Paula Hynes: Our heifer is stuck in Scotland... and looks set to stay there until the end of the year

he heifer was born in September, so the plan was she would travel home to Ireland in December after we had competed at the Winter Fair... but it hasn't quite worked out that way, writes Cork dairy farmer Paula Hynes.

Farm vet Pat Burke checks a sample taken from a newborn calf on the Hynes family farm in Aherla. Picture: Andy Gibson.

I have been keeping a close eye on the outbreak of Bluetongue in the UK for the last few months. Blue Tongue is a viral disease spread by biting midges, which affects all ruminants, especially sheep, cattle goats and deer and camelids such as llama and alpaca.

The symptoms seem to vary across the different ruminants but will include fever, lesions, redness of the mouth, eyes, and nose, reddening of the skin above the hoof and nasal discharge. And some animals may show little or no signs.