PIP'S PAGE June 2008

Wow or should I say Bow wow!

My puppies have arrived here at the farm, all 8 of them with Meg their mum. At present they just do a lot of sleeping so I have been enjoying showing Meg around and making her feel at home.

Ben brought Meg and the pups over when he came to give Primrose the cow her worming medicine. You should have seen the size of the bolus with the medicine in, it was enormous. The bolus stays in Primroses first stomach and the medicine is slowly released over the next 12 months so that she doesn't get worms. I heard Joy say Primrose has a hot date with the AI man shortly and she will hopefully have a heifer calf early next spring. That should make her calm down and not frisk about so much in her pen!

The Soay sheep have had a single lamb. It's so small and brown like a little fawn. The Soay sheep are so slight they look like deer. At present they look like untidy deer as they don't get their fleeces clipped off; they rub them off on fences or walls. Their skin underneath looks really dark.

Swallows have been swooping round the yard a bit but they haven't nested in the barn again which is really sad. We think it must be something to do with the drought in Africa, it's such a long way to fly for small bird.

Children from Honley primary school near Holmfirth have been to the farm they were sponsored by Honley Agricultural society to learn about Food and Farming. They took some rhubarb from the farm garden to make a crumble with and some hen and duck eggs to make cakes. Perhaps they'll enter some in the produce category at the show and win some prizes. Royal Cross school for the deaf also took some rhubarb for making a whole school crumble.