Hatchlings :)

It’s been a quiet week really, that’s not to say we have not been busy just that nothing urgent or important to be done by a deadline.

Most of the days start with the usual routine, firstly feed the cats as they get under your feet if you don’t, then feed the horses before they start kicking at the doors, feed the chickens and let them out from their nights roosting, feed the ducks and collect their eggs as they will have laid overnight. Make sure everything has water for the day, feed the dogs and tidy up after them, check the egg shed to make sure there are some in there, collect the money and any empty boxes, then back over to the stable block to rug up and turn out the horses and muck them out so that they return to clean beds this evening. Then comes my favourite part of the day, Coffee, I don’t know why but that coffee always tastes better than any other I have during the day.

While drinking my coffee I tend to make a list of jobs I want to achieve during the day, I find that if I do a list they are more likely to get done, if I don’t, I wander round thinking, what is it I need to do today. I have been trying to concentrate on getting the greenhouse ready, after smoking it, I have cleared everything out and brushed down all the cobwebs etc, then I used a staple gun to put bubble wrap all around the bottom and sides to try and insulate it a bit more. I have decided to run a paraffin heater in there for a few weeks to get an early start so, I monitored the temps and got up to a good 20 degrees, the overnight temps only have to be frost free and the paraffin ran out before I could get an evening reading, so I will have to wait for some more to arrive. I cleared out all the pots and seeds trays and went through them in the garden, one pile of broken ones to bin and one pile that will need washing and disinfecting, the mini hurricane we had on Saturday afternoon, more about that in a minute, blew the whole lot all over the place where they still remain waiting for me to go and pick them all up.

In the afternoons the feeding routine begins again, usually an hour before Sunset as the chickens need an hour to digest their food before settling down for the night, if they still have food in their crop and the temperatures plummet it will not digest and they will get ill. On Saturday afternoon we had made the decision to go out and get the feeding done, we put on our boots and coats and went out, the wind had blown a pane of glass out of the roof of the coop so Hubby picked up a piece of board and his drill to make a temporary repair, we got half way over the paddock when it began to rain, no big deal this often happens, but all of a sudden from nowhere came, what I can only describe as a mini hurricane, we were suddenly pelleted by very cold hailstones and very strong winds. The wind was so strong you could hardly stand up and the cold wind literally took your breath away, it was over within about five minutes but by that time we were completely soaked through to the skin and freezing cold. I have never seen anything like it or perhaps just never been caught in anything like it, I did stand a laugh, a bit like a madman at one point, it was all very surreal, that’s when everything that was not tied down went flying all around the farm, the plastic pots included. The girls were all here and on seeing us struggling out in the weather rushed outside to help with any other jobs that needed finishing, getting logs in, collecting the eggs etc. when we came in we had to get out of our wet clothes, and have a cuppa before going back out to finish the day off.

The Quail eggs that I put in the incubator on the 10th of January, began to hatch out bang on cue yesterday, I set up the brooder box and moved a couple of hatchlings over in the evening but it soon became apparent that it was too cold for them, so we moved the box into the kitchen and put a hot water bottle underneath the box as well. This morning we have had eight more hatch and have a total of eleven as I write this. The hot water bottle was redone this morning and and I found a higher wattage bulb to put in, they are now moving around quite well and will hopefully continue to gather strength. These are American Button Quail, I have not had these before and they come in lots of different colours so it will be interesting to see what we end up with.

I have had a couple of plants delivered this week, a cranberry and a fig, they can be potted up and left until I decide where they are going to be planted in Spring, the seed potatoes have also arrived, I usually put them into egg trays and leave them somewhere frost free and dry to chit ready for planting into the ground once the soil warms up, if I put them in too early they would probably rot away so no point being too keen. We are now on the homeward run towards Spring and warmer ground temperatures and like me, most gardeners I speak to are chomping at the bit to get the new growing season underway, I have noticed the snowdrops in flower and the daffodils leaves are pushing up nicely through the cold ground so it won’t be long now.

On today’s list is, retrieve all the stuff that has been blown around the place, bag up the rubbish ready for going in the skip, so that’s what I am off to do now before we get any rain!

This is the greenhouse with the smoke bomb doing its job inside, it stinks and was leaking out of various crevices that I had not sealed up!

The Quail hatchlings all nice and cosy in a box on the kitchen table.

Wet, Wet, Wet

Never was a fan of them as a band and not a fan of the weather when it’s so wet either. It seems like every day we have a downpour which means the ground is not even getting the slightest chance of draining and drying up. I just keep telling myself we are on the forward march to Spring and all will be ok in the end. We have got to the point where suction nearly pulls off your wellies when turning out the horses, I could do with spikes on the bottom of my wellies!

We have been so busy over the last three days that we decided to give ourselves the Sunday off, which is when I have written this Hubby has not been mentioned much in the last few blogs as they have all been about the farm and he has been busy doing things to the house. Originally it was a store shed albeit a large one and over the years has been upgraded to a dwelling but we want to insulate it more as there are gaps that let the draught in and just get it to a good standard that is nice to live in. We did talk about possibly building a new house an in the future we may still consider it but for now we will upgrade this one a little more, consequently Hubby has had a lot of DIY to do while I carry on with the farm.

The fox problem was quickly sorted at the beginning of the week although I was made aware by my neighbour that there is another one on the prowl, at this time of year there is not much of a let up from them, mostly youngsters finding their way in the world on their own.

The pigs went to the slaughterhouse on Friday morning, this meant bringing them in on Thursday evening overnight so that they were clean enough to go in the morning. They have to be of reasonable state when they get there otherwise they are rejected, if that happens because they have been moved they can’t come back to the farm and you have lost your meat! A vet checks them over on arrival to make sure they are in good health and this year for the first time they were moved by electronic transfer, which means all the paperwork is done online, which I thought was very easy and very quick, I then get a carcass report back from the food standard agency which was also returned the same day with nothing to report, so good healthy pigs. They have been fed the best of vegetables, apples and tree clippings etc from the farm as well as pellet food, they have not had any medication, it is routine to give pigs antibiotics in the pork industry, they were quite big by the time they went and so the pork should be lovely. I enjoyed having them here and they were no trouble at all, the biggest problem was loading them on the morning of departure, they were not difficult just slow and did not really want to go up the ramp into the trailer, it took about twenty minutes of coaxing them with brassica stalks and a feed bucket but eventually they were on and ready to go. On return from the slaughterhouse the trailer has to be power washed and cleaned out, that is a hefty fine if you don’t do it and they can come and check so it’s best to get it done as soon as possible before it’s put away again.
We have already decided not to have any larger animals this year as we a have plenty in the freezer to keep us going for over a year and so it’s not necessary.

What we have decided to order though are ducks and geese, these will arrive as day olds in April and May, I need a new blood line for the ducks as I am not able to hatch any of my duck eggs due to the suspected infertility of the drake, and I miss having the geese around, plus it is nice to be able to offer a goose egg or two for sale as it increases the diversity of produce. Sixty point of lay hens that will be for sale are also on order and will be arriving in the second week of April, that will be a busy time. We have planned a little in advance and ordered a large tarpaulin to cover the runs for the new hens as they are only here temporarily, but can make a big mess if it rains. If my Quail hatch is successful I will also have those to look after so this year will be all about the birds. The eggs numbers are continuing to go go up from the existing hens although they are paddling in mud topped paddocks they are obviously happy and producing well. The wild birds also get a mention this week, I have seen the return of the Woodpecker and also noticed the Blue Tits checking out the nest boxes on the front of the building, it seems early so maybe we are in for an early Spring, all the signs are there just need to keep our fingers crossed.

I keep looking at the veg plot to see if it is possible to get on there and do a bit but it is still too wet to do much, although the temperatures are mild and it would be perfect gardening weather the two things are just not coming together, so for now it is a case of planning and waiting until the opportunity arises. I have started a couple of notebooks which are quickly filling up, one for farm jobs, fencing that needs repairing or hedges that need cutting back, lights that need replacing, that book is for Hubby to refer to when he gets a spare minute lol. The other book is for the veg and fruit garden, it is full of lists that we can get stuck into when the time is right, I have also completed the crop rotation plan for this year so we definitely ready to get going, chomping at the bit would be a good description.

You will remember that our youngest returned home at Christmas from her two years of travelling in Australia, she has been home a month now and has helped every day on the farm and in the house with the cooking and cleaning, tomorrow is her first day of returning to the world of work in a new job and so I will be back to doing it on my own again, it has been lovely having someone around to help so thank you and good luck.

Goodbye Jet x x

We have have had an eventful and sad weekend this week more about that later.

The rat problem seems to have gone, at least there are no more signs of them in the muck heap and I did find a dead one in the paddock, this may only mean that they have moved to drier ground after the amount of rain we have had. I will soon find tell tale signs elsewhere If that is the case. One problem is nearly always replaced by another though and after months of no trouble with foxes, we have one on the rampage, he took two that had got out of the enclosure and we have seen him regularly each day since then and now we are on guard each day around 10.30 am as that is when he seems to visit, although he has not been able to take any more birds it is a worry until he is caught.

I have been busy organising and ordering veg seeds for the Spring, the majority of the order has arrived and I am also expecting a bulk delivery of compost today, as soon as the weather picks up we will be ready to get planting for the new season which is always a great time of year. I have also ordered most things I can think of that will be needed, environmesh for the brassica cage to keep the butterfly out, weed barrier to put around the strawberry plants, mostly to keep the fruits off of the soil and maximise the crop potential. I bought a new pair of loppers with a voucher I had for Christmas as my old pair were bent and not much good any more. I have a sulphur candle ready to fumigate the greenhouse as soon as I repair the glass that blew out during the storms and I am still I decided as to wether or not I heat the greenhouse with a paraffin heater and get the season started early.

I spent a couple of hours weeding in the poly tunnel in the week and the broad beans, peas and garlic are growing nicely, the strawberries that are in there have got diseased and so need to come out, the idea was to have early strawberries but I don’t think they like the environment and so I will stick to outdoor grown in future.

This week I treated myself to a new incubator, fully automatic which means it heats, turns and humidifies itself, it is also a lot quieter than my old one which had got to the stage of making an awful rattling racket. I ordered four dozen button quail eggs and they are safely installed and hopefully fertile. I had duck eggs in my old one but after ten days I candled them and they were not fertile, this is he second time I have tried and so I have come to the conclusion that my drake is either not interested or not fertile, so I will never get ducklings from him. I do need to replace my laying ducks as they are coming up for four years old and will drop in egg numbers, if I hatch some this Spring they will be laying nicely by the end of the year. I am also considering getting day old geese as I do miss having them around, they are funny birds and can be aggressive but if you get them young they can be brought under control lol.

On Saturday evening while I was busy looking for new livestock on the internet we heard a lot of banging coming from the stable block, when we went out there is was very apparent that one of the livery horses was in big trouble, a frantic ring around began to get hold of the owners and the vet was called. The banging was due to the fact that the horse had cast himself, which basically means he had rolled and got stuck on his back, the concern was why he had done this and the fact that he continued to keep trying to do it. It was one of the coldest nights we have had so far this winter and after four hours of the vet trying various things the decision was made to put him to sleep. He was a good age around 26, coupled with a long term illness, meant that surgery was not an option for him. It was, as you can imagine a distressing time for the owners but it was more distressing watching the poor horse in pain. It will be a difficult time for his owners as looking after a horse takes up a large part of your life, twice daily visits to the yard to feed, muck out and turn out, with this suddenly gone there will be a big void to fill, not to mention the companionship you get from a horse. They have been here long before we bought the place and we have been here five years, I do hope they will continue to come down and visit as I will miss them too.

RIP Jet, enjoy running pain free in that nice green paddock in the sky x x

Welcome to 2014 on the small holding :)

I hope you all had a wonderful time over the festive season. We had the arrival of our youngest on Christmas Eve back from her two years away travelling, lovely to have her home again, how long for before she gets itchy feet who knows, meanwhile I have extra help which is always appreciated.

The Christmas period is always a great family time for us, we have a couple of birthdays within the holidays and so life is one long social whirl, plenty of eating, drinking and making merry, trips to visit relatives further away and this year we had a family party with the wider family, just because we can!

The weather at the moment is terrible, after the great Summer and Autumn has come a deluge of what seems like non stop rain. The paddocks have been flooded more than once and we are at saturation point now, the run off is beginning to affect even the higher up areas of the farm. At the weekend Hubby had to build a impromptu water barrier to stop it coming in the back of the house, it is running off of the fields next door like I have never seen before. We are still better off than a lot of folks though so I count my blessings, the high winds we have also had have been a little worrying, we don’t normally get them coming from the South, usually they are Westerlies and we have plenty of windbreaks in the form of trees to slow the wind down a little, but are more vulnerable from other directions. Luckily we have only had a branch of a a conifer down so far, although it did sound like the roof might come off at any minute during one storm.

The animals as usual just cope with whatever is thrown at them, the chickens are puddling around in mud, the ducks think we have put a new lake in just for them, the horses are in more than they are out and the pigs are enjoying wallowing. Mia is having to be bathed every night before she is allowed in, bath is her least favourite word of the day but she is always filthy after tearing around all day.

We have been able to do a few jobs around the place when the weather has been good, I have pruned the big cooking apple tree in the front drive, we last did it about three years ago and it was overhanging the driveway quite a bit. Then I spent the day chipping up all of the prunings to put on the paths in the veg garden. Hubby has been moving the pile with the tractor after we finally got it started, he has also moved old muck down to the veg garden ready to start spreading as soon as the weather improves. On the rainy days I have been going through the seed catalogues and writing down my order for the coming Spring, and making notes about the garden, what needs doing and what we need in order to get it done. One rainy day I spent time teaching our eldest daughter how to make bread, the result was extremely good and I hope she carries on to develop her newly acquired skills.

My New Years resolution is to ‘do it’ this year, so if someone asks if I want to do something in particular then instead of thinking I don’t have time, just say yes and work round it, also instead of walking round the farm thinking, that needs doing or this needs fixing, figure out what we need and how to go about it and ‘do it’ I have already started making lists of things to do! So a positive, pro active attitude is in order, I wonder how long it will last 😉

The pigs really need to be going off to slaughter soon, they could have gone before Christmas but it is always a busy time for the meat trade and so I decided to wait until after the rush, but now I need to organise myself and get it done.

So far this Winter the weather has been very mild, the squirrel has still not hibernated, and the blue bottles have woken up again already, I did say that there were not many nuts and so I didn’t think we would have a harsh Winter, although we still have a few weeks to go yet and I may be proved wrong. My Dad says that we will have an early Spring because the Blue tits are busy feeding already, I do hope he is right, it would be nice to see signs of Spring sooner rather than later 🙂