Rained off? Not entirely

It's not been much fun for the Little Racecourses; for as long as they can remember it's rained. Every time they look out their door they see wet stuff falling. Just occasionally though there is a glimmer of shiney bright light and they all rush around and about - tiptrotting around the really muddy bits -as if to make the most of it..... quite right too. They're growing up fast; already one or two of them are investigating what's in Mum's bowl. Normally piglets start being interested in hard food at 3 weeks; these will be 2 on Saturday so they're well forward. They also recognise our voices and stop whatever they're doing to look - and then scamper off! We've an Open Day this Sunday so let's hope they have lots of other faces to stare at --- and then run away from! It'd be good if the day's not entirely rained off.......

PS to the previous

Sadly the ducklings both died... one in the night and one in my palm this evening,. Just goes to show, you can't interfere with nature....

Quack!

So the first duck had one duckling; it lived for 3 days. I found it squished on the 4th. Then the black hen had one black chick. It's still thriving - somewhat noisily. Two days after the black chick hatched a duckling appeared, then another, then another - the mother duck had been sharing the nest box with the hen...and she had seven ducklings when I opened up the Poultry Palace that morning. By the time I'd dealt with all the chickens there were just 6 ducklings; at the end of feeding time there were just 5. Somehow they were getting squished - you can see one flattened in the foreground. So I removed 2 and they are now in a box by the Aga in the kitchen. I gave them a beanbag toy cow which they have adopted as their mother - and go to sleep alongside or under her! Very sweet. As for the Poultry house family - the little black chick continues to thrive but I don't know how many ducklings are still alive. She seems a very erratic mother -  she was defending something this evening when I looked so we'll see what tomorrow brings.
Meanwhile, one of the indoor ducklings escaped from its box by the Aga yesterday and jumped down on to the kitchen floor. The cats were about. The Boss rang me on his mobile: "There's a duckling on the floor and it's waddling to and fro between the two cats; they're bewildered by it. I'll put it back in its box I suppose but then what?"
What the cats were thinking of I can't imagine: give them a little bird in close proximity and it's "Zap"! But the duckling was an unknown - luckily...
"What are they called?" Linda asked this evening. "They won't get names till they've survived a week" I said. Then we'll be needing to look for a new home for them cos they'll not be welcomed back into the  main flock.
Quackies anyone?

Lovely custodians

 Lots of people love pigs and want to keep them.Sometimes though it can be difficult to find the right sort of pigs at the appropriate age. And then what happens to them when they're grown up and 'ready to go'? So we have just the scheme for these people. The Curly Coat Custodians take a minimum of two pigs from us when they are just weaners.No cost apart from admin and delivery if over a certain distance. Then they treat them as their own pigs.For months and months and months - as many as they like - within reason. At the end we go fetch them.
These two are Mave & Babe

They were a surprise "Wedding Gift" to Rach and her husband. A lovely idea. Rach was over the moon when the 'gift' scroll was read out at the Reception. And Mave & Babe have been looked after like little treasures ever since and grown into beautiful woolly coated gilts. Clearly they've enjoyed their home and kept it spick and span. They weren't much interested in leaving either. Mave made it quite clear that she was not going anywhere without a good wallow. And then she and Babe turned their backs on us and walked to the furthest end of their home ....  Just telling us exactly what they thought - they'd rather be there than leave. Which is nice and shows they've had a good home... And that's the most important thing to a pig..... and to us...

Ginger's 5 to 10 on

WELL- she didn't disappoint. Ginger delivered her 10th litter on time and according to the signs... Returning home from market this afternoon I went to sneak a peak at her pen and just saw Ginger snoozing quietly and alone. I was a little surprised cos I expected to hear squealing and gruntling sounds. A little while later Linda came along and confirmed: " 4 piglets; 2 red and 2 blonde and all very strong and bouncy". They must have been hidden behind her vast bulk when I was looking.... We exchanged views on the numbers and when they might have been born, agreeing that, in view of the robustness of the 4 it must have been during the night. Surprising since it was the coldest night in weeks. I supposed, when I looked at dawn this morning they were all sound asleep.
Bumping into Linda again a little while later: "It's 5, not 4" she said. The 5th one must have been covered in straw at the first count...... Anyway there are 5 piglets and all are strong and bouncy... ("Just little Springers then?" said Gunner????). I was going to call the 4 Burghley and Barton (1&2) after the markets the Pork Provisioner was at today but since there are 5, and it's Grand National day, we may just name them after racecourses..... Aintree,Southwell, Doncaster,..........

Could be tonight

We were packing up for market this afternoon to the sounds of thumping and banging, scratching and grinding coming from the direction of Ginger's pen. We've been keeping a close eye on her for the past week or so and I actually thought last Sunday would be the 'Big Day'.  But it wasn't! However, I think it's probably safe to say it could be tonight. When sows are close to farrowing they get hot and bothered and tend to wallow a lot. She's certainly been doing that for the past week or two. Then when they are really close - within 12 hours or so - they start the business of making the nest that the little ones will be born in. Ginger treats it very seriously; she needs the straw to be in just the right place and goes to and fro collecting sticks and branches which are used to lend firmness and support. When all that's done she has a big drink and then settles down to let nature take its course. I'll be very surprised if I don't hear squeaks and gruntles in the morning.........

Growing the fleet..

On the 100th anniversary of the launching of Titanic it seems appropriate to mention that RectoryReserve are also enlarging the size of the fleet. This little chiller chap from Essex was looking to be adopted last week so The Boss decided we should give it a home. It was 'launched' for the first time - in our name - on Saturday and, I'm happy to say, survived stormy weather and potholed roads to return safely home again in the evening. Complete with The Big Boss and a lesser load of provisions than had gone out in the morning.
Neat result then? It's got a few minor ailments that need sorting out but that's only natural for a new member of the flotilla. It'll be all shipshape and shiny in no time.

Happy Easter everybody

Samson asked me to send you all his very best Easter Wishes....he's like that - a very caring boar! His current paramour is Precious and she's not being at all kind to him but he bears it all with a philosophical stoicism. He knows she'll come round in the end and let him have his evil way! Mind you, she's a bit feisty is Precious. You'll recall that she's the one who elected to leap over the fence on to the bridleway to get away from him. She's a bit bigger now than she was then but I don't doubt she'd manage the same feat again if she felt so inclined! Maybe that's why Samson is treating her so gently - knows better than to provoke her!
Anyway, Happy Easter One and All.

A dog's life...

 There are days when The Boss and/or She Who Must be Obeyed are away doing 'things that they have to do without dogs'. Then Pilot and I have a good excuse to sleep for hours on end. But I can't pretend I like them. The bestest times are when the humans are home and doing 'things that dogs can easily help with'. Gardening's one of those. Pilot's a mean digger. I should think in the many years he's been here there are not many places around our patch that he's not dug up - either to get Something (rabbits mostly) out of or put Something (shoes, keys, toys, ducks, clothes etc) in. Only this afternoon when the man was doing the mole catching thing Pilot was dragging a smelly something-skin around.           I'm not really a digger;She tells me it's not a proper  
spaniel job. I'm more an observer. Whilst She was potting this afternoon for instance I was observing the pheasants and rabbits  in the field next door;could easily have chased them. But it's not That Time. I do a lot of sniffing too and then I tell Her where to look for hidden treasure: got Her moving a load of sacks and pots and things so I could get at the mouse but She was so slow it'd gone by the time She'd cleared the ground.... in the end She stopped helping me look. Way I see it, I help her hunt in Winter - least she can do is help me in spring. Trouble is most interesting Things like to hide under piles of Stuff and She gets too easily tired of moving Stuff which sort of spoils the game really. But I can't stop my nose sniffing things out. Don't know why it is that when I hunt birds they fly up but when I hunt mice they dig further down. Thank Goodness my main job's finding birds.