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Documentary, This Farming Life S01E12

The working day begins as the sun rises above the horizon and it ends long after the sun has set. Across Scotland and Northern Ireland, the struggles and triumphs of farmers and their families are documented to give a unique perspective into the lives of those providing the nation with milk, meat and more. Against a backdrop of some of Britain's most remote and beautiful locations, these farmers go about their day with unprecedented dedication as they tend to their animals, harvest their crops, and care for their own families, as they endeavour to keep everything on the farm running smoothly during often testing times.
#FarmingLife #ThisFarmingLife #Scotland

#FarmingLife #ThisFarmingLife #Scotland
#Documentary
#FarmingLife

#ThisFarmingLife #Documentary #FarmingLife

Category

🐳
Animals
Transcript
00:00Across some of the most beautiful and remote landscapes of the British Isles.
00:07This is not a bad office, is it? You know, is it?
00:10Scotland's farmers carve a living.
00:14Everything, a time and a season, nature doesn't stop.
00:18Breeding sheep and cattle.
00:20There's a lot of old friends here. They've come to the end of their working life.
00:23Quite a sad day.
00:25Come on.
00:26We're second.
00:27Bringing new life into the world.
00:29And battling with the elements.
00:35They're all cute in their own way.
00:37And especially if they end up on their plate as a lamb chop, yum.
00:41Over a year, five very different families let cameras onto their farms.
00:47Hell of a size of nuts on them.
00:49And into their lives.
00:51To share their struggles.
00:53I don't know why you want the floor with this.
00:55Do you need to do this?
00:56And their triumphs.
00:58Look at my baby!
01:00He's alive!
01:02As they try and turn a profit in testing economic times.
01:06That's just depressing that, really.
01:08There's cause for celebration.
01:10Gorgeous.
01:12And a time to reflect.
01:14I feel sad that I haven't provided the next generation to carry on here.
01:18But it's never dull.
01:20Don't let him go.
01:21It's not a job.
01:22It's a way of life.
01:23It's not a job.
01:24It's a way of life.
01:25It's not a job.
01:28It's not an everyday options too.
01:31We look back over a hectic and dramatic year for the farmers.
01:37A year dictated by the changing seasons.
01:41a year dictated by the changing seasons for many the working year kicks off in
01:49the autumn autumn can be sometimes the most beautiful time of year the colors
01:54can be stunning
02:01it's also pretty frantic because of timescales to get to and and things
02:06that have to be done so it is a busy time of year no one enjoys going from summer
02:13into autumn in the summer we we have daylight at midnight and it's just a joy
02:20to be to be out and about and then the year turns the night start drawing in
02:27very fast and we know where we're going
02:36on the isle of lewis in the outer hebrides 30 miles off the northwest coast of scotland
02:45the heavy autumn schedule of sheep work is about to begin for barrister turned crofter
02:52sandy grendel autumn is one of the busiest times of the year there's plenty going on there's plenty
03:00going on on the crop gathering and sorting animals today sandy is heading out of lewis to an uninhabited
03:08island called seaforth to gather up the islands only residents shape as dictated by tradition the
03:23flock are all owned by different crofters but have been grazing together on common land
03:32crofting is a tradition that's unique to the highlands and islands of scotland
03:37dating back to the late 19th century crofts are small plots of poor quality land with common grazing rights
03:44that are part of a community where much of the work is shared
03:47i love this i just i could think of nothing better to be doing than being on the hills and
03:54the islands and it's it's one of the greatest ways to spend your life working these wild sheep
04:01but it's a tradition that's disappearing these hills and islands used to be full of sheep and now
04:08there's very few just people from a few villages and mostly we're pretty old it's been said that if you
04:13come to one of our sheep gatherings it's like it's like a saga out here the group are trying to drive
04:20a flock of 60 sheep into the handling pens by the shore for sorting but the sheep who've been living
04:27wild here for the last year have other ideas
04:30at the pens they need to weed out the male sheep destined for slaughter from the ewes that only
04:44need to be sheared the ewes aren't sandies but everyone chips in with the shearing using traditional
04:55tools that have been around for centuries you're an old bully most people here use the shears or they
05:02call it the jevish it's not as fast as using mechanical shears but you can shove them in your
05:08pocket and take them anywhere shearing done the wedas orchestrated male sheep need to be taken back to
05:18lewis where they're destined to become mutton do you want me to come back or stay over the only way is by boat
05:29six at a time so they must ferry them across in shifts
05:35all aboard they set off on a 10-minute boat ride
05:51sea shepherding moving livestock between islands has been a common practice in the scottish isles for
05:58centuries but if crofting were to die out so would this unique tradition
06:03i have a role in what is a dying way of life
06:11and i would love to think that we could get another generation doing this producing this great meat
06:19if we are the last we're having a great time doing it
06:33we're having a great time doing it
06:38as autumn rolls along sheep work is also the order of the day for hill farmers
06:43sibyl and george mcpherson
06:47they farm 2 000 sheep in 15 000 acres of rugged mountain terrain in western scotland
06:54i don't farm because i think i'm ever going to be rich especially not in this part of the world
07:03but i do farm because i passionately enjoy it and i do think that we are producing something very
07:08meaningful not only in us custodians of the land but also in the type of food which we produce
07:14this is the time of year for gathering sheep today they're going to bring in a flock of 500 scattered
07:24over six square miles for mating or tupping
07:28so they're taking their best dogs and enlisting the help of friends jake and arthur
07:40there we are now no scrapping well that's directed at you
07:45the plan is to head to the top of the hill and spread out come on come on come on up perfect day
07:56for gathering sheep sybil jake arthur and their dogs will approach from one end on foot
08:05while george will advance from the other side on his quad bike
08:08if all goes well they'll meet in the middle and drive the whole flock towards the lock and along
08:17the glen to the farm really is just us in a line making the sheep aware that we're
08:24we're coming behind them so they'll start to move the right way hey hey hey hey
08:31it's a job that takes some skill
08:33a lot of being able to gather hills is to do with having sheep sense and understanding what
08:39they're likely to do what their capabilities are how fast they can run and being tactical as well
08:44as actually having tremendous dogs you can get away with quite a lot if you can read the situation
08:50trying to control sheep used to living wild across such difficult country has its risks
08:57well terrain's quite steep and there's a lot of peak bogs underground water channels that you could
09:01lose yourself in i do get a bit tensed at gatherings in case anything goes wrong because well it's
09:07dangerous ground it's pretty important to try and get it right and i do worry hello george
09:15hello george remember to keep your finger on the button when you're speaking to me darling
09:23get your finger out darling okay we're we're slow sorry we're coming now quickly
09:28now the entire party must synchronize their efforts or the sheep could escape and if any of
09:36the weaker ones are left behind they won't survive the harsh winter we're working as a team here we're
09:42all on the line there's civil above me and then jake george was further forward than us this morning
09:48so we have to go quickly uh to catch up otherwise the line the sweet line is broken
09:54come on together for 18 years and married for 12 sybil and george are used to working as a team
10:05we get on extremely well together i know how incredibly lucky i am that we can work all day
10:10and uh very seldom across word two hours should take us home so we should be fine
10:16now it should be fast work driving the sheep down to the holding pens on the farm
10:29oh it's a pleasure this is the best part of our job it's a fantastic office
10:33do you want me to open the gate please please finally the sheep are in tomorrow they'll need
10:49sorting at this time of year it's important to look through all the sheep that's if there's anything
10:56a bit dodgy come on ladies you can either treat it and it hopefully recovers or else decide that that
11:02sheep's not really fit for living out here anymore in which case she has to go to market for now it's
11:08time to take a break now we're at the post-gather party it's tradition in the west coast when you
11:14come in off the hill you get a dram and a beer and we're very much into tradition
11:20the seasons dictate many of the key events in the farming calendar autumn is also mating or tupping
11:34time for the sheep the loss of daylight at this time of year brings the ewes into season
11:41it affects their hormones so they're ready to mate autumn topping means lambs in spring
11:54in the northeast of scotland north of aberdeen cattle breeder martin irving and his fiancee
12:00shepherdess mel are getting ready to increase their flock i'd said to martin when i'd met him years ago
12:06that i liked sheep and did he realize that one day i'll just come home with sheep mel persuaded martin
12:15to take on a contract to manage over 500 ewes for the local estate as well as invest in their own flock
12:22of 134. come on
12:27to breed from their ewes and expand their flock they went to buy some virile young tubs
12:39we're looking for a big strong man light up with a nice round bum a long back
12:47and the head yeah something that's something that's pleasing to the eye yeah okay something
12:52we have plenty of meat on it that's where it wanted something to produce plenty of lamb should i say
12:59we always have a feel and see that they're not soft or spongy they're quite firm
13:06hell of a size of nuts on them
13:13today mel will find out if she chose well with her new tubs
13:17she's going to introduce them to the ewes
13:22her plan is to split them into small groups across different fields
13:26so all the ewes get an equal slice of the action
13:33for mel's tops to earn their keep across the five-week mating season
13:37they'll each be expected to get 50 females pregnant
13:41it's going to be a bad life being a tup can you get chilly all year and there's five weeks of the year it's just
13:50bliss they're a way to get sex for the next five weeks
13:54they're a way to mate they're a way to mate for the next four weeks
14:06some of the ewes also come to the tups they'll be in season there
14:08they're ready they're ready they know what's going on
14:12the boys have been at the job before they'll know what's going on they'll be
14:16to prepare the tups for their grand entrance mel uses a thick oily paint called rattle
14:22so she can keep track of the ewes that have been mated so when it comes to alarming you're looking
14:27for the one with the red bums because when the tups through there yeah his chest will be on our
14:33our bum and our back that's where the paint will rub off slap it on so that's him got his war paint on
14:42girls come on hey boys come on girls he knows what he's doing it's show time for the tups
14:58it's quite good watching the tups run away chasing other women
15:00they let you know they're they're in the mood they're excited
15:08so this is topping time
15:12now that you that's standing i would say that she's probably ready to be served
15:21that's it that was it i feel pretty good when i see this like
15:25some folk might think it's a bit creepy standing in there and doing their job but this is what we've
15:33bought them for this is what they're gonna do that's the only thing that they need to do is stay
15:38alive and make babies look down there we've got a girl with a red bum here another one with a red bum
15:44another one with a red bum the new tups seem to be up to the job and with any luck come spring mel
15:53will increase the size of the flock and the farm's income and there goes another one done where
16:02where there's a willy there's a way
16:17winter it's cold and wet and the days are getting shorter but there's no let up for the farmers
16:25we're on a farm nature doesn't stop and everything i've got a time and a season that happens irrespective
16:37of what happens round about the farm has got to work and everybody's got to get on and do what they
16:43have to do because you can't leave the animals stuck in a place where they can get into distress or
16:48into trouble we've got to look after them winter for me is a busy time of the year it's real long
17:03hours dark days with all the cows inside needing fed embedded every day cows coming to calf when everyone
17:11else is winding down for the customers holidays farmers we have to work 24 7 right through it
17:18so
17:28one of the winter jobs for the mcphersons is to send some of their cattle away to lowland farms
17:34to be kept indoors during the cold winter months
17:37come on mate today good girl
17:40george is bringing them down from the hills today
17:44having lived mostly wild since the spring some are a little lively
17:48oi rona you behave you already got me
17:55most of this herd are breeding cows that live for around 14 years
18:00so during their time on the farm george and sybil get to know them well
18:06follow on everybody then you go on you go come on you're very skinny bonnie i've got much softer
18:13spot for some than others come on two or nine on you go come on that's when you go they're all the
18:18different character that respond to different situations differently just like human beings do
18:23come on willie and yeah we get very attached to them just to let you know i'm behind you
18:29that's willie twisty tiny moira grant rona no this one hasn't got a name 606 it doesn't have a name
18:38come on clunky that's rona's a bully she boxes everybody she boxed george coming down the hill
18:49didn't you rona you're naughty
18:51the majority of the herd as sailor crosses they would struggle to stay fit and healthy living
19:06outside in an argyllshire winter
19:11without sheds to house them sending them away is sybil and georgie's only option
19:15the transporter lorry is here
19:25not the bonniest day but it's usually a deal like this when we do this i can assure you
19:32the weather has turned really really nasty sadly the wind and the rain has made the cows quite spooky
19:39they hate the wind the weather isn't the only hurdle the calves now six months old
19:46need to be weaned to help their mothers recover from constant milking so they're going to be separated
19:58for a few days the cows will break their hearts looking for the calves and it is quite sad to be
20:02removing them management wise and condition wise for the cows it's the very best thing that can happen
20:08because they need a break from from milking when the weather turns bad and the grass stops growing
20:14and the cows are milking and they lose condition quickly but for the first few days they they
20:19roar and roar and roar and the calves will cry and cry and i must say i find it quite quite upsetting to listen to them
20:26the mothers and calves will be going to different farms
20:38uh-huh and need to be loaded into separate compartments on the lorry for an easy delivery
20:45the calves are first on board
20:47come on guys it's for your own good again can you not it's for your own good
21:01come on come on
21:04enticed by the sense of their young the mothers follow
21:07finally they're all on board it's a huge relief to know that tonight all those
21:15car we cabbies will be lying you know knee-deep in straw in a shed okay they'll be breaking their
21:20hearts looking for their mothers but they'll be out of this wet wind and rain
21:24the lorry will deliver this first batch of mothers and their calves to separate farms a hundred miles away
21:34the cowers will return when the harsh winter is over
21:44a hundred and fifty miles away on the other side of scotland
21:48the cattle at martin ervin's farm are housed in sheds through the cold winter months
21:55winter is one of the two main carving periods and it's busy over 60 calves have already been born
22:02this year and the latest is about to arrive
22:11five-year-old limousine heifer duchess is ready to give birth
22:16martin's family have gathered as they fear this carving could be difficult
22:27duchess is overdue and overweight and last year her calf died
22:34problem we've got this calf is umbilical cords right up at the front here so it's going to get snapped
22:40early so it only gives us minutes to get this calf foot so we have to be quick as we can get this
22:45calf foot the fat cord snaps as soon as we start pulling you've only got two to three minutes to get
22:51this calf foot and going duchess has been in labor for almost four hours
22:57the size of the calf's feet confirms martin's fears
23:06left leg it's unusually big and duchess will need help to get it out
23:11okay blue that's right they need to use a carving jack a piece of equipment that needs expert handling
23:23or it can damage the calf it attaches to ropes around the front legs and can provide powerful leverage
23:30so that's the ropes on the feet dad he'll look like a jack and i'll make sure the head nothing's coming
23:38the right way so dad pressure stop
23:43big
23:55right i need ropes for the head where's my ropes for the head
24:01the calf's head is stuck
24:02it's going to go
24:24just keep going she's not going to push that hard
24:41finally the massive calf is born but it's hardly responding
24:46down down down lift lift it lift it
24:56they need to get it to breathe and fast
25:03even over the wall martin
25:10over the wall
25:11it looks brutal but this could save its life
25:34the calf still isn't breathing it's always a doll
25:50right for leg
25:58coming it's coming
25:59holding the calf upside down helps clear the glut or amniotic fluid blocking its throat
26:09okay throw them back
26:15at last it takes its very first breath
26:19unless the cough and splatter they don't get that bit up
26:22then they drown
26:24that's why it was all systems gone
26:26thick very thick
26:27he's like julia
26:33it's been a huge ordeal
26:37when he when he was out he was gone he was nothing in the eye
26:40until he just got about eight in his lung just his heart's still going so the blowing got about
26:45air into his lung and get him going again everything that could have went wrong kind of did go wrong
26:50everyone has a bit of a panic this could be worth 30 grand
26:55he's still got a bit of glut in his lungs so mel's tickling his nose pretty much you know
27:00kind of make him cough and make him kind of gasp and push his ear out a bit better
27:04he's almost there doing it that's better what you want to do is see him shake his head
27:07hey there we go there you go
27:15hey bed time all right
27:21the massive calf will be called jumbo
27:27zember on the farm for me is is a grim time of year i absolutely loathe the winter i hate the long dark nights
27:45i hate the fact that the weather is normally cold wet and clement and uncomfortable for outdoor animals
27:52it really is a very very unpleasant day here in argyle this morning
28:00they are long cold hungry months and and i don't like them
28:06bbc radio scotland met office amber and prepared warnings are in place for the west coast and also
28:12the winds gusting up to 80 miles an hour there'll be disruption severe weather over the atlantic is
28:17predicted to cause high seas and strong winds across scotland overnight on the isle of lewis
28:23in the outer hebrides winter brings wind and fierce storms
28:32well it's quite wild really really wild this is the first really good game of the winter
28:38sandy has 12 highland cattle and today he must bring them down from the hill because the vet is coming to
28:45check them force 11 winds won't prevent sandy from carrying out his crofting duties come come come come back
28:58okay we're off
29:02as a crofter sandy's cattle graze on the island's common land
29:15he's hoping to find his herd sheltering amongst the rocks on one of their favorite hills
29:23go boy
29:29the wind is blowing at over 60 miles an hour
29:32it's a fun thing to be testing yourself against the hard physical challenge
29:46many people would think that it doesn't look very pleasurable but now there's a lot of joy in it
30:05in the wild
30:11highland cattle originated in scotland and are ideally suited to these harsh conditions
30:19their coats are double-layered with a fine insulating inner coat and a well-oiled shaggy outer coat
30:25highland cattle they wouldn't be chosen by farmers in softer places but they're suited to our hills they live outside all the time
30:38they've usually got a cheery smile on their face no matter how fierce the weather
30:44pretty grim pretty grim i'm probably gonna get white yet
30:47sandy only needs the calves but they won't come down without their mothers so he must try to lead the
30:56whole bedraggled herd down to his pants
31:04in a way it gets harder as you get older but in other ways we get cleverer and manage to make jobs
31:11easier for ourselves in the end we'll be too old and weak to to carry on but uh we haven't quite reached that point yet
31:31winter is the hungry season when nothing is growing and animals depend on fodder or conserved food to survive
31:38and this means extra work for the farmers
31:43but spring is now just around the corner
31:46i don't particularly like the winter months
31:50i really miss the sun i like sun i like to feel the sun in my back
31:57i always feel springs around the corner when you start to see the bulbs coming out the snow drops are
32:02popping through and then you'll get the crocuses and the daffodils and that's when i feel oh
32:07spring's just about there and you feel just the brightness
32:14been waiting and waiting and waiting for spring to come and today we heard the first curlew
32:19which is a big lift it's about 10 days late i think but the noise of curlew on a spring morning
32:25is just music to my ears i just love it so many signs that we look out for every year it may seem
32:31totally daft but they're big tick-offs in our springtime diary the bumblebee the first frog spawn
32:39the seasons of the year they are very linked with farming you all have particular jobs you have to
32:45do you're starting to prepare for lambing time and you're sorting the ones you're going to keep so
32:50everything is linked and i like that in the far north of scotland near inverness large-scale farmer
33:00john scott runs a successful business with over 1 000 acres and 4 000 sheep as a farmer being out
33:08and about every day and you're always looking for the first signs of spring um there are signs and
33:15there are smells um it's a great time of year that's when the farm looks its best and everything's
33:21growing and the crops are through the ground but i suppose for us as sheep farmers the real sign of
33:27spring is lambs lambing here is on an industrial scale and john's huge sheds are now full of pregnant ewes
33:38up to 300 lambs will be born every day
33:55but every year john can lose over 15 percent of his lamb crop
34:00this morning there's one ewe whose progress john is particularly worried about
34:05so these lambs are rotten most likely dead don't know why one of these things
34:18this isn't going to smell very good
34:22but um all we got to do now is get them out of there um because it's bad for you to have them in
34:32there obviously if a lamb dies inside the womb it can cause a fatal infection for the mother so john
34:39must act quickly the problem is if the belly is swollen behind it i won't get this out here
34:52john's suspicion is confirmed unfortunately the first lamb is dead
35:02this lamb is alive
35:11i don't know how long it will be alive for
35:17never ceases to amaze you but how this lamb can be in there next to that rotten lamb
35:21and it's well it's alive at the moment so sometimes a live lamb in a situation like this will give the
35:28give the you the encouragement she needs to um you know get up and try and live
35:36it's not a great result having dead lambs but on the plus side you've got one live one and that's
35:43what keeps you going that's what you know gives you a bit of a boost
35:46that martin ervin's farm spring means starting at the very beginning of the life cycle
36:00today he plans to collect some semen from his stock bull powerful irish come here
36:06this strong well muscled animal has excellent and valuable genes
36:14and will hopefully father many future generations of calves
36:21stop stop stop stop
36:25for this rather specialized procedure martin calls on the help of bull breeding consultant david fleming
36:33yeah you need a good sense of humor for this job i think and david has got a good sense of humor
36:37broad shoulders and thick skin i'll tell you it goes a long way
36:42martin's halted up a heifer eye candy to try and tease irish into mating
36:49but will she live up to her name if she does it's up to david to intervene and collect the semen sample
36:56using an artificial vagina between the time the bull approaches the heifer and he serves the heifer
37:02naturally at seconds there's no foreplay there's no foreplay at all to the bill he's quick so david's
37:07got to be extra quick to intervene to trick him and get the sample it's not a job for the faint-hearted
37:17irish weighs close to one tonne and has been kept away from the ladies for five weeks
37:25martin's hoping it will have put him in a romantic frame of mind
37:28and david's on high alert that's why you have the two bales there that just adds safety and security
37:37so the the cow can't move around too much
37:41the semen sample is off for analysis what eye candy makes of it all is anyone's guess
38:12just measures the sperm count um that's got a saline solution in there and there's a light
38:18goes through and obviously the thicker the semen is then the better quality is like you know
38:26irish's semen goes through several test processes movement and density are measured which will add up
38:32to give a quality rating yeah that's good that's a four on motility on a scale of zero to five
38:39and it's five five mil so it's a fair old amount he's given for such a youngster but he's a good
38:48producing bull which is ideally what you want
38:51yeah i'm happy with that can irish you can see he's wound up he's in the mood he knew exactly what
38:58was going on and he knew it was happening so just in a bit of time to tease him and cool him
39:04doing a bit because he was a bit too excited at the start and then good on david for doing what he
39:09did because he had to be quick really quick there so uh it's a good sample so we're happy like
39:19spring has definitely sprung as far as irish is concerned
39:22david and martin managed to harvest another three samples before standing the young bull down
39:34the semen will be sent to a lab where it's frozen and stored in small units called straws
39:41after a few sums by david martin can see how much was harvested from irish today
39:46so we did four jumps today normally we'll do three jumps but the third jump was quite good so we went
39:54and tried a fourth jump and it looks like it was worth it it was definitely worth it in fact
40:01so the first jump 240 straws second jump 170 straws third jump 195 straws and the fourth jump
40:11220 straws so delighted really delighted
40:20martin has ended up with a bumper crop of over 1200 straws as each can sell for 25 pounds irish's
40:29efforts this afternoon could bring in over 30 000 pounds it's a lucrative income and a way of
40:37future-proofing the bloodline of his pedigree herd
40:55at john scott's farm his pedigree herd is about to get a new addition
41:00spring is also a busy carving time for him
41:03and tonight he's keeping an eye on one of his pedigree shorthorns
41:08she's in labor so we've just got a two-year-old heifer calving at the moment um
41:15she's been calving probably three hours now i'm just a wee bit concerned she's
41:19she's one of our smaller heifers so we're just going to take her in and um examine things i suspect we
41:23are going to have to help her um give birth to the calf
41:27with the heifer safely secured john examines her to gauge how likely it is for her to give birth
41:37and aided her pelvis is too narrow to get that calf out of there
41:41i'm going to phone the vet for assistance
41:51it's just before half past 12 when the vet arrives
41:58have you been to bed yet yeah barcelona-born vet pacco marrera has been practicing in scotland for 15
42:06years is it worth having a check do you think i think you should have a check yes the heifer has
42:13been struggling in labor now for over four hours
42:20first pacco wants to assess the calf just trying to check if it's still alive
42:25if it's a disappointment it's not she's not been going eight o'clock start yeah still alive
42:33we'll open the side and you will you'll have more chances to having an alive boat
42:39pacco decides on a caesarean it's a major operation but he does at least 30 a year
42:46a live calf very narrow pelvis small heifer
42:51we could try but if we try you know just to get it out through the back and it gets stuck at the
43:00pelvis we are likely to damage the heifer and maybe lose the calf the heifer is able to stand throughout
43:09with just her side anaesthetized
43:13swallows a straightforward caesarean should take about an hour to perform
43:18are you ready i'm ready pacco has to cut through several layers of muscle and then the womb wall
43:25to reach the calf stop it last come on there's a lot at stake
43:34this heifer here is probably worth somewhere in the region of uh two and a half to three thousand pounds
43:39and um i don't like the pressure on pacco when he's doing his job but
43:4520 minutes into the operation pacco hits a problem he's trying to get hold of the calf
43:53but the calf has other ideas
43:57it's just moving away from me the calf
44:01i suspect it's a pretty big calf
44:02it's going to be it's going to be difficult even with that okay
44:21yeah at last pacco gets hold of a foot
44:27yeah that's good help with such a large calf packed into such a tiny space
44:35it takes the strength of three men to winch it out keep going keep going
44:41work on the calf i'll live with the mother john moves in quickly to make sure it's breathing
44:51we're just making sure the calf's okay i think it's it's fine but that is far too big a calf
44:59for a heifer calf it's fine we're happy that that's living that's yeah it's just huge though
45:06yeah it would have never come out the other end you know there's no doubt um that the right decision
45:14was made to to give pacco a shout because if we tried to carve that ourselves that would have ended
45:19in disaster the calf is a healthy female now pacco and john must focus on her mother now we have a
45:29probably about half an hour 40 minutes of checking stitching you know making sure that
45:34we do everything first to make sure that she's okay but second if we can to make sure that she
45:42can carry on having calves the calf at the moment is fine it's just that looking around surveying the
45:50world and that's just arrived into before too long it'll be thinking about trying to get up and
45:56looking for a sack for mum it's been a long operation but it's gone well
46:02yeah the joys of being of air day how lovely good thanks back up thank you yeah okay catch it see you
46:12bye bye
46:26it's the middle of spring but in the northeast of scotland an unseasonable blast of wintry weather
46:33arrives at the worst possible time for the irvings
46:35it's just over five months since they topped their sheep and they're now in the middle of lambing
46:4810 days into lambing and the weather has decided to go wrong for us really
46:55the lambs are born in the shed and would usually be put out into the fields within a few days
47:07but the weather's too cold for them to survive outside
47:11so mel and martin must keep them indoors and monitor them all
47:15if i've seen any lambs they're empty bellies they're hunched up they're not looking well
47:19and obviously they've not found their mom so i'll have to pair them up again or turn them
47:25we'll just take a walk through them and see how
47:36martin finds a lamb that needs help number 119 was born in the middle of the night
47:41but his mother was not producing enough milk to feed him now he's critically weak this is one of the
47:48twins and uh you see this hyper extending he's throwing his head back he's got an empty belly
47:56it doesn't look good so what i'll do is go fill his belly of milk put him under a heat lamp
48:02it doesn't look like a happy camper
48:04the lamb is severely dehydrated martin takes him straight to the pet pen where weak or rejected
48:13lambs can be hand fed and more closely watched
48:25good morning mel and martin have been lambing now for 10 days and 10 nights
48:30it's snatching sleep in the caravan whenever they can
48:38the huge workload is taking its toll
48:44what function with
48:50not enough sleep
48:54mel is up to hand feed 119
48:57we'll give it a belly full of milk we'll get the chance
49:00if it's not it won't survive a belly full of milk and i heat up there's something wrong with it
49:06doesn't survive that it'll die pretty quick though
49:12the lamb is too weak to suck from the bottle
49:15so mel has to pass a tube down his throat so she can syringe milk directly into his stomach
49:21with the way that lambs looking now i get about a 20 chance of living the rest of the day
49:30if it's going to come around it'll come around the next couple hours if not i'll just
49:34deteriorate and get worse
49:35one one one nine is in such a bad way mel decides to keep a closer eye on him
49:48um the little pet lambs are all crowded around the heat lamp
49:52so to give this one a better chance i'm just going to keep him in the caravan just nice and warm
50:02wrap him in a towel i'll keep him warm for a while so he doesn't get piled up on
50:07almost half of lamb deaths happen within 48 hours of birth so the next few hours are critical
50:27three hours later mel checks up on 119
50:31the little lamb has made it now he can join his twin also 119
51:01so
51:11summer arrives at last
51:14it's a time of year that many of the farmers look forward to
51:17long days better weather grass growing
51:22and the chance for animals to graze freely outside
51:26summer's finally here and i love it i can finally get out my wellies and waterproofs
51:31the grass is lush and green everything is thriving
51:35calves sheep lambs and for the farmer it is the best time of year because
51:39we get outside and enjoy the sun when the weather's right farmers a great job and enjoy it
51:46there is a freedom to the the long days of summer when you can carry on working outside
51:52so midnight if you choose
52:00today hill farmers sybil and george are welcoming some of their cows and new calves back to the farm
52:06we baby calves are absolutely beautiful they run and play and skip as soon as they're
52:14as they're able and that's that's fantastic sent away in november the mothers have spent the winter
52:20months undercover in the lowlands
52:24you're okay girls just steady steady steady steady steady they're still feeling a bit spooky having
52:29come home from their winter shared quarters to the great outdoors
52:34cattle's return was delayed by about three weeks this year because the weather was so cold and wet
52:42there was absolutely no grass here to bring them home to
52:46you're okay girls it's important just to let them settle down it's a huge transition coming out of a
52:51shed and a big journey on a lorry um so you know we have to keep careful eye on them for that first
52:57week or two really when they first come home many of the cows carved while they were away for them
53:04probably this year it was very much a good idea that they can most of them carved away from home
53:10in a sheltered shed rather than being outside during the month of may which was so exceptionally
53:15cold and wet here there's a wee calf there with his mum with such young calves now a part of the herd
53:23sibyl and george are being cautious will you let me come too close to you hello squeaky no you just
53:30got to be wary of them especially when like a just a wee baby boden can consider the maternal instinct
53:36to the other cows
53:41it's great to see them home really um especially when the weather's you know reasonable like it is
53:46today and it's got a bit milder and well the calves are just the next generation and they play and
53:52and fight and and have fun just like any youngster and it's great to watch them hello you come and speak
54:02i'll never forget how lucky i am to have the opportunity to farm it's something that i love
54:11nature is absolutely incredible and to be involved with it and be as close to it as i am
54:17with my work on the farm in this type of environment i think i'm extremely lucky
54:32at the irvins family farm in the northeast of scotland
54:36martin can also let his limousine cows and calves out of the sheds into the fields such a nice feeling
54:43getting outside this is official when the cows go outside to the task that's summer beginning
54:49right girls
54:55they'll enjoy this 25th of october they came inside and they've been inside since then every day through
55:01the winter getting fed pretty much the same ration same company so when you let them out the legs will
55:08be in the air the tails will be up in the air and they'll be off it must be a good feeling for them
55:12it must be a good feeling getting outside in the field again the sun's out and it's quite warm so
55:18yeah about time jumbo is now six months old he and his fellow calves have never been outside before
55:27so jumbo he's in here jaya jurassic juventus
55:32what they need is to get outside and get exercise and stretch their legs and eat grass pretty much
55:39come on in come on in
55:51all right
55:54so that's jumbo that's his batch out so that's all the back end kaffir's out that'll be the most
56:06exercise they've had their whole lives they'll run about for a couple of hours about a new experience
56:11for them freedom hopefully this summer they'll just thrive on and mushroom and just keep growing that's
56:18what we want now it's time for the pregnant heifers carrying the next generation of calves
56:36that feeling there for them must be a great feeling just getting back onto the grass again in a way
56:42stretching their legs the world they're running about for about half an hour
56:45just playing to be honest just running about as a group smelling everything seeing everything
56:58big strong sweet this is like the leap pretty much this is our best this is the cream of our crop
57:04in front of us here this is our future and to me it's looking good
57:13the farming is just in you and you don't do it for money you do it because you enjoy it
57:23i love it there's nothing like nothing like a day on the
57:27on the hills of the moors with the dogs
57:33i don't know why i love pigs
57:37and it's hard to beat seeing a pile of lambs with the 15 i was racing up and down a fence line and
57:42really having fun that's probably the best sign of spring for me we live and work in a fabulous
57:49part of the world things that we can see and experience are just unique
57:56we're not going to get rich farming on this type of land but the lifestyle is good
58:01if you're a farmer it's bred into you you don't want to do anything else it's what you love doing
58:19you're just perfect happy with that farming life it changes every day every season there's something
58:27something different it's not a job it's a way of life
58:41so
58:49so
58:53so
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