There is no greater sight on the farm than seeing our beautiful cows out in the field with their calves happily gambling along by their sides.

Last year we had a new bull called Rocky, we have been really looking forward to meeting his first crop of calves. We are absolutely thrilled with how they are looking. His genetics seems to have thrown a lot more white into the coat colours and we have had lots of really stunning roan calves. The cow and calf in the photo are almost a carbon copy of each other!

Shorthorn cattle are naturally very maternal mothers and tend to have small calves which we would describe as ‘goey’ Meaning they are usually very quick to stand and looking for their all important colostrum.

While they don’t often need much help calving Will is always keeping a very close eye. It is essential that calves drink colostrum within the first few hours of life. Calves are born with no immunity the colostrum provides all the essential antibodies, energy and nutrients for their immune system and overall health.

Calves lose their ability to absorb antibodies from colostrum rapidly after birth. The first feed is absolutely crucial and should ideally be within the first two hours, to optimize antibody absorption. 

So far the cows have been keeping Will very busy as we have now had a total of 40 calves with only 20 more to go. From next week onwards our ‘heifers’ (females who haven’t had a calf yet) will start to calve which can be a little more interesting. As first time mum’s it can all be a bit of a shock to the system! Although the maternal bond usually kicks in very quickly.

In other news we have been turning out some groups of cattle to graze on different parts of the farm. Always such a relief to see an end to the hard winter work in sight and to see the cattle full of joy in the fields.

It’s Easter holidays so it’s not ideal but we are thankful for the rain as the ground is just so dry. The ground will absorb the water and our herbal leys will be ready to guzzle it up and provide a flush of pasture across the farm.

Meanwhile the mum/business/life juggle continues in the Easter holidays. Charlie has been working hard to help Will last week and is currently on a special trip with his ‘Gaffy’ (Scillonian term for Grandad) to the Isles of Scilly. Poor chap had a rough sailing this morning on the Scillonian Ferry! Flora is in to all things dance and performing arts and has been to some brilliant theatre workshops in Truro through the holidays. They of course are very much looking forward to Easter Sunday, I can’t think why!