It’s hard to believe that this photo (taken yesterday, 4th) shows grass at the start of February. This is a perfect example of how grass can look when rested over the winter: this photo is of course the poultry paddock that has been ‘animal-less’ for over two months now and which the goats have once again been enjoying. We had a walk down to the bottom 3-acre field yesterday and were amazed at how much it has recovered since we moved the cows out in the middle of December. Areas where the hay trolley had been and which had become poached were greening up, and even the muddy area outside the field shelter was no longer just pure mud.
There is a post-apocalyptic science-fiction novel called ‘Death of Grass’ by John Christopher which describes just that: the death of grass, as in all forms of grass including wheat, barley, rice etc. It is a sobering thought to even consider that this might happen and how essentially, all animal and human life could simply die out.
We are very much looking forward to getting to that delightful stage of looking out on our fields and bemoaning the fact we have ‘too much’ grass – a state that is often longed for in the slow build-up to spring growth, although in reality, having too much grass can be as bad as having too little. This is because it encourages the animals to be too selective in what they eat and so you can end up with fields that are patchy and far more prone to weeds as they are not being grazed evenly.
But back to the goats and sadly, as we suspected, Pickle is not in kid as she did indeed come back into season on Friday. This time Pepper showed no interest whatsoever and, a little like Curds last week, Pickle herself was not overly active. Both the dairy girls have been unsettled again recently and Curds' front right leg is also causing her problems as she keeps holding it up. Meanwhile Onion and Garlic are getting huge and udders are now beginning to drop. They are just 6 weeks away from kidding now!!!