Lambing Time is Fast Approaching

It's that busy time of year again when we start to prepare for the lambing season.  Reg and George have been working hard to prepare the sheep, the buildings and the machinery ready for the mad rush starting around the 10th April.

If you are interested in learning more about how a sheep flock runs or what it's like to work in agriculture do come along to our 'Lambing Live' event on the 19th April.  Tractors and trailers will be ferrying visitors from the village hall in Overbury up to Park Farm to see the sheep flock doing their stuff.  Rides start at 10.00am with the last tractor leaving at 15.00 from the hall - returning at 16.00. Unfortunately we can't accommodate pregnant ladies at the lambing sheds for Health and Safety reasons, but you would be more than welcome to visit the village hall to see the displays and purchase teas and coffee's in aid of the village hall kitchen fund.  If you would to donate to Farm Africa as I am running this year's London Marathon with Michelle,  (See previous blog) for that charity it would be very much appreciated!

Our game keeping team will also be present and available for questions and information on some of the shooting and conservation activities that take place on the farm.  So there will be lots to see and do.  Parking and entry for children is free but we make a small charge of £5/adult.  For the most up to date information please visit Overbury Farms Facebook page and please share the news!

We had a special visit today from some of the senior management team at Sainsbury's where we took the opportunity to show them around the sheep flock and told them of our future plans for a sustainable integrated arable and sheep enterprise.  Almost 100% of our lamb is sold to Sainsbury's and we enjoy a close working relationship with a dedicated ans supporting retailer.  Our lamb is primarily used on the in-store butchery counters so next time you are paying a visit to your local Sainsburys store you could be eating our lamb! 

Lambing Live at Overbury Farms 14th April

Lambing is here again as as last year we are hosting our annual 'Lambing Live' Event on the 14th April.  It will be great to see lots of people here again as in previous years, there will be so much going on.  The tractor and trailer rides will be leaving the Village Hall in Overbury from 10.00, with the final one leaving at 3pm.  The last one leaves Park Farm to return to the village hall at 4pm so you can spend as much, or as little time in the pens as you like.  Up at Park Farm you will also find our game-keepering team of Paul, Tom and Rod, showing and demonstrating how the conservation and shooting aspects of the farm and hill management work very well together.  Our friends from Countrywide Farmers will also be there with some exciting activities for the younger potential shepherds.

There will be displays and Overbury Lamb Casserole available to buy at the village hall; with proceeds going towards the renovation of the village hall kitchen, a worthy cause.  We only charge adults £5 per person and accompanied children go for free, to attend the sheep sheds by tractor ride.  We must advise that for health and safety reasons we do not allow pregnant ladies to attend the sheep sheds.  For the most up to date information please keep an eye on our Overbury Farms Website or for regular updates you can follow No1FarmerJake on twitter.  Our FaceBook page will also carry information about the event and what you can expect.

With the terrible effect the weather has had on many livestock farms across the north of the country we are supporting the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution with collection boxes.  Any donations will be gratefully received and passed on the the charity to use in helping many struggling farmers who have lost many sheep, lambs and cattle in the snow.  I am looking forward to meeting you all at Park Farm, stay tuned all this week for more details of what you can expect to see and do.

Our Very Own Lambing Live - 17th April

The first lambs arrived just in time for the visit from Year 6 children of Wychall school on the 15th of February, (see last blog).  So far we have had a slow start to the lambing with 6 ewes giving birth since the predicted start date of Valentines day.

The first group of ewes to lamb are our  North of England Mules  These have been mated with Texel rams to produce crossbred lambs, the females of which we will be keeping for breeding from, when they are about two years old, or 'shearling ewes'.  We have about 200 to lamb now so fingers crossed the weather doesn't get too cold and wet for the lambs when they are out in the fields.

We will be hosting our very own Lambing Live at Overbury on Sunday 17th April where you can come and experience the excitement and drama of the lambing pens first hand.  There will be orphans to cuddle, feed and play with; hopefully our ewes will still be performing, if not there is a great video of the process showing in the village hall (taken at Overbury).  Our Game Keepering Team will have displays giving you a feel for what they do and some of the interesting sides of the countryside and wildlife issues they come across.  There will be refreshments in the village hall and some static displays there as well.  For the latest information on our lambing day become a Facebook Fan keep following this blog, or go the Farm Website here

We always warn Pregnant Women not to accompany your children on this trip for the health and safety of you and your baby.

Wychall School Visit For The Day

Today was the first visit of the year to Overbury by Wychall Primary School from Birmingham.  The first visit had to be cancelled due to the bad weather in November so it was a very excited group of year 6's that arrived just after 10 this morning.  After a quick visit to the loos in the village hall, we headed to the park to look at our LEAF boards and then on to our Elm Tree, (see blog on the 8th Feb).

After that we walked through a small area of woodland, discussing different habitats and how we manage trees for conservation even after they have died.  We then met the Croome and West Warwickshire Foxhounds by the Estate Office, where we all met 'Goldie' the Golden Eagle, with a 7' wingspan, very impressive, and lots of foxhounds.

We loaded up into the coach and headed for Park Farm to see our own Lambing Live.  We saw 3 ewes that had 5 lambs between them and we met Tod our shepherd, up in the sheds making hurdles in preparation for lambing.  Our lambing pens will be open to everyone on Sunday 17th April.  Keep an eye on this blog, farm website or twitter for more details.  A brisk run up to the hill fort on the the top of Bredon Hill followed and a look around at the scenery and to discover direction Wychall School and home is in.

A hearty lunch followed accompanied with some fabulous homemade tomato 'Billy Soup'! After we had warmed up we headed to the fields once again, this time looking at wheat and oilseed rape fields.

Here is everyone with their scarecrows, made at school and brought down for us to judge.  There were some very good efforts with CD's, ribbons and faces all tied or glued onto canes, mops and sticks.  The winner was hard to choose but eventually after a close contest Penelope and I choose this one which will be keeping the pigeons well and truly scared from Bean Hill.  Thank you to everyone for being so well behaved, we had a great day taking you round the farm.