All Change at the Farm

This is a big week for livestock buying and selling. A few months ago, probably three, three and a half months ago, the calves came to the farm. At that point, they were about three to four weeks old and they got split into two groups. So one group stayed on the farm and the other group went to another farm. And in that second group was a very white calf that I called Little White Bull and 39, who was always one of my favourites. At that point, he was having trouble with his eyes. They were very watery. And I think it was because his eyelashes were so long that they were kind of irritating his eyes. Anyway, he went with Little White Bull and some of the others, and they all came back last week for TB testing. And Little White Bull, although I'm now calling him Mucky White Bull because he's not as white as he used to be. He's a little bit on the muddy side. And 39, they came back. So I've been spending as much time with them as I can. 39 is still as lovely as ever. And each morning I've spent a bit of time with him and cuddles and stroking his face and stroking the side of his face, which he really likes. And he's still a really, really sweet little calf. So they've all been successfully TB tested and this week some of them are going to be sold. So a farmer's coming tonight to have a look at the calves in the paddock. So I think I'm not sure how many we've got now because they've all moved around a bit. There's probably about eight of them in the paddock, so they may well be gone tonight. And then some of the others are also going to be sold. So some of the bigger ones. So it may be that 39 and Little White Bull will be going. They could be gone in the morning by the time I get there. I don't know. There's still some going to stay. So Tiny, who's the smallest one, and she was a twin. So she was a Freemartin twin. So as a female, you could never breed her because I don't know what happens when you've got a female and a male calf together, but it affects the female's hormones. So you always have to make people aware if they're buying the calves because they could never breed from the female. But she is a lot smaller than all the others, so I imagine that she'll be staying. She's another sweet little calf as well. Her brother, 89, he's quite shy. He doesn't like being stroked. So, yeah, it's quite funny, really. They're very different. So anyway, by tomorrow morning, there could be quite a few calves have gone.

On Wednesday, the four Wagyu cows and their calves are going. They've been at another farm, a third farm, during the summer and they came back. So they've been in the paddock and they are very big and the Wagyu ones are not really that friendly. So they've never come up and socialised with me or let me stroke them. They hate being stroked. So I don't really have much of a bond with them. So I was always a bit wary of going in the paddock on my own because they are so big. Anyway, the past few days I've been going in the paddock with Phil and we've been doing the feeding together. And you do tend to get a bit mobbed because as soon as you go in, they've got their head in the bucket and you can't exactly push them away. They probably each weigh about a tonne. But yeah, if you sort of nudge them gently on their face, they do tend to move out of the way a little bit. But yeah, the first time I went in with Phil, he was absolutely mobbed. And I said, do you see what I mean about not wanting to be here on my own? But yeah, I think I'm getting used to them a little bit more now. The thing with cows, and I'm sure it's good advice for anybody, is I'm always wary, even with the calves, because they could quite easily push you over. So I'm always very careful about where I stand and how I put the feed.

So we'll end up with just a handful of the smaller calves and then on Friday, well I think, what day are we today? Tuesday. Today some Lincoln Reds that Phil has bought are being TB tested. On Friday we'll get the results and then on Saturday, touch wood, all being well, I'm going with Phil to Melter Mowbray to pick up these cows. So there's a bull called Zippy who is very big but he's also quite tame. All these cows are very tame. Lincoln Reds, completely different character to the Wagyu and they've also had an owner who spent a lot of time with them. So when they arrive you still have to be careful obviously they're big but they're more socialised and I'm looking forward to spending some time with them. So we've got the big bull, we've got three, I say we they're not my cows but I say we, three bull calves. We've got I think a couple of cows with calves so I reckon probably at least eight, maybe a little bit more I'm not sure but at least eight. So I think Phil's organising transport but because it's going to be a bit lastminute.com he may have to change his plans a little I don't know but we're going anyway to supervise the loading up of the cows, make sure they're all okay and bring them back to the farm and then they'll be unloaded maybe into the paddock. The weather's quite good, there's lots of grass or maybe into the cow shed. I'm not sure what Phil has got planned yet but yeah very exciting. I'm really looking forward to the Lincoln Reds because I do like it when you've got animals that kind of want to spend time with you. The last time I saw them the bull sort of came over and he put his head sort of on my chest and just sort of leaned against me and he lets you stroke him and he's used to being handled so hopefully it's going to be a lot of fun having them around. There's some sheep coming and going, some sheep went this morning, some more coming so yeah all change at the farm.