Blog - Page 87 of 109 - Farm Holiday Cottages - Fishing and Wildlife Holidays

Just before I went to bed last night I checked the valley webcam, I saw the Stag that was in the valley, in the afternoon laying down at the far end of the field. There were two Hinds with him, not one that he had with him a few hours earlier, in the afternoon. The second one was probably in the wood out of sight. Although he wasn’t very old, he was a good Stag, so he may well have more Hinds in his Harem. I will leave the valley webcam on most of tonight, in case the Deer come back.

This is the first year that we have not seen any large herds of Red Deer at Denbury. We regularly saw herds of up to fifteen in the valley, and in the far end field. It is more likely that I have not seen them, rather than them not being here. When I had Cattle I wasn’t best pleased to see large herds of Deer here. I needed the grass they ate for the Cattle, The herds Of Deer would eat as much grass as my Cows, and they would always be there in the Spring when the grass was growing for the silage we made. I didn’t have webcams when I had the Cows, but you could tell that a large herd of Deer had been here, by the grass that had been eaten and the flattened grass where they had been laying down in the field.

We finally started to get Bliss and Misty the Fillies ready for Auction, that they are entered in to at the end of the month. We have left it late. We have just over three weeks to get them ready, and there is so much work that needs to be done with them. Before today we have only ever had head collars on them twice. On both occasions they didn’t like them and pulled away, thinking that the head collars would not follow. Today we put the head collars back on to them to get them walking as we lead them. Quite important really, as they will need to be lead around the auction ring on head collars. Both Fillies were no better or worse than we thought that they would be. They started pulling away from us, as we thought they would. This time they are a lot bigger. When we first put head collars on them they were a lot smaller and we could manage to pull them back. The size they are now, we would have stood no chance of holding on to them. If they had decided to have it away, we could only have watched them go. Fortunately they are very laid back and kind Fillies, so the pulling that they did was half hearted to try to see if they could get away with it.

We soon had them walking with us, not necessarily by our sides, but it was a start. Misty was in front and a lot better than Bliss, which was a bit of a surprise. Initially they danced about on one spot rather than walking, but a little touch on their back ends from one of our Lads, got them walking forward. We kept this first session short, about fifteen to twenty minutes and by the end they were taking to it better. Within a couple of days they should be walking properly on the head collars. I will let you know how they progress.

As from tomorrow I will be feeding the Badgers from 7 to 7.30pm. The nights really are drawing in quick

2 hind not one

late as I was going to bed

large herd a few years ago at Denbury

I hope that you were lucky and saw the Red Deer Stag, late this afternoon. As soon as I saw it I put it on all of the webcam pages. I knew that there was a Stag near the farm, as for most of the afternoon I had heard him roaring. As soon as I had heard him, I realised that the rutting season had come round again. This year has gone so fast that I can hardly believe that it is October tomorrow, with the Stag having one Hind with it I should think that it is the middle of the Rut that lasts for about six weeks. (The Rut is the Deer mating time) The Stag, although he was not fully mature, he looked to be about three years old, very healthy and well built. He will be fully mature when he reaches five years old and will then have a fully developed head of Antlers, a very thick neck, large mane and very well muscled. He will be about four foot tall at the shoulders and weigh in the region of two hundred kilo.

As the Stags get older they get more points or branches on their Antlers. A Stag with twelve points is known as a Royal Stag and are very highly thought of by country people. I should think that is was all to do with Stag hunting. The Stag on the webcam, would have come down from the Quantock Hills, where the main Rut will be in progress. The mature Stags will be fighting between themselves, locking their Antlers, proving themselves to the Hinds, to gather a Harem, that can be as large as forty Hinds. I should think the Stag on the webcam was lucky to have got a Hind being quite so young. Once he had managed to get her, he must have quickly got away from the main rut. Once mated the gestation period of the Hind averages out at about 250 days, 35 to 36 weeks. In May to June the Calves will be born. Normally a single calf, that is why I was surprised seeing on the webcam recently, a Hind with twins Calves.

The Valley is a great place for Wildlife, today I have seen two lots of Deer, Badgers and a Fox. Just now there is an Owl on the post. What a good place it is turning out to be for Buzzard and Owls to get a vantage point to hunt. It was never intended to be a perch, just a point for the wire to be hung from. When I changed the routing of the wire, it was the intention to take the pole down. Although it does at times obstruct different views it will have to stay.

Elsie, if you like the Sheep that much, how many do you want? We are going to keep a few, not sure which one yet. It is a difficult decision. It would be nice to keep the Portlands as they are a rare breed and they normally only have one lamb and most of them have not escaped. The Texals and Cross Bred were hand reared by a Child whose Father was once the Curator at Cricket St Thomas, they are very friendly but they have escaped, although if I shake a feed bag they will come back. Mind you as they will not be going for slaughter, they could be here for a good while, with the Foot and Mouth restrictions that are in force.

I am pleased that some of you saw the Kingfisher this afternoon. I hadn’t seen it for over a week, and was beginning to think that it had moved away from the lake. There are not as many Birds using the feeders either. I have not seen a Greater Spotted Woodpecker for getting on for six weeks, we see and hear the Green Woodpecker every day, but they don’t use the feeders. I did see one earlier in the year on one of the feeders, but that was only once. This time of year there is a lot of seed and berries about for the Bird. Earlier in the year I thought that there were not going to be any Blackberries, they flowered very early without any fruit forming. I got that one wrong, there are now plenty of fruit on the bushes.

There are no Squirrel using the feeders at all, we can see them in the trees taking all the Hazel Nuts. With the amount that were on the trees, we thought that we may have have got some this year, but the Squirrels seem to have had most of them, even before they have ripened. Most years we do manage to get Walnuts. As soon as there is a windy day you can be sure that there will be lots on the ground to pick up. By the look of it the Squirrels have had them this year, as we haven’t really had any windy days, the walnuts are falling from the trees slowly giving the Squirrels time to hide them away. We also get a lot of Chestnuts on the farm, but in all time we have been at Denbury we have never had any that were worth eating. To get to the nut is a painful experience, more so when they are so small that you could do nothing with them.

I am getting very annoyed with the unreliable weather forecasts, It is absolutely tipping it down here tonight. The forecast was maybe a shower. Because of the forecast we left Breeze without a rug, if it continues as hard as it is we will have to get her in. It would be interesting, if a few of you may try out an experiment, to see how reliable the forecasts are over the Country. It would be interesting if a number of you could from tomorrow, for about two weeks write down what weather was forecast for your areas including my area, either from the forecast on the BBC TV, or the Internet from the BBC or Met Office websites, some sites you can also put your postcodes in. Although don’t put your postcode on the forum , just your area. The following night let us know what the forecast was, and how accurate it was. If it proves that the forecast are unreliable, I will ask the BBC and the Met Office for their comments.

Elsie, the Sheep with horns are Portland, classified as a rare breed.

Karen, there were 16 Badgers a couple of months back. I counted 15 a few weeks back before I found the dead Badger in the lane at the end of our driveway. There could still be 15.

With the last two nights being cold, it was decided, before we had checked on the weather for tonight, to rug the Horses against the cold. Now that the Horses have been turned out we heard that it is going to be quite warm tonight. Most thoroughbred Horses are fine coated and do feel the cold. We always try to have them rugged if the temperature is about 6 degrees or below, or if there is continuous rain. When cold thoroughbreds loose condition very quickly and any feed is used in keeping them warm, when it is given to help them grow.

Some Horses will let you put a rug on them without any trouble, others will be a nightmare. Last year when we rugged Bliss and Misty, Bliss let us put a rug on her as if she was born with it on. Misty didn’t like it one bit. They were stable together in an large gated area, in one of the barns, it was open to weather on one side, so they needed to be rugged. Misty kept walking away from us whilst we were trying to put the rug on her. You need to put the rug on without the Horse panicking, it may take longer but it is always the best way. We finally got the rug on her back, but she was having none of it. Rather than upset her we left it until the next day. It took three or four attempts to get her to accept it. But she did. Today even after months of Misty not having a rug put on she allowed us to put it on without any protests at all. The other reason Bliss and Misty need to be rugged is that we do not want their Winter Coats to come through, as they will look scruffy when they go to auction in October.

It was Willows first time of her having a rug put on her. Like Bliss she accepted it without any trouble, she didn’t even look at it once it was on her. Breeze because of her breeding also need to be rugged, being mostly Arab she also has a very fine coat and shivers when it is cold. Lady is a different problem, as Willow is still feeding from Lady, having a rug on stops Willow from getting to Ladies udder. The weather forecast did not say it was going to rain like it is now, so it is as well that they are rugged.

Julia was concerned about the size of the Dairy Cows udder, that she saw. I must admit that very large udders do look uncomfortable for the Cow. The size of a Cow udder is a gradual increase as they get older and as the time that the lactation goes on. The Cow will not notice it as much as you would believe. I know at one time that the average Dairy Cow produced five to six gallons of milk a day, with many able to produce substantially more than that. I should think that the average would have increased since I was friends with a Dairy Farmer.

What I do not like about Dairy farming is that the Calves are taken from their mothers very shortly after birth. Unfortunately that is the way it is, to be able to produce the amount of milk that we use. Some Calves are left with the Cow for a couple of days, but most Calves are taken away after they have had the colostrum from the Cow. Some Farmer keep one Cow as a foster mother, that a number of Calve will feed from, Most are quickly taught to feed from a bucket of powdered milk. Some Heifer Calves are kept as followers to replace the Cows in the Dairy Herd, who get to old or become barren. Dairy Bull Calves usually finish up going to market to be sold for veal or fattened over two years or so to produce beef. It is not a very good life being any sort of Cow.

I was told by a friend that back in August a Huntsman for the Duke of Northumberland’s Percy Hunt was successfully prosecuted for interfering with a Badger Sett. By all accounts he was seen to be attacking two Setts with spades and filling the entrances with soil. He reckoned that he believed that it was Foxes Earths that he was doing it to. I wouldn’t know any one in the countryside who would make that mistake, unless they used a white stick. It was a pretty large operation, with the RSPCA, Northumberland Wildlife Trust and the Police all involved. By all accounts once he knew what evidence that would be used in court, consisting of DNA and Video and Digital evidence supplied by the North East Air Support Unit, the man decided to plead guilty. Trouble is, and it wont discourage many is that the culprit received a 9 month conditional discharge and

We have put up a Barn Owl nest box today. Our barn that we converted into cottages has got Owl Holes at either end, they would have been there since the barn was built over a hundred years ago, to encourage Barn Owls that would help keep vermin down . Unfortunately they have never been used by Barn Owls. Doves, Sparrow Hawks and other Birds have nested in the loft of the building. We put boxes into the loft when we converted it, hoping that they would encourage a Barn Owl as a roost, but since we have lived at Denbury we have never seen one. The Box we have put up is sited in a modern barn, where there is vermin. At this time of year, this years young will be looking for their own territory and hopefully if one sees the new nest box when hunting, it will use it.

We have also left quite a lot of rough grass land around the farm, in the paddock where the Badger camera is, and other areas to encourage voles, the Barn Owls main diet. As you can see on the webcams, we have our fair share of voles.

We have got a site in Cornwall that we hope to show Barn Owls nesting next year. A new nest box is being made to accommodate a camera to go into the barn that they nested in this year. The new nest box needs to be in the barn by the end of the year to give the Owls the chance of getting use to it. As long as they do get use to the new box and with a bit of luck we will be broadcasting the nesting.

Yesterday we had a person who is a lot more knowledgeable on birds than my self, visit the farm. Whilst walking around the farm a flock of Rooks had been disturbed from the rookery in the woods, the person pointed out a Peregrine Falcon that had disturbed the Birds. We thought that we had seen a Peregrine earlier in the year.

Karen, the Council are obliged to dispose of dead animals on the Highway. They also have a time limit to how long they should collect them by once reported to them. If dead animals are found on private land, the landowner is responsible. Other than the young Badger that we found dead by the house earlier in the year, after what must have been caused by two Badgers fighting, we have never seen any dead wild animals.

I tend to check the Sheep first thing in the morning by using the webam, when I reset the cameras from the nighttime views. It is now a habit with them being fenced in around the lake. I keep my hand on the controller, as soon as I see them I move the camera around to make sure that there are not any Herons on the lake, after the fish. I took it that the Sheep were where they should be, and kept the camera moving, only stopping when I saw that the electric fence had been pulled down. I could see a number of the Sheep around the lake, so we went and got the Horses feed ready, believing that they were all around the lake. After getting the Horses in, we went to the lake with a feed bag to shake, to get the Sheep to follow us back to the area where they should be. When we got to where we thought they were the six Texel’s were missing. They must have got out over the Leet, and through the hedge onto the farm lane, as they did last time, that made me electric fence them in.

We checked to see if the Sheep were in the Horses field, as that is where we found them last time. No such luck, so I walked down the farm lane to make sure that they were not in our field across the road, at the end of the lane. We could see by the Sheep droppings that they had gone that way, but they were not in the field. With the Foot and Mouth restrictions I had to find them as soon as possible, or I could be in trouble with the Ministry if they had left the boundaries of Denbury. We went back and got our car, to drive around to see if we could find them. We went to the Common first, as the obvious straight direction from the lane was that way. They were not there. We drove about to all the other places that they may have gone. After three quarters of an hour driving about with out seeing any Sheep, let alone ours, I decided to go back to the farm. I would need to phone our neighbour’s to see if any of them had seen our Sheep. If they still could not be found I would have to phone the Ministry.

As we drove back down the lane, I caught a glance of a Sheep on the Holiday Cottages lawns at first I thought that it was the ones that had not escaped. On a second look it was the Texels. They must have turned back instead of going up the farm lane to the road. As soon as we started to shake the feed bag they followed to a stable that I intended to shut them in. Dolly and Minty followed me into the stable, the other four were a bit to wise and ran in the opposite direction. No way was we going to get them into a stable easily, so we put them back in the area around the field.

Unfortunately what we did see on the road, only a few yards from the end of our lane, was a dead Badger Cub. Where we found it, it must have been from our Sett. I checked it over as best I could, it did look as if it had been run over by a vehicle of some sort. Most farmers will not slow down for a Badger, and of coarse it is not unknown for people who shoot Badgers to dump them away from where they had been shot. But it was not so with this one.

This Blue-tongue virus is a bit of a worry. fortunately we are a long way from the outbreak. Cold spells normally will kill midges off, although last year with the very mild Winter we had midges about for most of the year. Some Horses get a condition called Sweet itch that is caused by a midge that bits them. It causes bad itch irritations. Horses with the condition will rub their mains and tails, some times so much that they are left with very little main or tail, only bad sores caused through the rubbing in an attempt to get rid of the itch. Once a Horse has the condition it is for life and there is very little you can do for it. There are special rugs with hoods and tail guards that can be purchased, as well as insecticides that can be put on them. There is also a vaccination that they can have. Unfortunately none of the treatment really works and will only help. It is really miserable for Horses that have the condition, when I see what they are going through, I wonder if they would be better being put out of their misery. Although one of the Friesian Stallions, Sargent that we used with our Horse Drawn Hearse when we did the funeral had the condition but we never could have had him put down.

Elsie asked if the Swallows have migrated. Living with the Swallows you really don’t notice when they have migrated. It is only when you asked did I look. I have seen a few about today but it looks as if most have left. I should think those remaining are the last to have left the nest and that they are not ready to leave on such a long journey. I always wonder if they make it.

I have met a few so called Horse Whisperers, some make it by putting on a shows to prove what they can do. Most don’t and are on the road, living in their Horse Drawn vehicles. Believe me they are shows, any one who has the time, patience and is experienced with Horses can do all that they can.

Pat, I hope that there is just one Dove egg in the nest. We have to many on the farm and they don’t stop breeding all through the year.

Karen, there are twelve Sheep around the lake. ten are fenced in where I feed them. Two Rams are out of the fenced area around the lake. Every time I put them back they get through the electric fence. In the end I got fed up with putting them back and I have left them where they are. We have six lambs in one of the stables and one Ewe is running loose around the farm as we are unable to catch her.

GJ, the reason that the images of the Owl last night looked different, was caused by the capture cards that we use in our computers. The images were going through different capture cards, none a exactly the same as each other, hence the difference.

As it is getting darker of an evening, from tomorrow I will be feeding the Badgers just before 7.30 pm

Denbury, although only about 6 miles from Taunton is very out of the way, it is not isolated, the village that we come under is within half a mile. Mind you there is nothing there other than private houses, occupied mostly with those who think that they are a better type of people than they really are. I am sure that they would stick there noses in the air, passing common people like us. Within two miles is a village with a number of Pubs and Shops. But once you enter the drive of Denbury, it is as if you are in a different world. It is so quite that it feels as if you are isolated and in the middle of nowhere. So if there are any noises in the night, even with me not being a particular light sleeper, I will be woken. At about 4.am I heard a noise in the yard. It was as if someone was walking around. After going out for dinner and a few glasses of wine, I really didn’t want to get out of bed at that time in the morning. Then Branston called out, which is always a sign that some thing was happening.

As much as I didn’t want to go and investigate the noise, when you have got animals there really isn’t a choice. Reluctantly, with Tass and Kye by my side, we made our way to where Branston had called from, only to find Bliss flaunting herself at Branston. Branston was enjoying every minute of it. Fortunately for a Colt he is very laid back, any other Colt would have cleared the gate that he was behind to be with the Filly. Again fortunately Bliss is a very laid back Filly. After getting a head collar on her I walked her back to the field to put her back with the other Horses, believing that she had squeezed under the fence, that she had done before, only to find the field gate open. Shinning my torch around the field I could see that the other Horses had also got out. I had a good idea that they may have been grazing on the holiday cottages lawns. They were all there except Arnie. Breeze being Breeze decided she was not going to be caught and started running around bucking her hind legs in the air, Misty and Lady joined in the fun, leaving Willow bemused at the goings on. I didn’t need that at that time in the morning. It took a good twenty minutes to get them back into the field, with only Arnie to worry about. After another twenty minutes I found him, head in the feed bin stuffing his face.

On both Thursday and Friday night, the Fox that was in the valley with the Deer was trying to get the young Deer to run around with it. On Thursday night there was one youngster with it Mother, on Friday it seemed very much as if it was twins Calves with their Mother. On my larger monitor, I could see the Fox was going up to the Calves and running away to get the Calves to chase it, The Calve were doing the same to the Fox. There could not have been any danger from the Fox, or the Mother would have chased the Fox away. After seeing the Fox with the Sheep earlier in the year, the Fox by what we have seen, does not live up to it reputation.

Farm Holiday Cottages – Fishing and Wildlife Holidays

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We have put up a Barn Owl nest box today…

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This Blue tongue virus is a bit of a worry…

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