Thursday 11th July 2019

Flies
Animals are not daft!! The cows are pictured here seeking the shade under the trees as July continues to be hot. All our fields are hot as we aren’t getting much of a wind either but no matter how warm it is, the animals always find the cooler spots and the ones with the least flies.
Relaxed at Home
Flies are a massive nuisance. We have put a Spot-on on the cows to help keep them away from their faces and hopefully stop them biting. Fly strike of course, continues to be a worry, especially with the sheep but with clean bums and shorn fleeces, we hope we will continue to be okay! We check them all at least twice a day as one fly can lay five to six clutches of 100 or so eggs in just three/four days and maggots can start to hatch out in just 12 hours! In our ten years of keeping sheep we have only ever had fly strike twice, and once was due to a botched castration. The other time was on Mrs. White's flank and we were lucky enough to spot it very early on. The maggots were tiny, just a few in number and none had begun to bury into her skin… Ughhh… we are itching just thinking about it!!!