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/& THefarmer had mng_eariierto,&i:vrr^mbbing and a^piece of straw up.itsV-%t . request assistance with lambing = : j -thostnl soon stimulated the lamb to >.-*4 one of his Texej ewes.- “A , A - / .--///.’.take its first breaths.. ;/ - \ ■ ■ / ” \ Approaching in the darkness, _f' v_i-' Returning to the ewe todeliver., / my headlights were'drawing me ^■.'.the other lamb, I realised the head ^ 'f up the track to the farm where 1^’ ' ~ * was bent backwards. Gently I A' was greeted by the t i r e d 4 o o k i n gma n a g e d to pull the head round.' farmer.’


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.-.'Busy night?,'-! called out,/i-v-rf///,/head into the birth canal allowing'; .; ., gathering my kit from my car / ' ' ' ~


j'Yeah six have lambed tonight','**/.: their navels,' [retumed.the lambs


came the, reply. -I need help with I .- /-.to the ewe, who was nowfull .'.r. this one, all I can feel is a load ofi-vS/vof maternal[instinct/licking and*/;/« feet'.


^ - nudging the lambs in the vigorous, - .Examining her internally fcould.r but gentle, way that only a mother^


feel two front and two back feet,". can do. ' v r ~ ’ > ’ x-'-J j _ "v indicating tangled-up twins.*' A - ' - Sharing a brew with the farmer;i


-s' Carefully pushing the front Jegs.r,';; - we looked onas the lambs, ba_ck/1 manipulated the other s /v ij? ; . stumbling.to their.feet, took thatv lamb's hindlegs into the.birth canal'(. all-important first colostrum feed/tfjj? and with help of a good contraction&Airich in energy and antobodiesAV&vv/i? from the ewe/.qutckly:deliveredthe / ' /'Only another 50 to g o . 'th e / / “ /KiA lamb." ~


. Speed is cntical when lambs


A „ :• (farmersaid.'Well I may see you . ^ again then/ I replied, which evoked


are,bom backwards, as the first;/,:.^.-., the typical farmer response;/.^.or-V?. breaths, which start when.the ^ :.r. . .>:; ;'Hopefully, not too soon,' he joked > umbilical cord breaks, can happen / ■ h as I got back in my


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~ Then with a head rope I guided the ~ ~ rfie to deliver it After disinfecting '/ . “


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Wednesday, March 26,2014


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ETURNING from.anearly.^^rwheivthe head is'shll:in-the.'«w?e'»«i--A.“~ " morning lambing'caJH jr>ade?.^H6lding1he lamb by its hind limbs,-‘-«-* me reahse they can ^Ane.»^l:ge^^wungft^'and(fro!/S^?;'.^'rm< ofthe^ost satisfying visite^ ^raiping.any inKaled.fluid frorn'i '^ Ki?r we go to ' . ”* •"'? *rr »^ * T;, ‘u its airways-Then some vigorous


- ’-"'As/A'-_-'!- “^''Y'y ^ ' - v '* -" - Q±, *%?•« £~ .S&P-


As one of Lancashire's rural businesses prepares to celebrate its silver anhiversary, JOYCE BISHOP talks to its owner, about the dynamics of success


countryside enterprise - farming - is usually the one that steals the headlines, there are plenty of ■ others that have been hit by the


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likes of foot-and-mouth and dire weather.


- Often family-run, the businesses rarely shout about their successes, but this year one of them marks ■


• a landmark: 25 years as a plant nursery.


Phil Cook, who started Oaktrees


-Nurseries in Bolton by Bowland . with his dad :' • - Michael; who':-.:,'- died last-year,- says that the secret of their success is simple: growing in the /


:


; High quality kennels & exercise garden ? (Veterinary nurse training centre


;• area;-forthe area. ■ "We still grow in what I would call an old-fashioned way/’ says Phil. "The plants are - grown cool, not forced under heat."


1 • Advanced surgical services' . , *. Hen] & flock health planning A , jProduction and disease monitoring In-house laboratory


fy-jrc.


; This simplicity masks a lot of hard work and some , very difficult times, however. The foot- : . A and-mouth outbreak in 2001 had a serious impact on the nursery at a ■ peak time of yearforthe business. "There was a cull going on in • Bowland around May, a really busy


time for us, and it really hit us hard but we carried on," says Phil, who describes the ideal partnership he had with his dad. "I was always the frorit-of-house man dealing with; -i: customers and my dad grew the - plants,":says Phil, who was bom and brought up near.Whalley. ... r.


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; He la'ughs as he says that now:: he does both; but with plenty of help from the extended family,- . ,


URAL businesses have faced some challenging. times since the millennium And while the obvious


including his uncle, son Liam and his girlfriend Abi Smith, both aged 17, and, of course, his mum, Helen. "Mum likes to give her view on how the nursery should look, and she


also likes to help out with potting • up," says Phil. "It really is a family concern." The Settle Road business also


faced a challenge - albeit one - .of a more positive nature - last ■ year when the excellent summer weather saw sales soar. "We'd sold out of everything by the end of June," says Phil. "This year I've . ; made sure that we've planted more stock."


'• .


Oaktrees Nurseries began life in :


a field and has grown slowly over , the years, adding a greenhouse o r ; poly-tunnel as necessary. "We've >./ never been in debt," says Phil,'"We ' grew with our customers, and 80 , per cent of them come back to us r; ■;/ year after yean"


.


\ of them each year across three/ counties, and also stocks a huge range of fuchsias - 40 varieties . in total. But while this and the'


: / /


. bedding plants have served the A- Continued on Page 8;;.


' "


The nursery is known for its ,, . - ; ; hanging baskets, selling'80P(


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