Something must be done

About the ducks. 

They need access to water and they are incredibly messy eaters.
So put 18 ducks in a pen , and some water and some food and you get this

And its not even winter and  its been dry recently. Attempts to improve drainage by adding hardcore and digging channels have failed. The water needs to be  changed every day .

So they are going to be moved to where they will have access to water , so the filling and carrying of buckets wont be necessary. And the bit of land that is the pen will  need some natural drainage


We have another pond  that they use.
 

But it will need a bit of work.

It need to be made otter-proof, so the inlet and out let will need to be suitably meshed

Outlet

Inlet

And then we will need somewhere to put the duckhouses. There is a bit of flat land which will (hopefully) drain if it gets too wet .

The bush in the foreground will have to go.
And the tree that is leaing at  a jaunty 45 degree angle will have to come out as well.
The slope down to the pond will ( hopefully)   provide the drainage.


So a bit of work to do then,   Before the weather gets bad.

Winter Quarters

In their winter quarters

it can get a bit windy here in the winter .  Our first winter , we recorded a peak of 63.6 mph in our slightly sheltered location. The fenced bit of moorland on  our side of the road is ideal for the sheep in the winter - there are enough hillocks and moss that the sheep can find somewhere out of the wind.
So the sheep need to be moved from one field to another.
its a good job that they are trained to follow food.

Limping sheep

Gotlands have fuuny feet but Borerays dont, so its bit unusual to see one of the limping . After a couple of days it wasn't improving, the limping was getting worse so it was time to have a look .

So after catching her we had a look at her feet.  Some of the keratin had disappeared . Perhaps this was route of entry for tissue infection  - we think the affected hoof is more swollen than the other.

So a call to the vet and   a shot of antibiotic and we shall see how it improves.