When we moved here, we inherited 5 hens and a cockerel. We brought our 4 up with us giving us a nice round number of 10. They already had a large run, but we further extended it to include a large patch of grass around 1,500 square metres in size. Recently, we extended it even further to include the hedge and wall as natural boundaries. we put the fence along the hedge so as to render it largely invisible (to us). As well as looking better, it gave the hens even more space.
Extensive chicken run
Also, not sure if I mentioned it before, but we had invested in a battery operated automatic door opener/closer. It detects light levels so they are shut in every night, safe from foxes. We also bought large feeders – the hens step on a platform and it opens allowing them to feed. Our food bill has reduced despite having more hens, no more Mr Ratty and Mrs Wild Birdie helping themselves! I have to say, these two actions have revolutionised our keeping of hens, so much easier now.
Anyway, back to my main theme – Spot the Chicken. Well, I have never seen happier hens. They love resting in the hedge, they love having wide areas to explore, they just ooze contentment. The could easily hop up onto the wall and explore further, but they can’t be bothered. Well, they can’t be bothered all except one! And she, now named Heidi, has taken to wandering far and wide. But she has always made it back in time for curfew.
Until two days ago, that is, when she just disappeared.
So, we pondered what could have happened. It is unlikely a fox could have taken her as our 3 dogs plus a neighbour’s dog patrol all day long. And she would have been unlikely to pack her bags and join another flock as hens are not very good at that sort of thing. So, that left the possibility that she had keeled over somewhere or that she was broody.
And today, she suddenly appeared, looking a little tired. Nicole found her nest where it turns out she is sitting on 12 eggs. So, the question is, can you see her in the photo above?
And given they lay an egg a day and the eggs take around 21 days to hatch, in little over a week we may have tiny chickens running about. Can’t wait!
Lambing is over for another year. We have three lovely lambs gamboling happily around. But, as ever, lambing was full of ups and downs.
As you may have read from another post, we had purchased 3 ewes in lamb. We couldn’t breed our own sheep as we were moving and it would have been a logistical nightmare. We thought 3 ewes, should be less work than last year when we had 10 ewes in lamb.
Well, that’s not quite how it turned out!
Pinkie a day old
The lambs were due around 21 April, but about a week before, Ursi (with triplets) went into labour. However, not only was she early, the lambs were not coming. We called in the vet. He delivered 3 lambs, all tiny and all unable to stand. Premature lambs are not fully developed and so are difficult to keep alive. We clicked into gear – we monitored them for the next 48 hours administering colostrum, milk, heat, anything we thought they needed. We didn’t sleep for two days. Unfortunately, only one survived. The youngest slept all night in our living room in front of the fire but sadly, he never even managed to stand up and only opened his eyes once.
Lambing can be quite hard. On the good side, Pinkie pulled through. She adopted the name Pinkie because of the little jumper she wore to keep her warm. She was born slap bang in the middle of a really cold spell.
Then, about a week later, bang on time, our second ewe started showing signs of imminent lambing. However, again, something was wrong. There was no breaking of waters, the labour was not progressing as it should. So, out came the vet (again). Sadly, this lamb had died in the womb and so the vet had to perform a C-section in order to save the ewe. Thankfully, she (Vi) has survived and integrated into the rest of our flock. It was sad for her because she had shown real interest in Pinkie. She seemed quite maternal.
Anyway, one to go. Well, we had a bit of a quandry. By now, Pinkie had been turned out with her mother. Vi was in with the other ewes. So, where should we put the remaining pregnant ewe (Vera)? The lambing shed or the field? The lambing shed was better for us (closer so easier to keep an eye on her and warmer – it was freezing outside).
However, Vera had other ideas and after some quite insistent conversations with her pal Vi (in a nearby field), she hopped over the hurdles and wandered off. Having escaped, she wasn’t quite sure what to do next. So, we led her into the field alongside Ursi and Pinkie.
For us, this meant a half mile walk every 2 or three hours to check on her. I did the night shift up till 2am and Nicole took over at 5am. And the cold weather persisted, and persisted and Vera waited and waited. And we got more and more tired! And we didn’t have an actual due date for Vera, the ram had not been raddled. We just had the start date and the 18 day window.
Out of desperation, we pondered what else we could do. Was there some sign that could let us know one or two days before the lambs were due? Then Nicole remembered something she’d read; something about the ewes changing shape. A quick bit of research and she had it. Ewes do change shape up to 3 days before lambing. This is because the lambs change position to get ready to come out.
This was really helpful, we reduced the inspections to 4 or 5 hours but remained ready to increase the frequency once we spotted Vera changing shape.
Iona and Ethel just born
Nicole noticed this shape change happening on the May bank holiday weekend. At first, it was subtle, but by Monday morning, Vera was much thinner on the sides and much fatter underneath. And, yippee, the weather had improved – it was sunny. Not much happened in the morning so Nicole headed off to work in the afternoon and I settled down in the field with a book. I kept an eye on Vera. Shortly, Vera started returning to the shelter and pawing at the straw. This could be a sign that lambing was imminent.
Then around 4pm, I inspected her more closely. There was a tiny trickle of water, just droplets really, coming from her. Not your usual waters breaking, but it could be. I called Nicole and she rushed back. About 5 I went back to the house to make us some tea and when I got back, Vera was starting to deliver her first lamb. We put her on her side, I kept here there (gently) while she pushed out Iona with Nicole’s help. I know that this year, they are supposed to be named with a name starting with an ‘X’, but really, ‘X’? Anyway, as a first time mum, Vera was brilliant and set about licking Iona dry.
Iona was standing within 10 minutes and attempting to suckle. We watched as Iona attempted to suckle, Vera carried on licking and lamb number 2 (Ethel) slowly edged into view. In fact, Ethel came out all on her own with no help. Now Vera had two lambs to lick, she wasn’t quite sure which to lick first. We helped dry them off, then took them into the shelter (warm and full of straw). Nicole started teaching the lambs how to latch and to our relief, they were good at it. These two were going to be OK.
Now, three weeks later, all the lambs are healthy and full of fun. They enjoy nibbling at our clothes and even enjoy the odd cuddle.
Pinkie did need much ongoing care but we have nursed her carefully and now she is big and strong.
I am pretty sure I mentioned earlier that one of the first things our new piglets did was go straight through the electric fence and make a break for it.
So, we did some research on how to contain pigs. And the prevailing wisdom was that electric fences, in themselves are not enough. Even for pigs that have been trained to respect them.
pigs in small pen
So, new pig pen it was then. And the clock was ticking. Our two little weaners were still pretty small, but they were growing and they don’t half grow quickly. So, despite the fact that we were bang slap in the middle of lambing (3 hourly checks, interrupted sleep, tired, the whole tiredness thing), we order a steel gate, posts and stock fencing. Prevailing wisdom also recommended two strands of barbed around the base to stop them trying to get their noses under it and lifting it up. And of course, the gate hinges need to be reversed.
And on Good Friday, or thereabouts, construction began. Of course, the tractor and the post knocker hadn’t arrived, so it all had to be done by hand. I got cracking. The first post gave me a false sense of security. I dug a 3 foot hole (for a large corner post) pretty quickly and concreted it in. The next one I hit rocks about 18 inches down. Same on the next one. And the next. Hmm, off to the DIY shop for new tools, a post hole digging long chisel and a special post spade were procured. But it was hard, hard work getting through the stones. Eventually, 5 of the 7 corner posts were in. The gate hadn’t arrived so I left the gate posts for now.
pig pen under construction
Time to knock the standard posts in with the post driver. Same problem, rocks at 18 inches. There’s a particular noise a post makes when it hits a rock and you just know that’s as far as it’s going. I heard that a lot.
But, one post at a time, I made progress. Until post number 9 which was roughly half way. I was tired now and should have stopped. But “one more post” I thought to myself. I set it up, raised the driver, brought it down, caught the edge of the post and toppled the post driver (very heavy) onto my head. “Ouch” I said (or words to that effect)! Nicole came running and got me an ice pack (frozen chips) which I placed on my head. I didn’t have concussion (we checked), but the danger was compression. So after talking to NHS online for a bit, I was dragged to A&E in Dumfries. They were great, they patched my head up with superglue and sent me on my way. This was Easter Monday!
Anyway, I took a day off and resumed construction on the Wednesday. I got the rest of the posts in (more carefully), the gate arrived and it and it’s posts went in. I put in the stock fence and two strands of barbed wire. Nicole suggested we put the electric fence around the perimeter too, a good idea, so in it went.
And we were ready for the grand opening ceremony. And not a moment too soon!, our weaners were growing and already looked too big for their small run.
pigs emerging into large run
pigs running round arc
We created an opening in the small run. They emerged straight away, grunting happily. Then they started tearing round the arc at quite some speed. They loved the extra space. It was great to watch. A job well done.
Sorry about the delay in stories, we’ve had a bit of a technical nightmare. Web company migrated the site and broke everything. It’s taken me two weeks to sort it out, and I sorted it by moving to a new web hosting company in the end!
Anyway, about 4 or 5 weeks ago, we had our 3 pregnant ewes safely tucked up in the lambing shed. We had kept them away from our resident flock as, although sheep are on the whole pretty peaceful creatures, they can can get into head butting contests when new sheep appear. We wanted to keep our pregnant ewes safe and stress free.
However, about 2 weeks before they were due, they suddenly stopped eating. Not all at the same time, but over the space of about 24 hours. And this is where it gets tricky, what’s wrong?
We had been careful with the sheep nuts so as to avoid acidosis (too much protein too quickly can kill a sheep). We were also aware that not enough nutrition can lead to twin lamb disease. So, after much thought, it seemed twin lamb disease was possibly the problem. We consulted the vet and went ahead with the calcium injection and a glucose/glycol based drench. This had some effect but over the next two days, they were still off their food.
The problem is that the symptoms for acidosis and twin lamb disease are very similar, the main difference is that sheep suffering from acidosis tend to have bad diarrhea. And there were no signs of that.
At a bit of a loss as to what to do, we turned them out into a small paddock with a couple of small shelters.
They immediately started tucking into grass. Our relief was huge.
It was, in fact, acidosis. Fortunately we had spotted the symptoms early.
Of course, that wasn’t the end of it, sheep being sheep. The ewe with triplets went on to develop hypocalcemia. Again we caught it early and gave her a calcium shot. The effect was immediate and remarkable.
A week before they were due, we moved them back into the lambing shed.
The next day, lambing kicked off, but more on that later.
Nicole and I have a habit of coming up with an idea and then just getting on with it. So it was with our pigs. That said, I did spend an hour or so with friends of ours who had their first pigs last year. While it was very useful, it also gave us a false sense of security.
We got our gilts last Friday. I had prepared the arc and an area surrounded by an electric fence. Our friends’ pigs had a similar setup and they had no problems so far as we know.
We got our wee piglets and let them loose in their new home. Now, had we done our reading before, rather than after this event, we’d have been better prepared. But, we let them loose and we watched them. They tried out the electric fence a couple of times and retreated from it. It all seemed good.
quick, they’re not looking, let’s get out of here!
Later that day, I left them for a moment to get some food for them. When I got back a few minutes later, it seemed awfully quiet. Had they finally gone into the arc I asked myself. I looked and they were not there. I looked behind the arc. No piglets. Just then I caught a flash of white disappearing behind the greenhouse.
Quickly I ran in and called Nicole – “They’ve escaped” I yelled in a mild panic. Nicole rushed down, cornered them and caught one with ease and passed it to me. I stepped back to let her catch the other one. I looked at my pig, who was struggling and showing surprising strength. When I had calmed her, I looked up and the second pig and Nicole had disappeared, totally.
I looked round and tried to figure out where they had gone. A few minutes later, I heard a shout “I’ve got her” as Nicole emerged from the chicken run, pig in arms. Turned out that piglet number 2 had showed a surprising turn of speed, had charged through 3 stock fences, through various bushes with Nicole in close pursuit (in her slippers). Finally, she had corned the piglet in a paddock. Poor Nicole had lost her slippers and cut her hands vaulting barbed wire stock fences, but had shown an amazing determination.
So, we stood there, pigs in arms, pondering what to do. Nicole wanted to put them in the house. I wasn’t so sure. In the end, we put them in the arc (which is what we should have done in the first place) and placed a gate across the opening. We secured them for the night and retired for a much needed fino.
Next day, we built a smaller run inside the electric fence with chicken wire. They’ll stay in there for a week or so while I construct a pig proof, stock fenced area. I started on that today but progress has been slow due to the large number of subterranean rocks. I also fitted a door on the arc so they can be safe and secure at night.
In the meantime, the piggies have really settled and are more than happy with their arc (which they love) and their small outdoor space – for now. And Nicole has worked her usual magic such that have gone from snarling at us to eating from our hand and presenting themselves for back scratches.
piggies sleeping in their arc
The lessons we learned? Well, first, it may be home for us but for the piglets it’s anything but, they need to be shown the arc which can quickly become a safe haven. Second, while we think they’re cute, to them we are unknown large scary predators and their first instinct will be to run. And third, electric fences are not, in themselves, enough to keep pigs in. They actually need to be trained as to what to do, otherwise, if they get a shock, they are as likely to bolt through the fence as back away from it.
It has been 3 weeks since we moved here and we are finally beginning to feel more settled. Of course, there’s loads of work to do and on top of that, lambing is about to begin and we are also expecting our first pigs. But first, s picture tour of our new place.
Auchenstroan Cottage
Our house is gently nestled into the hillside. We have great views in all directions. We can see our hens and pigs and sometimes the sheep from our kitchen.
We have a garden front and back and are busy sorting out and enlarging our veggie patch. Nicole, as I write this, is in the greenhouse starting this year’s planting.
We have plenty to do, the house came with some unwelcome residents, woodworm and some damp. That is being sorted this week. And we also are planning to put in a guest bathroom and an en-suite for us a second “utility” room with fridges and freezers (for all our produce).
Our animals love it. The hens have a large area to patrol along with a new hen house and automatic door opening/closing device which is great. The sheep have so much space now that they can fulfill their natural desire to roam.
happy sheep
happy sheep
Plus the dogs have settled in. They spend much of the day outside now. They have befriended Maga, our neighbour’s collie and roam our patch doing their thing, a bit of guard duty, a bit of exploring and also a bit of trying to get the humans to play ball.
dogs playing
And also, a bit of playing together which is great to watch.
Maga by the river
And we have plenty of wildlife. The ponds were overflowing with frogs only a few days ago. Sadly, this attracts the herons, but nature is like that. Harsh!
As well as the house and fields, we have two newly planted woodlands and two rivers, a small loch and numerous burns.
new woodland
We are especially pleased about one of the woodlands as we had planted something of the region of 1,000 trees in our last place in Somerset. This is one job we won’t have to do again. The other woodland is an area where most trees were recently felled and it has been replanted.
Nevertheless, we added another 50 or so trees, some oaks we had brought up with us plus other various trees we found lying about.
And we are looking forward to picnics by the river in the summer.
So, all in all, we are really happy with our new home. And once all the work is done, we might get all the boxes emptied. But then, lambing is about to begin….
Today we ventured into a whole new area, rearing pigs. We had been planning to do this once we got here to Auchenstroan but initially we found it difficult to find weaners for sale locally. Then, we posted on the Smallholding Group Scotland and within hours were offered weaners that were not too far away. We said “yes” and booked 2.
So, it was time to prepare somewhere
setting up the pig arc
for them to live. We spent much time thinking about this. In a way, we were almost spoilt for choice. Finally we chose a site close to the house. In fact, we are really pleased because we can see them from or kitchen window.
So, next it was building the pig arc. We had brought our two pig arcs up with us so I set about constructing one of them. The pigs are getting the wooden floor – lucky them.
And then we had to wait as the piglets were too young. But today, it was time to collect them and we headed over to collect them. We were given two gilts. They are Gloucester Old Spot crossed with Kune Kune.
Fate is a strange thing. We had been planning to take our trailer to collect them. But we broke it last weekend and it hasn’t been repaired yet. So we checked they would be OK in the back of my car (Freelander). When we got there, they were tiny, smaller than terriers! We’d have looked foolish loaded them into a trailer!
Anyway, we drove back and let them out into there new run. It was a bright sunny day and within seconds they were doing what pigs do, foraging with their snouts. And they were having a lovely time.
When we decided to move last summer, we spent a lot of time discussing whether we could lamb or not. Aside from ensuring the welfare of the sheep, there were all sort of logistical considerations to overcome. In the end, we decided it would be best to skip a year. We were disappointed but at the same time, philosophical as we knew it would be for the best.
Then, just before we were about to move, we spotted a post in the Ryeland Flock Book Society facebook page – for sale, coloured ryeland ewes in lamb. They were not cheap, but it was a chance to lamb. And they were in Yorkshire, not close, but not too far away from Auchenstroan either. We decided to get 3. We duly paid a deposit and arranged to collect them after we had moved. They are not due till late April so we had plenty of time.
The day before collection, Nicole hitched the trailer to Landy and set off to Harbro for lambing supplies. Of course, they asked her to reverse into the shed, a maneouvre that, by all accounts, didn’t go quite to plan. However, back at Auchenstroan, undaunted, Nicole drove back and forth with the trailer in order to move all our hay out of the lambing shed. By the end of it, she was a dab hand at trailer driving.
So, the Friday following our move, after our marathon journeys up the motorways, we headed off with dogs and trailer to Yorkshire. It was a dreich, windy day and not that pleasant on the A66 as we crossed the Pennines. The A1(M) was a bit busy too, but eventually, we found ourselves at the Millbridge Farm. A nice place with all sorts of animals, sheep, pigs, goats, turkeys, chickens, all milling about.
Of course, the first thing he said was “reverse your trailer up here”. Basically, through gate, round the corner, past some farm machinery, up a narrowing lane avoiding a hay stack and up to a smallish gate. I looked at Nicole aware of her new found mastery of reversing trailers. She just smiled and said “good luck” or words to that effect. Well, unbelievably, I managed it. It seems we are both becoming more adept at maneuvering trailers.
Anyway, we met all his coloured ryelands and picked our three. We have a triplet, a double and a single. We loaded them up, dealt with the paperwork and off we headed, back to Auchenstroan. The weather was even more dreich and windy on the way back and a bit nerve racking up in the hills. Nevertheless, we made it back, Nicole driving the second half giving me a much needed rest.
And the girls arrived safe and sound and were coaxed into their temporary home, the lambing shed. And they are quite content. We are giving them plenty of attention and handling and they are starting to enjoy it. Ursi, the eldest, is already quite precocious, Vi started out very shy, but now approaches us happily as does Vera who started out most perturbed by the dogs, but has now realised they pose no threat. And lambing is on for this year – yippee!
After weeks of waiting and planning, it was time for the move. This was actually split into two moves, the first moving the animals and the second all our house stuff. I had got my qualification enabling me to move the sheep that distance. We have too few to get hauliers interested and we also liked the idea of moving them ourselves.
sheep trailer at the ready
So, I hired a larger trailer to ensure the girls would be comfortable and we set up our own trailer to move the two boys. Our plan was to travel overnight so as to avoid the worst of the traffic. It is also a bit cooler at night and hopefully the sheep would sleep most of the way. I don’t think either of us were really looking forward to this drive, Somerset to Scotland. This was particularly true of Nicole who, only a few years ago, struggled even to drive on a motorway (let alone hundreds of miles up one – with a trailer).
We packed up all the animal feeds, spare water and a number of emergency items. Just in case! Our worst nightmare was breaking down and going over the 8 hour limit. But we’d done what we could, the trailer and both the cars serviced. Also, the trailer hire people (Boulter Mead) were great, they hired me a trailer which would suit my freelander (which has a pulling limit of 1.9 tons). The Landy Defender would have no trouble with our 8ft trailer and its two passengers.
sheep waiting for move
We had brought the sheep into the shed a couple of days before and given them an anti worm medication as directed by our vet. We held them in quarantine in the shed. They seemed pretty relaxed about it all.
Around 9pm, we got started. First we loaded the chickens. They had pride of place on my front passenger seat, albeit in a box. Then we loaded the two boys. Months of constant handling and halter training paid off big time as they were safely tucked up in minutes.
Then we loaded the girls two at a time, again using the halter. This was not as easy as it sounds as once we had some girls in, then when the next two were brought to the trailer, those in thought it a good idea to try and get out! Still, it wasn’t long before they were all tucked up too (sheep nuts are just too tempting for them). They were split into two bays of 5 for their own comfort.
Soon, we were off. In convoy, we headed across Somerset towards the M5. Of course, the first motorway sign told us the M5 was closed further up. In fact, the M5 was closed and also the M6 in two places. The diversions were not too bad, just follow the lorries! That said, the diversion that took us through Birmingham was not much fun. I spent much time checking my mirrors to make sure I didn’t lose Nicole at a roundabout or traffic lights. Nicole stuck to me like glue. And the diversion signs were almost non-existent.
However, there were no traffic jams and, despite the closures and diversions, we made good progress. I had to stop twice for fuel as my car was just drinking the stuff. We just about managed 55mph so most of the lorries were overtaking us. But, we got here, just as dawn was rising. I parked the trailer in the field leaving myself a tricky reverse to attempt later. Nicole parked on the track just outside the gate.
We led the two boys up into their new field. Having been used to, at most, 3/4 of an acre, they now have about 5 acres to themselves. Even now, they are still exploring it a little at a time. Then out popped the girls, quite happy and started immediately tucking into the fresh grass. They too were led to their new pasture, a hilly field with rocks, fresh water via a stream and views of the Galloway Hills.
Then, we released the hens who just instantly loved their new surroundings. Two days later, they were merged with the resident flock and under the watchful eye of the cockerel, they settled in and made new friends.
I’ll post pictures of them in another post.
Then, after a couple of nights rest, I drove back down to take the trailer back. I drove overnight and it was a hard drive. I got to Bridgwater about 6:30am, slept for an hour, had a cup of tea and handed the trailer back when they opened at 8. Then, back to West End Barn to finish the packing.
Everything had gone really well up till now.
lorry gets stuck
First, the removal lorry was delayed due to a wheel problem. Then, when it did arrive, it slipped off the drive and nearly into the pond. It was too soft to dig out. Things were not looking good. Luckily I knew a man with a tractor. To be honest, I knew a few of the farmers, so I started ringing round.
I got lucky. One had just got back and he came straight round. I have to say, I could not believe how easily the tractor pulled the lorry out. It was over in seconds. To say we were all relieved would be an understatement. The guys worked really hard to catch up. They didn’t get it all done on the Monday, so we walked down to the pub for a beer and a decent feed, then finished it in the morning. By midday they were gone.
tractor to the rescue
I had a lot of cleaning to do!
By mid afternoon, I was on my way. I was really lucky with the traffic and was reunited with Mrs D later that evening.
Next day, the lorry arrived and we unloaded it. Again, the removals guys worked really hard. By 6:30pm we were done.
The move was finished, well almost, the tractor and gypsy caravan are not here, but those are other stories…
Well, it has been a while since we have posted anything here. There are numerous reasons, all too boring to get into. Nevertheless, we have been very busy indeed.
Over the summer our lambs grew and developed unique personalities. Most moved on to new homes. Woodpecker Larry, our first, headed off to breed with a small flock in Somerset. Warlock, the cutie pie was snapped up by a lovely couple in Wales and he too should be close to being a dad now. We kept Wart and Wallace and hope to breed or swap them for breeding. Plus our girls, some went to a home nearby, some went just a bit further and some now have a lovely life in Devon.
But we kept Witchy and she has grown into a precocious young lady. It’s so great to see, especially given her precarious start in life (Witchy’s story).
However, our time at West End Barn draws to a close. We have purchased 27 acres of Scottish countryside in Dumfriesshire. As well as 5 massive fields, we have woodland, a small loch, rivers, walks – it’s just perfect.
And we can’t wait to introduce all of our animals to their new home.
We drive up this week, driving overnight to avoid the traffic. I have done my qualifications for moving sheep that distance and sorted out all of the paperwork. We’ll be going in convoy as we have to keep our rams and ewes separate (for obvious reasons). It’ll be a long drive (we’ve already done it once as a dry run), but it will be worth it. We have outgrown our patch here and the sheep will really enjoy the bigger fields. Plus it’s all a bit hilly so they should get a bit fitter.
And while we couldn’t lamb them this year (as we didn’t know when the move would happen), we do have a surprise in store, so watch this space.
And finally, I am looking forward to getting back to my homeland and may even try a bit of that kilted yoga lark 🙂
