Giles Henry
Giles Henry
Giles Henry rents 105ha
(260 acres) on a 10-year
lease and 114ha (280
acres) of heather moorland
near Selkirk in the Scottish
Borders which is in organic
conversion. Cropping is
mainly grass with 14ha (36
acres) of spring barley. The
farm is stocked with 450
breeding ewes, 85 hoggs
and 50 Luing cows with
followers and finishers
WE had a very cold and snowy start to the New Year, with 10cm (4in) of snow falling on the Saturday between Christmas and New Year onto already frozen ground. Then temperatures plummeted over the next few nights to as low as -14C at night and little over -3C during the day.
This meant extra work thawing pipes to keep stock watered. But I let the cattle in the woodchip corral out into a field for them to get water from a burn and to prevent them mucking on the snow covered frozen chips, which of course could not seep away.
We did not have many problems with frozen water down to about -5C, but the temperatures were low enough to freeze everything, including well insulated pipes.
I enquired through the internet about heating systems for pipework, but I am still waiting for a reply. Maybe they think that now things are mild and wet, I will not be interested.
Milder weather saw tups gathered from the ewes on Jan 20, having been out for 35 days. Cheviot and Blackface ewes have now been returned to the hill, where they will receive no supplementary feeding unless we get a lot of snow. Crossbred ewes are in two lots running in stubble fields and being fed silage.
Our ewe lambs are running fairly extensively and are being fed a blend of beet pulp, dark grains and wheatfeed at 0.35kg/head with the snacker. They will be offered hay if the snow returns.
Cows on the hill are in good form and are receiving the same blend as ewes at 2.3kg/head. Even when snow comes, cows are left to forage for themselves.
The changeable weather has not been the best for cattle inside. We have treated an odd beast for pneumonia, but luckily are not experiencing some of the problems faced by our neighbours.
Our poultry building has arrived in kit form and the building gang will start at the beginning of the week.
This will probably mean I will be the talk of the valley (whats new?) and the locals will not speed past as fast as usual as they watch the progress of the building. *
Cows on the hill are on good form, despite cold weather, says Giles Henry.