The Year Round: After a hard winter, let's hope for a gentle spring

Here at Friars Hagg we did not suffer too badly, despite our 1,000 feet altitude on the North Pennines. Our neighbours have suffered some severe damage to silage from rabbits.

The rabbits were driven by hunger from the tops which were covered with two feet of frozen snow.

They attacked these bags, allowing air into the contents which were soon ruined. The rabbits simply walked across the protective netting because of the depth of snow.

Some silage not good enough for the sheep was fed to cattle. We have 150 housed and sell the calves at 14-16 weeks of age.

Fortunately, we are fairly well stocked with the suckler cows which breed them as these cows are a hideous price at the moment.

Snow on the tops has filled all the dykes on the moor and is frozen as hard as cement.

Swaledale ewes have been scanned in two sessions, with the first ones lambing in early April.

These are sired by Bluefaced Leicester and Texel rams, while the main lot are Swaledales bred pure. They begin in mid April.

Our 24 rams for this purpose are housed in two batches with shearlings and aged rams in one lot and middle aged ones in the other.

These rams are likely to fight among themselves when first taken from the ewes, but have been little trouble in this year's adverse conditions.

We find that our usual feed of sugar beet and pulp nuts have become overpriced this year and we are changing to concentrate nuts plus the best silage we have and a little hay.

The gimmer or female hoggs are housed separately and look well.

They will move out in early April when we hope for a bit of grass. Above all, a gentle spring would be the greatest asset on this hill sheep farm.