Readers of this blog might remember that a few weeks back, Mrs Mills went missing, turned out to be broody and hatched 13 chickens under a bush in the garden.
chick patrolling wall
Well, miracles of miracles, all 13 are thriving and turning into proper little hens. They, of course, go everywhere. The netting around the runs does not contain them, nor does the stone dyke that borders a part of the run. Truth be told, Mrs Mills is also partial to a bit of wall hopping herself.
The run border is in the process of being upgraded as it will double as a lamb paddock in the future. But that’s another story.
One of the problems that arose from Mrs Mills and her family was that Mrs Mills had stopped using the hen house. Now our hen house has a fox guard, namely it automatically opens and closes depending on light levels. So, the hens are always safe at night.
Given our hen numbers have, thanked to Mrs Mills more than doubled, we purchases another hen house again with automatic door opener and closer. We set it up close to Mrs Mills’ favourite nest spot.
She basically ignored it.
So, we hatched our plans. We surrounded her nest area with sheep hurdles using chicken wire to cover any gaps. We also set up netting above the nest. We waited till nearly dark. We stood in the midgie infested evening sun waiting for the old hen house door to close. Once it did, we then calibrated the new hen house door so it too knew at what level of darkness to close.
We caught Mrs Mills and also her 13 chicks and stuffed the chicks in a box. We transported them to their new home.
At 5, we were up again to calibrate the opening light levels.
So far so good.
new hen house
Day 2. Mrs Mills and chicks returned to their old nest under the blackberry bush. We tried to repeat day one’s exercise of catching the hens but they were not quite sleepy enough and within seconds, 6 chicks were up, gone and scattered around the garden. We retired, defeated, and left them to it.
Day 3, we chopped down the blackberry bush and other vegetation. We also netted off an area around the new hen house. We enticed Mrs Mills with some tasty pasta bits and secured her into the area. The chicks were able to pass through the net, so they made their way in in their own time. We put some raspberries inside the hen house. Mrs Mills went in and nested – yes! We thought we had it cracked. We removed the netting so they would be free to wander in the morning.
Day 4. Mrs Mills, now wise to our plans, nested early in the hedge some way from the new hen house and secure area. We had to wake her and entice her with more pasta. Fortunately, tasty bits were more than tempting and we secured her again. Faced with no choice (her old nest having disappeared), she went into the hen house.
Day 5. Mrs Mills chose to roost in the hen house with no intervention from us. We were delighted, now they would be all be safe at night. And she has slept there ever since.
The sun is shining today, though there are plenty clouds around. One of the things we have found here is that the weather is pretty variable and the forecasts also vary day to day. This makes haymaking something of a lottery.
hay dryinghay shed
The day we chose to cut our hay was the second in what was forecast to be a few days of dry weather. Of course, it rained two days later. We got our hay in but it wasn’t quite ready, still a bit green. It has been stacked loosely so that it can dry a bit more. One field turned out to be drier and that hay is now stacked away. However, the other bales soon heat up if stacked, so now they are leaning against each other with plenty of air circulating.
The new hay shed is looking good, though, we are very happy with that.
Our animals have been keeping us busy. One of the pigs (Ant or Dec) went off her food and looked a little bit out of kilter. Of course, it was the weekend and a long discussion regarding whether to call the vet ensued. The pig keeping book, however, was quite adamant – if a pig is not eating, it’s not well. So, on a rainsoaked Saturday evening under power shower rain, the three of us, in our wellies and waterproofs, tried to corner the afore-mentioned pig in what was now a sea of slippery, watery mud. Of course, she had seemingly recovered and was equally intent on not being cornered. Fortunately, she stopped for a breather and we carefully constructed a pen with sheep hurdles around her. Diagnosis was possibly pneumonia, so a quick shot of antibiotics was administered.
Then the vet dropped his wee bombshell, she needed a five day course. I say bombshell because, with sheep, it’s just the one injection and also we had never tried giving pigs a jag up till now. So, next day, we caught her in a pen we constructed outside the pig arc and managed, without too much ado, to giver her second shot. Day three, she was wise to this and in an instant sent the sheep hurdles flying. No more jags! Fortunately, she has recovered well.
Next up was Scarlett, one of our ewes. She had taken to spending a lot of her time in the shelter. After this went on for a few days, we started to suspect something was wrong. We had already checked her over and she was alert, would get up and come over, but she was always in the shed.
So, she too was tempted into a pen (using sheep nuts). The fact that she was eating was a good sign. We inspected her all over for maggots – nothing. Not flystrike then. We were puzzled and about to let her go when Nicole spotted her ear – basically, the area around her ear tag was infected.
So, we had to get the ear tag out. This proved quite hard. We wanted her not to suffer, but we couldn’t get cutters in to snip it. Luckily, following Bluemli’s eye injection, we had purchased a headstock. So we fetched that and secured Scarlett. She could still move, but all we now had to do was control the head, not the whole sheep. Using wire cutters, we snipped the main part of the tag away. Then, while trying to get into the bit that went through the ear, Scarlett shook her had and out the tag popped. That was a relief I can tell you. So we administered iodine to clean the wound and an antibiotic in case the infection had spread.
She’s looking better, but still a bit attached to her shed!
new hen house
Our 13 chickens are growing. We can’t believe that they have all survived. Their mother, Mrs Mills, has basically been living rough for three months so they are not inside the safety of a hen house. Plus, there are cats that live around and plenty of buzzards and kites. On top of this, the chicks can still get out of the pen and wander far and wide including into cat territory. We suspect the presence of George, our large dog, is acting as a cat deterrent.
Anyway, with a total of 22 hens now, we needed another hen house so one was duly purchased and erected (yesterday). We also purchased the automatic door opener (they are really brilliant). This one required calibration to set the light levels so the door opens and closes at the right times. So, we were out last night amidst clouds of midges waiting for the light to fade. We thought we’d calibrate it to close around the same level of light as our existing hen house. Of course, being Scotland and a bit northerly, we have extended twilight, so it was a bit of a wait. Midge nets became essential.
Finally at around 9:45, hen house one closed and we then calibrated hen house 2 to close at the same time. Then, we rounded up Mrs Mills and her brood of 13. This was fairly easy as Nicole had set up sheep hurdles and netting to surround their camp site. All were safely transferred to their new home. Then, it was up at 5 this morning to calibrate the opening light level.
We have bets as to whether Mrs Mills et al will use the hen house this evening or attempt to carry on camping :).
water tank
We have also got the new water system in and up and running. All the fields now have water coming from a tank buried near the top of a hill. It is fed by a small stream. It only really fills up after heavy rainfall, but that’s fine.
It’s great not having to take 20 litre water containers over. Plus, now, the troughs stay full making it easier for the animals to drink from them.
It was a big job, but the plumbing went in surprisingly well, no leaks, well none that I have found anyway. Just have to bury some of the blue pipe to keep it safe from animal hooves.
herb gardenveggie patch
Our veggie patch and herb gardens are doing well. Nicole has spent a lot of time keeping the weeds under control and nurturing our crop. We are enjoying a steady stream of salad and veggies. We are looking forward to the turnips ripening so we can enjoy them with some local haggis.
And, while all this is going on, we have been having some house renovations done. Basically, we’re having two new bathrooms installed and the existing (downstairs) bathroom transformed into a large utility room with freezers etc.
We are starting to think we need a holiday. But with so many animals, holidays are tricky to organise.
And finally, the housemartins have fledged – here they are shortly before they took off. It’s amazing watching them all swooping and diving in the evenings.
One of the things we have noticed is just how much wildlife we have around here compared to Somerset. Perhaps that’s because it’s a bit wilder here, perhaps it’s because we have a lot of habitat for them here. There are certainly more trees here. Who knows?
The most noticeable difference is hedgehogs. We have seen hedgehogs here more times in 4 months than in three and a half years in Somerset. It’s great to see them and the one above wandered into the field in which I was building the sheep shelter. And it was mid afternoon!
I know how to handle hedgehogs as many years ago, I used to overwinter the babies I found in November, the ones too small to survive. Maybe I’ll find myself doing that here.
young housemartins
We are also privileged to have sand martins here. At first I thought they were house martins, but then I saw them flying into their burrows. That was the first time I had ever seen one. We also have housemartins, they built their nest on the house and now have young. Part of the nest crumbled away recently giving us sight of the fledglings. Of course, we also have swallows nesting in the large shed.
Recently, the ground has been awash with baby frogs. Some even managed to cross the chicken run, not quite sure how they managed that. But it was be careful where you step for a few days.
And we have plenty of buzzards and one or two red kites patrolling, especially just after cutting the hay. There’s lots of long grass here and mice and voles abound.
We see quite a few hares too. Mildly ironic as Pitney, where we moved from, was supposed to be famous for its hares, but we never saw one there.
Surprisingly, we had a golden eagle in the valley not long ago. It was around for a couple of days before moving on. Quite majestic floating on the thermals.
I should also mention there’s a peregrine falcon just up the road, but we haven’t seen it yet.
Garden birds abound with robins, wrens, sparrows, blue tits, great tits, dunnocks, chaffinches, greenfinches, goldfinches, wagtails, thrushes and blackbirds all making regular appearances. We’ve also seen the odd woodpecker, siskin and coal tit. When winter comes, I shall set up a bird feeding station and see what else drops by.
Although much of our land here is woodland and wild, we still have a fair amount of pasture and that means a lot of grass. Too much for our small band of sheep. So, we thought we’d make hay this year. Small bale hay is getting harder to get hold of and is quite expensive round here. Luckily, one of our neighbours has the correct mower and baler and we have a hay bob.
Planning when to do this in SW Scotland is easier said than done. Continuous sunny weather is not that common. Having missed one window, the forecast was looking good for this week with clear days showing from Sunday onwards. So, we booked him in to cut the hay on Monday. Of course on Sunday, the forecast changed to show heavy rain on Wednesday. But we decided to go ahead, the forecast is always changing here.
tedding the newly cut rows
Monday was a glorious sunny day, perfect for making hay. Our neighbour with tractor and mower arrived and once everything was set up (our second hand hay bob proving a bit troublesome), off we went.
The rows in the first field were soon cut and I was off, tedding for the first time in my life! I soon had the knack of getting the hay bob at the right angle – too low and it starts churning up the ground, too high and it misses the grass. The first time is easy as the rows are clearly delineated. It gets harder after that as the grass spreads wider. Also, as the grass gets drier and fluffier and the wind picks up, it can drift all over the place.
hay rowed up
Nevertheless, over the course of the rest of the day I managed to turn the hay three times, not helped by a wheel coming off the hay bob mid way through the afternoon. Not the best second hand purchase I have ever made.
Next day’s forecast was cloudy and sure enough, Tuesday morning was overcast and misty. The dew didn’t lift till well after eleven. So, it was not till early afternoon that I could get out and carry on. With the heavy rain forecast for Wednesday, the clock was ticking. And now the forecast was saying rain every day till the following Monday. What happened to the dry week that had been forecast only a few days ago?
Well I got it all turned and then ran into further trouble with the hay bob, moving the hines to rowing up position was really hard. It took two of us, a large hammer and copious amounts of WD40 but we got there.
There is something very satisfying about rowing up, driving along and turning chaotic areas of grass into tidy rows ready for baling. And I was quite pleased with my efforts, not bad for an amateur I thought.
rowing up with tractor
making hay
It was even more satisfying watching the bales of hay emerge from the baler. I have seen this before, I even worked on a farm in my teens and stacking bales was one of my jobs. But when it’s your own crop, it’s special, especially the first time.
By now it was early evening and the next job was to gather all the bales in. By now, Nicole had joined us after a full day of gardening for her clients. We got to work, her with landrover and myself with the quad bike and trailer.
Having had only one day in the sun, the bales were quite heavy. They were probably not quite dry enough, so we had to stack them loosely. Each bale needed plenty of air. So while our nice new hay shed and field hay store now have hay, they look a bit untidy. We’ll probably leave it to dry for a few weeks before stacking it properly. Can’t have it going mouldy after all that effort!
But around 8pm, we were finished, all the hay was under cover spread amongst various sheds. We got a couple of cans of Guinness, got the dogs out and went over to inspect our work. The dogs loved the newly cut area and were soon charging around. We let the sheep into the other cut field and all 16 ewes were skipping and jumping. There’s something special about seeing such happy animals. Then back in for some bacon butties with good old fashioned Scottish rolls.
Recently, I mentioned I was having to increase the size of the sheep shelter. The plan was to add a second shelter and also a shed to store some hay.
I had to wait on some replacement roofing sheets for the hay bay. I was using a type I could cut to size, but they were proving fragile. Some were broken and had holes in them. Nevertheless, I got all the planks in place and made the doors for the hay store and fitting them all.
The sheep quite liked the open top “shelter”. They were often to be found resting and chewing the cud. I expect it was airy and shady. Not much use in the rain though!
Eventually, I had the roof sheets I needed. I chopped them to size and completed the hay store. Then it was the sheep shelter roof, 12 foot long corrugated sheets. The sheep were not impressed while I was putting those up. I’d lift a sheet and they’d take off, but they kept wandering back to see if I had finished.
Eventually, the work was done and within seconds, the sheep were investigating and inspecting. Verdict, it’ll do!
I believe the word “Auchenstroan” comes from the Gaelic word “achadh” (field of) and the Scots verb “strone” (to make water). So, together they kind of mean “field of springs”. And indeed we have many little springs running through our fields. However, they are small and temporary in nature and so cannot provide a reliable source of water for our livestock.
So, I devised a cunning plan. Place a large underwater tank in one of the top fields, in a spring, divert some of the water into the tank and then connect all the water troughs. Gravity should do the rest.
All seemed pretty simple, so I order the tank, pipes and connectors.
Now, I’m not so stupid as to try and dig a large hole with a spade. One of our neighbours offered to help with his digger. So I booked him in and the work started earlier this week. I thought it would be fairly straightforward – dig a hole and a trench for the outflow pipe, pop it all in and fill up the holes.
Well, that’s not quite how it turned out. Our land is riddled with rocks. And I don’t mean garden centre rockery sized rocks. I mean boulders! So digging the hole took two days and we only just achieved the depth we needed before hitting an immovable rock the size of a small planet. The trench was slightly easier, but only just – we had to hack out channels around two or three further monster rocks.
But finally we had our hole. Only, then, of course it being a spring, it started to fill with water. So when the tank went in, it just bobbed about. So, we had to pin it down with the digger.
Which sort of worked, only, as the digger settled, it started to warp the tank’s tower. But we couldn’t fill the tank with water as the base wasn’t stable. So I started lobbing in small rocks and earth and over a period of hours, got enough in to create a stable base. Then we tried to add water but it was too high and the water pressure in the house wasn’t up to it. So Richard contacted a local farmer and we borrowed a 1,000 litre tank. We filled that twice, dragged it up the hill (with a tractor and trailer) and transferred the water (that took a while).
water going in
Only then did we feel it was safe to fill in the outgoing trench.
Next day, I filled in around the tank by hand – that was a little tiring (and muddy). Once I had enough earth and stones in, I was able to roll some rocks on top. The legend of Sisyphus played through my mind as I struggled to do this, only, fortunately, my rocks stayed where I put them.
But, it all worked. Then Richard returned and with his digger to help, we buried the rest of the outflow pipe (to keep it safe from hooves) and also moved a couple even bigger rocks onto the top of the tank. I think it is now safely pinned down.
But best of all, water started weeping out into the trench I had dug and started flowing into the tank. It works!
Now all I have to do is complete the pipework bringing the water to the troughs. Should be straightforward…..
As we have found in this lifestyle, animal husbandry is the number one priority. Animals are very bad at telling you they are not well till it’s almost too late.
Our sheep were sheared in June and Bluemli got a little nick above her eye. We carefully sprayed it with iodine which would have been the end of it had she not then rubbed it (her eye) on the wall of the shearing shed. Now the iodine was in her eye! Next, her eye clouded over, then it swelled up. We administered antibiotics and a painkiller. But just as it seemed to be improving, it would get worse again.
As it happened, the vet had to come out for Sarka. She has a heart problem and seemed to be having some sort of anxiety attack. The vet administered three injections (antibiotic, painkiller and diuretic) which worked brilliantly, she even has a clean bottom now. The vet took a look at Bluemli’s eye, told us we were doing the right thing and to carry on. We did, bit no improvement. So the vet popped out again and gave Bluemli an injection into her eyelid. It was, unsurprisingly, hard keeping her still (we have since bought a contraption to help should we need to do that again). Plus we upped the frequency of the antibiotics and painkiller and also administered an eye cream. Poor old Bluemli, it was an injection a day, sometimes two. She started avoiding me (as I was the one who held her still). She we unaware it was actually Nicole giving her the jags (or jabs if you’re English).
However, it worked and her eye is almost back to normal. We are delighted.
So why a photo of pigs above? Well, just as we were tidying all the medicines away, we noticed one of our pigs was not eating. The books were quite clear on this, if a pig is not eating, it’s not well.
So, on a wet Saturday evening after a particularly heavy downpour, we tried to corner her in the most muddy, slippy conditions you can imagine. Eventually we managed it – it took three of us sneaking up with sheep hurdles and constructing a square around her.
Diagnosis, slight case of pneumonia. In the middle of summer! So, the vet gave her antibiotics and then told us she’d need a five day course. He also added he was impressed with our setup and that the pigs seemed very healthy and happy (the pneumonia notwithstanding). That was music to our ears as it’s our first time keeping pigs.
So, today we injected a pig for the first time. Same basic principle, except for the noise. Boy oh boy do pigs squeal when you corner them. But, we managed it (me holding and Nicole injecting) and already she is perking up. And she’s getting a few extra treats from Nicole, Blackcurrants plucked straight from a nearby bush proving particularly popular.
I wrote recently about how I built a shelter for our sheep. I thought that at 16 square metres, this was ample space for our 16 sheep to get out of the rain or into the shade, or both.
Not a bit of it. “We need a bigger shed” they said. “But why?”, said I. “With 16 square metres, that’s a square metre each. And it’s not as though you have to live in it, it’s for emergencies, you know, heavy rain or hot days.”
But the sheep were having none of it. They not only use it for rain and shade, but for sleeping in, for generally lazing around and chewing the cud and also, sometimes, escaping from midges. And they do like to have a bit of space.
“And while you’re at it”, they added, “can we have a hay store too? We know what you humans are like, a bit of snow and sleet and moving hay can be a real pain”.
The problem was, Nicole got to hear about this so there was no escape!
And so phase 2 began. Over the weekend, I put in the support poles. Now we just need to get all the planks moved up so I can build the walls.
Of course, it has occurred to me, and the sheep, that I have just put in 13 extra extremely tempting scratch poles. Which wouldn’t be so bad, but I only had a limited supply of fast drying postcrete, the rest are using standard mix. So far, only one has been knocked out of alignment. So far…..
It has, as ever, been a busy spring. On top of moving here in March, we have expanded our animals to include pigs, more sheep and we been through lambing . And along with this, we have our day jobs plus carrying out repairs to the new house, unpacking and arranging for new bathrooms.
water tank
The sheep needed two main jobs, automated water and a shelter. While there are many streams and springs, in the dry weather they dry up so we need to have troughs of water in each of our fields. During dry spells, this has meant transporting 20l water carriers daily across to keep them replenished. Thank goodness for the quad bike. In the meantime, we have purchased a water tank, troughs and much plastic pipe. The plan is to bury the tank near the top of the hill where a natural spring emerges. All the troughs will be plumbed in and filled with natural spring water all powered by gravity. We’re just waiting on a date for the man with a digger to come and dig a big hole for it.
For the shelter, we chose a central location that can be reached from most of our fields. I ordered the bits needed to build one only to realise, when they were delivered, that it would be too small. So, another order later, I moved all the wood and corrugated iron up to where it was needed. At this point, the sheep were not impressed – they don’t like to see humans carrying things!
starting new sheep shelter
Next, it was time to build it. On a pleasant weekend in May, I got started. I had designed it with the support posts sunk into the ground to keep it in place in windy weather. So, time to dig a few more holes.
And two days later, it was ready. Fortunately, the weather had proved not to be midge friendly, so that helped a lot.
And the sheep were now suitably impressed. They like their shelter. The lambs especially so. You can see the finished shed in the picture at the top.
two piggies
Meanwhile, the pigs have been going from strength to strength. They grow really quickly and have turned into quite large animals in a matter of weeks And this despite our scales being wrong and causing us to underfeed them for a bit. Amazingly, they have not trashed their entire pen. Perhaps it’s because they are quite large. Perhaps it’s because the Kune Kunes are more grazers than diggers. Or, perhaps, they like gardening. At one point it seemed like they had a nice area of lawn, a flower bed full of blooms and a digging area. Since the recent rain, however, the digging are has expanded. We may get next year’s potato planting area yet.
hay shed posts
Hay cutting will be upon us shortly but the hay shed is still under construction. I need to order some smaller planks as I can’t make it as deep as I’d hoped due to the hill behind it. Seemed a shame to trim the planks to make them fit. They are now earmarked for another project (see below).
And now we have decided to change our minds and lamb next year. So a whole lambing complex with decent shed and paddock in front of the house is on the drawing board. It will be great having the shed close to the house and being able to keep an eye on the lambs through the kitchen window. All I have to do now is build it!
Just recently, I wrote about how one of our hens had turned broody. Well, yesterday, she emerged from her nest in the flower bed with 13 baby chicks. All the eggs had hatched!
They are unbelievably cute.
The mother, Mrs Mills, is a chicken that was born to one of our hens (Hattie – still going strong) 2 years ago. She was one of only two chickens, so to hatch 13 is an unbelievable achievement. That said, she has great place here and actually nested outside the chicken run in the garden.
So far, she has led them round the grass in search of titbits, worms, beetles, any small bug really. Flower petals seem also to be a sought after delicacy.
And then there are the treats left by us, well Nicole more than me – grapes, bacon rind, strawberries and of course, being in Scotland, chips.
Fortunately, the dogs are treating them with respect and of course, their presence keeps the local cats at bay. There’s always a danger from buzzards and crows, but we are doing our best to keep them safe. Including a few hastily erected fences to keep them off the drive and away from delivery vans wheels.
This takes our current tally of hens to 23, so we may have to buy another chicken house. And, of course, we’ll probably have rather a lot of eggs later in the year (assuming they’re not all boys).
In the meantime, lots of cups of tea in the garden 🙂
