I had a job to find the cows as they were in the dip lying down by the hedge. I walked all round the perimeter of the meadows . EF working. I didn’t find the energiser. When I got back to the top gate I went in to check the trough which was full of water. By this time the cows were all grazing. The boys stay close together, almost nose to nose , while the girl is a bit away from them. They were all enjoying the cut grass about half a metre south of the electric fence! They took no notice of me until they heard me locking the gate. Then I got hard stares from all three of them. I only saw 2 dog walkers and a runner.
This is a blog for Barton Meadows. The purpose of this blog is for staff and lookers to post a record of their livestock checks. The blog acts as a formal record of livestock wellbeing and welfare checks by providing access to up-to-date information on livestock and site status, and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust
Saturday, November 29, 2025
Friday, November 28, 2025
friday 28th November staff check
Thursday, November 27, 2025
Wednesday, November 26, 2025
Wednesday 26th November
A lovely sunny and frosty morning. The 3 cows were grazing happily towards the top of the big field, together with 3 deer. I removed the ice from the trough.
Monday, November 24, 2025
Monday 24th November
Considering what a miserable weekend we've had, the cows looked remarkably well and clean. No issues detected, they have spent most of the weekend at the northern end of the field. Some sunshine today and the temperature has increased.
Saturday, November 22, 2025
Saturday 22 November cold and wet
The three cows were all grazing together and looked up to see what I was doing when I removed sheets of ice from the troughs. I hope they didn’t feel as cold and miserable as I did as I walked home! Worth it though as I saw 3 herons and a kingfisher along the Itchen.
Thursday, November 20, 2025
Thursday 20th November
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Tuesday 18th November
All okay.
Three cows calmly grazing in dip of eastern meadow. Water troughs fine. All gates secure.
Buzzard on the wire looking down on western meadow. Met only one other walker.
Sunday, November 16, 2025
Sun 16 Nov
All three cows are fine.
Trough and fences seem fine and the smart new gate looks more secure than the old one.
There's lots of dogs sick slime mould in the meadow, which I haven't noticed before and didn't even know was a thing before I looked it up today...
Saturday, November 15, 2025
Saturday 15. November only 3 cows found
I walked round the meadows twice but didn’t find the 4th cow that Grace documented yesterday. The three I did have a close look at were I think the cows from St Faiths as they were all close together either grazing or lying down chewing the cud. After I’d locked up the gate the 3 cows walked up to it and lay down by it! They look well and they have some lovely grazing there. The trough is full of water. I sent a message to Sam about cow number 4.


