A RETURN to milder weather towards the end of the week almost made it feel as though the 'mini beast from the east' was just a dream. I confirmed this was not so, when on a ramble around Manor Farm seven days later, I found quite a large patch of snow on the edge of the wood, as the saying goes, "waiting for some more?" The snow at the beginning of the week was once again accompanied by temperatures below zero, with bitingly cold wind. The snow drifts that were sculpted, as a result of the strong wind, were quite beautiful, even though they almost blocked the road out of our village.

During the week we have had a routine visit from our vet. This was mainly to do some pregnancy diagnoses and some post-natal checks on our cows in the milking herd. We now only have one cow and two heifers left to give birth this calving season. Female bovines are called heifers, giving birth for the first time as two-year-old animals and are still called heifers until they have their second calf. Our last few cows to calve have produced nine Aberdeen Angus x heifer calves in a row, the last two born were twins. During the calving season we have sold all our dairy bull calves to be reared for beef, kept all the dairy heifer calves, and for the first time kept all our Aberdeen Angus x calves, with the intention of rearing them here on Manor Farm.

Unfortunately, we have needed to call our vet several times over the last week. The last three cows to calve showed signs of a mineral imbalance, looking rather wobbly or recumbent, which was diagnosed as a lack of calcium and phosphorus. After calving there is great demand on these two minerals, which can sometimes cause a problem. Modern diets for dairy cows usually prevent this happening, but if treatment is required a subcutaneous or intravenous injection of these minerals will soon have the cow steady on her feet once again.

We also had one cow showing signs of ketosis. Ketosis is also a condition which usually occurs post-calving causing the affected animal to lose her appetite and become depressed. Ketosis is a condition when there is a deficiency of glucose (or sugar) in the blood and body tissues when the cow begins lactating. Glucose is essential for the formation of lactose (milk sugar) and milk fat.

We have also had a problem with two of our calves. Ian spotted that one had a very runny eye, so examined the animal more closely, before deciding that it looked like New Forest Eye (or pink eye as it is commonly known).

New Forest Eye is caused by a bacteria and cattle of any age can become infected. It is most commonly seen in young stock in the summer months and is highly contagious, with flies able to transmit the infection between individuals. Having spotted a problem with one calf, the next day another calf was found to have the infection in both eyes, so I made a trip to the vets to pick up some more medication. We will have to check the calves' eyes very carefully for a time as the infection can cause blindness if not treated promptly.

Recently Priscilla, one of my two sisters, came to visit me. While she was here I decided to take her for a walk around the lakes at Lower Moor Farm, near Oaksey, one of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust reserves. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and we very much enjoyed our walk circumnavigating the lakes where we spotted many different water fowl including swans, cormorants, grebes, coots, Canada geese, ducks and a buzzard circling above.

At a recent meeting of Chippenham Young Farmers' Club the results of the Sheep Show were announced. Our grandchildren Annabel and Natasha are doing well. Natasha was third in the finished lamb section and Annabel won both the breeding ewe and best presented classes, coming reserve overall. Well done to all other members who won or were placed in the Sheep Show classes.