Holiday time and beavers - The Accidental Smallholder

Posted: Monday 16 May, 2016

by Rosemary Champion at 1:54pm in Smallholding 3 comments Comments closed

We've had two visits this week from our local Beaver group - one on Monday and one on Friday. The boys seemed to enjoy feeding the hens and picking up eggs, seeing the cattle (especially the pooping) and bottlefeeding the lambs.

A beaver feeding a lamb.

We've got a school visit on Friday and I think we might have the Scouts visiting soon. We enjoy these visits but  we should get earplugs. Bryn was made a honorory Beaver - we have a photo of him in woggle and cap :-)

Beaver Bryn.

Pixie’s teenies are now two weeks old and doing fine. The eleven sheep sold up to Sutherland go off tomorrow. The vet castrated the four tup lambs last Tuesday (Bryn liked the “sweeties” the  vet left for him) and gave them all the louping ill vaccine. The data sheet was a bit scary – said that it was likely that a sheep would develop a swelling up to 10cm in diameter!!! For that reason, our vet jagged the ewes and gimmers in the neck but the lambs in the ribcage – he was concerned that a swelling that size on a lamb’s neck might stop it feeding properly. Anyway, they’re all fine – the new wethers looked a bit tentative for a few hours, but were running around by bedtime. I’ve been getting the paperwork ready this morning.

Our shearer is coming on Saturday, so  we’ll bring the ewes and lambs home on Friday. We’ll also be bringing the two incalf cows home this week. While the sheep are home, we’ll give the lambs their first dose of Heptavac and tag them. I paid for the tags today so hopefully they will be here by Saturday.

We picked up our pigs on Thusrday – three Oxford Sandy and Black castrates from Thornilee Rare Breeds. They’re wee crackers and seem very taken with all the grass in their pen.

The bird scarer didn’t stop the egg stealing; neither did a wooden baffle inside the house. The problem has been solved by a cardboard box tunnel at the pophole – so Dan’s dad is going to make a wooden equivalent before it rains.

The weather’s stayed fine. It’s been quite windy but dry and mostly sunny. There’s rain forecast this week, so I’m hoping that we’ll get the paddocks harrowed before it comes. To be honest, we could do with some rain.

Dan’s on holiday this week so today he, Paul and Alistair have felled a big cedar tree that was overshadowing the garden. Paul and he are now converting the trunks into planks with Alistair’s planking machine. Boys and toys. Tomorrow I think he’s helping a neighbour rebuild a party wall that Smokey knocked down with his destructo-arse. Wednesday between 2pm and 3pm is his down-time :-)