Farm Diary

That is just as well when I see the number of rabbits on the grass fields at Crouchlands, and once again we are having to cull them in order to keep some control of numbers.

James shot 50 the other night, and although that falls well short of the 100 '“ 130 we used to shoot in a night years ago, it still shows that there are far too many about. Too many rabbits is not good for me; or the rabbits themselves.

The same goes for most species, if there are too many they either go hungry or suffer disease. Wildlife management is a fundamental part of living in the countryside.

We had the delightful experience of a visit from Plaistow primary school last week. A class of children of around 7 years old arrived at the bottom of our drive at 9.00am.

We loaded them into our livestock trailer, where some small bales of hay (borrowed from a neighbour) had been placed for them to sit on. They saw the cows having breakfast, the breakfast being prepared in the big mixing wagon, some other cows having their beds made whilst they were being milked, bales of straw being spread in the loose yard as fresh bedding and the cows on holidays.

They loved the calf shed, where the calves took full advantage of willing hands, nice and soft for sucking!

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette May 27