Month: April 2007

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We don t get a lot of time for holidays…

We don’t get a lot of time for holidays, in fact we have not had one for so many years, I cant truly remember the last one. We did manage to be away from the farm for twenty four hours last summer, when we went to the East End of London. If it had not been a very special friends retirement bash, we would not have had that time off. The lady is a very special person who has forgotten more about horses than I know. When ever I needed advice or help, she was the one I went to. She got an MBE for her work for RDA. She is responsible for the Docklands Equestrian Centre, that she worked tirelessly to achieve. It is a magnificent centre, probably the best in the country.

Today we had another two hours away from the farm. We went to the seaside, that is only a twenty minute drive away, and we had fish and chips on the beach. In the summer we try to do it once a week. We call it our holiday and believe me it is a break. With Lady due to foal we cant stay away from the farm for long. Two hours for really to long.

I have been making the new Badger Hide, the last one blew away in the gales last year. We made a temporary one for our holiday guest over Easter. If we had another gale that would have flown away to. This one is a bit more substantial and will be anchored into the ground. I am a little concerned if the Badgers will take to it, with the Cubs due out soon. We have guest due in a weeks time. The Badgers need to be use to the new hide by then. I will get the frame up tomorrow and see what they think of it.

Coming back from feeding the badgers for the past two evenings, I have seen one of the Geese flying back to the lake, I could hear him calling as he flew along the valley towards the lake. I take it, it was the Gander. I hope that he is not playing away, as the Goose has been incubating her eggs on the island. I have not heard the other pair of Geese for a couple of days, I should think they are looking for another nesting site. That is why the Gander feels safe to be away. I would guess that the eggs will hatch in about twenty six days. I will have to think of a way to stop the Gosling from being taken by their predators, but I don’t hold out much hope for them.

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It was this time of year some years back that…

It was this time of year, some years back that I first viewed Denbury as a potential buyer. Walking down the valley I was hit by a sea of white flowers in and along the side of the wood. I had never seen Wild Garlic until then, but the heavy aroma of garlic made it obvious what it was. Drifts of Bluebell were in between the Wild Garlic, with small clusters of Wild Primroses hear and there. It is a sight that you never tire of seeing. Magically it brings the valley to life, as it is now. When the flowers die back it is forgotten for another year. I cant say that it was a deciding factor in purchasing Denbury, but it is a yearly bonus.

It is strange but the Wild Garlic is only in the wood on the west side of the valley. The wood on the east side of the valley has not a trace of Wild Garlic, It is a beautiful Bluebell wood this time of year. At certain times of the year you can also find Wild Orchids in this wood.

I heard the Fox Cubs playing in the wood this afternoon, They are in the corner of the field where you can sometime see the Sheep, very close to the Tree House. I would have liked to have gone into the wood to have tried to seen them, unfortunately I did not get the time. I know that their lair must be in that area, so there would have been a good chance of me finding it. I should think that they will be playing in the field very soon. Hopefully I will be able to get them on camera.

I still have not managed to catch any more of the Sheep. I take a bag with a scoop of feed in it to the pen, every morning. The Sheep stay well back until I have walked a fair distance back. They do go and feed in the pen, but as soon as I start to walk towards the pen to close them in, they run off. They wont go back to feed until I am out of sight. It is becoming a concern that they are still on the grazing and hay fields. The Horses would not want to eat hay with Sheep droppings in it.

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Bluebells Wild Garlic primroses daffs…

Bluebells Wild Garlic primroses daffs

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By luck I found a Blackbird nest How I had…

By luck I found a Blackbird nest, How I had not seen it before, I really don’t know. It is very close to the Dove nest. In fact if the box had been pointing the other way It would have been closer to the camera than the Dove nest. The box the nest is in, is an old fruit box from when I was given free fruit and veg for my Wild Boar, when I kept them. For some reason I had tried to throw the box over the side of Breezes stable to where I kept the boxes. When I threw it over it did not quite clear the top rail of the stable top. It was not stuck or wedged, I am amazed that when she was making her nest it did not fall over the rail, I have had to tie it to the rail to make sure that it does not drop over to the next door stable. It is a shame that I did not find the nest before the eggs were laid. I should think that the eggs only hatched yesterday.

Blackbirds do have a habit of finding the most silly places to nest. Two years ago one nested in the barn opposite the Farm House. Hopefully that is where some of the Swallows will soon nest. The barn is where I store everything that I will never want again, it tends to become a tip until I decide to have a clear out. The Blackbirds decided they were going to nest in between a large stack of old paint tins. There was nothing to entice the Bird to nest where it did, there were a lot of better alternatives. It did happen to look good on camera. I reckon we should have got one of the paint manufacturers, who tins were displayed to have given us sponsorship.

Im not best pleased with the Pied Wagtails, that I thought was going to nest in the cooker hood fan hole. After spending a few hours putting up the wiring up for the camera, I think that they may decide to nest elsewhere. The Tit nest in a beam in the cottage, is also not going to happen. The Tits are to far down in the hole to be able to get a camera in place. I suppose I could, but the Birds would never be able to get out. We will have a good look about for more nests to put on camera over the next day or two.

Rye Harbour Nature Reserve has their new camera installed. It can be seen on Cam 1 until the Cam 2 page is set up, hopefully by tomorrow. The Camera is installed on an island. Because of the distance that the camera is from the Visitor Centre, and other problems that they have with the location, the PTZ camera can only be made to work by microwave transmission, for both the signal and data. the power supply is by battery, charged by solar panels. It is a very sophisticated system for a web cam. It will concentrate on breeding sea birds over the coming months and promises to be excellent viewing. Anyone living or on holiday in the area, should give the Reserve a visit. From the Visitors Centre, visitors are able to control the cameras.

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I was asked on the forum about my Bird Feeders…

I was asked on the forum about my Bird Feeders being busy. They may look it, but over the last week or so they have had some of the feed still in the feeders when I fill them in the mornings, when normally they are empty. I should think that the Birds are busy nest building and some will be sitting on their eggs. I had a period in the late summer of last year, when we had very few Bird visiting the feeders, the Squirrels also disappeared, the Squirrels only returned recently. I thought that I had given the birds a bad lot of feed, and that it had killed the Birds off. If I remember correctly the feeders were very quite for a good couple of months. When they did return the Green Finches came in larger numbers than the Tits, when it was the opposite way round, before their disappearing act. When the bird did return we had a lot more Gold Finches visiting the feeders.

We have also have more Woodpeckers on the feeders this year. We have a few Green Woodpeckers on the farm, I have never seen any on the feeders as yet. We had a bird feeding on Monday that I did not recognise, I will look it up to see what it was, If any of you saw a different bird feeding, and you know what it was, please let me know. Be careful that you don’t leave any whole peanuts that the Woodpeckers may be able to get. I am told that the young bird have been known to choke on them, when fed by their parents.

On the Farm Cam 1, in the position when you can see the Squirrel feeder, as well as the Bird feeders, very often feeding below are Pheasants. They wait for the Birds on the feeders to drop seed. I cannot show them as there is a large amount of bramble to clear, that is obstructing the camera view. It is a very busy area, there are always Rabbits that you can see in the background.

Another question on the forum today, asked about seeing the Otters. There would be a good chance of seeing them if I had the time to move the Lake camera. We could also see the Geese sitting on her eggs on the island. One pair have nested on the island. I cant make out why the other pair are hanging about, If I had the time I would secure a pallet on the lake for them to nest on, for I am sure they would.

I hope that I have not offended you Ladies concerning the chat. The entry on the forum was right, it was taking away part of the forums idea. I liked the banter and the information you were giving. If you cut it down, I am sure you will not get any more negative entries. I am sure that interesting subjects concerning pets and ideas would be welcome by all.

Please do not put your email address on site, It can be dangerous for all, but mainly children.

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I decided that I would leave Lady Woody and another…

I decided that I would leave Lady, Woody and another two Broodmares in Ireland to have their foals. I wanted Lady to be mated with Desert Style again, who was at stud in Ireland. Because of the relationship with Captain Hurricane it was a financial decision. I would also find suitable Stallions for Woody and the other two mares. On the 1st of March Lady produced a Colt Foal. The Colt foal was what I wanted. A Colt Foal would be nearly double the value of a Filly Foal. On the 21st of March Woody also had a Colt Foal by Indian Lodge. Our Branston, who winds Lady up.

Lady was never my favorite Horse whilst she was at Denbury, before I owned her. She had the vice that you sometimes see, of Weaving, swaying her head from side to side. It is not a problem with Broodmares, but would have been if she did it when in training in her racing career, where she would have picked the vice up from. She would Crib Bite, which is another undesirable vice. When she had another Foal, I had to help the foal being born. She would not let it feed, to make sure that the foal got the colostrum I had to milk Lady and feed the foal from a bottle. The next day she was good with the foal, although later she would very often bite the foal when it tried to feed from her. She was also very spiteful and unfriendly with other Horses, violently kicking out on them for very little reason. So my experiences with Lady were not good.

Some weeks later I had a phone call from the person who was looking after my Horses in Ireland. Lady’s foal was missing. The gate to the field where they were kept had been found open, all the Horses had got out, when they were all found and caught, Lady’s foal was missing. The foal would be able to stay alive for a short while, but the weather was not good. For the time of year it was cold and wet. Foals should be stabled in that weather. Hypothermia in a foal of that age, is very possible.

The Foal could not be found. It was very unlikely that it had been stolen and after a week it was likely that it had died. I was given to believe that Lady had not been to upset at the loss, with what I had experienced with her, with the other foal I could quite believed it. Weeks later the remains of a foal was found in a wood, DNA tests showed it to be Lady’s missing foal.

After being mated Lady and Woody with Branston and another foal returned to the UK. The other two Broodmares I sold in Ireland. Straight away it was obvious there had been a change in Lady. She mixed in the fields with our riding horses, allowing Woody and Breeze to boss her. She still Weaved a little but no longer Cribbed. In fact she was a very nice friendly Horse. A real pleasure to have around.

Lady foaled last year, giving birth to Bliss a three quarter sister to the dead foal. Woody also had a Filly named Misty. Lady as you may have seen was a brilliant mother. I cant believe that she would not have pined for her lost Foal, for she never allowed Bliss out of her sight.

Bliss and Misty are now yearlings, both are very well bred, with excellent confirmation. I have soon to make up my mind if I am going to sell them. I purchased the Race Horses with the intention of starting an on line Horse Racing and Breeding Partnership. I was let down by a Horse Racing Television Channel to advertise my new venture. www.ownaleg.com. It is now a free advertising site. I am tempted to start it again with Bliss and Misty.

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I first met Lady and Woody when they belonged to…

I first met Lady and Woody when they belonged to one of our tenants who occupied one of our cottages on the farm. When he came to live on the farm he introduced himself as a Bloodstock Agent. He was not, he had a much less savory occupation, the income from that occupation allowed him to purchase a number of Horses including Lady and Woody.

Buy luck, and I promise you not by judgement, he purchased Lady, who real name is Sprite and Woody(Woodland Garden) from Bloodstock Auctions. A previous owner of Lady (Sprite) was Lord Carnarvon the son of the Lord Carnarvon, who with Howard Carter discovered the Tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh King Tutankhamun. She is a top quality mare. Woody is also a quality mare, one of her earlier foals sold for in access of

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For about three hours to day we have been setting…

For about three hours to day, we have been setting a camera up to watch a pair of Pied Wagtail nesting. They are nesting in an extractor fan outlet hole, in one of the holiday cottages. After a few problems we managed to get it going, but on putting the camera and light into the hole, we found that the light did not have the power to light up the recess, that the nest is in. I will have to look at the alternatives, and try to get it up and running tomorrow.

The Swallows are starting to arrive on the farm, to start their nesting. I must admit they are our favorites for the nesting cameras, they really are cute. They have in recent years lost a lot of their old nesting sites on the farm, as we have converted two barns. I am putting up a few shelves in another of our barns, in the hope that it will encourage them to nest in that barn. I can then hopefully put a camera up to watch them there. If I get the time, and I can find four different types of Birds nesting, I will put a camera up on each nest. I have a piece of equipment, that will allow me to rotate the four cameras at intervals I choose, on the four nests.

We are not getting the rain that we need to get the grass growing as it should be. The ground is very hard and we need a fair bit of rain soon. Most years the Horses are able to graze a seven acre field, for all of the summer and part of the autumn, up to November, December time. That’s allowing them to start to graze the field, on about the 1st of May. What with the sheep still on the fields grazing and the lack of rain, the grass may not last as long as usual. I know most of you would rather have the good weather we are now getting, but long dry spells do cause problems in farming, that in turn causes price increases in the food you purchase. Dont worry how daft you may look, go outside and try a little rain dance.

We have the remains of a small Cider Orchard on the farm. For the first time since we have lived here, every tree blossemed and we had more fruit than ever. There were more Blackberries and other hedge fruits than usual, and the Wallnuts were large. And that was after the exceptional hot and dry summer. We thought that we were in for a hard winter, because of the large ammount of fruit. On the conterary, the Autume and Winter were the mildest that I can remeber. I dont know that I am convinced on Global Warming, but if it is happening, Farmers will need to change there ways of farming.

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By luck not so lucky for a last year Portland…

By luck, not so lucky for a last year Portland Ewe lamb, there are now ten Sheep in the field that I an now putting them in. A few day ago I saw her caught up with a piece of electric fencing wire, tangled around her back foot and a fence post. I was on the quad at the time. As I drove towards her she got up and started to run away breaking, the wire. There was still a very long length attached to her, so I gave chase on the quad. That really is not a good idea. Quads used foolishly are very dangerous, and my chasing the Ewe was foolish. They are so easy to turn over, with the machine finishing on top of you. I purchased the quad new. On the first day of having it, a girl who had her horse stabled on the farm, was using the quad and trailer, after mucking her horse out, she went around a turn to quick, and the quad finished up on top of her. She was lucky, escaping with a couple of scratches, as did my new quad bike. A couple of Christmases back Ozzy Osborne was seriously hurt on one. So you have got to be very careful on them.

When I was chasing the Ewe, I was trying to cut her off from going into the wood, by swinging the quad from side to side, it started to tip as I swung it into the camber of the hill. If I had not cut my speed it would have completely gone over. After slowing down I could not catch her from going into the wood. The quad tyre did go over the trailing wire and broke a fair piece off, but there was still a lot trailing behind her. The next day I saw, what I thought was the remainder of the wire laying in the field. I didn’t bother to check the Ewe to make sure that it had dropped off her.

Yesterday after catching and moving the Texel Ewes and Lambs I heard a Ewe calling out, believing that it was one of the Texel’s that we had left behind, and that she was calling for the Ewes we had moved, I did not bother to much about it. This afternoon I could still hear a Ewe calling from the wood. It was to continuous not to investigate. I soon came across the calling Ewe, it was the last years Portland Ewe Lamb, who had the wire on its foot, caught up on a low tree branch. She had obviously been there for a day or two, going by her messy rear end. After cutting her free and cleaning her up, she was given a drive on the quad, to join the nine sheep that have been move to their new pasture. Only fourteen left to catch.

The Grand National, it would not be my favorite Horse Race. It is not the four and a half miles they run, neither the thirty large jumps they have to negotiate. Horses regularly did both and more when hunting was allowed. National Hunt Racing was born out of Fox and Deer hunting. What I don’t like is the injuries and fatalities that are caused because of it being a race. Being a race the Horses are pushed on hard to win. To hard for most of them, as the low percentage of those Horse that finish the race shows. Today just thirteen of forty starters finished the race, and this was a good year.

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We checked Lady s foaling dates and they are correct…

We checked Lady’s foaling dates, and they are correct, so she is about three weeks overdue. I should think that it may be to do with Woody being unwell. Lady has always been very dependant on Woody. Woody’s illness has caused her to stress out a bit.

When ever Woody crashes out in the paddock, I take her back to her stable. After I had taken Woody in, Lady would stand by the gate and continually call out for her. Over the past weeks, with Woody going into to her stable early, Lady is getting use to Woody not being about so much, and has called far less. Hopefully this will be the start of her not depending on Woody, as much as she does.

We did a bit better with the Sheep movement today. We managed to pen two Ram Lambs and the Flock or Stud Ram. We made sure that we had a cover on the top of the trailer, so they were not able to jump out. About an hour later, Dolly, Minty, Cranberry and an other Ewe followed the bag of feed, into the pen. We also managed to pen the Lambs in with them. Unfortunately I had not made it as secure as I should, and the lambs managed to find a way out. Dolly’s Lambs waited patiently outside for her. Over two hours or so, the other Lambs came to the pen to feed off of their mothers. I managed to catch all the Lambs and put them into the trailer. Dolly jumped into the trailer to be with her Lambs. I managed to get the other three Ewes into the trailer, and I took four Ewes and five Lambs to the field that I had prepared for them. There are now nine Sheep and five Lambs captured. Still a long way to go, but we will get there.

These two pairs of Geese wont give up. I was just going to write that a pair had settled, as there were only one pair on the lake today, and they were on the island. When I checked on camera this evening, the other pair were back and still fighting. Surly one pair must go and find another nesting site.

After seeing the posting about the Butterfly Farms cameras, I phoned them, The Ant camera should be on now, on the Butterfly Farm camera two. They were going to try to put the new cameras in place this afternoon. If they manage to get them up, they will get an electrician, to get them on line. This will not take to long. The cameras are off very often. I know that is because of circumstances beyond their control. As soon as they realise that the cameras are off, they will quickly restart them.

The Astro camera are run by myself. What I am trying to do with it, has never been attempted in the format that I am trying. The Telescope has had to be returned to the suppliers, because of a minor problem. Whilst at the suppliers the Telescope will be setup and tested. I am new to Astronomy, and although it is a very sophisticated piece of equipment, it does need a lot of my time to use it to its full potential. When it is returned I will explain all about this.