Hay
The continued exceptionally dry weather has stressed the all the crops and the grass. However, it has allowed us to make some good quality haylage and fantastic hay. In total we have baled 213 green plastic wrapped bales of haylage and expect to make 500 small bales of hay. Haylage is a cross between hay and silage. It is wrapped in plastic to allow the wilted grass to ensile and so it can be stored ready for when we need it during the winter.
Livestock
All livestock are thriving despite the lack of lush grass. All the lambs have now been weaned (taken away from their mothers). All the sheep have been wormed to prevent tapeworm and stomach worms. The lambs have also been injected with an 8 in 1 vaccine to protect them from a large number of diseases. We had an enjoyable time at the Suffolk Show although the sheep did not do quite as well as we would have liked. Alice showed Kersey Domino our British Blue heifer and did extremely well winning her class and going on to win Reserve Champion. Mum and Dad are preparing for the Norfolk Show between 30th June – 1st July. We are also taking cattle and sheep to the Tendring Show on the 10th July.
Quail
We are getting nearly 7 dozen quail eggs a day and are fast approaching 50,000 clean eggs produced in total since August 2005. We have lots of point of lay females for sale at £5/ bird. We have recently bought 1 tonne of quail pellets as it is cheaper than buying by the bag.
Harvest is fast approaching, more about the arable next month.
These notes are a bit shorter than usual this month because I have just got back from a fantastic school adventure holiday in the South of France, it was only just warmer than home!