Another damp day but with some occasional breaks in the sky and a rather moody dusk, with the moon appearing just above one of our favourite trees. Time to look again at our vast ‘to-do’ list!!! A little scarier than previous ones published on 17th September and 11th November last year. This one is a reminder of how close we are to the start of lambing, kidding, calving and ‘unpacking’. ‘Unpacking?’ This is the verb that describes alpacas giving birth to their cria!! What a remarkable description!!!

• Complete poultry run
• Get more woodchip in so we can top up as required in areas that have got a bit ‘soggy’
• Plant willow in poultry area (willow hedge between us and Denis’ land was done yesterday)
• Get goat and cow muck heaps moved from behind field shelters, bring down to main heap in garden
• Put all vaccination dates in the diary (sheep, goats and alpacas to be vaccinated approx 4-6 weeks before giving birth)
• Put all faecal egg count dates in dairy, to be done just before all stock give birth
• Get high energy licks in situ for all pregnant stock 6 weeks or so before births start
• Sort more permanent access to water for Cow Pad area (replacing hosepipe that stretches across field)
• Get all hospipes sorted generally, sorting leaks, replacing guns etc
• Ensure lambing/kidding/calving/unpacking box is up to date with all that is needed, buy in/order any contents as required
• Continue to create vegetable areas, topping up with compost as necessary and prepare for start of veg planting from Feb/March
• Make sure hay and straw supplies are at their maximum before lambing starts
• Check all fencing to ensure safe and secure for lambs, kids and crias in both 3-acre fields, ditto for calves in 4-acre