Treathro Blog
Stories from David & Debbie

Cwtch at 8 months is turning into a lovely dog, a great character and certainly a match for Maggie. She is showing some small signs of potential use on the farm.  David has been introducing her to the sheep over the last couple of months, using a training ring made of sheep hurdles,  she is...

Fencing around the farm is interesting to say the least, and one of our main aims on moving in was to secure all the boundary fencing and make a start on the individual fields….   All the fields have a stone wall boundary in various states of disrepair, and either on top of the wall or...

Although we were prepared for the fields to be wet in the winter they were worse than expected, mainly due to the neglected ditches throughout the farm.  David set to with our digger to clear a few before the weather changed, it will be a never ending job but hopefully it will have made some...

We moved Tim (the bull) out of the cows and heifers at the end of September having been in there since June.  He wasn’t too happy at being separated from them but the young calves were bulling and he was showing a bit too much interest in them (they were only 6 months old), we...

Work has progressed really well over the summer with not a single day lost to bad weather.  A few photos over the summer, almost done!   May           June         July       August       September      

David picked up our our new young bull from Cornwall .  He has a great pedigree – from the Bollawal herd, his official name Bollowal Sorcerer (hence the name Tim from Monty Python) Unfortunately not an auspicious start to his time here though, as the journey back took 10 hours in horrendously hot temperatures,, both...

We have even had a drought here in Pembrokeshire with no rain on the farm since May (7 weeks approx).  All the fields are brown and even the ponds have dried up.  Luckily we are under-stocked this year so are able to move the animals from field to field. Other nearby farmers are not so...

We have the taken the opportunity to do a little market research re activities for anyone staying at the holiday lets. Mayberry Kayaking –  Absolutely stunning, the water was crystal clear and the coastline so different from the water rather than looking down from the cliffs.  Not the normal sea conditions though…..     Boat...

On moving to the farm we found a huge pile of old rotting silage which David  when time allows, has gradually been unwrapping and putting on a pile to decompose. The last couple of weeks however he has been working non stop to clear the area.  As you can see on the wall behind the...

We now have 30 Lleyn sheep having bought a second lot of 15 as they have been so successful – no feet problems, no escaping and mopping up nicely in the fields behind the cows.   Rosie and Jim came along and sheared the first 15 (the second lot had already been sheared) , a...

Having no edible haylage last year we had to buy in some straw as extra feed last winter (very expensive).  Determined not to have to do the same thing again, Mike (our neighbour) kindly agreed to cut some of our fields for haylage (in exchange for a few bales), this has been wrapped and is...

May has been stunning on the cliffs just for the variety of wildflowers, every day I seem to spot new ones I haven’t seen before.  Much to our surprise we have had blankets of bluebells covering some of the hilly banks, absolutely beautiful.  A selection below:            

We picked up our new Texel ram today – already named Trevor which really suits him.  A lovely stocky boy who will serve the Lleyn sheep well we hope, only 15 months old so not proven yet.Very friendly and loves nothing more than a daily massage!  

We now have (potentially) a sheepdog.  This little girl is the latest addition to the team…       Her name is Cwtch (welsh for “hug” or “cuddle”, although it can also translate as “cupboard” or “cubbyhole”).  As most puppies are, she is a pain in the neck, especially for Maggie…     My name...

Possibly against my better judgement, we have bought a small group of 15 Lleyn hoggets (1-year-old female).  The group included 2 that were accidentally in lamb, the first of which arrived with the group on 22nd April and the second was born on 10th May (Debbie’s birthday).       .   This second lamb...

Our first calf was born on Saturday (17th March) at about 6:30pm.  Saturday here was really cold, snow in the air, 30 mph winds.  Lucky for us, the cow decided to come to the barn early on in the process, so we kept her inside to calve.  It took her a few hours, but she...

The worst snow here since 1982, incredibly beautiful but hard for the animals.  We have been very lucky in the house with no burst pipes or other problems but the water troughs are frozen so daily trips with water and hay to horses, sheep and cattle. All went within a few days, I wonder if...

When we bought Treathro, around 220 silage bales were left stacked in the corner of a field near the house.     On inspection, we found that this was old old or very old and rotting.  Clearance is required and after some thought (and a failed attempt to give it away!), we think the only...

At the end of the day, checking the animals, one calf was unaccounted for.  Looking across the field from the barn, Debbie spotted her… behind the fence, on top of the wall!   With the light fading and only two possible options for a decent (either back down on the barbed wire fence, or a...

We have decided to re-design and change the use of the old cubicle shed.  This currently has a central division and a total of about 60 cubicles.  The two existing doorways are a bit narrow too (the New Holland T5 won’t get through the doors).  first job is removing the cubicle dividing bars…   Enter...