With the Christmas and New Year period very quickly becoming a distant memory, it seemed a good time to post a quick update as a stock check for the coming year. Things have a habit of creeping up on me and getting out of hand if I’m not careful so it’s probably best if I have this summary to look back on before that happens.
Cattle
As it’s a quiet time for the barn conversion holiday let at the moment, I took the opportunity to put the cows out in the front fields last weekend if only for a short time.
This helps to rest the back fields which are their normal winter home from time to time. Plus they love the change of scenery and the open space.
They can’t stay there too long though because we need to keep them away from guests cars. Apparently some people don’t like having their car windows and tyres licked clean by a cow.
Pigs
With farrowing getting ever closer, last weekend was also the best time to bring the pigs into the shed closer to the house. It will be Esther who farrows first this time but we bring them both in together as a way to ease the change of surroundings.
As always they happily followed me across the fields without any problems and after a night together in the shed, it was no bother to move Sissy back out again to a new pen in the woods.
Chickens
It’s been a very slow start for the newest egg layers that we bought back in October last year but over Christmas one of them finally started laying. On a good day we can now get up to 3 eggs a day and it won’t be long before the others join in as well.
When they all get started I’ll have to work on my quiche recipe but there will always be some to leave for arriving guests in the holiday let. Of course I don’t really mind it when the inevitable egg glut happens because that means that spring is get closer too!
The white chickens are the last remnants of the original flock that we inherited when we bought this place back in 2013. As far as I can tell these must be the last 3 from the eggs that were hatched during our first summer here and they’re given special dispensation from egg laying – I hope they’re enjoying their retirement.
Seems you have a gift for photography too….great stuff.
By the way I like the grey wall(old?) in one photo.
Did youhear Olivia has bought a house in Plymouth?
No invitation to join her so far…..!
I follow your weather on BBCworld.
Only two(or three) months til spring….
Love,M
Have your chickens started laying again? Oh I’m envious, we average one egg from six hens per day at the moment, roll on spring…
Sorry, thought I’d already replied to this but can’t see it here now.
My plan is to buy some point-of-lay birds early each autumn so that they come into lay (hopefully) during the winter months. It worked quite well last winter but this time around we delayed getting the new birds so now only 1 of them is laying. Luckily our other group of older birds have a couple that are laying most days!