Apple Vale Fiesta

On friday afternoon, Pelachuta started final stages, and I came home from work and settled down on a bench to watch, only to go back to work for the afternoon as she appeared to calm down, but at 5 o'clock Fiesta eventually dived into this world, being a 7.2kg male and a lovely caramel colour.

This was Pelachutas fourth cria - she is a sound mother, who takes close interest in her cria, and keeps away from the throng for a couple of days, preferring to take her morning feed away from the rest of the herd. It had been sweltering for several days, and, if they have any ability to choose when to birth, it seemed she waited until late afternoon for a cooling breeze to spring up, and went to the top of the hill to deliver.

He was sired by EP Cambridge Columbus (Scrumpy), our herdsire, who has done a good job with this one, and we await one or two more from him - one is now over 12 months, who had scanned negative, and who was overweight, but had shown well-defined physical characteristics once we had shorn her and could see her true body shape - a well-respected breeder who was visitng recently and took a look at her, has offered to eat his hat if she doesn't produce a cria.

On wednesday evening we got the hay baled and stored without thunderstorms - 140 bales compared with last years 80, a fabulous feeling when its all in and the barn is stuffed full.

While Joy and I were re-positioning the shelters, Bramley began wretching and gyrating her jaw sideways, she clearly had something stuck - she trotted over to us, and we feel she clearly thought we could help - we had a watering can with us to soften the soil for the ground anchors, so I put the handle of a lump hammer across her mouth to keep it open, while Joy fired a stream of water into her, and that sorted her out!