Jumping Daf on the Beach!

We took Dafydd to the beach today to exercise him and teach him to jump.

Must have spent 2 hours playing and trotting around the beach but he loved it!!
As much as I hate running I loved it too! :))

Started Riding Lessons

Have been helping to back a couple of horses and my friends we're doing it with have been saying for ages we should have Riding lessons...
Thought it was just for girls and that I'd squash all the horses etc but we finally decided to book lessons and it was really good!
Have worked with horses for years at the farm + at work, so know a bit about them but never ridden.

We've only done Rising Trot but is good so far! My horse is called Boxer and he's got a really big trot so I spend half the time making him slow down so he doesn't overall, but think I'm setting the hang of it. The woman asked if I'm sure I've never ridden before 'cos I looked quite good :P haha

Egg with a face

I took a couple eggs out the incubator and this face was staring back at me!

Day 7: Candling Chinese Painted Quail eggs

I candled a load of the quail eggs today and a lot are fertile!

I took out 7/21 Japanese eggs and 5/120 CPQ eggs... Although I didn't candle then all but lots were fertile :)

Looking forward to Lambing 2013!

I'm really looking forward to another season of Lambing!

I have the new job at the Uni farm which I think will be about 6 weeks split between me and Cody - not sure if we'll be in pairs, on our own, or what yet though. At least at the Uni farm there's somewhere warm to sit and do Dissertation work, if we're quiet with the Lambing!

Richard from Glanystwyth rang me a few weeks ago to ask if I could go Lambing for him again this year. It'll be 3 or 4 weeks of 9pm-6am which is quite a lot when we have lectures and Uni too.
I asked the 3 girls who have come for the last 2 years but they didn't want to come 'cos of Uni etc which is fair enough. A few other people on my course want to come this year but have never been Lambing before, so it'll be really good to have help but will need to help and teach them how to Lamb too...

The 2 farms are so completely different...
First the Uni farm is a modern, almost clinical, performance-recorded system where we don't pull much and have to measure and record every detail for research:

Then Glanystwyth is a traditional Welsh farm with a massive shed with 1,200 Organic ewes and lots of little barns with lambs in:

Not sure when Uni start but Glanystwyth start in 2 weeks! :)

Why do you want to be a Vet?

I saw a Medical student post something with made me laugh and wanted to make a Vet version...

The question wannabe Vet Students ALWAYS get asked it, "SO, why do you want to be a vet?"

Lets make a list of things we need in a career:
Mentally and practically stimulating challenge
Variety in work with new scenarios everyday
A world of species and specialisms in which to be able to explore
The opportunities to make a difference to animals and animal-owners lives
And most importantly of all, I wanted to wear my blue pyjamas to work everyday

Incubating Quail; Japanese and Chinese Painted

I've just popped around 120 Quail eggs into my MS Broedmachine incubator.
I bought 24 Japanese Quail eggs and 108 CPQ eggs but after candling them a couple had cracks in their shells so I didn't put those in the incy.

Due to hatch around the 17th/18th Feb!