Yoiking stuff around and 'doing' at TOFT...as yer do

I had the big guns out at TOFT yesterday with my youngest son lending a hand clearing the winter Hayracks off the main paddocks. We emptied all the big feeders and cleared the debris off our main hay paddocks so they can be harrowed and fertilised ready to grow the feed we need for next winter. Light was fading fast as we finished. It's always a good day on the Manor when it ends with the job finished. Thanks Son.

Feeding the birds...

Out on the fields slitting and aerating the paddocks all weekend surrounded by birds. In another land far away when I was a kid growing up in Billingham at the time a centre for heavy industry I sometimes  used to see clouds of gulls and lapwings following the plough and the harrow on a farm in Sandy Lane ( now a golf course) I can still picture the navy grey Fergie the rich brown of the turned earth and the gulls in their hundred following. Magic...

I had myself a little déjà vu this weekend as the birds came in  from far and wide once they realise you are turning up bits of soil with bugs and bits in to eat.  For just a moment I was ten again walking with my Dad down Sandy Lane on a Saturday morning towards Wolviston cricket ground for the weekly match. I stopped and tried to get a pic to catch at least one of the wee moments of magic of the black headed  gulls hovering alongside the tractor. Thought was there but as usual the camera was not up to the job and couldn't get close to the magic.  'Twas ever thus.

Happy New Weaners...

Finally one year after taking on the neglected acreage bordering our farm we put our young stock on it today. With the help of Samantha Law a veterinary nurse from Surrey, who is on work experience with  us this week Linda and I moved the second batch of alpacas onto the new land. 

35 TOFT weaners ceremoniously walked gracefully along the lane and into their new paddocks gave a quick look of thanks and gleefully ran off to enjoy the chomp. Couldn't get a sensible word out of the all day after that. Made us all smile though watching them pronking around with excitement exploring more than enough chomp to last them a year. Enjoy boys and girls. 

Sadly Sam leaves us today and we wish her every success as she stars the long haul to become a veterinarian. Thanks for all your help this week Sam, good luck with your studies and we hope to see you at TOFT again very soon.

Made it with the help of the old 'lucky charm'

Finally got the gates fitted this morning on the new alpaca paddocks with a day to go before Chrissy Eve. The old 'lucky charm' giving me a hand helped to get us through without any major hiccups. Here he is- my Dad, almost 84 and as proud as punch on the last of the three gates we fitted this morning before 1pm. Then we were off on the trot all afternoon for Whoopy Daisy collecting stuff from the butchers bakers and candlestick makers - as you do. 

Day off tomorrow as we both turn our minds to a bit of Christmas shopping and a cleansing ale or two. Ding Dong Merrily the Bong....

Bit of a job on with Young Will...

Monday and Tuesday spent wiring up the fences with Young Will on the last five acres of new alpaca paddock.  We worked like men possessed until it got too dark to be safe to get all the remaining wire up. I can hardly lift my mug of tea today but I'd lay bets that Will at only 17 doesn't have an ache at all. Life's a b****!

I've probably got thousand staples to knock in before Crimbo- I hope I'll be able to cut the Turk!

Thanks Will for all your help over the past few weeks knocking these fields into shape- have a good Chrissy.

Wires on...

Wires up on the new alpaca paddock. Two strands of plain wire to string tomorrow and three gates to set up and  the next five acres will come online. 

Hey ho, only another five to go and the job will be almost done. Thank goodness it feels like this job has run longer than Emmerdale. I've set Xmas as the deadline -as you do and if the weather rolls our way we will get there. A few good frosts will help now the posts are all in.

It is now almost a year since we took on this land and it has taken all of that time to get it operational. 12 months ago all the hedges were overgrown 25 yds out in the field, there was a decade of debris scattered around and some of the biggest bonfire middens  I have ever seen. The fields were four foot high in nettles and thistles covered in huge thick tussocks you could hardly ride the quad over. 

We started cutting slashing and burning last December and have been working on it most of the year. Twelve massive bonfires later and an awful lot of fencing we are almost there. With a bit of luck we will have 15 acres of very tidy new alpaca paddocks up and running in the New Year! And then? Well some downtime I hope and back to the herd.

We start them young at Toft alpacas...

Here we have young Lordy, all of two years old, helping to sew grass seed in the new alpaca paddocks. Couldn't do it without him!

Alpaca stud males: so where're the girls then??

It's been all move on the farm this week with the pregnant female alpacas being split into May, June and July births. The pregnant female alpacas were then moved from their winter pasture to their separate  new summer paddocks. The May births were moved into the birthing paddocks nearer the house ready for the imminent arrival of their cria. 

The boys, in similar fashion were moved onto fresh paddocks so that their winter pasture can be cleaned, fertilised and regrow. The large Draycote field the girls over wintered in has now been cleaned, harrowed and fertilised and will be left to grow and cut for hay when the time comes.

All this movement meant the stud males could be let up the hill into to graze the lane way which runs along the now empty female paddock. 

The smell of the girls must be  strong in  that empty field as these alpaca stud males spend quite some time looking for those ladies. If one raises its head they all do just in case one of these big boys  is about to  get lucky. They walk up and down collectively sniffing on the wind for the chance of a mating- a bit like rampant teenagers patrolling the streets in 'mega luff' or wherever they congregate for this ritual nowadays! ( in my day sadly it was only Scarborough)

Don't worry boys you will get to work soon enough. Once shearing is over the farm will start to echo with the glorious  sound of alpaca orgling.

Harrowing the alpaca paddocks...

Weekend was glorious ,dry and sunny. With that combination at this time of the year comes shed loads of work. In between the normal herd maintenance tasks we are halter training the junior alpacas, preparing the alpaca females for their imminent births, cleaning and harrowing and slitting the fields. This on top of talking to clients about matings and sales, running alpaca husbandry introductory workshops and trying to get the fence repairs finished. 'Twas ever thus!
This week hopefully we start to get some fertiliser into the empty paddocks. With a rise of a few degrees this week by next you will be able to hear the grass growing.
This vintage Massey Ferguson 35 tractor first saw service sometime in the 60's but I was able to use it, to good effect, this week to chain harrow the alpaca maternity paddocks.
These paddocks stay empty most of the winter because with 60 births due this year they will see plenty of action in the coming months. The alpaca birthing will start in May but with this warm dry spell upon us we have to keep an eye out for any earlies.