Despite the occasional unseasonal weather just lately, I wanted to post a summer stock take for the current livestock. As luck would have it we had a fairly decent day of sunshine last weekend so I was able to get some quick snapshots as well.
Cattle
The two Dexter’s are quite calm now and happy enough in their slightly overgrown fields. They were moved after about a month in the first one and have been make good progress on the grass in the current field.
They’re still not too happy to have any humans too close but I can get close enough to check for any obvious problems and they looking very healthy to my untrained eye.
Chickens
The two flocks of chickens seem to think they own the place and can cover a surprisingly wide area at times. The white flock consists of 1 cockerel plus 9 hens (Leghorns?) and there are 4 brown hybrids (1 remaining pet and 3 rescue hens) –
However both flocks are under performing with egg laying and I suspect a problem with worms or other parasites so we’ll be doing a round of treatment very soon.
Pigs
All 4 pigs are doing really well and the 2 “eaters” will be heading off in about 3 weeks time. So far I’m feeling ready for the change in approach with them when I no longer worry about weights, growth rates and abattoir deadlines.
The 2 “keepers” are just reaching maturity as they are around 7 months old but I’ll be watching closely and waiting until they’re around 10 months old (in October) before tackling artificial insemination.
An update on the chickens is long overdue and particularly relevant now that spring is arriving in the North Pennines.
This last winter has been a real eye-opener because both flocks of chickens went through a fairly drastic moult. We hadn’t seen that at all during the first winter here so it was a bit of an education.
Hybrid layers
The rescue hens arrived just before Christmas and are making great progress. They have been with us for 3 months now as company for our last remaining pet hen – one-eyed Adele.
She had been kept separate from the others for safety after an unfortunate incident in 2013 and had been on her own since the unexpected demise of her side kick – Aretha.
Spot the rescue hens
It has been great to see her adjust to the new arrivals even if she was less than welcoming at the start. It wasn’t easy for her to keep the new arrivals in line, particularly with just one eye!
They are now a proper “gang” though, marauding together around their pen, the courtyard and even the large hay meadow too.
Taking free-range to the next level
The “inherited” flock
We took over a flock of white chickens on moving in here and I’ve never known the breed name. However they have a very sneaky nature and are certainly not interested in being handled.
The cockerel keeps them in line and tolerates our presence a little but mostly because we bring a little corn near the end of the day!
A fine looking specimen
The regular event of hunting for egg laying sites has begun but we can now draw on the experiences from the past so I’m getting better at that.
There’s nothing wrong with their nest boxes and occasionally eggs are laid there but instinct tells them to sneak off and lay elsewhere.
This year the plan is to find the hidden eggs and only remove a few eggs while marking the ones left behind. This seems to be working in one site for the moment and I don’t think they’ve noticed yet!
Two can play at being sneaky
With the longer days and warmer weather the egg production from both flocks has increased noticeably – This is very welcome given the cost of feed
However it has now reached the point where the quiche tins will need to be brought out from the back of the cupboard.
I’m constantly reminding myself of the good fortune in having a selection of fairly good outbuildings at my disposal. They’re generally weatherproof most of the time with power and light available so they’re perfectly usable for my needs.
The problem I’ve had is that the original potting shed had collected more and more junk since we moved in – presumably following that well-known law of physics where junk expands to fit the available space.
Later this year there will be other outbuildings to sort out which will mean a wider rethink on the usage for all of them. However the first step was to relocate the potting shed into a smaller space to exclude the junk and make it more convenient for the various raised beds scattered around the garden.
Starting with a blank canvas certainly makes the job easier and once the first items are in place everything soon looks good. If I’m honest, I’ve never been particularly noted for my interior design skills but I was quite proud of how the space was working out.
Getting the layout right
All started well enough and I felt that the standard lamp added a certain touch of class to the overall ambience. However once all the other “useful” items that I’m keeping were brought in, the space soon looked a little more crowded.
Obviously you can never have enough plant pots and seed trays so they have to stay. Handy tray covers, bags of compost, netting and mesh covers are also pretty much crucial I think.
I may need to rethink things in the near future because, although the picture below looks quite nicely arranged, there has been quite a lot more added since it was taken.
Getting there slowly…
It’s clear I wasn’t as efficient as I thought I had been at getting rid of the clutter.
While I was wondering what to do with the large pile of left over, dried up old compost from past years, the one-eyed pet hen (“Adele”) volunteered to check it over and remove any unwanted edible (and inedible) items. Given her example, it didn’t take the 3 rescue hens long to figure out what an opportunity this was.
As part of the preparations for the planned new livestock arrivals, we arranged for a fencing contractor to come and make some changes to existing fencing in the back fields.
I’m sure I might have been able to do this work myself but the professionals are definitely quicker and the results are probably a lot stronger than my amateur efforts would have been.
The initial results in the back fields are pretty impressive for a single days work too but as they have the heavy equipment that obviously helps speed their work up.
Relocating the fence line
The chickens will probably appreciate the extra space but to be honest this change wasn’t made with them in mind, it’s mostly to protect the solar panels.
Also the extra space we’ve claimed around the chicken houses by moving that fence line is already set aside for planting some fruit trees anyway!
Protecting the solar panels
When the fencers return this week they will be adding some new fencing in the woods to create two extra secure areas for pigs. Each new pen will be smaller than our original pig space (which we are keeping in place) but the extra pens will give us the ability to move different sets of pigs between them when needed.
For the moment when the picture below was taken the woods were calm and peaceful – that has no doubt changed in the meantime so I’m looking forward to seeing the results…
Before…
Further updates on the fencing – and the new livestock arrivals – will hopefully be available very soon!
It seemed such a simple idea this morning, I could close up the older main chicken house once they were all out and leave just the newer chicken coop open well before they put themselves to bed. Unfortunately this was not quite as straightforward as I had thought…
Old accommodation
They’ve enjoyed this elderly but very desirable residence for some time and have had plenty of room lately as there are only the 10 hens and 1 cockerel in this group. Sadly the original “daddy” cockerel was found one morning over the Christmas break having died and fallen off his perch.
During the day they didn’t notice the housing change and as usual wandered off around the fields or occasionally in the garden too. However late afternoon required almost 20 minutes of chicken-herding, cajoling and arm waving to get the stragglers to finally realise that I was not going to open up the old house again.
In time I’m sure they’ll sort out their places in the new house but for the moment I could hear plenty of “discussions” from inside as they all settled down for the night!
I’d spotted that the British Hen Welfare Trust had some hens to re-home in our area and last Saturday was collection day. I’d been considering doing this earlier in the year and decided against it but now the time was right – particularly given that our existing flock haven’t laid any eggs for quite some time!
Following the instructions provided, a cardboard box was quickly adapted and after the short journey they all arrived safely in their makeshift chicken transport. A little ragged right now perhaps but they’ll hopefully soon get back to full fitness.
New arrivals in their box
These hens were intended to provide some company for our solitary remaining “pet” hen – Adele – who has had separate quarters ever since an incident with our other white chickens which resulted in losing the use of one eye. She has been quite happy sleeping in a coop on her own and during the day she will simply hop over the stone wall to visit the other chickens when she feels like it.
The new hens soon found the layers pellets and were eagerly tucking in but I’m not sure their company is as welcome as we’d hoped. There has been a few instances of pecking and a little blood drawn but nothing unexpected. Mostly I find that Adele wanders off on her own and ignores them a lot of the time!
Tasty layers pellets
My master plan seems to be working though and after just two days they must be settling in well because they’ve come up with the goods already. That is a life saver as we needed some eggs for Christmas morning and I couldn’t bear the thought of buying some when we’ve got so many other hens!
For several weeks now, the roof on the original chicken house has looked the worse for wear. As far as I can tell this is partly down to the passing years but I suspect it’s not helped by bored crows pecking at it while waiting to pinch any spare chicken food.
Finally I got organised to buy some more roofing felt as the remaining amount on the roll we had was really not going to be enough to complete the job. There were plenty of roofing tacks/nails left from a similar job on a storage shed from earlier this year so now there were no other excuses left for me to use.
Partially stripped and very tatty
Taking advantage of the cold but generally good weather it didn’t take long to get the job done. This is especially sobering when I consider how long it’s taken me to actually get around to it.
This is not necessarily to a truly professional standard but I think that it’s certainly good enough for those lazy chickens because they aren’t laying any eggs at the moment!
Finally finished before the daylight fades
Unfortunately the tidying up efforts were slowed considerably when I dropped the half full container of roofing tacks. It turned out to be a very fiddly job picking up the nails when they’re mixed in with the damp grass and crusty chicken muck!
Unfortunately our chickens are now well up to speed with the egg laying and we’re in danger of disappearing under a pile of eggs.
In trying to deal with this glut my quiche making has improved, I’ve perfected a banana cake recipe and I’ve even had a go at making ice cream. However it’s not easy to get through 7, 8 or even 9 eggs every day!
Upto 9 eggs a day!
We can give some to friends and neighbours but I think it might be time to look at selling the spare eggs. At least that way the chickens do something to pay for all the feed they get through!
At 7am on a beautiful sunny morning I set off on the newly extended round of feeding.
First up and most vocal was the neighbours tups. Another 9 of them arrived yesterday to make it 11 in total and all were very pleased to see me. In some cases they were a little too eager to get at the food but I managed to escape unscathed.
Heads in the trough
Next it was the chickens and they were less keen to emerge. Eventually a few emerged to peck at the food I’d delivered and appear in this picture – maybe the others were having a bad hair day?
Not many early risers here
Finally it was the turn of the newly arrived pigs but when I got to their area in the woods there was no sign of them. A quick check in their ark showed why – They had decided to have a lie in after the stress of moving house yesterday!
There is a growing feeling that we are almost through the short days and long dark nights of winter. The time is almost here to focus on planning for the coming year, drawing up a planting plan and trying to get one step ahead before everything starts growing again.
I’m ready for the late burst of winter (if it comes) and I’m actually hoping for a bit of snow so I don’t feel like the winter tyres I bought have been a complete waste of time.
Raised Beds
The addition of plastic covers over a couple of the raised beds has generally been a good idea and at the very least it kept the chickens off the onions and garlic.
It took me a while to decide how best to fix everything as I had grand hopes of inventing some sort of home-made cover which would be both removable and adjustable. That simply resulted in indecision so nothing was done but eventually I gave up on the fancy plans and decided to simply attach wooden battens down each side.
An important lesson learned however is to give some rigidity to the structure by bracing each of the hoops along the length of the raised bed. Without this the ends of the cover simply fold in when you attempt to get any tension in the plastic. The two smaller raised beds have deliberately been left without covers but even so more timber is needed to complete the fixing work job!
Covered raised veg beds
The fixings have so far proved very successful and are definitely more visually appealing than a pile of old stones and rocks. The next task is to finish pegging out the ground cover fabric along the pathways and cover it with some stone chippings or gravel. With something like 30 metres of paths to layout, edge and fill I think there will soon be another sizeable delivery coming from the local builders merchant.
Solar PV
Despite the predictions of delays with planning applications, barely a couple of months after applying the approval came through. As expected there were no major concerns from anyone so now the work can go ahead as soon as possible – just in time for the weather to improve in spring. I hope these solar panels don’t put a jinx on summer this year!
The idea of ground mounted solar panels (instead of roof mounted) made the most sense for our situation especially given that the main house roof is east/west-facing. The only suitably south-facing area of roof is on a barn but that was considered to be a little too shaded by trees growing close by. Those trees are definitely staying as they include a few healthy looking ash trees which I’d hate to lose.
I believe that the next major hurdle to tackle will be completing the FIT (Feed In Tariff) forms for our electricity supplier but I’m not absolutely certain about that. Up to this point the panel installation company have been very helpful so I’m sure they’ll be able to guide us through the rest of it.
It was hardly surprising that just over 50% of the chicks that hatched turned out to be male. Unfortunately with their growing maturity this has led to incidents of “unacceptable behaviour” with boys either fighting each other or pestering the hens.
A fine looking specimen
Another helpful lesson that has been learned is that raising chickens for meat is fairly straightforward but the actually killing doesn’t get any easier no matter how many times you do it. I can still recall the one that had been strung up by his feet after being killed only for me to turn around a minute later to see him walking away down the barn!
Perhaps if someone else dealt with the dispatching, plucking and gutting then it might be worth considered in the future. Of course whoever did this would need to be paid and that would most likely cancel out any financial gain!
Longer Days
Each morning is just a little lighter than the last, the snowdrops are already up and the daffodils are starting to push through the remaining fallen leaves and other detritus that we left. This was not a scientific decision to warm the ground for spring, it was more a case that we never got around to clearing it all during autumn/winter!
Snowdrops
The temptation is still to look too far ahead in the impatience for spring to arrive. Instead I turn the statement around and try to remember that there’s nothing I can do it stop spring arriving in the end and it will get here soon enough.
Since we moved here less than a year ago, each month brings new things to see, learn or do. We’ll never remember everything but hopefully that’s where this blog will go some way to assisting in future years.
This will be our first spring here so it is eagerly anticipated to see what it brings with lambing, more weaners and getting to grips with the new raised beds. Exciting times ahead!
