Kensmyth

Well we don’t “get it bad” in the South at all but if you think you want to be a farmer, look back at this week end and understand what “frozen” means. Not only were our troughs and water pipes frozen – necessitating the transportation of water by carrier to livestock in barns – it also meant our house was frozen. No water for face, teeth, shower, toilet, coffee – you name it. Three days of no water meant that and if you cannot cope with conditions like this – do not be a Farmer because livestock come first.

Hay bales and straw bales were used even inside the barns to shield from the snow blasting in from the East from the open fronts and snow surround – we worked all hours of the day and night to keep our livestock safe –

as for coffee for us? melted snow in a pan – Yup not joking… I really appreciate not only my neighbours but also how much we waste water and should not do now that we have had to carry every last drop for the past three days.

Thank goodness it has thawed out now and the refillable drinkers are working again!

We should have been celebrating my Brothers life today – tragically lost not so long ago – instead we are celebrating the fact that we have such excellent understanding neighbours (newly married couple too) who helped us – by endlessly supplying us hundreds and hundreds of litres of water for our livestock as our entire farm froze…

Farmers always prepare for the worst and hope for the best of the Weather. However,  circumstances here dictate that when the Beast from the East threatened, we knew it would be bad. Open fronted Barns at the top – well we all live and learn how to do it differently next time don’t we – meant that the Beast was coming and would get in everywhere, combined with literally a deep freeze.

The canal froze:

I have not seen that in over six years of being here…

The snowdrifts on the Cirencester Road were literally an incredible 5ft high in places…

what else can I say really?  Hillside frozen, Water frozen even in Barns – water lugging off we go…

with the forecast for Snow, Freeze and ice to follow – a word to the wise from us seasoned Farmers… the “Baboon look is not great and lasts a long time, often leading to skin cancer when the skin is badly damaged over a period of time”…

The wind/sun/snow/ is worse than being on the ski slopes so protect your face…

put strong “block” on if going out without facial protection and even if with…

and prepare yourself “fast food” in advance as you will be doing a lot of Water runs… when it freezes…

As an experienced horse rider, trainer and breeder, I am often being asked varying questions about land management where horses / ponies and Alpaca are concerned.

My answer is always the same – deep frosts kill worm larvae in the UK it is true – BUT how many deep frosts do we really have per annum? not that many – so poover madly, rotate regularly and used mixed species to vary the worm burden in fields.

Equine worm burden and Alpaca worm burden vary but Alpaca cannot get laminitis whereas ponies often do – answer is always to keep ponies on “non lush” ground.

NOW is the time that equines will gorge on frozen grass with the tips sugar laden and cold often causing colic and laminitis to the unwary.

regular trimming of hooves – not growing madly over the winter months but like grass still growing – will show you if there is any cause for concern … or not.  Alpaca toes on the other hand never seem to take a break and need doing more regularly to avoid any broken toes at the ends on hard ground at this time of year.

our Blacksmith of over 15 years and I were discussing this just last week

As the UK prepares once more for the “deep freeze” the subject of Alpaca fleece has come up several times in conversations recently – especially regarding Show Alpaca who have much more round headed fleeces with facial fleece all over.

Alpaca have peripheral vision – that means they see sideways like a bird. so it is essential to trim the area to let the Alpaca physically see out.

Where the fleece is left and not trimmed it can cause something called “snow Blindness”. this was taught to me many moons ago by a friend Dominic. I have been shown how to trim around the eyes avoiding the lashes which can sometimes grow inwards for show purposes but for more practical purposes the exterior needs trimming.

Alpaca with their long necks reach into trees and hedges so it is better to leave fleece on the head to protect them from poking themselves in the eye.

For the purposes of DEMONSTRATION – the Alpaca below has had his fleece brushed forward to show how it can – at times – totally cover the eyes. Always an attention seeker, this Alpaca had great fun demonstrating this to potential clients recently from abroad.

As the popularity of Alpaca in the UK goes from strength to strength, more and more TV coverage is being given to their needs and care on Vet programs live  – as Alpaca are so different from other species due to their high values.

Countryfile this week end is covering the Plasma spinning which can help save young cria from death due to lack of transfer of precious antibodies from their mothers at birth.

Whilst colostrum in powdered form can be made up and bottle fed, the Plasma transfer is from the same herd into which the cria is born. Plasma is stored frozen on site – ready for action.

Soooo proud to be an Alpaca Farmer in our 11th year now!!!!

With Valentines day bringing weather no sensible Alpaca would want to be seen outside in, our walkers came finally on Saturday – what a lovely couple of newly weds and hilarious time we had.

The size of our yearlings and two year olds, let alone the adults,  took them totally by surprise as did our stunning fleeces and depth of staple and uniformity of our Alpaca. Crimp was just the icing on the cake to someone who has never seen inside an Alpaca fleece – taking them totally by surprise.

We explored the farm together and a great time was had by all but showing visitors how to find the secret hidden under the fleece still brings a smile of delight even to me after all this time… see for yourself…

Even the Alpaca wanted to see the brightness and fineness in this one !

most people know that I do not like the smell of boiled eggs or peeling them, so I was really pleased to see the up market version of this on the internet and bought the Farmers sensibly priced ones…

what I forgot though, was the smidgen of oil to stop them sticking…

however, so long as you are not in a hurry as they take longer than conventional boiling, fab idea and no more burnt fingers peeling them. AND you can add ingredients to make them into mini Spanish Omelettes in egg shapes!