Milk testing

All UK milk producers have unannounced milk testing where a raw milk sample is taken away and analysed to meet the Food Standards Agency criteria  .Mine happened a couple of weeks ago and I have just had the results back. They test for "colliforms" ( introduced bugs - may or may not be nice ones) and they have a "total viable count" ( all bugs, including colliforms, as milk isn't a sterile product).     My results were bril - colliforms = 1 and the highest tolerance level is 99
TVC = 99, or 98 + 1 from above and the highest tolerance level is 20,000
Apparently I am in the top 5% in the UK for clean milk.
If you exceed the above levels you get closed down and cant sell until you have improved.

On other things going on on "Karen's farm"- all the little piglets have gone to new farms and the two black sows Cilla and Betty will go to new homes this week.

Daisy- the milking cow hasn't come into season yet after calving in February- which is unusual. The vet has had a look at her and given her a progesterone boost so she may come into season at the end of the month. She will then be AI'd- I cant take her over to the bull at Pendeen for the real deal as there are no milking facilities there.  Sorry Daisy. ( I did wonder if the nasty business with the dogs had put her out of stride but the vet doesn't think so )

And at long last I have arranged  for someone to tackle the field where the bee hives are to make it fox proof. Then I can have the chickens back in there. The job, I have decided, is too big for me and I am not sure of the best way of going about it.