Fabulous news today as Grahame returned to do the TB readings and declared all our cows to be clear!! And having said on Tuesday how we would not be worrying and checking for lumps, but instead looking for signs of bulling, it was very fitting that as we began to push the cows through into the Collecting Area, Thyme showed obvious signs of being in heat!! So, a double hit!!! Thyme also provided a good example of how reactive cows can be to both the Bovine and Avian TB as BOTH her injections sites were raised. Crucially though the top lump (the Avian one, always the top one because ‘birds fly’…) was bigger than the bottom one (the Bovine one) and as such, that meant a 'clear' result. One of the calves also had two lumps but in her case, they were both the same size – also a 'clear' result.
So, another year will now lapse before we have to be tested again, unless we get a 'near' outbreak in one of our neighbour’s herds, in which case we will be required to test ours as well in order to check any potential spread! IF we do ever get a case of TB in our herd, it is very possible that we would then have to test our goats and alpacas as well as both these species can get TB. We would also have movement restrictions placed on our holding limiting what we can and cannot move on and off!!! Fingers crossed we don't ever have to deal with any of these ramifications... Time to return to our bulling observations: as the photos show Thyme was obviously having some powerful hormonal reactions which Sage found irresistible…
Grahame also sorted Jupiter's teeth which as we mentioned on Tuesday, needed filing down. He actually used a piece of cheese wire to remove the top 5mm: Jupiter was a star, he had a mild sedative, we tied him in the 'cush' position and he was as good as gold!!