Soay Vaccinations, Flying Pigs and a very clever Puppy

In their infinite wisdom, the Scottish Executive made the vaccination of all sheep and cows against bluetongue compulsory in Scotland. Bluetongue is a very nasty disease, and I do believe that all farmers have a duty to be vigilant in the prevention of its ability to spread throughout the UK. HOWEVER…those of us who live in remote Island areas with fierce midges that are territorial, are most upset that we have to vaccinate as we do not believe that bluetongue is ever going to be a threat within our livestock. For smallholders like Keith and I, the possibility of infection is even further reduced as our sheep go from start to finish on the farm, and we do not import sheep from elsewhere – it all seems a bit unnecessary and an added expense and handling operation that effectively serves little purpose but to keep pharmaceutical companies and civil servants in a job. That being said, it is the law, and therefore we have just finished our vaccination program with the injecting of our Soays this week.

No Soay lambs yet, but we are hoping they will start arriving at the beginning of next week – we run our Soays with the tups all year round, so figuring out an exact arrival date is complicated! A lot of them have full bags of milk though, so we are expecting…soon!

Yesterday I got a phone call from a tabloid newspaper wanting a comment and details on the ‘urban crofting program’ we are supposed to be doing in Bristol…….as I said to the lady I spoke to, I would love to give comment, but it is just not true! I’m not sure where this idea came from, but just to dispel any further rumor, we have too many animals relying on us to up sticks and move to Bristol for a year! As interesting a project it would be, our feet are firmly planted at Orbost, and will be for some time to come! Keith does a lot to help small scale crofters round about with their livestock management, and after the urban crofting rumor circulated, there were a few panicked phonecalls from neighbours saying don’t leave!! I am happy to say there is no need for a ‘keep Keith here fund’ and last reports suggest there are no flying pigs at Orbost – we are staying put and getting on with life on the farm.

Little Misty is starting to learn the tricks of the trade of becoming a sheep dog. She has learnt to sit, lie down, stay and we are having some success with teaching her to speak on command!

She and the mad springer have wrestling matches to rival any cage rage bout, and apart from trashing my newly planted garden and trying to eat the sofa, she is a delight. Worryingly, Keith took her with him to feed the sheep yesterday, and she hid under the land rover……but I’m sure confidence will come as she grows a bit bigger – those big white fluffy things must be a bit daunting when you are the size of a cat!