Whilst I have been busy with the visitor room build, Rob has been busy arranging the build of a new cow shed at Sandfield Farm.

When the calves are eight weeks old we move them from Greystone Farm and take them to Sandfield Farm. They then live on Sandfield Farm until they are nearly two years old. As heavily pregnant heifers they are then loaded onto a lorry and taken from the Vale of Evesham back up to Greystone Farm in the North Cotswolds. It is only a twenty minute journey but has the added interest of Fish Hill which sits just above Broadway.

At Sandfield Farm we do keep some of the hardier cows outside all winter, either on stubble turnips, kale or fodder beet. The young heifers are kept in the cows sheds over the winter as they still have some growing to do. We can’t keep any cattle on grass fields over the winter, as the ground becomes ‘poached’ with the heavy hooves, destroying the grass plants underfoot and therefore reducing the amount of grass grown in the spring flush.

I always love to watch the heifers being let out on to the fresh spring grass.

The heifers were brought into the finished shed two weeks ago. At first they spent the day time out in the grass paddock and the nights in the shed. Last week the weather turned wetter and the heifers hooves started to churn up the field into a muddy mess. Before they were housed full time, Rob and Ronnie gave each animal a wormer and vitamin boost, which will hopefully keep them well over the harsher months. I always love to watch the heifers being let out on to the fresh spring grass. They run around the field like mad, with tails in the air, mooing to each other, it often reminds me of the visiting school children, when I tell them to run to the end of the field as loudly as they can!