The English Paysanne

Yesterday it was time to move the cows to a new field at La Contie. With amazing weather it was hot work marking out the electric fence to keep them in, it also was a large area with old fencing needing to come down too. The cows behaved impeccably, as usual Portiche was lagging behind, she has had a bad limp for a few days but is now on stable on four hoofs. Being an old girl she is more of a plodder, preferring her own company, just as well she has three fields to mooch around in now and play cow n seek with farmer J.

Today in two trips some of the cows and their calves were taken to summer grazing at La Conite, about 5kms from our farm. It   was   not   an   easy   manouver. Cows who are too excitable and wild stayed behind here and were let out first with their calves to start nibbling their way through the lush spring grass. That bit was easy. The hard bit came in ushering the others into the trailer when really they were not that sure about it, possibly due to infrequency they go out for a drive around the countryside. It took many hours and hard graft for farmer J in the way of putting a cord round their horns and pulling them in (then securing them so they don't come out again. So now all cows are out to grass, no morning or evening feeding routine but of course there will be new routine of summer jobs to do.

Every Monday morning since the have been on their winter feeding routine it has been our routine of cleaning them out. It has been a shorter amount of time they have been coming in morning and evening this year but it still makes for those cow pats to mount up. Today we cleaned for the last time as when Thursday comes the cows will be going out in the fields to eat grass, some staying here at La Singlarie and some going to La Contie where they will be taken in the hired trailer. Roll on Thursday as the cows are now fed up of earing hay, they can smell the grass growing and heads have been poking under the fence to nibble the edges, we will be thankful as the winter routine comes to an end and the summer begins.

Once again it was time for Vanille and Bambo to have their little hooves clipped by their favourite farrier. Yves, who knows how to handle donkeys very well by being gentle spent no time at all cutting and filling each hoof, the knack is holding the leg correctly (and not being a pushover). A lot of farriers will not work with donkeys here as they have a bit of a reputation for being a bit naughty with complying with what is asked of them, some call it stubborn. Vanille and Bambo just know they are going to be supplied with carrots on demand if they behave themselves - they did get through quite a few this time.

As Spring has arrived and the weather is warming up chicks were ordered and picked up on Friday, 30 fluffy balls of cuteness, such a shame they don't stay that way. Sadly these are for meat so in four months time when they have that dinosaur appearance they will be for sale.