By Land Keepers, Apr 17 2014 11:53AM
On most upland farms, the wait is still on for the lambs to arrive. One or two have come, but next week should see the start of the very busy days and nights as the Herdwick ewes begin to give birth. The farmers I have seen recently have been busy fetching their hoggs (year old lambs) from their winter pastures, vaccinating, and trying to get all the necessary jobs done before the lambs arrive. And among these jobs is the care of cows and their young.
On Hannah Dickinson's farm, several calfs have arrived in the last few weeks. This reminded me of the first time I had ever been to Brockstones, in 2012, when I met Hannah and her partner Stephen using a dead calf's skin to dress another young calf, to put to a surrogate mother. I looked back in my books for the notes I made.
"We arrive a little earlier than we had said we would – more towards 1pm than 1.30pm. There’s a dead newborn calf, already skinned, hanging by its back legs from the uplifted arms of a forklift truck. The skin is taken to a young heifer, 6 weeks old, that’s one of a set of twins and isn’t growing well. Hannah and her partner prize the skin over the calf’s head, and pass its front legs, one by one, through the leg holes. It fits snugly like a sleeveless pullover.
Still red wet with calf blood. Hannah’s work-strong hands pat the heifer in the trailer, and she drives him round to the cow who waits to be his surrogate mother. The cow licks the back end of the calf, on the skin of her dead newborn. ‘Leave em for a bit now, and see how they do.’
Hannah explained that the other cow was struggling to feed her two twins. It’s unusual to put a calf to a surrogate mother at the age of 6 weeks, but worth a try.
There’s a constant background noise of dogs barking. In the sand pit beside the barns – a pile of sand used presumably for building and maybe cement making – sparrows take dust baths by the side of unturned trucks and tractors, the toys of the farm / Hannah’s children.
A crow pokes its head out of a hole in the barn’s end wall, and flies off.
There’s a nip in the air – more than a nip actually – and it’s cold. I didn’t bring my hat, nor did I wear my wind-proof and slightly thermal trousers. I regretted it !'
That young calf fared well ...
33 The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks
32 Sheep Rescue on Wordsworth's Patch
31 The Hill Farming Year Begins
30 Fell Gather Event
29 Exhibition at Low Sizergh Barn
28 Having fun with schools
27 Waiting for the lambs
26 Rewilding: A reply
25 George Monbiot speaks to farmers
24 Exhibition at Wordsworth Museum
23 Marking the Tups
22 Up and down and up again
21 At Glencoyne
20 Hefted
19 George Monbiot & the depressing Lake District
18 Gathering in the Sunshine
17 In the Abattoir
16 Exhibition: One
15 From Fell to Plate
14 Now That's What I Call a Good Tup
13 Preparing the Tups
12 The First Lambs of Spring
11 Winter Gathering
10 The Coldest March
9 Counting Sheep
8 Towards Balance?
7 The Culture of Common Land
6 Waiting in the White Stuff
5 Into 2013
4 The Enigma of 'Natural' Balance
You are viewing the text version of this site.
To view the full version please install the Adobe Flash Player and ensure your web browser has JavaScript enabled.
Need help? check the requirements page.
0 Comments