Poorly Legbar

Over the past few weeks the weather has been relentless, driving rain and strong winds. Despite doing everything I can for all the animals I think one of the Legbars may have started to struggle. This morning she is fluffed up but still alert enough to show an interest every time I enter the pen. Hopefully she is just a little chilled. The Legbars have only just come out of moult so their body reserves are at their lowest. In the evenings I am giving them mixed corn with added cod liver oil. The corn is slow to digest so keeps them warm overnight and the cod liver oil gives them extra vitamins. Their house is clean and dry, with plenty of ventilation but draught free. Their pen is free of mud and they have places to shelter from the wind and rain and upturned tree roots and branches to perch on to get off the ground. So I think it is just a case of keeping a close eye on her, ruling out any other possible illnesses and hope she pulls through.
I have also struggled this week. I am very rarely ill, after years of looking after young children I think I am pretty much immuned to most bugs but this week I have been knocked for six. Other than making sure all the animals are fed, watered, clean and dry, all I have managed to do is light the fire and curl up by it for the day.
The forecast is for the weather to continue as it is for the next few days, I just hope the Legbar has the strength to see it out.

Wet Monday

Yet another dark and miserable day with strong winds and driving rain. The poor animals look so miserable. I have done the best I can for them, they are fed, watered and their shelters are clean and dry.
Fred is making good use of a spare pig ark, with his hay net in there and a good covering of fresh straw on the floor it is quite cosy.
The geese don't mind the wet weather so much, but they do have houses to shelter in if they need to, there is also plenty of natural shelter around the edges of the fields. We are feeding them a small amount of corn twice a day.
When the weather is like it is the turkeys stay in the stable, they have areas to perch, plenty of floor covering to scratch about in, ad lib food and greens hung up to peck at. So they don't mind too much not going outside.
It is the poor chickens who suffer the most. Their pen is free of mud and they have two houses with covered runs, as well as their coop to shelter in and they are fed in the dry. It's just they just look so fed up!
They are fed on layers pellets and in the afternoon corn with added cod liver oil. Apple cider vinegar and garlic is added to their drinking water. Whether any of these supplements help, I don't know, many recommend them. The hens are certainly laying well, especially for this time of the year and in such bad weather conditions, so maybe they do. A little winter sunshine would be nice though.

Wind

Over the past few days and nights the wind has been relentless. Fortunately, unlike many we haven't had the accompanying heavy rains, but nether the less it is becoming tiresome.

The continuous back ground noise gives me a headache, it's too windy to open any windows, doors bang, it's a waste of time trying to hang out the washing and it winds the dog up !

The poultry hate it, especially the hens who struggle to walk in a straight line. When cleaning out the houses I seem to end up with more straw outside than in.

The garden is a mess. Normally I prefer to leave the seed heads and the bare stems of plants over winter. They provide food for the birds, look attractive on frosty mornings and protect the newly emerging shoots in the Spring, but this year they have either been blown over or are just a black soggy mess. I did start to cut them back at the weekend but seemed to be doing more harm than good to the grass bordering the garden, so now half done it looks worse than before I started.

On the positive side, the ground is slowly drying out and it will be so peaceful when it stops!

Back into lay

After a complete break from egg laying during her moult, one of the Cream Legbars today came back into lay. I am expecting the second to do so shortly, as the two are like Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee following each others every move.
Once again I now have a lovely mix of coloured eggs. The Welsummer all lay very different egg colours, ranging from very, very dark brown and terracotta to very speckled and fairly light brown. The Cream Legbars' are of course blue, one light, the other with a greenish tint. The Dorkings lay lovely large pure white eggs and the Sussex pullets eggs are tinted. Yesterday we had an almost pinky plum egg from one of the pullets at the yard, I'm not sure whose yet.

With the Legbars coming back into lay and the pullets just beginning we have a plentiful supply and eggs are on the menu almost everyday in one form or another.

Last of the pork

Today we collect the gammon, the last meat from this years pigs. Hopefully it will look and taste good, as at least a couple of joints are ear marked for Christmas, both for us and as part of a Christmas meat parcel. I do feel slightly guilty having all the processing and packing done for us by the local butcher, but for now it suits us best and maybe in the future we will do more ourselves.
We timed the pigs departure just right, the recent heavy rains have turned their pen into a quagmire. If they were still with us we would certainly have needed to move them onto fresh ground.
The remaining livestock are coping well with the weather. All of them have places to shelter from the wind and rain and other than the turkeys make full use of it. Turkeys have absolutely no sense at all, rather than shelter from the elements they just stand in the centre of the paddock seemingly bemused as to why they are getting soaked through. So during the worst of the weather we keep them in indoors.
As the ground is free draining we have little mud, other than in the pig pen. It is getting slightly sticky in the gateways and around the nest box area of the hen house but thankfully that's all.

We still have Fred. He was supposed to go soon after Alfie...but.....

He is growing! !

We don't know if it is
1: Because he is getting more nutrition now that he is on hay and a little amount of concentrate and with his undershot jaw can cope with this diet better than grass.
Or..
2: If he did have coccidiosis, as was suggested by a couple of local sheep farmers, the time he was scouring, that his gut has now started to mend and his nutritional intake is improving.

Either way we shall now give him a couple of months before making a decision. If it's due to his undershot jaw he will have to go, as next summer he will only go down hill again unless he is always given additional feed.
If his weight loss was due to damaged intestines that are now repairing themselves, he has more of a future, all be it a pet one, either with us or someone else.

Recipes and remedies

Due to the rather inclement weather I spent this afternoon pickling eggs and making chutney. One of the recipes was from an old hand written book we found amongst my mother in laws belongings. It makes fascinating reading, everything from jams and chutneys, cakes and pastries, wines and preserves for meat to tips on household chores and natural remedies for common ailments.

Here a just a few that caught my eye......

Under the title of handy hints:

A lighted candle keeps the air clear when many people are smoking.

After baking a cake and taking it out of the oven place the tin on top of a cold wet cloth. Leave it for a few minutes, then turn the cake tin upside down and out pops the cake.

Ants:

Remove the top of a tin of condensed milk, pour out nearly all of the milk and leave in the pantry. In a few hours, every ant will be trapped and dead.

Natural remedies: ( Not recommended !! )

Throat trouble:
Mix 1 teaspoon of powdered borax and 2 tablespoons of honey and warm the mixture in the oven in a cup. Stir it until quite smooth. When it is cool apply repeatedly with a camel hair brush to the throat and roof of the mouth.

Whooping cough mixture:
Equal quantities of Castor oil and Syrup of rhubarb. ( as my husband said you wouldn't dare cough after taking that ! )

Embrocation:
Beat thoroughly 2 eggs, then work in a wine glass of turpentine, a wine glass of vinegar and a wine glass of linseed oil. Work these together until they are the consistency of cream.

A whole new world

I have just discovered a whole new world...Fungi !!
Yesterday I found this.......growing on the stump of a pittosporum.


(click on image to enlarge.)

Top photos taken 11 Nov. 09

Bottom photos 12 Nov. 09
1. Top view 2. Underside 3. Side growing against the wood 4. On mass









As someone who always needs to find out about something rather than just admire it, I made a few enquires as to its identity. A few ideas have been put forward ( The most likely Giant polypore ) but like many things definitive ID is always difficult by photos alone.Hopefully over the next few days as the fungi develops identifying it may become easier.

There is so much to learn, so many fungi are very alike. Colour, texture, smell, spore patterns, location, time of the year etc. all help in correctly identifying a species.

I guess in a way it's no different from learning to identify birds, trees, flowers, insects and the like it's just I've never really 'looked' into fungi before.

I think I'm hooked.

Last trip of the year

Yesterday was the last trip of the year to the abattoir and we are both relieved. I don't know why we dread it so much. It's not having the animals killed, as heartless as that may sound, the slaughtering is the final stage of many months work. Having to make a really early start isn't any trouble ( although I must be getting old because I'm shattered today) and although I get anxious about the journey it has always gone without a hitch. The staff at the abattoir are always friendly and never make you feel inadequate, the paperwork has always been correct and the carcasses have always turned out well, yet every time I get wound up....daft really.

Next year, by not rearing any weaners, we should only have to make the 'dreaded' journey once.

Alfie the lamb walked into the trailer yesterday morning as if though it was an everyday event for him, yet he then proceeded to holler the whole of the journey, startling many early morning joggers!. He has always been quite a vocal lamb with a tendency from a very young age to just stand and shout rather than go to look for the others.
We arrived at the abattoir just as it was opening. The gentlman there seemed surprised when I said I had a lamb, mind you there was no denying the fact with the noise coming from inside the trailer.
Despite being reassured by my butcher that Monday was the correct day for lambs (I always understood Monady - pigs, Tuesday- lambs ) he failed to tell me that they take lambs in from 1 0clock for 2.0clock onwards. We were 6 1/2 hours too early !!
It didn't seem to present too much of a problem, a freshly bedded down pen was made in the corner of the yard for Alfie to stay in until his time was up and whatever the gentleman may have been thinking he promised us it was fine, but as we left with Alfie still shouting I'm not sure he really meant it!

Freezer crisis

We appear to have seriously misjudged the amount of space needed in the freezer for two rather large Tamworth pigs !! Yesterday we collected some of the last two pigs to go. We still have all the bacon and gammon to collect and this week the lamb is off to slaughter as well.
Yesterday evening and today was spent open freezing and packing the sausages and jiggling 'things' around to make everything fit. I think an emergency shopping trip might be in order.
Mid week the remaining turkey will be taken out to free up a little more space but other than that we are stumped. In a blond moment I remarked 'no problem,we'll take some of the meat out and make up various meals to freeze' .....'and then ???' was the reply.

This morning in a rare few hours of reasonably dry weather we managed to start sorting out the pig run, removing the ark, water troughs etc. and levelling out the ground. Now it will be left over winter to dry out and break up in the frost, before we tackle it next year for reseeding.

The showers gradually built up during the day and just as we left to settle the animals down for the night the heavens opened- hail, thunder and lightning. We could barely see to drive, there were rivers of water running down the hill and lane and the pig pen looked like a swimming pool, it was lucky we worked on it this morning because we would never of been able to remove the ark after tonight's rain..
All the animals had the sense to find shelter, all except the geese who were happily splashing about in their pond.
Soaking wet and I mean soaking wet, the rain had even started to run off my trousers into my boots, we came home changed and sat by the fire with bowls of hot chilli made with minced pork.......well we do need the freezer space !

Times they are a changin'

Those of you who read my blog regularly, will know that I keep my livestock on land, first rented and then owned by my husband's family for the past 100 years. The land backs onto a terrace of houses, two of which are owned by the family. One belonged to my late in laws (now us) who bought it on their marriage in 1955. The other was bought over 90 years ago by my husband's grandfather. It is now owned by one of his sons, who was born there nearly 82 years ago. Owned, for now, in a few weeks time, if the sale goes through, it will belong to someone outside of the family. Great news for my Uncle ( in law) but very strange for all of us.

Even though he is only moving a couple of houses away, I will miss seeing him pottering around in his shed- at this time of year busily making the cider, which amongst many other things he is well known for.

I have come to rely on him to keep a check on my animals for me during the day and I value his wealth of experience.
Three years ago, when I first started to use the land, things were different. I had to earn his respect. I'm sure he thought I was 'playing ' at having a few pets, that I was fussy over their care and that I would never eat them !! Gradually, although he would never admit it, I think he recognised that I did know a little about what I was doing, that if animals are well cared for, kept clean and moved around the land regularly they stay healthy and if handled often in a quiet manner it pays dividends in the long term.
We now respect each other, he knows far more than I could ever learn. However he still has trouble taking on board the new rules and regulations, especially on feeding, but accepts that I have to stick to the rules.
Between us I think we do OK and bricking up the gate way between his garden and land the livestock are on is going to be quite symbolic.....the end of an era.

Pig keeping and poultry

We have decided next year we will give rearing a few weaners a miss. We have plenty of pork in the freezer ..3 1/2 pigs ! that along with the lamb and chicken is more than enough to see us through the year.

For us, the best time to rear the weaners is March through to July. The weather should be at it's best, the stable is empty should we need to use it and afterwards we have plenty of time to reseed the ground for the new lambs the following spring.
If we 'miss' next year we can get back on track the following year. It will also give us more time next year to build the poultry breeding pens and get organised with the poultry, as I feel as if though I have wasted this year and am behind with my plans.

Reducing livestock numbers

It has suddenly become very quiet at home and at the yard. Our livestock numbers are dwindling. First it was the ewes, off on their annual holiday to visit the ram. They will be away until Christmas.
Then at the weekend we finally dispatched the three Light Sussex hens that were the geriatric gang. They are missed, the layers pen seems very empty without them, but having to explain, to our lovely neighbours, that 'no we don't have a cockerel, it's the hen crowing !' would have caused too much confusion. They needed to go, age had caught up with them.
This morning the two Tamworth gilts went to the abattoir. They loaded and unloaded really well, bless them. So much so that we were on our way home by 6.30 !
Finally Alfie, the lamb is booked in for next Monday. Leaving us with only the poultry- oh and Fred.

It works well for us reducing the livestock numbers over the winter. We have a very limited amount of land and this way we are able to rest it at a time when it could easily become poached.

The turkeys will go at Christmas, leaving the stable available for the ewes to lamb in and the grass in the Fowls' run fresh and clean.

All in all I think we have worked out a very managable regime, allowing us to keep a variety of stock, healthy and happy on limited land that is never overstocked, over grazed or 'sick'.

It is very strange without them all though!

November gales and driving rain

The first of November and right on cue, at midnight the predicated gales and heavy rain arrived. Throughout the night the rain lashed against the window and all I could think about were the pigs. Yet again the day before going to the abattoir it's wet and therefore muddy ! The animals need to arrive at the slaughterhouse clean and dry. We normally house them in the stable the night before they leave, giving them a chance to clean up and also allowing easier access to the trailer the following morning. However this year we are later than usual and the stable is occupied by the Christmas turkeys. So this morning we filled their ark full of fresh straw and will add more tonight hoping this will keep them warm and dry. We have also added much more straw than usual to the trailer, to aid in the cleaning of their feet on the journey.
Once the rain eases we shall go and tag them and set up the race in readiness for the morning.

The roads between home and the yard are carpeted in fallen leaves and the pavement outside the church is red with yew berries, the day definitely has a different feel about it...winter is on it's way.