Farm DiaryJanuaryGeneral farm maintenance.
Sheep fed sugar beet daily including sheep nuts and hay fed if frosty or snow cover.
Sheep brought in for pregnancy scanning and housing
Calves weaned at end of month and fed on concentrates and sugar beet ration.
Spread fertiliser if the fields are dry and firm, a good frost is very useful at this time. These are the fields from which hay or silage will be taken later in the year.
February
General farm maintenance.
Sheep sorted into lambing groups (according to number of lambs expected) and the feeding of concentrates begins.
Feed livestock.
Calving.
March
Calving.
Breeding ewes vaccinated
Ewes feet trimmed against footrot.
Lambing continues - they receive 24 hour a day attention and give the farmer many sleepless nights.
April
Calving.
Lambing mostly completed, but young lambs just turned out are very vulnerable so a close eye is kept on their welfare.
Fertiliser spread on grazing fields to aid spring growth - the grass will be cut for hay or silage later in the year
May
Clean out all livestock buildings.
Fencing and walling repairs.
All lambs tailed, ear-notched and ear-tagged.
Fertiliser and muck spreading.
Stock removed from silage fields and fertiliser is spread to allow six weeks growth before cutting.
Shear the long tails of the sheep to prevent fly strike.
June
Hay making.
Routine sheep work (drenching for worms, footbathing, etc).
Silaging.
Spring-born calves de-horned
July
Lambs given worm dose vaccinations and footbaths.
Shearing.
Hay making.
Silaging.
August
Silage making.
Lambs weaned and turned onto the grass left after the hay and silage crops have been taken.
Begin ploughing and cultivations for next years cereals.
September
Lambs sold as they finish or as store lambs for further fattening
Wean lambs
Ploughing and general cultivations
October
Ewes dipped and wool clipped around tail, ready for tupping to begin (mating time).
Unfinished lambs sold as stores or brought inside for further fattening.
House feeding cattle.
Wean and house calves.
Cultivate arable fields.
November
Feed livestock
Male calves castrated before the onset of frost
Grass deteriorates in quality and will stop growing soon.
House cows
Ploughing
December
Feed livestock
General farm maintenance.
Get ready for Christmas.
