East Essex Smallholders Chitchat

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The charm of bottle-feeding hungry orphan lambs soon wears off when you find yourself being permanently shadowed by noisily bleating lambs wherever you go!
The alternative is to invest in a ‘milkmaid’ system. Not only will this give you some peace, but is also much healthier for the lambs as they will feed ‘on demand’, taking little and often as they would from the ewe, rather than gulping a whole bottle-full in one go!  There are two types available – a simple bucket with teats delivering cold milk replacer, and electrically heated systems delivering warm milk, which is generally more readily accepted by the lambs.    
For further information on ewe and lamb welfare during the Spring, see our DVD programmes 'Sheep on Your Smallholding' for expert advice on sheep husbandry and welfare.
Make sure your buy a copy of the Spring edition of Practical Sheep, Goat & Alpacas Magazine, which has a comprehensive checklist of everything you need to know about rearing healthy lambs - written by Carole Youngs of The Smallholder Series.
        

		...things to remember when incubating eggs Select clean, even shaped, undamaged eggs Ideally incubate within a week of being laid Let shipped eggs rest for 24 hours before setting Mark the eggs with an X on one side and a O on the other side so you can see when they have all been turned Allow the hatched chicks to dry out and fluff up in the incubator before moving them to the brooder

       

There's plenty to do on your smallholding during April. Here are some top tips from our 'Things to Do' pages - available on our website.

• Sheep - record birth weights and ‘ease of lambing’ scores – this information is invaluable for selecting replacement breeding ewes for future years.
• Chickens - if you find soft-shelled eggs, or eggs with misshapen or rough shells, it may be a sign of nutritional imbalance, disease or stress.
• Pigs - periodically oiling their skin can also help keep it in good condition.
• Vegetable garden - keep up weed control; 5 minutes with a hoe now will save hours later in the season.
• Horses - if the pasture has taken a bit of a battering over the winter, now is the time to undertake any patching or re-seeding.

Keep up with all your smallholding tasks with our comprehensive guides to sheep,chickens, pigs ,the vegetable garden and equines. Just click on an image below.
          

Article of the Month
Happy Feet - Combating Lameness in Your Sheep
Moredun Health Bulletin
Ticks and the Diseases they Cause
NADIS Health Alert
Nematodirus in lambs & IBR
Farming in the News
Flower-friendly farms boost
bee populations
Recipe of the Month
Rhubarb and Custard Cake



           

Eggs, eggs and more eggs...
Well, it is Easter!
New Potato and Chorizo Tortilla

Homemade Mayonnaise
Scotch Egg Pie
Spaghetti Carbonara
Baked Egg Custard Tart
         
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