Hurdles and snow

The boys are still in the top 2 paddocks at present but due to the very boggy area in the 3rd adjoining paddock we haven't allowed them in there.  We have plans to get some drainage organised but in the meantime we decided to buy some more sheep hurdles to allow them onto at least part of the affected paddock.  The grass there hasn't been touched since summer so there should still be some goodness in it.  Here are Gaucho (right) and Fidget (rear) waiting to get into the new area of grass. Fyta's black 'trousers' are on the left!

Also waiting at the gate (from the left) Fergus, Rufus, Wee Eck and Fyta.  A certain  amount of spitting had been going on just before the photo was taken - you can probably tell!

Fyta (left) and Fergus enjoy some fresh grass in the sectioned off part of the paddock.

After a long day in the howling gales and driving sleet the boys settle down after their late afternoon feed watched over by Faro (left) who is on permanent sentry duty!  Pity about the shiny eyes on the photo.  Speaking of eyes, Faro has had a runny left eye this week so we've been penning him and bathing his eye with warm saline.  It has improved greatly but we're keeping a close watch on it.  He has had this winter problem before, especially when it is very windy.  Antibiotic cream has not really helped in the past.

It's been a fairly wild week weather-wise with 3 days of continuous gales.  The snow started to appear mid-week when this photo was taken and the hills started to take on a blanket.  Today, the snow is falling thick and fast as I type this and the next couple of days don't look much better.  The boys will be looking to pack in as much haylage and hay as they can now as their new grass  - after all the fuss with new hurdles - is now covered in snow!