....And a Happy New Year

The last day of any year is always a good time to get stuck in.....

and clean out some dross so that the New Year starts on a 'tidy' footing. Hence, I've plucked the last brace of partridge and pheasant for the year (and half-froze into the bargain! Dumb.. that!), thrown out half the clothes in my wardrobe .... mentally if not yet physically... and promised to set aside some time each week to tidy up the paperwork in the study. So far so good! And just one other New Year Resolution - to lead a cleaner, healthier life for the next twelve months.

And that's probably a non-starter from 01/10.... "healthier" may be possible, but "cleaner"??? Not a chance. Not with the combination of Rectory Reserve Residents and Acts of God (i.e. weather conditions).

Actually,That's probably being a little bit unfair: after all, Puddy Cat would take offence at ever being considered in the least bit dirty; and the spaniels are not too bad (apart from when TBDiatW has been working); and, actually, the horses are frequently quite clean and, whilst on the subject, the ducks take great pride in their daily ablutions (so much so that the big white lame duck had a special Christmas pressie of her own - a large tin bath into which she is carefully deposited for a while each morning...) and even the chickens mostly avoid anything mucky.

So what we are really talking about here are the thirty dirty pigs...... We have 32 on site at the moment. Thirty are diabolically dirty. They have developed mud pie making into the coarsest and most spectacular of art forms. Where Acts of God have turned their pens into deepest, gloopiest goo, they have rootled and burrowed and found the dry earth below: were you and I to take a shovel to remove the gloop, we would undoubtedly be overcome. They with their incredible snouts have simply shovelled the lot out of the way and found the place where the bugs and worms hold court: and have removed them! But it is not a pretty sight (or site for that matter).

Thus it is that, thinking to end the Old Year on a good note, I sign it off with a couple of pictures of our two pristine pigs: Whiskey and Brandy, in extended quarantine, indoors and, in Curly Coat splendour - indisputably, CLEAN. If cleanliness is next to Godliness, we have only a tiny foothold, but we'll hang on to it for all we're worth!!! (It'll probably last just about as long as my resolutions..... .. So? Yours last longer than a week???)

A Happy 2010 to you all.

P.S.

Many days after writing the above I realised I had mis-counted......... my 'stock-take' had omitted to include Delila and Clyde in the Woods..... we actually have 32 dirty pigs ........

Merry Christmas

Every creature at Rectory Reserve would like to wish all our followers around the world a truly blessed, happy and merry Christmas and a healthy and exciting New Year.
As ever, we have no idea of how the coming months will unfold: I know for certain though that the deeper and better The Big Boss plans and thinks, the greater chance we all have of weathering the ups and downs.
So, I am happy to say that, after a Very Unusual Christmas Lunch (centred on Coot and Waterhen!!! --- thanks to the Bestest Gundog in all the World) he is now relaxing by the fire and planning the strategy for 2010.
All I can say is watch this space......
Good Fortune, Good Health and Peace from all of us here to all of you out there........




P.S.
I'd like to wish a special Happy Christmas to Melanie: the chaotic confusion of the season (or maybe just old age...) means I've lost your address...... but it'd be great to get together again in 2010 after 15 years....... look forward to hearing from you!!!!

The shortest day...

Just two weeks ago - or even one week back - it seemed that our pigs - virtually submerged in gloopy mud - would never be pale and curly again!

Since last Thursday though the Wolds have been transformed into a Winter Wonderland and it seems that it will never stop snowing.

The Curly Coats have returned to splendour and all the brown gloop has been replaced by solid white.

And solid ice... which means humping cans of water around all the pens two or three times a day. It's not that the pigs drink a lot and they clearly get a certain amount of moisture from the snow; even so, they do need to keep their fluids up and appreciate a decent slurp.
The extra traipsing to and fro eats into the day - which today was particularly noticeable. Hardly seemed that there was any gap at all between the morning round of feeding, mucking out and watering and the evening round of feeding, mucking out and watering.
The horses enjoyed their first turn-out in three days and frolicked and rolled like foals under the midday sun.
And the snow scenes have been complemented by some glorious evenings with magical sunsets and night skies adding to the seasonal atmosphere and sprinkling the world with a touch of almost-forgotten childhood magic.

It's almost as if Christmas has arrived early......

New delicacies

So there we were out on the beat the other day and the young dog decides that retrieving pheasants and partridge and duck is getting a little bit "much of the same" so, on his hunting, comes across a much more interesting thing in the marshes: we are later told that it is a real delicacy of the table and far more desirable than your 'common' gamebird. Well, that day we gave over the prize to some other wiley guy who was quicker at the end of the day to spot a 'good thing'.
However, a couple of days later The Young Dog finds another in the marshes and proudly brings it out to me. "Right" says one of my companions "Keep your eye on it and take it home at the end of the day" and even went to far as to have a word in the Keeper's ear. So, at the end of a very long and tiring day, Keeper said we could take our Prize - The Coot - plus two water hens which "are the best thing you can eat with a coot" and "take 'em and skin 'em and eat 'em for Christmas". So, I've done the first two bits of the instruction and in just 10 days or so we shall be sampling the delicacies along with some more traditional season fare.... (Just to add - having never skinned a bird before, this was a first --- so yet more lessons learned at the foot of the dog... so to speak....).
And then before you know it we're off on Yet Another Adventure.......
Our very First Christmas Market (0r any market for that matter) venture. The Big Boss had been enquiring about the possibility of hiring a Stall at the Local Farmer's Market. "Don't know about that" said the young man he was talking to "Not my area" (as ever) "But if you're interested in a Christmas Market I've just had a cancellation at Boston and if you can do 'food to eat' you can have the spot".
So that was it. All our food is 'to eat' -- we just had to make it more like 'eat now'. Hardly pausing in his stride, The Boss is on to the Good Butcher and his wife and before you know, we have Pasties and Pies to die for (and to sell). And within the space of just two or three weeks we are product and packaging ready and off to market.
Our stall laden with Three types of pastie (Lincolnshire Sunburst - with sundried tomato and golden raisin, Ham & Leek, and Lincolnshire Vegetable) plus 3 types of Pork Pie (with Cranberry, with Apple and Just Plain Pork) plus Unique Gourmet Chocolate with Hazlenut-flavoured Grammel and Pure Pork lard (free if you purchase 3 pasties) was a great success and we did a roaring trade throughout the morning..... but quickly learned the (probably) golden rule of the Market -- that the afternoon is 'for browsing not selling'. Not to worry though --- it was a very useful (market) research exercise and an entertaining, if tiring, day..... And we have enough pasties to eat for a day or two..... And may even venture into the Market proper during the coming year... Depends what the Big Boss thinks.... If he has time to think about that with another Open Day - in the form of party with the Piggies - coming up next Sunday....... Just another ordinary week in the life of Rectory Reserve.......................... (roller skates at the ready everybody?..........)

Raining - pigs and ducks

It's that time of year again......Nothing but rain, rain and more rain. Mud, mud and more mud. Horses wade through squelchy globs of the stuff on their way to and from their field. Pigs puddle up their pens in ever greater degrees - yet still manage to rootle down to some dry stuff each day - not much of which is ever apparent when feeding time comes round and we wade in to find their bowls! The chickens have taken to spending most of the day in the Poultry Palace and only the ducks and young piglets truly seem to be enjoying themselves.
Despite the conditions, or maybe even because of them, The Big Boss decided Friday last was the time to move The Puddings (aka Delila's weanlings) from the stalls to the Big Outdoors. The gundog and I got home from our days' work to find the job done and the little ones safely esconced in their new quarters. Surprisingly (!??) they were not all that keen to leave the dry, if boring, indoors and a couple had to be
Linda-handled into the trailer before the rest could be persuaded! But once out they wasted no time in getting truly dirty and now they all look like little chocolate puds..... (Strangely, pigs and chocolate are a "theme of the moment"....... but more of that another day).

The brood of late ducklings too have lost all their fluffy down and grown into beautiful young birds so I decided today that it was time they left the safety of the baby-pen and joined the rest of the flock.
After some initial shyness they were quickly into the deep water and spent the best part of the day with mum paddling gaily around and thoroughly enjoying themselves. But at dusk they still retired to sleep in their familiar broody coop: it will be a few days yet before they are brave enough to join the others in the Poultry Palace. In no time at all though they will be indistinguishable from the others, although I am hoping that the lovely pale colouring which four of them have will remain as they grow up.......

Window Dressing

I've long suspected Ginger of being a closet Prima Donna - what with making up to the cameras, and bringing up the Little Ones to be stars of Radio, Print and Screen and all that.
But she's gone a bit over the top this time......seems she's finally decided to 'out' herself. Is this a sign of maturity in the sow? Something to do with the Autumn Equinox... or maybe Thanksgiving..... or just the continuing ruminations of an exquisite porcine mind?
Who knows?
But when we went out to do breakfast last Wednesday we were (dumb) struck by a modification to Madam's living quarters. It would seem that having a big South facing door at the front of the ark and a small North facing ventilation opening at the rear of the ark was inadequate.
We all know that a Room with a View is the ultimate must-have for a Home of Distinction. So, with the long nights having arrived and piglets not being exactly the most exciting of companions for an intelligent female, Ginger set about turning her snout to some minor modifications to the accommodation.
Actually - quite a major modification..... she decided to destruct (couldn't call it construction really) a window through which she could lie a-bed of a morning (or any time of day, come to that) and stare out at the view across the Wolds to the distant Cathedral and valley..... And which would afford her a good view of the dying embers of each day as she grunts bedtime (pig)tails to the Little Ones.
And, since it faces his direction also, she can gaze admiringly on Mangal as he goes about his daily business --- maybe she pines for him a little.... and she can keep an eye on him to make sure he's ok whilst she's bring up his latest offspring.........
I don't know what goes on in her mind but clearly she wanted a window just there.
Just as clearly (to us) the window needed glazing to keep the cold and the rain out. So that was Con's first job when he turned up on Friday.
Muttering something like "In all my life I've never been asked to put a window in a Pig Ark before!" he went about it in his usual conscientious fashion and in no time at all Ginger's Pad turned into a DesRes.
I will not be surprised if this is not the last window to be made in an Ark at Rectory Reserve......... and meanwhile the little piglets think it's just wonderful that Mum has provided a little more light for their indoor games........ Thoughtful to the last, that's Ginger....

Gifts from afar!

"We've just received a parcel from Hungary" said the Big Boss in bemusement this morning when he came out to the stables - where I was mucking out the horses prior to a day's Bush Beating with The Bestest Gundog in all The World - at 0815.

"Uh?" I said "Surely the post hasn't arrived already?"

"Nope" he replied "It was delivered by a nice young Hungarian man"

"That's a bit of a coincidence!" I retorted.

"A nice young man, in a van, direct from Hungary.." he spelt out.. (Well - how bright are you first thing in the morning???).

It seems the young man in question delivers all sorts of stuff from Hungary to Great Britain every fortnight. So Mangalitza products direct from a Hungarian Mangalitza producer door-to-door.... Would you believe it?!

He apologised to The Boss for the rather battered box but said it got buried under a lot of other

things in the van and he didn't realise it was Fragile.... Actually, if you look very closely at the writing on the box, I'm more inclined to believe that Somebody, Somewhere-along-the-line just wanted to check that The Nice Young Man wasn't exporting (or importing) illegal cigarettes.... But that's just my view.

Anyway, returning home at the end of an arduous day in the field, my nostrils were overwhelmed by the powerful aroma of Hungarian Smoked Sausages emanating from the house - even before I walked through the door.

What are we going to do with them all? Ahh, well, that's a tale for another day! It's certainly going to be fun tasting them!!!

Talking of moving...

The view from our bedroom window when we awoke and opened our eyes last Thursday morning was truly ethereal..... all the fields were bathed with an eerily golden-reddish glow: the stubble was as if on fire, the beech hedge as if back-lit by some wayward camera man..... the sort of truly amazing sunrise that just makes you glad to be alive. Leaping out of bed I grabbed my camera to record the moment.

The Big Boss, pragmatic as ever, commented that :

"If we're in for some decent days we should plan to wean Delila's piglets tomorrow when everyone's about....."

But we all know the old adage: "....Red sky in the morning shepherd's warning..." and the gale blew ever stronger and stronger during the day - cancelling all sorts of other activities -so we did wonder if the Friday plans would materialise......

Sure enough though, when The Bestest Gundog in all the World (who'd retrieved - on his own - 7 birds shot by a single gun on the first drive of the day) and I returned from our day's work we found The Team already in action......

.... Clyde had already been separated from Alfred and moved to the woods......

We were just in time to help separate the piglets from Delila.

Easy peasy. Gave her some food and she promptly forgot about them! Their curiosity (and maybe the smell of food) led them straight up to, and in to, the trailer and away they were before she even noticed. Back to collect her and she went straight into the trailer too..... and we dropped her off in the woods - just before dark - with young Clyde.

And nobody's had any peace and quiet since..... but more of that later!

Meanwhile the weanlings seem to be enjoying their (temporary)new, clean life in the stalls without mum..... they're such a healthy, roly poly bunch (even One Eyed Jack) that I'm thinking of naming them after puddings..... Hmmmmm .... will have to consult with Linda on that.....

On the news and on the move - again

"Oh my gawd - what's going on!?" exclaimed the Big Boss in dazed shock when he came round from his slumbers in the semi darkness early yesterday morning..... "What are those pigs doing in here?" .... And then he recognised the image of himself and slowly comprehension began to dawn..... the pigs weren't really in the bedroom....they were pressing their snouts up against the fence but they were just on TV ...Yes. They'd made the News again. What's more it was the local news. The piece was about small businesses weathering the recession and, as He said to that nice young man who came to interview him for the item last week, "Going from one breeding sow to four breeding sows in just two years", was certainly an indication of growth...... And the local News repeats at half hourly intervals for three hours during the morning with a longer slot at lunch time and an even longer slot during the evening! Delighted with the publicity... although He found it a bit disconcerting when he went shopping later in the day---- What was worse? Those that immediately recognised him or those who couldn't remember why they recognised him!!!?

So on to more down to earth matters today. Picking up Bonnie and Lotos from their summer home at The Butterfly Park and transporting them up to their new home and future husband -the handsome JD who left Rectory Reserve just three weeks ago.

Despite the raging gales we arrived at The BP in good time expecting to have to spend a little time coercing the two young ladies to leave their summer quarters and enter the trailer... But not a bit of it... "You want us to go in there? No Problem. Where to next?" they seemed to say and were loaded before Yours Truly could even get the camera out! We tidied the

(unnecessary) hurdles back into the trailer, had a long catch-up chat with the charming Mr Cross and departed in good time for the North of the County.

The weather blustered and poured but still we made good progress and arrived at The New Home just ahead of schedule.

Bonnie and Lotos had no hesitation in leaving the trailer for their new quarters and happily and inquisitively chuntered around their new (quarantine) pen that JD had not long before been moved from. Their new Boss, young Keith, has installed electric around the bottom of his

fences and this gave the girls some nasty shocks... time and again a nose or a bottom or a belly bumped into the Stingy Thing and time and again they squealed ---- and we all jumped even though we knew they would squeal.....

"In a day or so they'll have learned" said Keith "and we'll be able to turn the electric off....." I sighed in relief (for them of course!).

And then we went along to say "Hi" to JD. He did spare a few seconds to come over and give us a "I think I remember you" sniff but then he was quickly back to Serious Business. Keith suspects that Oscar, his Saddleback boar, has not mated with one of his sows and hoped that by putting JD in the pen alongside, Oscar would be spurred into renewing his acquaintance with said sow. He hadn't bargained on JD being quite so vigorous in his attempts to make Oscar jealous nor was he aware of his ability to mount a challenge!

The Big Boss completed the formalities and exchange of papers in double quick time saying that he thought "The sooner we leave, the sooner" Keith and his mate Dave could install some electric wire on JD's side of the fence before JD took it upon himself to climb over it and into Oscar's pen

with the ladies.......

As I said, we left quickly with The Big Boss muttering something along the lines of "I think they underestimate the determination of the Mangalitza male....". Let's hope they were just as speedy in their remedial work........

In the News again!

No sooner had Ginger delivered her latest brood than the previous litter were in the news again. The three film stars made their debut on National TV the week before last and the local press were keen to run the story......naturally.

The programme runs for 10 weeks. In the first two parts our little stars made quality (rather than quantity) cameo appearances. We are hopeful that by the end of the series the great British public will be treated to sufficient glimpses of their antics and experiences with Janet Street-Porter that they will be left in no doubt as to their superiority above all other rare breeds (... I know.... but I am allowed to be slightly biased!). If you want to learn more go to the F-Word site and look for Series 5 which includes J S-P's blog of her F-Word role and a short video of her with the Curly Coats...... If you Can't find it that way, key in http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/f-word/series-5/janet-s-blog-week-2_p_1.html

Ginger's Armistice Tribute

Tuesday evening, as we were settling down for dinner, the Big Boss mentioned that Ginger was 'nesting' at tea time.

"So? Did you give her some clean straw?" I enquired

"No - it's early days yet" he replied "We'll give her some in the morning"

Well... "in the morning" was just a little too late. It was suspiciously quiet when I took the new straw at breakfast time.....

"Not surprising" I thought when I peered inside the ark.... piglets already arrived!

In typical Ginger fashion, she'd just got on with it when nobody was looking.

And here they are at just one day old - already out and about and inquisitive about what Mum's up to and what's in her bowl. No fuss, no nonsense, no bother.

Just six little wriggly piglets bouncing around in the weak November sunshine.

AAAhhhh. What a star she is.

And even at such an early stage, still shivery and wobbly, the little ones are already shovelling up dirt and straw and anything else which gets under their little snouts.....

Think we'll have to name them after war heroes or famous battles........

Last call.....

The Indian Summer has been responsible for a number of unusual phenomena this autumn - amazingly red apples in the orchard, the best harvest of damsons in years, beautiful leaf shades in the woods and hedgerows, grass still growing in October, the driest September/October combined...... Here at RectoryReserve we have had a few strange occurrences of our own - extremely late hatching swallows and a litter of 10 Mangalitza piglets (unheard of) to name but two.
But to cap it all, one of the call ducks decided she had enough time to hatch another brood and duly 'popped' this little group of 7 on Sunday 25th October! Had she done that last year at the same time they would surely have frozen to death. She must have known well in advance that it would be OK (laying an egg a day for at least 14 days and then 28 more to sit on them!) - clever thing. Having had only two ducklings survive from the earlier broods in the year I was determined to try and save more of this hatching. Luckily, it being Pigs-to-the-Big-Butcher day that Sunday, I was up and out early and so spotted them first thing before mum could march them all out to the pond behind my back! (Which is what they usually do and then half of them fall over on their backs and get squashed en route).
I quickly scooped the little ones up and put them in a box and then waited for the mother to make a lot of noise so that I could identify which one was the mother.... which she certainly did. So I managed to scoop her up and put her in a box too. Then moved them all to the broody coop.
At which point the mother duck decided "enough" and waddled at a rate of knots into the nest box end, totally disowning her brood. Ducks really can be such bad mothers! So I shooed her out. She waddled back. I shooed her out again. She waddled back again. So I shooed her out and blocked the hatchway. That got her. She spent about another half hour pretending the little ones were nothing to do with her. But then she did a complete volte face ...... next thing I knew she was huddling them all under her and covering them with her wings. Where they stayed for the rest of the day. By the time it got to evening and I opened up the hatch to the nest box, she was in there with them in no time and for the next week disappeared back in there with them everytime I appeared on the horizon!
But now, 10 days later, they are well grown and strong enough to be out and about in the nursery pen.... she still hides them as soon as she sees me but it takes her a little longer each time so I hope to have a photo of the 'growing up' ducklings in a day or two.
Meanwhile I am just relieved that there are still 7 of them........

The vet comes to call.....

When the vet called on Thursday and The Boss told him that, out of the litter of 10, he had eight little porkers to castrate he pulled a bit of a wry face, rolled up his sleeves and began to prepare for a long session.

"Unusual to have such a high proportion of males" he remarked, in passing.

It was an unseasonably warm morning so it wasn't just the little piggies who were going to get hot and bothered!

Additionally, each weaner also had to have an injection and a pink identity tag put in its ear and to be sprayed with a blue (boys) or an orange blob (girls) to identify who'd been 'done' and who hadn't. It's a three person job - one (moi) to corral the piglets in a tight spot so the vet could more easily get hold of each in turn; a strong one (The Big Boss) to hold each piglet in a squiggle-free-proof position and The Vet to do all the technical bits.

The first and the fourth ones to be dealt with were the two girls so we were all surprised, on reaching 7 of ten, when "Well, you can't count" rang out from the mouth of a slightly perspiring Vet! But not as surprised as we were when reaching the last of the 10 and he joyfully proclaimed:

"Another female"

Well, it's no wonder we got it wrong. They are such a lively bunch and trying to count which was which when all 10 were dashing around all over each other and everywhere else was not easy. Anyway, they were wormed on Friday and by the end of next week will be outside again in the fresh air. Not that they seem to mind being indoors. We thought it was a bit difficult for them all to eat from the same feedbowl so we started giving them two bowls but all that happened was that, although one or two of them briefly snuffled in the second bowl, they quickly returned to the first bowl till it was empty and then all moved on to the second! It was as if they felt that if they were not all sharing the same bowl they might be missing out on something!

Whilst the vet was here, and injecting the rest of the herd as well, we got him to take a look at Delila's little recluse. During the latter part of the week, 5 of the six had, from time to time, been outside playing and eating in the sunshine, but the sixth one still preferred to stay within the confines of the ark (in this photo, he's the one tucked away in the back corner), although he often lay just inside the doorway. The vet got in the ark with him and quickly concluded that the little fellow is blind in his left eye! "But he's well grown and there doesn't appear to be anything else wrong" said the man.

And, believe it or not, a little while later the same little piglet was outside for the first time playing and eating with the others..... just as if he'd been waiting to get the Doctor's report before going out into the Big Wide World! Aaaaahhhhh

..And then it all happened....

Gunner and I got home from beating just in time on Friday afternoon: the last movement was in train' as we drove down the drive..... Nigella was on her way from the woods to her farrowing quarters up by the bridleway (until earlier that day, occupied by Precious and her gang).... She seemed content to move, treading carefully but purposefully in the wake of the apples which Linda was waving in front of her snout.....

And that was at 5.00 pm: prior to that, the 10 weanlings had been moved to the stalls --- that was easy peasy after all our deliberations: Precious was given some food in one of the pens and became singularly preoccupied with that whilst her little ones were distracted into the other pen and from thence into the trailer without (I was told) a hitch but with the help of several good men and true (two of whom had come to collect JD who has gone off to pastures new and will shortly be joined by Lotos and Bonnie---- Lucky pig!)! Apparently they didn't want to leave the trailer and at least one of them had to be manhandled out! But they are now safely esconced in the stalls and show no sign of missing Mum.

Who meanwhile was moved up to Samson, who, prior to her joining him had been moved from the woods to his new pen at the top of the Church Field. Which necessitated an unplanned move. Samson's new pen is next to where Clyde and Alfred (and - before he left - JD ) were. On Samson's arrival, Clyde became very boar-ish and started facing up to Samson (who is several times his size) through the fence. Samson started retaliating - and salivating and they both started pushing at each other through the fence.

"Uh Oh" said the Big Boss "We'd better put a bit of distance between them". So, Tweedledum and Tweedledee (who were of to the Great Butcher in the Sky today anyway) had to be moved ahead of schedule to the Temporary Holding Pen..... leaving a pen clear between Samson and Precious...

And then Ginger was moved away from Mangal and up to her farrowing quarters so - in her absence - Mangal spent a pleasant few hours chatting to Clyde and Alfred who are now in the pen alongside him. Doubtless he is passing on to them all the great Wisdoms from Way Back when Pigs Ruled the World.......

In the midst of all these movements, Delila's little piglets - now coming up to 4 weeks old - continue to behave extraordinarily: not in the least inquisitive about all that is going on around them, two of the 6 steadfastly remain inside the ark with the other 4 popping out occasionally to play or join Mum for dinner. They have the full complement of limbs so maybe they are deaf or blind and therefore don't want to go outdoors.. we shall have to explore a little further.....

Almost moving time

Precious's no-longer-so-little bunch of nuts will be 7 weeks old on Sunday. They are happy, bumptious, roly-poly piglets and quite capable of fending for themselves - at least according to Precious who, for the past 10 days or so, has steadfastly made plain to them that suckling is 'just for babies'!

How does she do that? Well, she just puts her teats where they can't get to them - either hidden underneath her or pushed up against the perimeter fence or arc wall! She clearly feels her job is done.

So, plans are in hand to wean them.

And that's giving The Big Boss a little bit of a headache. Can we corner them away from Precious (she might have given up suckling them but she's still very protective ... and strong.....) and carry them, one by one, to the stalls? Can we shut them in the ark without her and then pick them up one by one and carry them......? Should we load them all into the trailer, Precious included, and then unload just the piglets into the stalls - assuming we can stop her getting out with them....? Could we corner the piglets away from her and then just carry them to the trailer without her going berserk........?

Whichever... the deed will be done on Friday at tea time...... Watch this space.......
All will be revealed.........

Agoraphobic piglets?

Just when you think you know what piglets are like and how they are going to behave, along comes a bunch which proves you're wrong.....

Delila's litter - born on 30th September - are nearly three weeks old. They're nice piglets; perfectly healthy and strong and good looking; but two of them just don't want to leave their ark. Yesterday we had visitors and - naturally - they wanted to see all the piglets. Well - these two would not be tempted out. I had to get in the ark with them and lift them out into the Big Wide World. And then one of them squeaked so much that Delila forgot all about the titbits which had, thus far, distracted her and came over all in a tizzy to remonstrate with me..... And then she took them all back indoors to suckle them and restore their peace of mind..... or something.....

It's all the more odd because the other four piglets are now happily scampering out and about with Mum much of the day and squeezing under the fence to go visit with Auntie Mavis and Auntie Maud.... just like normal piglets really.

Perhaps the other two will join them in the next few days...... but the weather is not getting any warmer so the world will not be any more welcoming...... we'll just have to wait and see..... Agoraphobic Piglets? Who'd have thought it!!!

Only a bantam......

...Could sit on a nest of eggs for 21 days, hatch just one (or even none) of those eggs, nurture it for almost a week and then............................ lose it!

The stupididy is compounded by the fact that, actually, two bantams at the same time each sat on a nest of eggs for 21 days and - between them - hatched just one egg and - between them - nurtured that one egg together for almost a week and then.. between the two of them .... lost it! Where, how and exactly when remains a mystery.

You can just see the little chick sunbathing next to mum no. 1 in the first picture; moments later it had gone to sleep (picture 2) somewhere under either no. 1 or no. 2 mum. Each of the hens was equally protective of it - for almost a week - ushering it around between the pair of them the whole time, clucking as hens do whilst the little one "Cheep, cheep, cheep"-ed for all it was worth. For such a little thing it was very noisy... In fact, it was the noise - or, rather, the lack of noise, which alerted me that something was wrong this morning.

I let them out of their pen to go into their run as usual first thing this morning and the little one was fine..... three hours later when I was passing I missed the plaintive "Cheep, Cheep" so went to investigate. And there was no little chick.

I looked all around the pen, along the hedge, in the little hen house..... Nothing.

Completely and mysteriously disappeared.

Did it wander under the fence on to the Bridlepath the other side and get caught by a passing dog: did a Jackdaw swoop down and grab it? It might just as well have evaporated. There was no sign of it.

Were the stupid bantam hens concerned? After all their effort and mothering I'd have expected them to be running up and down, clucking and screeching and looking fraught. Instead, they seemed quite resigned - walked up and down a bit - like two dowager duchesses parading round the park for a while - but that was it. Stupid, stupid birds. How could they have lost the chick in broad daylight in the middle of the morning with people about?

Only a bantam could be that careless......................

Long day in the field

There are doubtless many people who think we are absolutely crazy - even more so to enjoy it (!!!) and probably millions of others who don't even know that we do it but would think we were barking mad if they did.

But those of us who are fortunate enough

to be able to turn up from late September to end January and 'bush beat' or 'pick-up' on Shoots are privy to one of the finest ways of enjoying the countryside. The fact that the activity takes place in the Autumn and Winter adds to, rather than detracts from, its attraction. Clad in wind, weather and waterproof gear we happily traipse over any terrain and through any obstacle to ensure that the 'Guns' enjoy their sport to the maximum.

Of course, we are all just a little bit crazy so there's no shortage of humour to ease the slightly less exhilarating moments - like waiting seeming hours for the Guns to get to their pegs (or being severely and blasphemously berated by The Keeper for being in the wrong place at the wrong time doing absolutely the most wrong thing) -and since we are accompanied by some of the finest and keenest canine comrades there is much for even the most jaded soul to wonder at.

Now, it may just be me and The Dog who feel this way, but the evidence suggests otherwise!

So it was yesterday: the third of the Season so far and a 'Let' day - i.e. Visitors who have bought a day's shooting. The weather was about perfect - dry, slight wind, cool and mostly cloudy. The Dog and I turned up at our usual time and found the rest of the gang loaded and ready to go - another few minutes and we'd have missed them........ Two things about let days: Keeper wants them to enjoy themselves and get their money's worth and, secondly, it's their day so they do it their way. And yesterday that was "Slowly". The most heard phrase of the day was - "Haven't those guns got to their pegs yet" (or less polite variations of the same sentiment). Which meant we spent quite a bit of time hanging around waiting...

The Dog is most patient and really, really good at sitting still for a long time - so I couldn't really blame him for cheekily having a bit of his own sport with a suddenly upspringing hare when we finally got going...... but I did (one of my beater colleages later remarked that he'd never seen me "have words" with my dog before) because today's cheek could so easily turn into tomorrow's misbehaviour .... With all animals, but probably dogs more than most, consistency is everything..... 'wrong' is therefore always 'wrong'... and he was the epitome of best behaved dog for the remainder of the day.......

And a jolly long day it was - especially at lunch time: so someone said "

Who's for a game?" and off a load of them went to fling coins at a target and in the air and yell "heads" and "tails" and there were serious faces -the ones that weren't winning - and smiley faces - those that were......(there were some rules I believe!). And before we knew it nearly two hours had passed and the guns were ready to go again!

And we had our work cut out for the next two hours or more to help them make up for lost time....... One of Gunner's strengths (aside from retrieving) is finding and flushing birds from the heaviest cover - which at this stage of the season is Kale - and there was plenty of that during the afternoon.

So The Bestest Gundog in the World and I arrived home later, tireder and achier than expected ---- and in no time at all he was curled up on the sofa fast asleep and I was curled up next to him with a glass of very quaffable wine..... What more could one ask after a hard day's fun??

Split Personalities

You just never know with piglets!

Precious had her lot out and about in the pen within 3 days of entering the world. Delila, at the other extreme, is not at all in a hurry to have her brood out and exploring..... Until yesterday, 5 days from being born, none had ventured out of their cosy house. We were getting a little concerned until we reminded ourselves that that was the status quo with the first couple of litters to be born here! Clearly our expectations have increased in the intervening period!

Nonetheless, it was a great relief to see three of them happily trotting about and exploring everything and everyone yesterday afternoon...... Mavis and Maud were most inquisitive and the little ones were happy enough to snuffle them through the fence... until Delila, some distance away, gruntled protectively and called her young ones back....... Meanwhile, the other three seemed perfectly contented to be tucked up in the corner of their cosy house and not in the least interested in coming out to play when the other three came back in to entice them out!

Still, why should I expect all of them to do the same thing? It'll be interesting to see if they maintain such different desires as they grow......