen, the Council are obliged to dispose of dead animals on the Highway. They also have a time limit to how long they should collect them by once reported to them. If dead animals are found on private land, the landowner is responsible. Other than the young Badger that we found dead by the house earlier in the year, after what must have been caused by two Badgers fighting, we have never seen any dead wild animals.

When I went to feed the Ewe lamb this morning, I found it dead, I fed it late last night, Normally when I go to the barn the lamb knows I will be feeding it, and comes over to me, last night I had to pick it up, it was snuggled into the Ewe, and very quiet. It took the feed, but it was not well. It was born on the 3rd of March, our first lamb born on the farm. For over a week I thought that it may not survive. Although I was feeding it, it was not growing and was not a lot bigger than when it was born. I don’t think that it could have got all the colostrum that it needed at birth. As I said when the lambs were born, it is unusual for Portland to have twins and may not have produced the colostrum for two lambs. Without colostrum very few animals of any species will survive.

The Ewe has been lying next to the dead lamb for most of the day, other than when it sees me, it then comes to me and turns back towards the barn, as if it wanting me to go with it. I will leave the lamb with it until the Ewe realises that it will not follow her, if I take the lamb away and put the Ewe in the field with the other sheep, she will only return to the barn looking for her lamb. It always saddens us when one of the animals looses their off spring, for the way they act, you know that what ever feelings animals do have, they must have in some way, a feeling of lose.

At about 6.pm I went to see if the Ewe was still with the lamb, we had left the barn door open so that she was able to leave when ready, she had gone. I went to see if she was with the other sheep, she was. It was sad, she was running from lamb to lamb to see if any of them were hers. Whilst looking I found a last years Ewe lamb caught in the bramble, she was well and truly stuck, and she would never had freed herself.

Walking round the lake today, I saw the first ducklings of the year. A Mallard with twelve swimming in a flotilla. Unfortunately the bull rushes and reeds have very little growth, so there is not a lot of cover for the duckings to hide from their predators. Chances are that none will survive for more than a few days. I cant remember having ducklings on the lake this early, in the year before.

What a day of woe today is. Woody is unwell again. When we fed her this morning she was fine, she ate her feed as normal, all of the nights hay had been eaten, she had been drinking her water, and her droppings were normal. We turned her out as normal, but noticed an hour later that she had been lying down for a long while. On checking her, She was very uncomfortable and bleeding slightly, as if she maybe was starting to foal, far to early, as the foal is not due for another month, and her udder has not sprung. We have given her a pain killer to see if it settles it down, as it did the last time. This is the third time this has happened in the past couple of months, I comes on so fast that it could well be a problem caused by the foal moving into a position that is hurting her. The Veterinary needs to check her a look over to make sure that it is not a more serious problem.

The Ewe and lamb are doing much better, they are turned out on the grass in the mornings and come in of a night.

No more of the Ewes have lambed yet, but I am sure that it just a matter of time and we will have a few more. They will have to come in very soon to allow the grass to grow to make our hay for the year, and give the horse their grazing from the beginning of May until the Autumn.

Lady is showing no further signs of foaling, her udder is getting larger but no signs that the foaling is imminent. We have to check her out many times throughout the night, having a monitor in our bedroom to save having to go to the stables. Mother who also has a cottage on the farm, has a monitor, so that she can keep an eye on the mares. She insists on keeping watch for us, and stays awake all hours of the night. With all of us watching we have still nearly missed the births on a couple of occasions. I am sure that without our help the births would happen naturally without any problems, but it is not worth taking the chance. So many things can go wrong, a breach birth, legs coming out in the wrong position, the mare being to exhausted and starts to give up and lays down, many unwanted situation that might need ours or the Veterinaires help. Once born you need to make sure that the foal gets the colostrum in the first six hours. First you have to make sure that it can get up on its feet, a number of times foals have been to exhausted to get up. One could not find the mares udder. Some first time foaling mares, don’t like the foal suckling them, and we then have to hand milk the mare and bottle feed the colostrum, within a few hours the mare normally gets the idea and allows the foal to feed naturally.

It is essential for the foal to get the colostrum milk, as is all new born animals and humans. This special milk is yellow to orange in color and thick and sticky. It is low in fat, and high in carbohydrates, protein, and antibodies to help keep the new born healthy. Without it newborns struggle, any small germs or diseases without having the colostrum can cause new born animals to die. If a mare has a lot of colostrum we will milk a little off and freeze to use in case of any future problem, with other mares.