April 2012
Today I attach a photo of our first new Beltie calf of the year. You may have read the notice I had at the Nature Trail explaining that because of very wet conditions, and the lack of space at Kilnford, I moved our Beltie cows back to the hill for winter so that they would have more space and shelter. The photo shows the new calf one day old on top of the hill, but I have now moved mother and calf back to the Nature Trail for our customers to see. Our new calf is a female which we refer to as a heifer calf. That means if all goes well she should grow up and eventually become one of our breeding herd. At present she has not got a name but we do intend to have a completion for children to suggest a name with the winner receiving a prize (possibly a Beltie jigsaw) When writing in the blogs last year I referred to our cow called Bendy and she had a bull calf at Kilnford last year. She is now expecting a calf fairly soon and has also moved back to Kilnford so, with good luck, we may have another new calf there in a few weeks.
The lambs at the Nature Trail are now 3 weeks old and you will be amazed at how fast they have grown. We had a nice Blackfaced ewe gave birth last weekend and one of the lambs was delivered with a leg in the wrong position and needed a wee bit help. Fortunately both her lambs are ok and I have moved them over to the paddock below the restaurant patio where you can watch their progress.
Tickets to the nature trail are available at the till and are free to our loyalty card holders. We do ask those who prefer not to join the loyalty scheme to pay £1 each adult and 50p for children. Money collected from this will go to support a local charity. I hope you find some time over Easter to enjoy Kilnford.