It’s been a relatively cold start to the year in Wales, with light snowfall and thick ice joining us over the weekend. In anticipation of the snow we had moved some of the sheep into the barn, where they bedded down for a comfortable night in the straw with plenty of hay to chew on. In the morning we moved some more in with them to keep as many as possible dry and warm. The boys are hormonal at this time of year and (as always) not keen on being contained so spent their time outside with hay to eat. As Hebridean and Boreray sheep are both native to the Scottish Outer Hebrides they really are quite hardy, but having most in the shed brings peace of mind on days where farmers wish to be outside as little as possible – and it doesn’t hurt them to be a nice and cosy!
With this winter weather has come consideration of field shelters. Several fields already have some in place. One is triangular and covered in a green tarpaulin, and does a good job at keeping bad weather off of a patch of field big enough for around 12 of the smaller sheep. Another is square, with fence posts on the corners supporting walls and a roof of some old cast iron found lying around in the earlier days of having the farm. The final is more of an accidental shelter; when in the field closest to the polytunnel and growing space the sheep have access to a shepherds hut, which they have found to be the perfect height to lay down under. Plans for the next few months are to construct a couple more shelters in other fields, probably from pallets and tarpaulins, so that sheep have access to them whichever field they are in. We are lucky a large number of trees and well established hedgerows embellish the farm, and these do give protection. However in the worst of the weather – particularly in winter when most trees are without their leaves – the option for the sheep to choose a solid roof is desirable.
And so the new year brings with it the promise of more jobs; field shelters to make, more fences to repair, sheep with feet to trim, and more (endless) weeding of the vegetable garden. But with this we look forward to moving through another cycle of seasons on the farm; snow, the spring bulbs, watching the sheep continue to grow, another years worth of fleeces to work with, the abundance of the autumn garden and relative calm of winter. It’s nice in the colder weather to take some time to think now about the year ahead. For me, how to balance the day job with time on the farm, what to sow when, and how warm it needs to be before I brave some felting outside…
