Allowed Out

On the fourth day, Mayo-Liz decrees that the new lamb should be allowed out of the Maternity Unit (we'll give it the proper name of 'bonding pen', where you keep Mum and lamb in close proximity to make sure lamb gets a good dose of colostrum and the pair get well bonded before being released into the bigger field where they might get separated now and again). Saturday morning, then , we were delighted to find that the recent burst of vile wind and rain was done, the warm air-mass shouldered aside by some cold air; we had blue skies, little wind and bright, drying sunshine. We pulled the pallet 'gate' out of the way and carried the lamb at ewe-nose height across the yard, closely followed by both ewes, setting the lamb down in the shelter in the East Field to get his bearings (and snatching a few pictures).

You are advised to keep the indoor time to an absolute minimum. Sheep man Kenny actually does not do it at all - he lambs out of doors with just big round bales dropped into the field for protection from the wind. I assume he is fox proof. Although you are doing everyone a favour in terms of warmth, dryness and safety from the fox, what you are also doing is potentially upsetting the sheep by enclosing them in entirely new and unfamiliar surroundings with a complete change of diet - green grass to hay and 'nuts'. In our case, even the 'nuts' were changed because it coincided with me running out of the old left-over "fast sheep crunch" and moving onto ewe-and-lamb ration. These abuses can upset the sheep's digestion and lead to diarrhoea (sheep-folk call this 'scour(s)' ) and Lily was, indeed, starting to scour in the pen, so needed to be got back out onto grass.

Well, the move all went well and all three sheep seemed to be delighted at the new space. The lamb, we had only seen moving around in the 8 foot square of the pen, so we were delighted at his speed and agility once released into the field; no problem keeping up with his Mum. He looks, to us, a fine, healthy lad and Charlotte (who knows a lot more about sheep than we do) also pronounced him fit and strong. He is 'big' anyway on account of being a singleton (no twin to share the space with) and will now benefit from all that milk to himself and Hampshires are known to be good milkers. He seems to have enormous feet anyway, if that is anything to go by!

The clear, dry skies, though, were not to last the morning and the forecast predicted that we would get bands of snow-squall cloud through the afternoon. I checked with Mayo-Liz that this release, once achieved, did not have to be permanent and it would be alright to round everybody back up at 'bed time'. She thought that a perfect solution (we have all seen enough film of poor Welsh mountain sheep farmers digging their flock out of snow drifts). The gang are on a day-release programme, then, shepherded out in the morning and back at 4 pm, like the geese for a few days. We have put off the brave hour of letting them stay out over night. We may be being ridiculously soft. We had a few flurries of snow but it came to nothing.

Lily motoring down the field with Feste keeping up easily.

The 2nd ewe, Polly seems happy to stay 'Auntie' at present and is keeping her gunpowder dry. We are fairly sure, based on the comment Mayo Liz made that she was immediately very keen to see the (proper) 'tup' (ram) in November that she had not been got at like Lily. There is a good expression locally to describe ladies of loose morals  "Ah, she's no better than she should be!" and that is now how Lily gets described but I say it takes two to tango.

There you have it then for this post - all quiet, the way we like it. Maybe Polly will go the distance to the end of March and it will all break out again but it never does to count your chickens before they hatch. Lily is sorted on the scours.

Red Tide?

How's that for an impressive algal bloom? Do not be alarmed or get upset on our behalf; read on. If like us you have ever constructed ponds and proudly filled them and set them 'running' from new, you will probably have given birth to a few algal blooms in your time but we have to admit this is our first RED one. Algae, you will probably know, come in a variety of flavours from the well known and common 'Green', through Blue-Green and into Brown and then Red, as well as covering the range from very simple single-celled organisms right through to what we all know as 'sea-weed'.

The green variety are generally caused by an increase in the levels of nitrogenous compounds in the water and, as many people know, can be helped and avoided (though we've never done this) by adding barley straw. The bacteria trying to break down the straw find themselves short of nitrogen (in the straw) so they draw it from the water, thus reducing the nitrogen level in the water and starving the algae. Blue-greens are similar but are known for the risk of poisoning the water with a nerve agent called 'anatoxin' as they die and break down, which is never a good idea if cattle are drinking from that water.

Your man the Red Alga is of a different cloth  altogether, being generally marine (i.e. sea water rather than fresh) but also commonly caused by phosphate and phosphorus compounds in the water. You will recall that the very day we completed the pond was the day it stopped raining and the heat wave started so we, despite our misgivings, opted to fill the pond from the mains. 2 factors almost guaranteed to help an algal bloom along are warmth and intense sunlight. We had gin-clear water and a black butyl liner, not a bit of shade or any plants at that stage; the whole acting as a big solar panel.

Also Roscommon Water Board are currently suffering from contamination in the supply with a protozoan called Cryptosporidium which causes diarrhoea and we are under an official 'boil water' notice in parts of the county, and may be using chemicals to try to stop this PLUS we have heard, to help remove the natural peaty brownness of the water. Whatever the causes, our pond warmed up a lot and Bingo! our red algal bloom. This appeared overnight a few days ago, first as a slight red tinge on the bottom sediment, but then, as the water warmed up in the heat wave, causing a haze in the water which stopped us seeing the deepest parts of the pond. It has followed a textbook course, and we have the small flecks of 'scum' you get with red alga, looking like wind blown grass clippings. Admittedly we also have actual grass clippings!

As I said, do not be alarmed. We have not killed the pond. It is not a toxic waste dump you are looking at here; It may look a little shocking and scary in the pictures but it is still very much alive with oxygen getting to all levels. We have undiminished and increasing numbers of boatmen, pond skaters, water beetles and all manner of other whizzers up and down through the depths of the pond, the plants we have started to accumulate are all healthy and alive and the geese are still happy to swim in it and drink from it. The advice is that as soon as the temperature drops, the light levels fall and the rain water starts to dilute the (suspected) phosphates or other treatment chemicals and/or the algae exhaust the supply of what ever caused the bloom, it will fade away again. For that reason we are quite relieved that the heat wave is over and it is raining again. We are certainly not about to reach for any more chemicals to add to the brew to try to 'kill' the algae, or indeed to pump out and re-start. We will keep you posted on the progress of our own private red tide.

On a calmer note, Liz has found a knitting circle in Ballaghaderreen as a way of getting 'off campus' once a week, getting some female company, meeting new friends and honing the knitting skills. Our mini-horse owning friend from down the road, Carolyn tipped Liz off on this one; it turns out that Carolyn is also a keen knitter as well as being a demon sewing machine user, ex-shop-demonstrator and repairer. This also gives Liz a new way of relaxing when book reading and messing on the internet pall and can be done indoors as well as out. She has her own gentle pace and rhythm and , so the ladies of the circle tell her, a good feel for a nice even tension. I am looking forward to a nice new jumper.