A Dismal Job

The Boss has the dismal job of picking up the dead this morning.  Did not matter where the ewes lambed yesterday, anything born in the storm died, even tucked well under good shelter belts.  Even some of the lambs born the day before have died too.  Hate to think what happened to the calves, some will just have been washed away as the creeks came up so much, and the cows will have tucked them into shelter in the little creeks out of the wind. 

We go to so much effort all year for this time of year, and try to time lambing/calving for the warm weather, but this was one of the worst storms we've had.

Enjoying the sunshine last week

Except the sun hasn't lasted and now it is snowing again!!

The Babies need Sunshine

Twins are starting to arrive thick and fast, but all need some sun desperately, although at least it has not really rained since Thursday.  The Boss is picking up 5-10 cast ewes daily, so should mean we get a good cut of wool off them come December.
It is at this time of year I rather wish we had everything warm and dry in a big shed, but with our all grass system of farming in NZ that does not happen.  All grass means outside all year, and they only get fed cut pasture (hay, baleage or silage) in the winter or during droughts (very dry weather when the grass doesn't grow).  Some farmers do buy/grow grain - barley mainly, in as stock feed too.  Really is the healthiest way to farm, no need for antibiotics or hormones to get them growing - so when you buy NZ Lamb and Beef  remember how pure it is!!
Just starting to rain again out there so I'd better do my outside chores, I know I'm obsessed with the weather, but we are so weather dependent it rules out lives.

42mm rain and the start of calving

                                                      The Oystercatchers pairing up  -  last week when it was sunny
Lambing is due to start on Thursday, so there are very few to be affected by the weather as yet, but the cows have well and truly started.  Six new ones overnight yesterday morning, so hopefully they are all surviving.  Calves do not cope with the wet and cold as well as lambs, so even though there is shelter for them all (providing Mum decides she will give birth in it) their larger body mass means they get hypothermia faster.  Fingers crossed for sunshine as predicted for tomorrow, and that the "Boss" is not too grumpy when he comes in from his daily check today.  He is picking up 2 or 3 cast ewes daily at the moment.

The "Boss" is also wondering why we have quite a few white faced calves in the Spur mob.  We put orange dot tags into the ears of the cows that we put to the Hereford bull ( and these are not on the  Spur), which are put into separate mobs for calving and mating, and we know the 2 Hereford bulls we put out did not go a wandering at the beginning of mating (they were quite happy with their own 35 cows each thank you).  Soooo it must have been the neighbour's Hereford jumping the fence for a little extra sport just before we mustered the cows and calves off the Spur prior to calf marking and we hadn't realised he had been in - sneaky!