Mended yet another hole and fence
Yesterday when the cows didn't come to the fence when I called and left lucerne, we went for a walk down to the far corner of the back paddock just to check they were all there and okay. And it was a good thing we did because we found a gaping hole in the gully fence again and another part of the fence was leaning at 45 degrees or more the other way. My neighbour had mentioned that my cows were in his place but thought they had pushed down the fence. I think the hole in the gully fence was probably the means of escape. So today Russell and I mended the hole in the gully and propped up the old fence with four star pickets and tied down the very old hinge joint. Dad and I mended one side of the gully a while ago, now I think (hope) it is fixed for good. Although I'm sure the cows will find yet another weak spot in the fence for me to fix another time. I have included some before and after photos (I forgot to take a photo of the leaning fence, we just launched into fixing it).

Skinny Cows
On 14 August I brought my cows and calves down to the front paddocks so the neighbours could take their bull, three cows and a calf back to their property. Unfortunately, I could not get Chrissy to join the others and so had to leave her with the neighbours cows. Then in the afternoon I had another try and this time Freda ended up joining her. When the neighbours rounded up their cows they very kindly managed to get both Freda and Chrissy to join the rest of my herd. However, on rounding my cows up and on having them closer at hand I noticed that they were very skinny. I had not visited them for a while because of the presence of the bull and I had not noticed how skinny they were before this. So I bought some mineral blocks and lucerne hay and I think they are gradually looking better, especially Brownie who looked worse than ever before. I guess this is becuase the cows are most probably pregnant again and they also have a 6-8 month old calf still feeding from them. I bought some more lucerne on Friday and so will feed them every second day for a while longer. They are down the back paddock again and I'm sure the grass will improve with warmer weather. I have included two photos of the cows and calves milling on the other side of the fence around feeding time in the early morning.

Lambs but no lambs
I didn't realise it had been so long since I updated the blog. On 24 July Fluffy had twin boys, this was a Friday. I was away for two days and on Monday morning they were no where to be seen (being here would probably not have made any difference). They were very small and they may have died and probably a fox took them. I have seen Bobby in action so I'm sure he would have looked after them if they were alive. Then yesterday Spotty Nose had a very small boy lamb and today again he was no where to be seen. Again he was very small and weak. I know it is part of nature but it's sad all the same. I am pretty sure there are no more pregnant ewes. So I guess it's time to start thinking about shearing. I have included two photos of the lambs that didn't make it.