I hope you’ve had a good Christmas. We have, time has flown and I’m having difficulty knowing which day of the week it is. Family is still gathering making every day an excuse for celebration. And the realisation it’s New Year’s Eve the day after tomorrow is just dawning on me.
There’s been a certain amount of excitement on the animal front. A six month old calf contracted pneumonia on Christmas Eve due to fluctuating changes in temperature from warm-damp, to cold, to freezing, to freezing, freezing and back to mild-wet warm-damp again.The calf luckily made an extraordinarily rapid recovery and was as right as rain by the evening.
The ewes were scanned the day after Boxing Day. Not a high lambing percentage, more than likely due to the monsoon summer. Our scanner said readings had been very varied this year with flocks throwing up quite a few empty ewes – we weren’t too bad on that score only having one.
I’ll leave you with some images taken through the kitchen window of our bird table which has been a hive of activity.
a beautifully marked male bullfinch
male chaffinch
aggressive, brave little nuthatch
blackbird
11 comments
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December 30, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Julia
I am glad to have stumbled upon your beautiful site. I was researching organic methods of treating calf pneumonia. You mentioned one of your calves had pneumonia on Christmas. May I ask what you would recommend as a form of treatment? We have a small herd of jerseys here in New England and are currently raising a canadienne calf for another (organic) farm. The calf refused her milk this morning and is looking dull. She has a slight cough. I am concerned that she may be developing pneumonia. Our weather has been fluctuating recently from cold to warm. All of our other animals are fine and robust. Thank you for any insight you may share and thank you for your beautiful and inspiring website.
Julia
December 30, 2007 at 9:07 pm
paula
Julia, sorry to have taken so long to reply, I hope the calf hasn’t taken a turn for the worse. Thank you too for your kind words and encouragement.
You can use any method of treatment you want for an organic calf but the withdrawal period is doubled if you use ‘conventional’ drugs. Homeopathy does not require a withdrawal period but does need noting in you drugs book.
This of course is EU organic legislation. I’m not familiar with the laws of other countries. It would be wise to check with your organic certification body.
One of the signs of pneumonia is elevated breathing and watery or drooling mouth. Though I would suggest you contact your vet or homoeopathist for a proper diagnosis if you’re unsure. In the case of my calf I used conventional methods in this instance.
I used to milk a herd of Jerseys; they are such lovely cattle to work with…well, maybe not the bulls!
Good luck and I hope the calf makes a full and speedy recovery. Do let me know.
January 1, 2008 at 3:55 am
Julia
Paula, Thank you! I am glad to report that the calf is doing much better! She drank a bit last night, and drank her full ration today. I am so relieved. I’m still not sure what was troubling her, I am just so happy that she seems to have recovered. Another beautiful thing that came from this episode was that she has bonded with me at last. When her owners first brought her here, she was so flighty and stand-offish. Her owners said that her dam had been positively wild and that eventually, they had to let her go because she was bordering on being dangerous. This calf, they said, was their final hope in keeping this breed of cow (Canadienne). I barely left her side yesterday and last night she came up to me and put her nose under my arm. Now, when I go to her pen, she comes right over to be stroked. She seems like a different calf. She definitely is a personality. My Jerseys seem so uncomplicated compared to her. Thanks again! What a pleasure to have found your website.
Julia
January 2, 2008 at 12:28 am
farmingfriends
The bird photos are amazing. Glad the calf made a speedy recovery. Happy New Year.
Sara from farmingfriends
January 2, 2008 at 10:57 am
Gill
Loved the pictures.
Happy new year to you!
January 2, 2008 at 4:48 pm
tim relf
Lovely pictures!
Happy New Year incidentally…
January 2, 2008 at 6:33 pm
paula
I’m so glad Julia. Maybe it’s just the change in farm. I sometimes find when stress levels rise animals are more susceptible to illness. I’m really glad that there’s a positive outcome though and she has bonded with you.
I’ve never heard of Canadienne cattle - I looked it up on the net, very interesting. In some photos they look a little like what we call a mulberry Jersey, though that could just be the image. are you going to breed them too?
Take care and pop by again.
January 2, 2008 at 6:34 pm
paula
Thank you Sara - all good wishes to you and your family too.
January 2, 2008 at 6:35 pm
paula
…and the best to you and yours for 2008 Gill.
January 2, 2008 at 6:40 pm
paula
Writing posts seems rather sporadic and erratic during the no-man’s-land of seasonal festivity time - so bird photos have to fill the gap…thanks for appreciating and happy New Year to you!
January 2, 2008 at 6:43 pm
paula
A question to all you competent people out there - my front page has gone whoops-a-daisy and there is no apparent way of making it better. Support has gone on holiday.
Any clues?
Thanks in advance…