Winter Maintenance

December is a month of routine maintenance and preparing for the colder winter months. All of the properties have their roofs, down pipes and gutters checked to prevent frost from cracking cast ironwork where blockages caused by leaves can cause rainwater to freeze.

We are underway again with some re-roofing works at Wester Kellie Farm, where the old pantiles are being stripped off and saved for future renovations and tin sheeting fitted to save the stonework and timbers which, although over 150 years old, are still in remarkable condition. The team from Donaldson and Son have again turned their hands to this complex task which will pay dividends in the years to come.

On the farm, we have been Pregnancy scanning cows to identify cows which are not in calf after the summer with the bull. The results so far have been very pleasing and it looks as though the bulls have been busy!

The tups we bought in September have completed their six week breeding window with the ewes and we will scan in January to assess the number of singles, twins and triplets so the ewes can be managed separately according to feed requirements.

The sudden changes in temperature this year, combined with some still, foggy and mild days have been causing problems with pneumonia in calves. Even some of the calves still suckling with their mothers have been affected. A keen eye is needed to see the first signs of a calf breathing quickly is essential as they can succumb very quickly.