On the Farm

Over the winter months our hens and roosters have been picked off one by one by a fox, until we had only 2 chickens left. We only have one of our first chooks still here, but she's not in these pictures as she's sitting on a nest. Good girl.

This big boy is Sigi and he's our fourth cockerel in the period of a year.  Around this time last year we had a visit from the mink and that beast killed  the boy of that time and four girls.
Our feathered friends are not allowed to extreme free-range in the garden anymore. They now stay in their run with 4 ultrasonic fox deterrents and electric fence, the latter is in the process of being installed.

Ah, the ducks !  We had 3 female and one male. Now we have only 2 girls and himself, Cyril.
One of the girls flew off, came back, flew off, came back..... flew off and never came back.  I think Cyril then went looking for her, because he also flew off and didn't come back either.  Luckily he was spotted at his old home at our friends/neighbours.  It was a full 2 weeks before he could be caught and was delivered back to his girls. Not before we clipped one of his wings though. We managed to do the same with the ducks just after he left for his holiday.

We still have 2 pigs, they've been with us for a year now, but soon it'll be time for them to go. 😩

I'll leave you with a picture of the cutest kitten

Okay, one more then...

Thanks for visiting.
Patricia xxx...x

Oink Oink

It's been a while since I posted something about these girls.
They just go about their daily business of eating, sleeping,  rooting, playing and .....
escaping.

Well, it is not a daily business, the escaping, but often enough. Little bastards.

Each time we repair and reinforce the fence some more. Next step. Rolls of barbed wire. That'll teach'em.

These little madams  have about half an acre to roam on, but oh no, they prefer rooting in this piece of stony ground.

This lot doesn't seem to grow as fast as our previous pigs. In my opinion that is probably because we don't feed these ones 'finisher'. They are fed with fermented oats and barley, barley meal and whey (to which they are addicted) We also give vegetables and fruit from time to time, but it's not their favourite. You'll get their full attention when you come with a bucket of fresh grass clippings. Nom nom nom.

At this rate they'll be here for a while yet. That's fine by me.

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to Irma La Douce (the white chicken in the front). She was not well and we had to bite the bullet and relieve her from suffering. RIP, lovely girl.

Patricia xxx...x

Meanwhile on the Farm.

How about this, eh ?  The broilers have a new feeder, fabricated by Bert (after I had shown him this on Pinterest). 

Nevertheless, he had taken me by surprise because I din't know he was doing this. They now have two such feeders and it is mucho better than the one on the floor, which is always full of wood shavings.

And this is how you fill the feeder. They get a mixture of chick crumb (which they prefer), mixed grains and an organic complete chicken feed, which comes in pellets.

We bought a spring cabbage and hung it on a piece of string in their enclosure. Oh boy, do they love this.

Now about the piggies. I uploaded 4 short clips of  the little rascals. Be sure to turn up the volume and start with the first one.

Piggies, working away outside. Bert walks by and into the barn.

They have to come around the bank and the corner and then they wait to hear Bert in the barn.

They go in and ..... I leave you to see (and hear) for yourself.

That's better !

They are addicted to milk whey. 

The first time we got some from our friends Sophie and Ruud, they weren't convinced. Now, all has changed. They 'demand' or pester us for it.

Talk about conditioning. The pigs ? Or us ?

Have a pleasant week ahead !

Patricia xxx...x

The Sweetest Thing You'll See Today

Patricia xxx...x

Mourning Their Leaving

But also joyful that they've been in our lives for five weeks.

We dropped off Mikaela and Keegan  at the train station in Killarney on Friday noon. Not waiting for the train to arrive and seeing them get on it, leaving us behind, we opted for saying our goodbyes on the platform and had them waive us out.

Am I getting more emotional as I get older ? After having had so many volunteers over the years (close to a hundred, or maybe more), this goodbye was the saddest for me. Still, the majority of volunteers hold a special place in my heart.

Before they left they gave us a box of chocolates (all eaten now) and a postcard. I hope they don't mind me showing you the card.

They sent me these photos from the train. Munching their bacon butties which I made for their lunch.

Is it just me or do they look really tired and exhausted in these pictures ? Maybe it's good that they got away.

In other news, the piggies have been let outside. This happened a week after they arrived here. 

They are in a restricted area until they are big enough not to be able to fit underneath the electric fence. They love being outside.

I've planted all the tomatoes, peppers and chillies in the tunnel today.

 Oh, and the tangled up  the runner beans. Hopefully they'll find their way up.

In the back I have four cucamelons, I am curious as to what the results are going to be.

The chickens are driving me around the bend. Three out of seven are broody, so we placed them in the barn in a separate enclosure from the pigs. That was on Thursday. Today the white one decided she'd had enough of the holiday and made her way back home.

She's sitting inside the hen house on zero eggs.

The other four and the cockerel thought that was a great moment for them to get out of the coop and wander around a bit.

All fine and dandy, until I found them going hell for leather in the raised veggie beds.

That particular bed wasn't planted up, so I hope they found some leatherjackets and slugs. But they have ruined my radishes and rocket in another bed. The little feckers !

Patricia xxx...x

A Medley

 The little ones have been outside for a couple of hours yesterday. In a restricted area, of course, and with extra sheep mesh fencing. The electric fence is placed just inside of their area (on a low setting) and they have made their acquaintance  with it a few times. They still need the training as that wasn't done before they came here. They didn't yelp, but soon thought better of it than come too close. 

Anyway, they had better things to do. Like rooting to their heart's content. I didn't have my camera with me hence the photo of the piglets indoors.

 Fergus found his own little greenhouse.

 Mikaela and Keegan got on with the raised beds for the tunnel.

 Not without some advice from the other boss. ;-)

 They have filled a part of it with soil/compost/heavy turf.

 Hard workers deserve a dinosaur chop for dinner.

 The chickens are pleased that the weather has finally turned into spring.

Three of them wouldn't know because they are sitting inside the hen house feeling all broody.

Our magnificent Artuur the 3rd. He's a sweet lad.

And what have I been doing ? Repotting and planting out a little. Today I want most of the tomatoes, courgettes, runner beans, chillies etc. in the tunnel. They don't have to be planted out yet and can stay in their pots for another week or so. But they have to get out of the kitchen. Everything I repot takes up more kitchen counter space. Out with the lot ! :-)

Have a good weekend !

Patricia xxx...x

Piglet/Cuteness Overload

I can't even wait till Monday to publish this post.

They've slept most of their  first day here and the second day too. That was until late afternoon on Friday. 

They became alive ! The little midgets didn't get back to sleep until after dark.

I know all this because we have a camera in the barn.  It's better than watching TV.

We can now see when they wake up and need some attention. 

They are inquisitive but still a bit shy of human hands and humans in general. That won't last long though.

Look at those hind legs, eh. Lest we forget, they will end up as food eventually (around 1 year), but until then we'll enjoy them being around and they'll have a life other pigs can only dream of.

Patricia xxx...x