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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number six.

Windsor Castle taken last July. PM

Park Drag and a Team of Gelderlanders.

Sunset Coral bay. Cyprus. Angela.

Durdle doordurdle door. Sue.

Newquay harbour the black thing in the water is a seal who swam around you while you paddled. Sue.

The new Foal is a friendly chap. Very often when we walk into the stable he will come over. That is the way they should be. We had one a few years back that was a monster. The day after he was born I was checking him over to make sure that every thing was as it should be, when he bucked and double barrelled kicked me. Believe me even at his age it hurt. Until the day he went he had a habit of throwing one out. You dare not push him from behind unless you could get out of his way very quick. It would be easier to move Emmi and the Foal into the next stable when we muck them out. Leaving them in the stable with you gives the Foals more contact with people. On Monday we will move them into the larger stable that we finished a few week back, and if we get a decent day next week we will let them out onto the grass.

I wonder if any of you noticed Ewy grazing with the Deer last night. I was a little surprised and needed to look twice to see if it was what I had seen. She disappeared when a couple of the Deer went into the wood. I wouldn’t be surprised if she hadn’t followed them into the wood. After the way she paired off with Breeze last year, I can see her doing it with the Deer. Unfortunately for Ewy the Deer can travel great distances and jump fences. It could be a bit of a problem for Ewy.

The photograph of the tree lined avenue leading to Windsor Castle reminded me of a great day out I had some years ago. Having a number of Horse Drawn Carriages I knew a few people with the same interest. One of them invited me to Windsor for the Horse Show. The class of competition was for Horse Drawn Park Drags and Road Coaches. They look very similar, the Road Coach would be in livery of the route it would take. The Park Drag being a Private Vehicle.. You would know them by the period programs on television, as maybe Stage Coaches. Picture below avenue photograph of the actual Park Drag Carriage with a Team of Gelderlander Horses.

The class would be judged on the turn out and the way the carriage was being driven. The route taken was around Windsor Great Park, through Windsor and up the tree line Avenue leading to the Castle, as photograph sent in by PM. I had ridden on the Carriage a few times before at County Shows. But the Windsor Castle venue was the best. I could never forget Driving up the Horse Chestnut Tree lined avenue, the Trees were magic.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number one. I have used tonight Photo page for Emmi and her new Foal.

You can never be 100% sure when a Mare is going to Foal. After seeing the amount of colostrum that she was loosing yesterday daytime, I was pretty sure that it would be sometime overnight. Although I was a little surprised at what time it was. I had fallen asleep on the settee and checked the webcams when I woke. Emmi having a rug on didn’t help me to see the birth sack that I caught a quick glimpse at it as she turned around. Fortunately Emmi was standing when we took the rug off, she had sweated up a little, but she was quite calm.

Once something is hanging out of the Mare it is important to make sure that every thing is in the right place for the birth. I could see one leg. Feeling inside Emmi I could tell that other than one leg slightly over the foals head, every thing else was as it should be. The leg would probably have righted itself as the birth progressed, but I believe if you can help, do it, and I positioned the leg. I could also feel that it was a big Foal and that I was going to need to help Emmi. You know that the Foal is coming out, so help. The longer that it is in the Mare, the more things can go wrong. As long as you help at the right time, it can only be beneficial. I don’t take any notice of these wise people who tell you to let nature take its course. I have seen to many dead animals after a birth has gone wrong.

We always use a lubricant to help in the Foaling. Once part of the Foals head is showing with a rope attached to both legs, when the Mare pushes we pull in the direction of the back of her legs. This Foal took a bit of pulling, but once the head was out it got a lot easier. Once the Foal was born we got the birth sack off, made sure that the Foals mouth was clear of any fluids or any other debris that would stop him from breathing. Other than the Foal being big it was probably the easiest Foaling that I have been involved in. Emmi was on her feet very quick and the Foal wasn’t far behind. It is a big strong Foal. Once it had found its feet it stayed on them for longer than any other Foals we have had without falling down. Normally you would expect a Foal to up and down a good few times before it was able to balance.

Emmi is a big Mare, she would be a litter over 16hh. The Foal is also big and was having a few problems getting his head under Emmi and attaching its self to Emmi’s teat to suckle, it didn’t help with Emmi, when she kept moving. I wouldn’t have normally worried, but as the Foal had been standing for as long at it had, I was getting a little concerned that it may have tired before suckling. You would want it to get the colostrum within the first six hours, without it the Foal would be unlikely to survive. So you need to make sure that the Foal receives the anti bodies from the colostrum. Once they get a little of the colostrum it seems to make them keen to get more and they seem to make more of an effort. I milked a few ounces off of Emmi and gave it to the Foal. I used a syringe to feed her with it, this way it is then not a teat to the Foal and she will continue to look for the Mares teats. It worked and the Foal very soon found what she was looking for, and the few ounces that I gave the Foal would have given him the anti bodies that he needed if he had taken longer to find the teat.

I waited up until about 2.am to make sure that every think was alright with both Emmi and the Foal, and checked on them every hour through the night. Lady was very interested in the Foal, but Emmi wasn’t best pleased when she kept putting her head over the stable door and stable partitioning wall, giving her with her ears back a few threats. Every thing looks fine with both Emmi and the Foal.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number one. I have used tonight Photo page for Emmi and her new Foal.

You can never be 100% sure when a Mare is going to Foal. After seeing the amount of colostrum that she was loosing yesterday daytime, I was pretty sure that it would be sometime overnight. Although I was a little surprised at what time it was. I had fallen asleep on the settee and checked the webcams when I woke. Emmi having a rug on didn’t help me to see the birth sack that I caught a quick glimpse at it as she turned around. Fortunately Emmi was standing when we took the rug off, she had sweated up a little, but she was quite calm.

Once something is hanging out of the Mare it is important to make sure that every thing is in the right place for the birth. I could see one leg. Feeling inside Emmi I could tell that other than one leg slightly over the foals head, every thing else was as it should be. The leg would probably have righted itself as the birth progressed, but I believe if you can help, do it, and I positioned the leg. I could also feel that it was a big Foal and that I was going to need to help Emmi. You know that the Foal is coming out, so help. The longer that it is in the Mare, the more things can go wrong. As long as you help at the right time, it can only be beneficial. I don’t take any notice of these wise people who tell you to let nature take its course. I have seen to many dead animals after a birth has gone wrong.

We always use a lubricant to help in the Foaling. Once part of the Foals head is showing with a rope attached to both legs, when the Mare pushes we pull in the direction of the back of her legs. This Foal took a bit of pulling, but once the head was out it got a lot easier. Once the Foal was born we got the birth sack off, made sure that the Foals mouth was clear of any fluids or any other debris that would stop him from breathing. Other than the Foal being big it was probably the easiest Foaling that I have been involved in. Emmi was on her feet very quick and the Foal wasn’t far behind. It is a big strong Foal. Once it had found its feet it stayed on them for longer than any other Foals we have had without falling down. Normally you would expect a Foal to up and down a good few times before it was able to balance.

Emmi is a big Mare, she would be a litter over 16hh. The Foal is also big and was having a few problems getting his head under Emmi and attaching its self to Emmi’s teat to suckle, it didn’t help with Emmi, when she kept moving. I wouldn’t have normally worried, but as the Foal had been standing for as long at it had, I was getting a little concerned that it may have tired before suckling. You would want it to get the colostrum within the first six hours, without it the Foal would be unlikely to survive. So you need to make sure that the Foal receives the anti bodies from the colostrum. Once they get a little of the colostrum it seems to make them keen to get more and they seem to make more of an effort. I milked a few ounces off of Emmi and gave it to the Foal. I used a syringe to feed her with it, this way it is then not a teat to the Foal and she will continue to look for the Mares teats. It worked and the Foal very soon found what she was looking for, and the few ounces that I gave the Foal would have given him the anti bodies that he needed if he had taken longer to find the teat.

I waited up until about 2.am to make sure that every think was alright with both Emmi and the Foal, and checked on them every hour through the night. Lady was very interested in the Foal, but Emmi wasn’t best pleased when she kept putting her head over the stable door and stable partitioning wall, giving her with her ears back a few threats. Every thing looks fine with both Emmi and the Foal.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number eleven. Getting short of photographs again.

How would you like a ride on this, THE BIG ONE, Blackpool. Elsie.

My little terror….sorry Terrier!
From Judy.

Charlie the plastic Heron ,getting looked over by a real Heron in lancashire Angela

I dont know were this was one of my children sent it to me Angela

Windsor Castle taken last July. PM.

For the past two night our broadband connection must have gone down for a minute or two. When I got up yesterday morning the webcams were off. When I came down about 4.am this morning they were off again. When they do go off I can see what time it has happened. Both times it was about 1.am. I will check them at about 1.30am overnight to see if they have gone down, Ill turn them back if they have.

I spoke to the Veterinary today about Emmi seeping colostrum from her teats. If she doesn’t have the Foal soon we may have a bit of a problem. What ever happens the Foal will need the colostrum otherwise there is very little chance of it living for more than a short while. Emmi is not loosing a vast amount of the colostrum, but an amount that if she stands in one place for any length of time it is noticeable on the ground. We will have to wait and see and hope that she Foals very soon.

There has been a herd of Red Deer in the valley on and off for the past few weeks. I counted seven last night, but I should think that there would have been more in the woods. Going by the Forum this morning, with a couple of people seeing them this morning, drinking out of the stream they must have stayed all night. They could be the Herd that were involved in the Rut that we had here in the Autumns. Until a few years back, most years some gave birth in a clearing in the wood on the left hand side of the valley. We only ever saw one Calf in all of that time. At the time I wasn’t very pleased to see them, they would eat a lot of my grass that we needed for the Cattle that we kept. Now we only make hay from the grass. As much as I would like to have the hay, its good to know that the Deer are having it. With a bit of luck the Deer may give birth here, and who knows we may see a Calf.

I got a photograph from Bliss and Misty’s Trainer today. It was of Misty on the gallops. It is not because she is my Horse, but she looks really good. I am not going to put the photograph on the Photo page until I get a photograph of Bliss, the Trainer said he will try he would try to send one tonight. All going well I will be able to put two on tomorrow.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number six.

This was the loveliest cat we ever had.His name was George and he died a year ago, I have only now been brave enough to look at his photos. RoseW’canton.

This is a lovely place to visit. Lindisfarne.
Northumberland. Elsie

A Highland Cow from Judy.

This is a picture of stalagmites and stalactites Taken in Kent’s Caverns Sue

Bird taken in my garden last spring. PM.

Emmi has started to drip a little milk from her udder, so her Foaling cant be that far away. I would say tonight, but I said that a day or so back and we are still waiting. We are so tired having to wake as we are to check on Emmi, that if I yawn any wider I will swallow myself. I do wonder at times like this why I bother.

Another pair of Geese arrived on the Lake earlier today. The two pairs have not stopped honking at each other all day. I hope that the new pair will not be dominant, as the others must have laid an egg yesterday. I don’t think that the pair that were mating yesterday, were the same as last year. I only say that because the pair last year would rest on the left hand bank of the Lake, this pair are using the right hand side. As I am writing the Diary one pair has flown off of the Lake. It could well be the new pair that are still here as they are by the boat. Not the normal place. A bit later, the female has gone to the nest on the island, I should think to lay another egg, and off they flew.

I spoke to Simon a couple of days ago about the progress with the Griffon Vulture Camera. The first nest site that he had hoped to have used has not as yet been occupied. To set the camera in position Simon will need to climb the rock face. He needs to be 99% sure that the nest will be occupied of it will mean that he will have to do another climb to take the camera down and install else where.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number one. We are really short again. Maybe not enough to put five up tomorrow.

Hells Mouth in Cornwall we once saw a leatherback turtle here! Lindsay.

Grey Squirrel photos were taken at Rufford Country Park. Judy.

This was taken in a friends garden in Australia. Elsie.

I thought these two looked rather nice, taken at the Great Dorset Steam Fair, an event well supported by the heavy horses. CH

Mr. Farmer, pictures of our latest butterflies that just recent emerged. The one in my husband’s hand is a Orange Barred Sulphur. Karen, Florida (USA)

A quick turn around about the Geese from last nights Diary. They have been on and around the Lake for all of the day. Late this afternoon I moved the camera around just as one of them used the ramp to get onto the island. Earlier in the day we had been putting the camera on a pole overlooking the island. We couldn’t help being a little noisy, as we needed to use a small scaffold tower to put the camera to the height that we wanted. The tower being a bit rusty we needed to hit it a bit with a hammer. Then we needed to drill the hole to fit the camera. We thought that the noise would have made the Geese fly off, but they didn’t take any notice of us at all. As I am writing the Diary, they are in their courtship ritual and mating, I hope you saw it, so it looks. definite that they are nesting on the island. I will get the new camera working as soon as I can, but no later than the coming Monday.

We have been getting a Barn Owl nest box ready to put up outside. We don’t no where at the moment. I had a sample made when we were selling normal sized nest boxes, but never got around to putting it up. It needed to be oiled to protect from the weather. We will try to get it put in place once we decide where we are going put it. We have two Barn Owl nest box’s in our big barn. We haven’t seen any thing take any notice of them, not even the Doves. The nest box that we are getting ready is going to be put up outside, who will finish up using it we will have to wait and see. Of course that is if anything does at all.

As they say, as one thing goes another comes. Yesterday the Farmer next door moved his Sheep to his field that backs onto the field where the Badgers are. Unfortunately it is in line with his Farm House and I had agreed that I would not show his Sheep in that Field. It would have been nice to have been able to keep watching the Sheep. As the lambs get older they do play a lot more.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number eleven.

This is Man of War Bay, The cove next to Durdle Door in Dorset.Rose W’canton.

Coming to say hello Angela kent.

Taken last August. GJ.

I think this was taken at Blackpool Zoo. Elsie.

Cowm This is a small man made pond that is fed from up in the hills the water flows round and round until it flows into the pond then onto into the reservoir it gets full of frogs and newts you can see around the edges little ponds that the water flows through until it gets to the big pond children uses it as a wishing well Angela Kent.

I went and checked on Emmi at 2.30am, as the way she acting she was giving signs that she may have started to Foal, especially as last evening when I checked her, droplet of a waxy type of liquid were on the end of her teats. It is known as waxing. It is droplets of colostrum that seep out of the udder within one to four days of Foaling. It is a good indicator. Not to good last night. I don’t enjoy going out to the stables at that time of the night. I wouldn’t be surprised if she Foaled tonight, for other than a short period of grazing with Lady, she has been close to her stable looking really miserable. She hasn’t eaten at lot of her feed or hay. Last night I set the alarm clock to be woken every hour. Tonight I will set it for every three quarters of an hour.

The Geese keep coming and going, I cant remember when they started to settle last year. If I get time I will check by going through last years Diary. It could well be that the ramp that I put leading from the water to the island may have put them off. I could remove it, but it is probably at the moment the only chance of the Gosling surviving, if the Geese do decide to breed on the lake. I would rather them not breed on the if it means that the Goslings wont last a day, as has happened most other years. I really don’t know how the Moorhens survive as they do. Within the past couple of weeks I have seen four feeding under the Bird feeders, that are by the Lake. Jack has finished getting the Remote Controlled Duck working. Other than fitting the camera, that he is waiting for to be delivered. I have also got the wiring in place to fit a camera that will over look the nest on the island. So we will be able to keep our eye on them. Mind you if the Geese don’t decide to breed on the Lake, we may wll get a pair of Swan nesting. A pair come every year but they are chased away by the Geese. Swans are a lot more protective of their young than what Geese are, and I seem to remember seeing Swans taking their Cygnets back to the nest at night. But I am not sure.

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large nest box griffon vulture next door Sheep…

large nest box
griffon vulture

next door Sheep

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number six.

MORE PICS OF WSR, FROM MARIE AND JOHN.

Another photo of Crowm Reservoir on the reservoir there is One lone Ruddy shell duck that has been there for about 3 to 4 years but he goes away for the week ends strange but true he has been known to go for longer Angela (kent)

Sandsend near Whitby,North Yorkshire.Lindsay.

The Chaffinch and the Grey Squirrel photos were taken at Rufford Country Park. Judy.

My Torquay Palm which I cut right down and it grew again from the top. It looks much better actually and does look nice with the frost on it. Elsie.

Just a couple of updates on the Diary tonight. As I need to do some text and find some photographs for the website face lift.

My forum entry about Bandwidth was only put on again today so that people who may not have seen it last time, will see it.

Sorry Rose, Wincanton for not acknowledging your photograph of the Spider.

I must have missed Dolly when I check the Sheep yesterday, as when she was facing away from me I noticed that her udder was quite large. With us having Holiday Guests this week we used the wiring for the Sheep and Horses camera for their live feeds of the webcams into the Holiday Cottages. We had run another cable for the Sheep in the Winter and the Lake in the Summer for the Geese and Kingfisher, but never got around to finishing it. It was an easy job to finish. The Holiday Cottages are now able to have the live feeds as well as being able to show the Sheep.

We had hoped that we would have started to be getting good webcam images coming through from the USA. Unfortunately it has been snowing at Indian River Bay, Delaware and Peter has been unable to get to the camera, to make sure that all is working properly. We think we know what the problem is. I am sure that if I were there I would be able to get it going properly. We are getting a picture through, but It would not be good enough to show on our website.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number one.

Hi Mr Farmer, Please would you include my photographs on your Photo page. I found the frog sitting on the garden wall yesterday morning in the rain. Judy

Sunset over Kirkwall Harbour in the Orkney islands.Lindsay.

And these are the Lambs my daughter and I spotted the other day. FF (Rose)

Torquay Harbour. Must be nice to own one of these boats. Elsie.

I hope this wont upset anyone, it was the first wild life we saw on a holiday to Cyprus last year!!! We were staying in a rather isolated villa.It ran really near to our grandsons cot. My son thought it was a mouse.Ugh! Rose W’canton

I looked over Emmi today, her udder is very large, she has sprung at her rear end, and it looks very much that Foaling is very close. I will look at her later tonight to see if there is any change. If there is I will put it on the Forum.

I also checked over the Sheep. They all look as if they are in Lamb, but none are showing any signs of Lambing. Most Sheep Farmer have their Ewes scanned to see if they are in Lamb. As you can imagine it is not very economical for Sheep Farmer to be keeping Ewes that are barren. It wouldn’t be very economical for me to have my few Sheep scanned, as they are not kept for profit, only for our Holidays guests to be involved in.

When we had cattle we use to have them scanned. We had someone doing it for us for a few years, but he decided to retire. We found another person to do the scanning. He told us that none of our Cows that he scanned were in Calf. I couldn’t understand it as I had seen the Bull Mating with the Cows, and had wrote the days in my Diary. I also had not seen the Bull try to cover them again. Another way that you can tell if a Cow is ready to mate, is if a Cow mounts another Cow, it is called Bulling. I hadn’t seen that happen to any that I had seen the Bull mating with. Our Bull may well have been infertile, and it does happen. For Farmer who relied on their Cows having Calves for their income they would soon be replaced, and sent off to market to be sold if they were barren. The Bull would also be. With me it was a little bit different, I wanted to make a profit, but because of BSE at the time I wasn’t going to purchase any more Cows. I needed the grass eaten off the fields, so we kept them hoping they they may get in Calf later. Some months later, those that he told us were not in calf produced them.

All Thoroughbred Horses, in fact all Horses should be scanned just in case they are having twins. Twins in Horses although quite rare, does happen. A Mare would find it difficult to feed twins. Another reason for scanning is so that you know if the Mare is in Foal. It wouldn’t matter If a Mare was running with a Stallion, but they rarely do. Mares have to be taken to a Stud, if they were not scanned you would only know that they were not in Foal if they came in to season. They are only in season for two days, so you would stand a good chance of missing a season, if you didn’t know.