An Irn-Bru'd goose

And the tin was stuck , preventing the goose from  grazing. It wasn't there  last night , and its not getting light until about 9am , so it hasnt been there very long. 

But long enough to do some damage . 

So back out in the field with the others. And it didnt look like the tongue had been affected, and the jawbone was intact. 

Infection will be the most likely possible complication - but antibiotics to a goose ? 

And painkillers ?  Google cant tell me the dose of calpol to give to a goose. 

So don't just chuck your tins out  of the window as you drive past. 

And this is the goose that was named Christmas , until we discoverd it was female and therefore will be  used to hatch some eggs in the summer. 

So she has been renamed Carol . 

Result !

So we brought the hens inside, and are giving them additional light.

And we have an egg !

Well, only one, but we can hope  it's a start.

And this is close to the Winter Solstice.
The shortest day  has been the 21st December for the last few years - this year it's the 22nd December  , and the day is one second shorter than the 21st.

And here is similar data for London  - that place 'Doon Sooth'

So things on the up from tomorrow !

Indoor hens

We have had quite a lot of rain  so far this winter . Its a bit muddy . Just as muddy as it was in 2015 

And we have moved one of the hen houses to make it more accessible in the winter . But this means that we are walking over the same ground . Did you know that you can get standing water on a slope ?

And the hens are in this bit. And theyu have stopped laying - related to the hours of dalylight ( not a lot up here) at this time of the year and there isnt a lot fo food avaialble to them - bugs dont grow in mud and cold

So we have brougth some of them inside.

We can feed them , give them additional light and hopefully get them back into lay . So a run, constructed with sheep hurdles and netting , some nesting boxes, and food and additional light ( on a timer) and we shall see what happens over the next week or so

Lucky Lads

So its tupping time.


And the sequence of events ( what could possibly go wrong ??):

 Get  the ewes from the field they are grazing in

  to somewhere where you  can separate off the lucky girls.

And then you need to get them penned

And as we are putting different rams to different  groups then you need to separate them and transport them to do the field where he is going  to do the business.

  
and put the group in the field

 And then you need to get  the ram.

  and then  you need to apply raddle (the oily stuff ) to their chest

 and then you introduce him to the ladies

 where he will go and find the ewes who are in season

and job  done !!

what could go wrong ?

Well. nothing actually.


 

More hens

The hens are getting old - and as they get old they dont lay as frequently. And  producing eggs is light-dependent and as the days shorten , we get fewer eggs.  And none for the past 2 weeks.

So something must be done.

And we heard that the British Hen Welfare Trust  were sending some rehomed hens to Orkney.
We've had  resuced hens before. So for a donation to BHWT we are restocked.

So our 20  need fetching -  they are part of a consignment that came up on the boat from Aberdeen.

And its 5 to a box.

And after overnight in their new accommodation they get to explore their new surroundings .

Or perhaps not. For mass-produced chickens they dont get to go out much. So these have spent the day hanging around the henhouses. over the next weeks they will gradually get the hang of exploring and foraging for food. .

And the other thing about mas-produced hens is they are a bit deficient onthe feathers front.
This lot arent too bad. Some we have had in the past have been feather-less

Its mild at the moment so its not so criticla if they dont know how to go into the henhouse at night .

And we got 14 eggs over the last day and a half !

Our own Tiggywinkle

We came across a hedgehog !

It was lost and not moving , so we brought it in ( with gloves on !!) to see if it was still alive.

It was!

 Hedgehogs hibernate through the winter.  And to survive the hibernation , it needs to have enough energy stores to see it through - and it needs to be a minimum weight of about 600 g . This one was 540g

So it needs rescuing  to help it survive the winter. A search for 'Hedgehog rescue Orkney " led down a dead-end and we ended up speaking to the SSPA . And someone will come and get it tomorrow.

So it needs a home for the night .

And returning to the tray on the floor what housed it ..........


  

It had escaped and tried to hide

So we get a bigger box - with a lid.
And it needs food. They suggested cat food. Do don't have cats.
A rummage through the cabbages in the usually  slug-overridden vegetable  plot was negative . It must be too cold for te slugs to venture out .

But we do have a wormery, converting kitchen waste to compost.

And its got worms.

So instead of catfood , the hedgehog has worms.  And 3 should see it until tomorrow.

Only in Orkney

The cafe at the airport ( they do really nice cakes and home-made stuff) is closed for renovation .

but they have got a self-service setup just next door

So you help yourself

And there is tea and coffee

And help yourself to milk from the fridge

And there is a price list 

And a box for the money.
I tihnk there is about £40 in there.

Lock the money away ?

Why would you need to do that ?

Slugs, mice or rats

We made a mistake in planting  4 courgette plants.
Courgettes hide amongst the foliage and turn into marrows.
large marrows.
The biggest we have  grew was 2.4 Kg.
So friends, neighbours and work colleagues have benefited

And marrows arew actually apretty uninspring vegetable, but there is marrow gratin  and marrow and carrot soup. The latter is actually  quite good.

But something has been getting at the escaped courgettes

Probably not rats- its diffuclt tos ee hoe they could get in but a  rat box will hopefully dissuade them form coming back .