Another scorching hot day, saw the cows all wandering between shady patches to stay cool. All looked healthy and happily grazing. Also met our lovely new resident ponies, the grazier must have brought them onto site when he took away Jack and Jill on Friday. It's not til you see them both close up that you realise how much the names Little and Large really suit! Both seemed very friendly and happy to walk alongside me as I walked the site. For those of you that haven't met them yet, here they are grazing in the sunshine:

Ponies taken off site

Unfortunatly following recent complaints about Jack's behaviour the decision was made to have Jack and Jill removed from site.  The grazier came and removed the two ponies this afternoon, and they will be going to a home where there is less public access.  It is hoped that replacement ponies will be brought on at a later date.

During a walk around this morning i saw all the cattle, they were understandably sheltering from this hot sunny weather and were all lazing about in area 11.  They all seemed healthy and were munching away.

All cows and ponies fine today

What a lovely sunny day - Castle Bottom really does look glorious in the sunshine! Checked all the cows and ponies today, and they all seemed very healthy and inquisitive. Jack was behaving himself too, although we are still trying to arrange for him to be replaced with a calmer horse, no dates confirmed as yet. Before we had to drag ourselves away from the site we also did a reptile survey (lots of adders and slow worms about!), fixed the lifted board on the boardwalk, patched up the broken gate at the corral, and painted the steps on the boardwalk to make them more visible (til we ran out of paint!). Here is a picture of one of the cows coming to have a sniff of our lunch and one of the slow worms (legless lizards) we found under a reptile tin.

 

Bald Patches and a Bolshy Jack

Hi all, I have just returned from Castle Bottom, having found all the cows sheltering together in the woods (area 10), and the ponies up at what seems to be their favourite spot by the corral. We looked at the patches of bare skin that are developing on two of the cows, and checked that the skin looks healthy, with no wounds/rashes/sores/scabs to suggest any health problems. I spoke to the grazier who confirmed that this is relatively normal this time of year, as the cows are moulting and losing fur anyway, and perhaps might lose a clump in patches dues to licking/excessive rain/rubbing on vegetation/fencing posts. So it seems like it is just another thing to keep an eye on and monitor.
The ponies seemed quite calm today, although judging from their recent behaviour it may be wise to exercise caution when undertaking checks. It can be a good idea to carry a large stick, as an extra barrier between you and the animals, and to make you look bigger and therefore dominant. Although the ponies are not wild animals as such, they are not tame either, and can behave unpredictably as their moods change. Please do let us know if there are any further incidents involving the ponies - it might be useful to keep some kind of record of their moods/behaviours, to see if we can identify any trends or triggers.
All the best,
Natalie