Friday 30th December

 All 32 sheep pleased to see us and the one with the limp much better. Met a family coming down the gulley to go to the Gypsy swing and asked them politely to put their dog on a lead - they said they hadn't seen the notices on the gate. Gates 1 & 7 OK and trough well filled by the morning's rain! Pippa & Tim

Thursday 29 Dec

 Didn’t spot limpy, also definitely 31 present but debatable if 32 were there or not. Inside of white barrel wet. Our boys were in ‘assistance’ 😆 

Wednesday 28 December

 Whoa! Wet and windy and no sheep to be found. I don’t blame them, they were in the woods. Which was out of the wind. All looking good but no limp seen today. Water, feed and gates ok. No dog walkers crazy enough to be out. One set of sheep scat was jelly like. Worth keeping an eye out for issues. 

Sunday 25th December

 All 32 sheep in the same area. Limp still visible. Took a long rose bramble off one of them. Water trough OK. Gates 2,3,4 & 6 all shut. Small white notice saying SHEEP GRAZING IN FIELD was missing on gate 6.  Pippa & Tim (we're still testing positive for Covid virus!)

Saturday 24th December

 We found the sheep all 32 alert on the hill left of the gulley. Trough good level & gates 1 & 7 firmly closed. One Shetland sheep has a poorly front left foot see photo. Video shows limping. Pippa & Tim

Friday 23 December 2022

All 32 sheep looking fine this morning although one was holding back slightly and was not interested in the food, he was not limping nor appeared to be unwell though.

Thuraday 22nd Dec

All 32 looking well.

I walked round to look at the grazing levels, plenty in her to see them through the Christmas break.

Bea

Wednesday 21 December

 All sheep present and correct. Water and gates all ok. I replaced the strap with a bungee for the red can. Strap on top of IBC. Merry Christmas to all. Nick

20 Dec part 2, new food arrangements

There is now a red metal mini dustbin as well as the white plastic one on top of the water container. I hope everybody can reach, I can't think of an alternative location right now. Red bin contains a plastic bag containing the food. It has a large strap (much too long,  if anybody has a better securing strap it would be useful). The white bin contains the old decanting bucket, but a couple of large yoghurt containers may be easier as the red bin is narrow (I washed some out for the purpose, but left them on the kitchen table). Merry Christmas one and all!

Tuesday 20th December

A rodent has discovered the food bucket and eaten through the lid letting the rain in. For now I have moved the container to the top of the ibc until we can sort out a more secure container. 

. Otherwise, sun is shining, all 32 sheep are grazing, and both lower gates are good (thanks for the repair Bea). Neither dog nor human seen. Oh and I have reclaimed my hammer, will return it if we get another freeze

Saturday 17th December

 All peaceful on the Down. Sheep busy doing sheepy things, all counted present and healthy. Bea has disconnected the trough but I broke up the ice so they can have a drink.   Pippa   pp. Joe & Sarah Davies

 

Friday staff check

Hello all

I've topped the trough up with water and also the nut bucket. 

I've adjusted gate 1 a little so closes a bit better sheep seem well.

Thanjs to everyone helping in this cold snap! Hopefully we all start to thaw out by the end of the week!

Bea

Friday 16 December

A beautiful but very cold morning on the Down today but all 32 sheep found sheltering in the trees, they all came out to be fed and appear to be in good health.

Trough checks done this Thursday hammer still there for people to use

Wednesday 14 December

 All sheep in good fettle. The usual group hung back a bit but did come down eventually. Ice broken and feed checked. All gates ok. Local dog walker had dog on lead. Nice local lady with a wire haired jack Russell . Another dog walker no lead, seen at the top but he departed before I could get to him. Nick

Monday 12th December

 All 32 present & correct             Pippa           pp Clare Davies

Tue 13 December

All sheep accounted for on the western slope (some pretending they are Ibex), all appear healthy with no limping, and for once all came for food (usually a few look on disdainfully without joining in, but it's too cold for that). All gates and signs good. No walkers or dogs seen, but I did surprise a woodcock which was nice to see.

In case anybody forgets a hammer to break the ice I have left one in the pallets on the side nearest the food bucket, I must remember to retrieve it after the thaw.

Post script: gate near trough sites not latch. I think the restrainer needs to be moved a little to the right. I don't see how the sheep could take advantage

cold weather update

Thank you for continuing to break the ice in the trough, I brought up some water today and topped up the black trough.

I've managed to deice the tap of the ibc, luckily sheep do not drink much but if removing the ice is lowering the trough levels, I have left a black bucket on the fence post to fill up from what little water in the IBC isn't frozen to top the trough up! As the blue pipe has completely frozen beneath my insulation attempts.

Thanks all,

Bea

Sunday 11th December

 Amazing scenery on the downs this weekend, I have counted the 32 sheep, fed them on both days. Some are more reluctant to come and feed but all look to be in good health. I broke the ice in the trough on Saturday, but soon realised that this was fruitless as it was starting to freeze over by the time I have finished feeding the sheep. The tap is obviously frozen so the trough couldn’t be filled but it's still about 60% full. I have adjusted the height of the bolt on gate 5 as it wasn’t latching properly. I could see no sign of, additional, damage on any other gates.   Pippa     pp Adrian Crossley

Friday 9th December

Sheep all well and were on top ridge by Plum Pudding. Luckily I took a hammer & broke about 1inch thickness of ice. As this is a frost pocket the area doesn't receive much sun. No dog walkers seen. Tim Evans

Wednesday 7 December

 Cold morning about 1 degree. Sheep ok but we'll spread out; some did not want to come down. Water ok but had to break the ice.  Feed very low, needs a top up. Gates all good no dog walkers seen.  Nick HB

Tue 6 December

All sheep accounted for and send to be in fine fettle. Gates and water all ok. No walkers encountered.

Saturday 3rd December

 All's well, nothing to report. Pippa   pp Clare Davies

Friday 2 December

Checked the sheep this afternoon, all 32 looked fine , no sign of injury or illness. plenty of water in the trough but the feed bucket is only approximately 25% full.

water

 Hello all,

I have hooked up the IBC pipe to the trough, but have not turned the tap open to automatically fill because my attempts at solving the leaks have not led to success!

Soi please do check the water levels, you can still manually turn the tap on to fill the trough and back off again.

Many thanks,
Bea

Thursday 1st December

 Thick mist descended. No one else about. Bertie heroically rounded up all 32 sheep by rattling his pot of biscuits (it seems sheep don’t differentiate from sound) & leading them from Plum across to their own snack by the water tank. Our way down was pitch black - quite an adventure!