Angy is here

Finally Angy has arrived.
She didn't like being in the crate and tried to dismantle it for most of the journey.

Finally out of the crate, getting lost in the green stuff.

Look, I found water, dad.

Dad, she's not sharing her food with me !

Angy got accepted quickly and joined the line of piled up piglets.

Piglet Videos - Day 10

Piglet Videos - Day 8

Piglet Videos - Day 6

Piglet Videos - Day 5

Piglet Videos - Day 4

Cute, cuter, the cutest...

Piglet Videos - Day 3

Piglet Videos - Day 2

Piglet Videos - Day 1

Gretel's first litter

Last night Gretel had her first litter of beautiful little piglets. She had eight but one did not make it. The remaining seven all seem fine, wriggling about like little worms.

A wife for Hans

I have been looking for a nice ginger girl for our registered boar Hans. Although we have 2 girls for him it seemed a shame not to be able to register any of the offspring.
Thankfully a nice lady in Yorkshire has decided to let me have a perfect little gilt that she was going to keep herself. She was named Angy and we will be able to pick her up on the 12th of June...

Rain, rain and more rain....

The weather has been grubby for several days and it's not looking any better. At least I don't have to water anything.
Gretel has moved into the horsebox as she looks heavily pregnant. Maybe we will finally get some piglets this year ?
The rats have worked out a cunning way to get to the barley and I had to build a feed store inside the caravan and move half a tonne of barley from the outhouse into the caravan.
I have ordered 4 automatic door openers from Germany and 3 new electric poultry fences from Mole Valley Farmers.
Chicks are hatching everywhere and half of the hens are broody, so egg sales are way down.

This week I am planning to get a tonne of stock feed tatties (potatoes) for the pigs to reduce the feed bill and get a hand baler built by next week.

Papas Baum

Baby chicks 2011

Here are some pictures of some of the baby chicks we have hatched so far...

Happy piggies

Ann's been cutting the lawn and rather than adding the grass to the compost heap we decided to feed it to the pigs. As Kune Kune's are grazing pigs they loved it and it will be part of their diet all through the summer.

Highland Cows

Two fields down the road...

Growing everyday....

The weather has been really nice and everything is sprouting like mad....whilst I am running around watering like mad...

Ash (Esche)

Alder, planted this year (Erle, dieses Jahr gepflanzt)

Alder, planted last year (Erle, letztes Jahr gepflanzt)

Making hay

I have been thinking about how to get my grass turned into hay bales without spending a fortune on machinery or hiring costs. Surely people used to make hay before the invention of tractors and balers.
A little dig around google and youtube revealed that hand balers can easily be built and used on small fields.

Hopefully I will find the time to build one this year. Hay can be cut twice a year. With a bit of luck I will be able to make some good bales to feed the pigs through the winter and have enough bedding for them and the chickens. Buying in straw and hay could be a thing of the past.

Next question is how to cut the grass. Low impact demands something manually operated without fumes and a lot of noise, so maybe a scythe would be best.

 

Then I just have to hope we will have enough good weather for me to cut and dry enough hay...

Orpington Bug

I have been bitten by the Orpington Bug...

Buff Large Fowl Hen

Red Large Fowl Cockerel

Chocolate Bantam Hen

Chocolate Bantam Pair

Dogs

Our dogs have been enjoying the sunshine as much as the chickens, pigs and cats.

Ice & Rammie with chickens

Rammie looking for eggs

Ripley

Trees are doing well

Planted this year:

Alder (Erle - Alnus glutinosa)

Downy birch (Moorbirke - Betula pubescens)

Planted last year:

Willow (Weide - Salix viminalis tora)

Hiding Nessie

Been thinking about what the cheapest way is to hide Nessie. She is a bit of an eye sore in all the lovely landscape. So I decided to make a willow hedge around her.

First dig a trench...

Break up soil and refill trench (chicken approval essential)

Plant willow every 15cm....water and wait.

Look what I spotted today....

...inbetween the willow.

Click on the picture for a larger view.

Auf das Bild klicken um eine Grossversion zu sehen.

New Hen House

 I have been busy building another hen house. This time I bought cladding to make the sides, which is a lot quicker than building with pallets. I am still using some recycled materials. The corner posts are cut offs from roof construction, the floor is made from old sheets of laminated plywood and the roof from old furniture. Pieces of pallets always come in handy as well.

Posts angled with floor support

Cladding, hand sawn to length

Side with door

Cladding screwed onto  angled corner post

The finished side

Getting there...

Laying box with feeder on top

Door frame

Roof

Slots to slide the door into

Finished house with automatic door installed