TB Testing and Clear Result

This week has seen us doing our annual TB test for the cattle. On Monday the vet came during morning milking and injected all the cattle on the farm with TB virus and then today came again to see if we had any 'reactors' indicated by a swelling of the injection site. With great relief we found that none of the animals had reacted and so we have had another 'clear' test result, thank goodness. It is always a stressful time because of the anxiety roused by the possibility of a reactor in the herd. If we had had a reactor the implications for the farm are massive. It would mean we would have a complete block on moving cattle, selling calves and the general running of the herd. However, we are very lucky to have got through this test freely and the Farmer & Elder Son can heave asigh of relief and get on with the day-to-day farming. In my last post I said how wonderful it was to wake to a dry,sunny morning, today we are back to torrential rain and strong winds! It is school half-term week here in Wales and to have this horrible weather is depressing to say the least, as the children cannot play outside and arranging outings is bit of a challenge...though as the Farmer is always telling me there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing, so we do have to just get on with it! The constant rain does make farming difficult as we have mud everywhere and huge puddles and endless dripping from the roofs but the cattle are dry and snug in their sheds which is something. Long gone are the days when cattle were out-winterd in fields which quickly become quagmires , especially here in wet west Wales.