Scanning the ewes

We had friends staying last night so this morning we all walked down to the Boathouse before a bowl of soup lunch.  It was magical to see a female Hen harrier flying low along the raised beach. I enjoyed hearing the call of a pair of Oystercatchers, as they flew along the waterline.     We didn't see any Otters this time.

It was one of those murky days, we could barely see the Isle of Coll, but there were beautiful colours underfoot in the mosses and lichens.

Farmer gathered the ewes in this week, in order to be ready for the arrival of Dan the Scanner who had messaged us all on Facebook with a tight timetable of where he was aiming to be and at what time.  Incredibly he is always on time!  This morning he started in the Ross of Mull, at Fidden Farm at 7.30 am and by the time he got here he had scanned 1700 ewes.  He did another 585 here before heading off to Croig to do the last lot before dark.  It was 4pm when he arrived here!

This is the time of year when Farmer can stop worrying whether or not the tups were 'working' or not, whether or not they were fertile.  From our scanning results, we know that they were all working and that lots of lambs are expected.  Typically the highest scanning percentage was from Daughter's Herdwicks! (I wonder if that has got anything to do with their fondness for the feed bag!)  We can look forward to lots of those gorgeous black lambs in the spring.

Now we will sort the in-by ewes into different lots.  The Cheviots carrying twins will need a bit more supplementary feed than the ones carrying singles.   The ewes who are 'empty' (not in lamb) will be sold.   We will also sell some of the Cheviots carrying singles as we are able to sign a new environmental contract which is going to restrict our sheep numbers on the herb rich fields.   

Heavy hearts and sunsets

We are preparing ourselves emotionally for a difficult few days ahead as the cows are going through the market on Tuesday in Oban.  They are being transported tomorrow to Oban in a big lorry and drag trailer.    I am dreading it.  I know Farmer is dreading it too.  I won't write any more about it now, but I will write about it properly soon. 

It would be great if we were able to get a fair and decent price for our lambs so that we wouldn't need any kind of financial support from the EU, but with the way things are we couldn't keep farming without it, and neither could most hill farms, particularly on economically disadvantaged islands. 

We got £26 for some of the lambs we sold on Tuesday, which was roughly what we received for the first lambs we sold in 1995.  Our costs certainly haven't stayed the same.

Our farm has been assessed as a Region 3 farm, (mostly unimproved grassland) so in order to receive our farming subsidy we have to prove we are actively farming by keeping a certain number of ewe hoggs over the winter. They must be homebred and ear tagged and we can be inspected at any time by SGRIPD. (Scottish Govt.)  All this is fair enough - it is public money and we should be accountable - however farmers in other land regions (1 & 2) under the new CAP reforms don't appear to have to jump through any hoops to get their support.  So we feel a bit disadvantaged, and although we are extremely grateful for the support we receive because it means we can keep on farming, if I am honest, we quietly resent the stress it puts upon normal farming activity.   

Farmer and J are working away ear tagging and treating our ewe hoggs this afternoon so that we comply with this new scheme regulation.

The rest of the week in photographs... 

Missed (photo) opportunity

A few days ago I saw one of the blackface tups sniffing around a Cheviot ewe in the Black Park.  Farmer told me quite definitely that I couldn't have because the tups were all two fields away.  Then we went away for the weekend.

Yesterday as we were driving somewhere he asked me why I hadn't told him that I had seen a tup in the Black Park....  (His humour, as you know, is quite quirky). He had no idea how he came to be there, as the (other) tups were all two fields away.

This morning he and noble assistant Cap went to feed the ewes and catch the tup.

This is where the missed (photo) opportunity comes in. It all happens very fast.

Quad bike, trailer, dog, feed bag. Into the Black Park. Sheep come running. Tup is with them. Carrying a 20kg bag of nuts for the ewes, Farmer gets close enough to grab the tup.  Drops the bag. Tup runs for it.  Farmer hangs on.  He and tup in a tight wrangle on the ground. Nuts spill out of bag.  Ewes rush in. Farmer on ground with tup in his grasp surrounded by ewes fighting over the pile of spilled nuts.  Farmer puts tup in trailer.  Tup jumps out. Farmer goes in for the catch again.  Tup back in trailer and Farmer drives off at high speed so the tup can't jump out.  Relieved that no one was there to witness his undignified start to the day.

We wait to see if the tup is back with the ewes tomorrow.  (If he is, rest assured this time I will be there with the camera.)

It has been very cold today, as the wind is biting.  Lovely to see the blue sky in between the showers.

It is a busy time for bookings just now, as everyone across the country seems to be thinking about their summer holidays.  We still have spaces though, so do have a look at the availability if you think you might want to come and stay this year.

The last 3 winters we have undertaken big winter maintenance and upgrading projects, and so it is a real relief not to have so much on this winter.  Having said that, Shian is having its redundant chimney taken down, Duill is getting an extra window and the schoolhouse is getting new windows and doors, but no major gutting or re-fitting thank goodness!