August Update
Ok then…where to begin…well I guess we should start with a “hoorah” as this update is on time…it’s the end of August'ish and you have the August update…how?…I have no idea as this has been our busiest period ever!
The barn should be next…as you can see in these pictures the barn is coming along great, once the uprights where fixed in place thanks to Johnny and Tony (last update) I was able to fix the cross members for stability…well I say “I” I mean with a great deal of help from my co-barn builder Mike…You wouldn’t believe he was afraid of heights when we started!
Once the horizontal supports were in place Mike and I started on the cladding...I am using half rounds and allowing a gap between as this will allow air flow during the winter when the animals live in it.
Here are some pictures of the meat chickens…I am constantly amazed at their growth rate compared to non-meat chickens, these are only eight weeks old.
Great to see the birds free ranging…only problem we have is that unlike our other chickens they don’t like to roost in the coop that we built them…so every evening we end up chasing them around the field to put them away...let me tell you that's fast food!
We have already received the next batch which should be ready around the end of October.
Other new arrivals include our lambs…there are twenty all told…16 Wensleydale and 4 Southdown, you’ll note from the Available page that these are rapidly going so if you want ½ or a whole one let me know via an e-mail and I’ll include you to the list, the lamb is booked into the butchers for end of November.
This is a picture of Raquel lounging in the sun ...as you can see she's about to give us another litter of GOS piglets, we estimate that the piglets will be born on or around the 18th September.
As ever we'll finish with a picture of Willow this time chillin with the cows.
On the cow front we have decided to keep these three and start a breeding program, so we have a visiting bull arriving early September to "make hay" with both Mary and Elsa...pictures of him next update.
That’s it for the smallholding update, except for a few photos from the bank holiday weekend when we held our annual “Fun Day” to raise a few quid for our Smallholding club. Thanks to all who turned out for the day and helped us raise £231.29 towards the Fenland Goatkeepers & Smallholders Club (FGSC)coffers. Photos can be found on the above smallholding link...scoll down and click the "photo gallery" hyperlink.
Well that’s it for another update…take care and well see you next time.