Mrs Down's Diary April 1 2009

We are now certain we have two males, but intriguingly; one or other of the hens disappears at certain times of the day. But to where?

We know where certain pair of sparrows, who are supposed to be blue tits, are laying their clutch of eggs. In the camera nest box. John thought the hole at the entrance to the nest was too large for anything other than blue tits, but a couple of sparrows have squeezed their way in.

The nest is extremely untidy and at times envelopes the birds in straw and feathers so we only know it has inhabitants because of all the writhing and fluttering around that is taking place. Probably a modesty screen.

On the land, John has been flat out for three days getting the spring corn in. It is a field that was too wet to drill in the autumn and has lain fallow over winter after ploughing. The frost has broken it down and happily, with the dry weather, conditions were right for it to go.

What a relief to see it all in. I only had to keep John supplied with seed corn and then fertiliser but, we not rolling the field as it is still a bit tender. Hopefully, it should make a good crop of wheat.

And with spring well and truly springing, the lambs are arriving thick and fast. So far, and I say with fingers as crossed as they can be when I am on a keyboard, no fatalities. Few tricky deliveries.

Some blatant attempts at lamb napping. One or two only just got there in time jobs. But so far so good. There have even been two calvings, just when we thought we had almost finished. But there is something nasty happening in the fold yard and we may have to resort to drastic tactics to stop it.

Last week, the last (we thought) calf to be delivered by a heifer, was struggling to survive. It had no energy. John had to supplement its milk with milk substitute. It was a mystery as the heifer seemed to have plenty of milk, we had seen the calf drinking, but it was just not getting a bellyful. Then we rumbled the reason.

A cow, which we are not certain whether it is in calf or not, is nipping underneath the heifer and drinking all the milk. Cows will let other calves drink from them occasionally, especially if its own calf is drinking at the same time, but it is unusual, for us anyway, to have a cow up to the same trick.

John bedded up a corner of the fold yard and gated it off to give the little calf a clear run at its Mum. But Mum has jumped over the gate (luckily with no damage to either) so that option is a no-goer. So we are calling in the vet. If the thieving cow is not in calf there is only one option for her. The market. I'll let you know.