Wick Court Farm Update 2
Monday 15th January 2018:
We are getting the swing of things now and are thoroughly enjoying being farmers.
Today we made sure the new lambs and their mothers had enough straw and water and rebedded their pens with hay. The pregnant lambs are all kept together on what the farmers call the “maternity ward” and when they give birth they are given their own private pen so they can bond with their babies. We learnt that humans shouldn’t pick up or cuddle new born lambs as they may pick up an unfamiliar scent and then their mothers may think they don’t belong to them and reject them.
We ensured that the hay was taken away from the outside of the lamb stable so that when tomorrow’s colder weather comes it won’t be unsafe.
We were also very brave and fed the pigs their meals and in the evening we did the two field walk to the cow farm where we made sure the cows and mothers were fed and comfortable.
Tuesday 16th January 2018:
We began the day by completing all the housework: sweeping, polishing, laying the table for breakfast and tidying the cushions and toys in the parlour. After breakfast we went out to Oldbury farm where we fed the cows and watched the cows being milked. They use incredible technology to milk the cows and each milking robot costs £120,000! The whole milking schedule is organised by the technology. The robot knows when each cow has last been milked and only allows the cows into the right section of the barn if they haven’t been milked for six hour. They all wear special tags which enable access into the right section. Lasers and cameras are used to locate the teats and the robot washes and dries each and then attaches itself teat by teat to take the milk. The amount of milk from each teat is measured as well as the milk flow. After the milking, the machine washes and disinfects the teats to stop mastitis (an infection in the teat). The farmers were struggling to find people to milk the cows so they invested in these incredible robots.
Following this, we made pizzas. We worked as a team and kneaded the dough and added the toppings ourselves. We then did some birdwatching and we saw a rare gold finch and other wildlife. We used binoculars and a telescope and used a hide to watch for birds. We also did a game keeping walk and looked at animal traps and tracks and we even found a deer’s skull!
A very exciting day!
