Weathering the Storm?

So far this year, we have sick rabbits, goats,dogs and cats and it isn't march yet! I've had to bury more dead animals then I can remember, the Vet is a frequent visitor and it become draining.

Are we weathering the storm or trying to hard to  make something happen? I just don't know

Mr Brown

With a sad heart, I am sad to say Mr Brown passed away. He survived 3 years, myxomatosis, the clap and produced loads of children. He was always polite, gentle and friendly and had the nicest fur in the world - He will be missed

Wethered

We came home from a long day out from playing guitar at two church services and preaching to find that Wethered goat was lying on the floor and bleating sadly. We tried to revive him but by the time the Vet had come, his nervous system had collapsed and he was slowly dying. We made the sad decision to have him put down and he just fade away without a struggle.
It isn't a pleasant start to the year but we are grateful that the ground wasn't frozen and we could dig a big hole in the moonlight relatively easily.
Looking back, he wasn't putting weight on and wanting to eat grain - there could be many  factors which could have hindered his growth but this is one of those sad things which sometimes happen on a farm.

Latest influx of Birds

Over the weekend, We've visited the legendary Zolibacsi and returned with some more Animals :) Most of these are "proper" non-hybrid animals which means that the chickens are dual purpose (eggs/meat) and should also be able to hatch out a batch or two of Chickens. So in no particular order, here are some of the additions - 

Naked Neck Chicken (x3) and Rooster

These quaint birds are a local breed which despite their exposed neck are really tough in the cold and heat. They are a good medium-size bird

Mini-Chickens 

I'm not sure of the exact breed but these are proper chickens but just tiny, the cockerel in the photo is smaller than a standard roof tile. They also have "little-man syndrome" where they are very loud and aggressive. The small size also means that the chickens fly high and far and can easily flap over the farm buildings!

Brahma Chickens (x3) and Rooster

These are Huge chickens covered in feathers all over their bodies and legs and feet. So far, our chickens have been a bit mellow but we will have to see how the new arrivals cope with the established Brian

Turkeys 

The gobble gobble machines are huge, they have the body shape of a pheasant but are about twenty times bigger. It's also fun to stand next to them and play the call and answer game with them :)

Cat

The internet needs more photos of ducks and here is nibbles our blue cat!

No news is Good News?

Noticed yesterday that I've not updated the blog for a while so I thought I would give a brief outline of what is or isn't happening with the animals

1. Dogs - Seem to be ok, no major escapes though crunchy did manage to kill a cat!
2. Cats - Small but growing the 4 cats (Táp, Nibbles, Spot and Patch) are doing a good job. They are going everywhere and I've seen some evidence of mouse hunting
3. Rabbits & Chickens - We've the same Joys and Problems. Our existing animals are doing well but we are having problems with getting rabbits pregnent and keeping chicken/rabbit babies alive
4. Grazing animals - Everything is calming down after the very aggressive 90kg Ram was slaughtered. The babies goats are growing well and we are hope all our female goats/sheep are pregnant. Our flock could potentially double or increase by 75%!!! We just need to build an outdoor shelter, reinforce a fence or 5 and then the goats/sheep can stay out all winter

I think we've learnt out mistakes from this year, so come next spring we should be firing on all four cylinders 

Final build of the summer

The Harem

Extended rabbit hutches

Summer is coming to an end and this is the final end to the works on the farm. Our Rabbits hutch has been at maximum capacity for a while and problems have been racking up as the small rabbits become teenagers. 

Egg laying Boxes

New Gates

Zolibacsi, our amazing friend and designer  came to our rescue. He made "The Harem" a female colony where we can have lots (12+) lady rabbits who will live without fighting  and caged in the base of the existing hutch so  for our bucks. This will enable our rabbits to grow bigger before butchering. We've also got two side cages which currently have a mother chicken and her younglings and the other has our 13 teenage egg laying chickens (which only 3 seem to be hens). Zoli also gave us two A boxes for chickens to lay in and added some roosting perches. He also brought some iron gratings which works excellent as a new gate.

Mower update

It seems destined that we must always have a mower needing repairs. We've recently had the scissor mower's drive gears fixed and will be finding a place to get the blades sharpened. A non-trivial task after 14 years use and one needing the touch of a professional.

The sit-down mower's battery has finally bitten the dust. One of the electrodes has corrosion damage from an acid leak and has now sheared off. We now start the search for a shop where we can be a suitable battery.

The bio-mowers are doing a great job and have been complemented by an army of ducks :) Jimmy, the boy goat, has developed an elvis-esq quiff