Life on the Croft

It’s been a month of animal care.

Our sheep developed a fungus – a relative of ringworm. So I devised a lotion, made of 2.5% sulphur, 20% betadine gel (iodine) and 15% Clotrimazole (an anti fungal, normally for athlete’s foot) in Vaseline. 

Pep the Vet came up with the suggestion that we increase the alkalinity of their diet, mixing 1% sulphur into sodium bicarbonate (from Solvay, in Belgium) and adding the powder to their food trough. It all seems to be working.

A Belgian solution

Then I left Mimosa the donkey grazing in a field of alfalfa. Stupid – I meant to leave her for an hour but got distracted. As a result she filled up with food, and then filled up more with gas. She stopped eating and drinking, and then Pep found she had a heart murmur. So he poured 5 litres of liquid paraffin, 5 litres of probiotics and more water into her via a naso-gastric tube. 


The result was, er, explosive. 


But now she’s fine – fully recovered, and merrily kicking me each morning when I take her feed.

Tube that donkey

And it's been shearing time here at the Croft: 

Shearing Phoenix, 16 June 2012

Shearing wool for which there is no demand and which, like all the local shepherds, I've had to compost. But the sheep are happier.