Auchenstroan Tales - Page 10 of 10

Posted on 26th June 201726th June 2017 by Adrian Doyle — Leave a comment

Busy times in Auchenstroan

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.

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!

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.

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 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!

Posted on 9th April 20179th April 2017 by Adrian Doyle — 1 Comment

Settling in to Auchenstroan

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.

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.

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.

And also, a bit of playing together which is great to watch.

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.

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….

Posted on 26th March 201727th March 2017 by Adrian Doyle — Leave a comment

Lambing is on at Auchenstroan

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!

Posted on 25th March 201726th March 2017 by Adrian Doyle — Leave a comment

Our Move to Auchenstroan

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.

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.

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.

Moving to Auchenstroan — 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.