By Nick Morrison

We get timely and necessary reminders of folk who have to work on Christmas Day. Top of the head a non exhaustive list would be :- Nurses, Doctors, Police, Fire Brigade, RNLI, Coast Guard, Radar Operators and many many others. This little piece is about farmers however. The stock need to be fed on a 24/7 basis and the ultimate waste from that feeding needs to be cleared from the byre.

First get your Haylage wrapped bale

Cut off the end of the wrapping.

Make a small cut down the side.

Install in the barn and remove the plastic covering.

The haylage goes into plastic tubs for the coos already inside, some in sacks for the few still outside.

The bull “Goldenballs” with some of his ladies are still yet to come inside. The outside temp is +7 Deg C. He and his ladies get daily haylage as well as what is left in the field.

Where’s my dinner!

Calves are not tethered.

The 85 hens also have to be fed. This is the the time of year when  Farmyard free range hens don’t lay much. These 85 produce around 6 a day at the moment. it will be a month or so before the laying rate picks up.

I saw the registration/pedigree document of Goldenballs. He was born in 2011 out of “Greenbank” and “Seamer”.