Since moving to Treathro, we have been documenting our story here on our blog. We have had all sorts of challenges along the way and are enjoying the ride

With a mixture of regret and joy we have decided to sell our flock of sheep and to focus on the cattle instead.  Despite the advantages of having the sheep here – ie they eat the bits of grass the cows won’t, and the pleasure in seeing the lambs grow and play in the fields,...

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Having loved having Maggie and missing her so much we started to look for another spaniel.  After a few months searching we managed to find a puppy which met all our requirements and as an added bonus her pedigree showed a number of relatives in common with Maggie! It is amazing how you forget what...

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New Barn

We have finally finished our replacement barn…….! The old Atcost shed was knocked down and some of the old concrete pillars used to adjust the ground heights.  The roof was asbestos so had to be disposed of safely by being wrapped in plastic, put in a special skip and taken to a registered tip.  ...

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What a horrendous winter it has been so far, not cold but just almost non-stop rain.  The fields are now almost like rice fields, with the cattle and sheep almost paddling about! Our cattle are bred to be outwintered and usually do very well outside, the one problem is the pouching of the fields causing...

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Calf Maintenance!

On the whole the breeding cows look after themselves.  They are given a long acting mineral bolus twice a year, their hooves are trimmed annually, if necessary they have a spot on mite treatment and the occasional worm treatment.  They are checked twice a day and moved around the farm for good grass as required,...

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Maggie RIP

Very very sadly Maggie our spaniel died at the beginning of this month…..she was 13 and life was becoming increasingly difficult for her, she had increasing canine dementia which was beginning to impact on her quality of life (and Cwtch’s!).  In many ways we were very lucky, she died very suddenly here at home jumping...

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We were a little more anxious this year as this was the first year we had used Durham and it was his first season.  However, he didn’t fail to deliver and all 17 cows he covered were pregnant.  So happy all round….. Our vet uses ultrasound to give the cows an internal scan through the...

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Tom Kitten

Back in July we became the owners of another farm cat…..We were down to three cats and felt it was time to increase our numbers!  Hence the addition of the absolutely stunning Tommy.   He came from a domestic litter so we were concerned how he would adapt.  As with all new kittens he needed...

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Lambing 2023

We were determined to bring the ewes inside as near to due date as possible as we felt they were in too long last year resulting in a lot of potential prolapses – factors contributing to this are being overweight and lack of exercise so the longer they are outside the better.  We brought them...

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The Granary

Finally ready for letting.  It has been over two years since this project started and it has certainly felt that long!  The barn was in a worse condition than The Dairy and as we weren’t in a particular hurry, we decided to use a builder we knew and trusted and be more involved ourselves.  The...

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Missing Pony

We have 3 semi wild ponies which roam the headland, they come from generations of welsh mountain ponies bred for such unique terrain.  They are used for conservation grazing and keep the gorse, bracken and brambles under control, this allows the habitat to remain in good condition for the wildlife in this area.  They are...

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Tim

Our intention has always been to grow our suckler herd by keeping some of our heifer calves, this obviously means we have to sell Tim (our absolutely gorgeous pedigree Red Devon bull) and replace him with another bull that can service his daughters!  We advertised Tim and put the word out for a few months...

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Weaning

We know the time has come to wean the calves off as the cows march off determinedly when they start trying to feed,! This is usually when they are around 9 months old, the calves seem to spend most of their time away from their mums anyway.  Perfect timing as the cows should have a...

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When we first moved onto the farm we had the whole perimeter securely fenced, leaving individual fields to be done as and when – at least we knew if livestock escaped they could only explore our land!  Some fences were fine but the majority needed replacing or mending in parts.  Relying on electric fencing is...

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Badger vaccination

We have had several clear TB tests and had become a little complacent so it was a nasty surprise when we went down with TB last year.  Although we are in a high TB area, we are a closed herd, with no nose to nose contact with any other cattle and there has never been...

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New boy!

Very sadly Trevor our original Texel ram had to go to slaughter.  He had real problems with his feet and had got to the stage where we could do no more for him.  We will always remember him for his quirky character, nothing he loved more than a bit of rough and tumble with David...

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Chickens finally!

We planned to have our own chickens from the very start of our move here but with one thing and another…….! We know we have 2 or 3 very confident foxes that roam our fields so our main priority was making sure the run and shed were completely fox proof.  David put a lot of...

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Calving 2022

We had a list of priorities when choosing which breed of cow to bring onto the farm.  They needed to be of good temperament, live on scrubby land (ie coastal!), to be good calvers and to be a native breed.  Our Red Devons have proved to be all of these, again calving was relatively easy. The...

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Lambing 2022

The ewes were brought inside in the middle of February as we wanted to keep a good eye on a couple prior to their due date (lambing due to start 18th Feb).  We had one ewe which had been absolutely huge for over a month (expecting triplets) and a couple which had threatened prolapses.  We...

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Work is slowly going ahead on our new holiday let.  We have been thrilled at the reservations and reviews on The Dairy and are hoping for the same response once The Granary is finished (probably end of summer).  This will be substantially larger (sleeping 6/8) but with a similar vibe ie a sympathetic renovation with...

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