H5N8(again)

 There has been an outbreak of Avian Flu on the Island of Sanday, one of the Orkney Outer Islands. So Avian flu is a bit closer.  We remain outside the exclusion zone - heres the map  .And the guidance is that  all poultry should be kept indoors, away from wild birds which might spread it around. And there are particualr problems with turkeys  and  ducks  because they can be carriers and show little in the way of symptoms. 

So its 'bring your hens inside ' time. 

We've had a bit of a move around.  Some surprise chicks were hatched in November  and as we had no other use for it , they had been growing on in one of the bigger runs . So they have had to be moved from their big run to something a bit more cosy

 And the chicks are growing -and all appear healthy. But the black one is about half the size of the others. We've no idea why .

So having freed up the 2 large hen runs, they have gone inside .

The advantage of getting them inside is that we can try adding some light to encourage them to lay. They should have started laying at the end of the  summer but for some reason they haven't.

 

 

We've got the turkey poults under cover as well. 

 We still have an excess of cockerels . So they are being managed as well. Its getting cold, so they will be hung for a few days before being gutted and  then either roasted or jointed and into the freezer.

 

And there are another 9 out in the field

 

H5N8

 Weve got poultry .And the regulations regarding biosecurity and Avian flu are UK wide.

So it doesn't matter that the nearest outbreak is 400 miles away  and that there isnt a recognised migration route between there and here .

And the official guidance is here .

We have to keep  keep chickens, hens, ducks and turkeys housed indoors where practicable (my emphasis) -this is often forgotten when people quote the guidance.

And we arent (yet)in an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone.

The bits that are relevant to us and 'practicable' 

 "Keep domestic ducks and geese completely separate from other poultry species as they often don’t show any signs of disease but can still pass it on to chickens, turkeys or other poultry species."

So  we need to separate  the  chickens and the geese that currently are in the big field. The geese eat grass and therefore will need access, but away from any chickens. 

So we  are going to move them to the Moorland field. The only problem is that some chickens are there. 

So step 1. Move the chickens. Ive constructed an  enclosed run - that can be extended if necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2 move the geese away from close contact with the chickens.

The ducks are more of a  problem. They have  an enclosed run

But weve had a lot of  rain recently and its become a bit (!) muddy.

The ducks are going to have to be kept in the pen full-time. So we cant leave them in the quagmire. 

So  several wheelbarrows of soil helps.

and several barrows of  old hay has made it a bit more habitable.

And the  other we can manage our poultry is by reducing the numbers.

A surprise

 I went to give the hens some food. 

And i saw this 

Egg prodcution goes down at this time of the year anyway . And the hends are getting elderly , so we assumed that one missing had been got by an otter, or stoat, otr just died in the undergrowth somewhere. 

But  she hadn't. There were  4 chicks with her.  ive had a hunt and cant find the nest and broken shells.  So its nowhere really close to where they were found/fed. And we assume more than 4 hatched but they succumbed on the way - fell down a hole, or into a stream  or got lost in the vegetation . 

Survival  chances wouldn't be great this time of the year - there are plenty of predators around and chicks arent well-endowed with intelligence. 

So we rounded them up  and brought one of our chick runs back into action  and mother and 4 chicks are protected and doing well.

 

Poult update

 So the poult has had 48 hours of treatment.  Corrugated cardboard want giving it enough friction , so we tried it back with the others  so it would be on the straw . 

 As it can get about and can find feed, water and into the sheltered bit at night, we will leave it there and see how it gets on

Hen lights

 Egg-laying is related to length of daylight. And as daylight hours have fallen, so has the number of eggs . 

So we are trying some artificial lighting to see if we can boost production ( and hence sales !) 

First, a battery .

 

 And a waterproof container to keep it in. 

And I need a timer . The lights need to augment the start of the day . Giving them light after they have roosted , which then goes off  and then daylight comes confuses them ( if such a thing is possible) and doesn't lead to increased laying .

 

 

 

 

And there is a manual override to prove it works !

 

An its in  place.

We'll see how it goes - i can always add a 2nd internal light  or put some low-wattage external spotlights outside. 

the splay-legged poult

 One of the poults couldn't stand  after hatching and rapidly demised. Its called straddle leg.

We found the same thing in another one about a week ago , and that too rapidly demised. 

And the same thing has happened  again . Its the one with its leg splayed out. It struggles to stand and gets stuck in corners.  There are a number of causes . One is a vitamin deficiency but we don't think that's it as the poults are on  high-energy chick crumbs.

Being on a slippery surface can aggravate the condition - and these poults have been on newspaper. 

So it needs some remedial treatment and some TLC. 

And then try it in its new home. 

Not as much space to move around and difficult corners to get stuck in . And food and watre readily available. And a rough surface ( corrugated cardboard)  to give its' feet  some purchase when it moves. 

 

So it gcan get itself upright . So we will see what happens over the naxt day or so .

The rattling milk bottle

We have reusable milk bottles , courtesy of William Shearers in Kirkwall and their milk filling station 

 

A milk bottle is rinsed,ready to get refilled, sits ont he draining board and rattles 

Why ? 

Where is it getting the energy to move from ? 

Belt and Braces

 It was a bit  windy over the weekend. 

  we went round a moved or tied down things that would get blown around. 

But we didnt do this one 

 so a bit of pushing a shoving . 

 

 

 I got the fruit cage the right way up

 

 and a couple of fence posts and guy ropes

  And we shall see what happens in the next storm

Temporary housing

So they have outgrown the incubator but we arent ready yet to put them all back with the mother - if she rejects them or can't manage with them all we could lose the lot. So we are putting them in the indoor run for the chicks and will move them back 2 or 3 at a time to the mother. 

And they need a temporary home 

Poult update

 The female turkey was sitting on a clutch of eggs and we have been waiting. 

And yesterday was the day . But nothing to see or hear yesterday . So we had another listnen today , and heard some cheeping. 

Its the wrong time of the year to be trying to raise poults outside, so the decision was made that we would bring her and the youngsters into the shed, and they copuld grow on a bit there , eventually big enough to go out again . 

the female was carried up to the run. There were 9 chicks out and couple of eggs to go . A couple of the chicks liked moribund so rather than them taking their chance we put them in the incubator, as the best place to warm up and then see what happens. The others wne twith the mother into the run. Bit she didn't sit initally and we had the prospect of the remaining poults getting cold so we decidded to put them all in the incubator. 

 Half an hour later, she has decided to sit on some dummy eggs. 

We will try and re-introduce the poults tomorrow . 

Temporary repairs.

 We had a bit of rain last weekend. 

The normal state of the pond is here 

But the heavy rain and torrent flowing down the burn has shifted the stones forming the dam . 

 

 

 And the force and height of the water has bent a bit of 2"x1" timber

So some temporary repairs to 

- stop the ducks escaping 

-stop a stoat or otter getting in and causing death and destruction 

- prevent any further damage ( a lot of winter still to go and a lot of rain still to come) 

A bit of shoring up 

 

what doesn't work.

 We get grain delivered by the tonne.   ANd we have had some delivered. 

So Davey brought it up the hill .

THE tractor cant get very far into the shed , and its a nuisance having the enormous grain sack right in the entrance. So the solution  was to buy some heavy-duty castors and fit them to a pallet. Even if the laden pallet is too heavy  for us to shift we can hopefully push it around with the quadbike or mucktruck. . 

So the carefully constructed pallet , with enough wheels to support 1000 Kg, ready for the load.

 And heres the pallet and load 

The Load 

And then the pallet

The wheels are fine - its the rest of the pallet that was the problem, as it gave way under the weight. 

 

So 2  problems. 

First problem 

The grain ( 1000Kg) needs to be moved  from te entrance to the shed. We've got a spare sak  so that not the problem. It will need to be transferred using a bucket. 

So , say 3Kg in a bucket. 1250 Kg/3 =   416 bucket-loads . 

And its approx 3 metres from one sack to the other.  so thats a return trip of 6 m. 

So 6m X 416 trips =2496 metres.

So ~2.5km of walking to transfer the contents. 

 And there is another 1000Kg to come .

 

2nd problem

If I'm going to make a pallet to carry the load , what dimensions of timber do i use ?

12

 

 

We spotted Lily off the nest this morning . So i nipped down and had a look

12 Eggs

The Willows

 Apple trees in  in the polycrub do very well.

Those outside haven't produced any fruit in the years  we have been here. And the applecrub is an attempt to improve things.   We also moved some to the east-facing bank to see if they would do any better . And earlier this year , the fruit cage for the raspberries went on the western side of the trees on the bank. And either the little bit of protection, or a better summer- but its not  obviously been so  -  that is offered has improved things - and we have more fruit on these trees that we have had so far 

So how about some protection from the East ? 

Currently there are some struggling  specimens 

So they need replacing . Its damp down there - so willow should do well. And we've had some cuttings . So they needs moving

But they also need protecting, principally from the geese ,who will eat anything they can get to ,  including onions .

So some posts and netting  : 

And we will see what happens over the winter and into the spring next year