The English Paysanne

A moment from the week at La Singlarie As quickly as the chickens are laying their eggs seem to disappear.

A moment from the week at La Singlarie After a while of beef and pork chicken is back on the menu. (Not all for us)

Since the beginning of January it has been very wet, now along with the rain we have a fair bit of mud around the place. The cattle have had to stay in the hanger as they would only wreck the track down to the woods where they can hang out during the winter weeks.   Last week the hanger flooded due to mud at the entrance rising higher than the inside. The cause was the digger work a few months ago, the levelling of the earth needed to be a bit lower. This meant a lot of digging out of mud for farmer J and making channels in the hope water would drain away. We then had to get rid of the water inside the hanger which meant shovelling very watery cow poo. This week another challenge as the hanger needed cleaning out with the cattle inside. The hard standing was cornered off with a line of bailing twine where the cattle stayed one side (apart from Emilie's calf who has no fear of us due to him being handled when he was ill) so the tractor could come in pick u...

A moment from the week at La Singlarie Worming Fizz -it took three of us and still not all the pill went down, vets make it look so easy.

Emilie's calf a few days ago Emilie's calf today 8099 wanting a fed Mum's next to him Today's calf just born The two last calves born on Boxing day and the 28th Dec have had to have vet and medical intervention in the form of high energy supplements, drips to get fluid in them and antibiotics but now there is a great improvement. Emilie's calf who couldn't stand or suckle is now making up for lost time being permanently attached to her udder. His filled out and feeding well and beginning to be part of the calf gang. The other calf who needed help being delivered wasn't getting enough milk from his mum so is being topped up with milk as well as a high energy booster which he finishes tomorrow morning. His a thirsty boy, beginning to get the hang of human means milk, being trained to be fed through the barrier as mum is a little head shaky and not in the friendly way. This evening while she was locked down feeding another calf was s...

A moment from the week at La Singlarie The keeper of the hay

The first day of January was another warm and sunny one here which called for a walk down along the river after animal feeding and before lunch.