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Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

The Horses at Denbury taken by Marie on her stay at the Farm with Margaret.

We have been very busy over the past few days getting the Paddock where the Rhea are ready for the arrival of the Bagot Goats. Part of the paddock was fenced for Ostriches that was ample secure for the Rhea, but the Goats would soon have found their way out and we really didn’t want to be chasing after Goats, so stock fencing now completely surrounds the Paddock.

I collected the Bagot Goats this afternoon from Cricket St Thomas. They loaded on to the Horse Trailer a lot easier than we thought they would. The only suitable place to load them was on a path next to the Cheetah enclosure at the Wildlife Park. The Cheetah got really excited running up and down the fence line. I reckon it could see dinner, with only a fence stopping a feast. The Goats were a bit put out but not as bad as I imagined they would be as they ran after a bucket of feed that one of the Keepers was running with.

The journey back to Denbury is under an hour so it was an easy journey for the Goats. When they got off of the trailer they were very calm. None rushing to get out in a herd, just a casual slow one by one stroll, with a minute or more in between each one getting off. The last one even had to be got up as it was quite happy to stay in the horse trailer. Then it slowly relieved itself before it finally joined the others. They soon found the Rhea feeding trough and ate what was left. I had forgotten to make a stand to put the trough on so that the Goats were unable to reach it. The Rhea feed was put in earlier so they didn’t miss today’s feed. I will need to make a stand tomorrow.

We are going to get the main horse Field stock fenced so that the Bagot Goats can use that Field with the Sheep and Horses. The straying Sheep can be a nuisance to other Farmers and a pain for us when we have to look for them, so we will have a secure Field for them all.

That was a surprise seeing the Roe Deer in the Valley Field tonight. One was seen this afternoon by the Horse Field entrance gate and ran to the Wood on the right hand side when they heard someone walking close to them.. If I had not followed the Fox walking towards the camera in the Valley I would not have followed it to where the deer were laying. It is the first time for a good few months that we have seen any Deer on the Farm. We know they are about by seeing their foot prints but they have been elusive to the camera.

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Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

The first being a photograph I got from the Internet of Bagot Goats.

The other four from Lynne.

We have five new addition arriving at Denbury over the next few days. They are Bagot Goats. I nearly had a few Angora ten years ago, but I changed my mind at the last moment after being told of their eating every thing in sight. But after careful consideration we have decided to have a small breeding herd of the Bagot from Cricket St Thomas. Unfortunately although they are pure bred they do not come with pedigrees, but how could I say no to such attractive Goats. Our Holiday Guest will like them and they will be good to see on the webcam, even better if we manage to gets any Kids.

The Goats are going to be put in the same Paddock as the Rhea, and the new Chicken breeding pens we are putting in. I will then put a webcam in that will look over the Paddock and the main Horse Field. The new Paddock will be quite busy.

We moved our Pied Turkeys into a new pen in the Rhea Field on Wednesday. They have been in a stable since they arrived. The outside pen is small at the moment, but new panels to make it larger are on order and should arrive next that will make the pen a very good size for when they are laying eggs, after which we will let them free range over the Rhea Paddock.

I spoke to the Ranga Hotel this evening about letting us know when the Northern Lights are showing. They will as long as they are not busy. Last night was a good night, but the moon was very bright which made them hard to see.

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Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

Other than the disc of photographs that Lynne has sent in there are no other.

More Red Kite photographs from Becs stay in Wales.

More photograph of my visited to Powis Castle. Bec.

The Northern Lights webcam should be going tomorrow. There was a small problem that was causing it to keep stopping and starting.

The Emu have settled in well. Every morning when I feed them most are waiting at the fence to greet me. One has worked out to duck under the fence and is waiting for me at the paddocks main gate. I have to watch that I don’t get a kick as I am putting their feed into their feed troughs. When they crowd round the feeders they get inpatient. Now and then one will give a side kick.

Have not had a lot of time to do a Diary or the photographs as we are working flat out to get the Rhea paddock ready for their arrival on Saturday. In the same paddock we are putting in Chicken runs for the breeding of Silkies and Buff Orpingtons, and an area for the Pied Turkeys.

There is a large shed in the paddock that was used when we had Ostrich. It will be perfect for the four Rhea and when partitioned also for the Turkeys.

Thornton has been unwell for the past two days. We reckon that it was something that he ate. He has got over it now. He does seem to exaggerate and feel sorry for himself when he is ill. I have never seen a Sheep act as he does when poorly.

The Kingfisher is very busy on the Lake. I was sitting for fifteen minutes this afternoon with Peter one of our regular Holiday Guest whilst he was fishing. Right opposite within 20 metre the Kingfisher was fishing for all of the time. It was very close to the branch, but out of sight of the camera. I will position the camera in to the direction for the next few days to see if it is using the same spot regular.

The forum was a bit busier today. It has been very quite for a while.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number eleven. Getting short again.

Butterfly in my garden in Connecticut. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. Anjela Connecticut.

Mallard ducklings,there were 10 for her to look after. Lindsay.

Feeding the Robins in the lane near my house! PM.

Photo of one of three bearded dragons that belong to my boyfriend. Vicky. Derby.

Newstead Abbey. Nottinghamshire. Judy.

One of our Holiday Guests was watching the Geese on their live webcam monitors that we have installed in our cottages, when a Fox nearly had the Goose last night. By all accounts it was only inches away. Although he went to the lake to make sure that the Fox had gone, it may have returned to take the Gosling that was missing this morning. The Fox may not have been responsible, but with the help of our holiday guest we electric fenced around the area on the near side bank that Goose and Goslings lay out on. We could well be putting the danger in another area, but it seems to be the most dangerous part for the Goose and the Gosling, as other than a small leet, that would be easy for the Fox to cross there is no protection. On the far bank there is a five to six foot drop into a stream making it a less dangerous area. I am not convinced that it was a Fox that took the Gosling last night. It could have been a Magpie. What ever it was, it will try to take the two remaining Goslings and the Goose.

We have found a new home for Sonny our companion pony for Smuggler. We have been trying to re home him for quite a while. We have had a number of enquiries for him, but we had to make sure that he was going to the right home. Sonny is going to a family in Devon who have two young children and two more ponies. So hopefully we have let him go to the right people. We need to break Smuggler as a riding horse and he will need to come down from the paddock in to the stable area. Although both Smuggler and Sonny have been well looked after, being in the paddock away from the stable area they have been deprived of attention. Both really like to have a fuss made of them. The family taking Sonny will be able to break him themselves and it is good for both the family and Sonny to get use to each other.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number one. Nearly out of photographs so I will have to start showing only three a night.

A Goldfinch on my Feeder. Judy.

Banksy is a part of Bristol culture – this one is opposite the Bristol Royal Infirmary. The Child is “popping” a paper bag behind the Police Marksman!; Julia.

My Welsh slate water feature awaiting connection to water pump. Im not using the stone around the bottom as the kids have just put that there [little rogues]. Karen.

These Geese were running towards us hissing. Elsie.

Maddi’s village.

Unfortunately there was a Gosling missing this morning. We can only guess what happened to it. I thought that this year especially after four of them surviving for over a week that they may make it through to a size that they would fly off of the Lake. Again like every year we don’t know what has taken the Gosling, but I should think more than likely it is a Magpie or Crow. What ever it was for sure it will return for another. This week we have had Holiday Guests that have been fishing on the Lake, making it unlikely that any thing would take the Gosling whilst they are fishing. It is early morning that they are vulnerable when the Magpies and Crows are first looking for food for their nestlings. I will put the recorder on tonight to see what is threatening the Geese.

After I had fed the Badger last night I checked on the valley camera. There were three Roe Deer grazing. One was an adult Doe whose belly was moving very noticeably, as do Horse when the Foal is moving inside of them. If it wasn’t a Kid making her belly move, she must have had a severe belly rumbling going on.

On Tuesday we turned Emmi and Sox out into the Horse field. I put the camera on for you to see. Sox had a quick bucking session and they both grazed for a while. Yesterday we let Lady out with them. Emmi was not best pleased being on her own with Sox the day before. She was a lot more settled with Lady in the field with her. Both Emmi and Lady seemed to want to spend more time waiting at the gate. I guess in the hope that we would put Breeze and Arnie in with them as they could see them in the small paddock opposite the Horse field. With Breeze wanting to be boss that would not have been wise as for sure there would have been a kicking session. We have been putting Breeze and Arnie in the Horse field of a night and in the small paddock during the day.

Elaine, I am not sure if the Badger who is waiting for the feed of a night, is one of last years Cubs. It is not a very large Badger, so it could well be.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number one.

Morning all, just to let you see what we woke up to this morning, I know its not a lot, but, the weatherman said last night that it would miss us !! Jan (herts)

Otters at a Sanctuary near St Ives in Cornwall.Lindsay.

Sparrow which was taken in my garden. Vicky from Derby

“Badger Watch”, Molly enjoys wildlife programs.Carol

Here is another picture of Beryl, this was taken through the kitchen window. Val.

I didn’t get time to get the new Lake webcam going today. I will try to find time tomorrow. I want to see it going, as it would be interesting to see the Pond beyond the Lake. I will also be able to see when any Herons land on the Pond. When we stocked the Lake with Fish we didn’t put any in the Pond, but over the years the Fry must have gone through the pipe that connects the Lake and Pond, now there are some good sized Fish in it. The Herons that land on the Lake must have got wise to me chasing them off, as we rarely see them on the Lake. We do see them on the Pond when we drive down our driveway. They wouldn’t be my favorite birds especially when I see them fishing on the water.

Other than a few snow flurries today, it really is looking Spingyfied on the Farm. Lots of yellow with the Daffodils, Primroses and around the Lake the Marsh Marigold. The Blackthorn has started to flower. We have a lot of Blackthorn around the Farm, when in flower it is one of my favorite scrubs, maybe because when it flowers you know that the warmer days are nearly here. It has been one of the best Autumn and Winters for the weather that we have had since we have been at Denbury. It hasn’t been to cold or over wet. With the weather being so good we managed to be able to keep the Horses out in the field, up to a few days before Christmas, a big bonus for us. We still have to muck the stables out every day, but we are not clearing up after the Horses all day long. We would have if we had needed to keep them in around the yard. For nearly a month we have also been able to let Breeze and Arnie out in the small paddock, that is in view when we put the Sheep pen webcam on. The ground of the paddock is a little poached, but not as much as other years. As long as we get a bit of rain and a lot of warm sun we will be able to turn all of the Horses out on the 1st of May for the Summer.

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I made it a point yesterday to walk through the…

I made it a point yesterday to walk through the valley, I went on my own at about midday. The main reason for me walking the valley was to see if I could see or hear the Buzzards, I would usually have taken Tass and Kye with me, but being that we have recently seen a number of Deer on the webcams, there would be more of a chance of seeing them , if I were on my own, if there were any. Tass will come to heel immediately she is called, or when we need to be very quite, I only need to click my fingers. Kye is very good, but she does hesitate, and has not yet got use to coming to heel as Tass, when I click my fingers.

Although the whole Denbury is in a valley, I call the part where the valley camera is, the start. To get to where the valley starts you need to pass through the orchard on the track that also passes the Bird and Squirrel feeders. Once into the valley I crossed the stream making my way up the hill to the wood, that you can see on the right hand side. I walked along that wood first, as it is the wood that I believe that the Buzzards nest. Every year I try to find the nest, but I have never managed to find it. You can also usually see the Adult Buzzard fly close to the side of the wood.

There was no sign of any of the Buzzards. I turned left at the end of the wood making my way down the hill, crossing the stream at the far end, then turning right into the little paddock that I described as my favorite spot on the farm. The small bales of hay that we had made last week were still lying where they had been made. Seeing them reminded me that the contractor had not brought them in. They need to be in before any rain, being small bales they would spoil, if rained on.

There were a number of the bales of hay under the old Ash tree. I pulled a few of them together so that I could lay out for few minutes to listen to the quietness. I must have dozed off for a few seconds, only to be woken by a distant shotgun being discharged, At the same time a movement to my right, made me look into that direction of the wood, just as a Red Deer Calf came out of the wood. With the paddock being small, the wood is only at the most ten metres from where I was laying. I didn’t move a muscle as it made its way to my direction, grazing the new grass that was shooting up after being mowed to make the hay. Within a minute the Hind followed into the paddock, after jumping over an low barbed wire, that was once part of an old fence.

I was surprised that the Hind had not noticed me, especially as a light breeze would have been blowing my scent into her direction, obviously she hadn’t, for both the Calf and Hind carried on grazing, at times within three metres of me, for at least twenty minutes. Keeping still in the position I was in was making me ache and stiffen up, giving me little alternative but to sit up. I moved very slowly so as not to frighten the Deer to much. The Hind looked at me then carried on grazing. It was not until I stood up did she slowly make her way back into the wood, with her calf following close behind. later that evening I managed to catch them on the webcam.

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We need a longish spell of warm and dry weather…

We need a longish spell of warm and dry weather. As I was unsure of the weather when I made the hay, I left a small paddock at the end of the valley uncut. It is only just over an acre, completely surrounded by woods except for the paths that lead in and out. Because the woods surround it, it doesn’t get a lot of sun, the grass is always later than the rest of the farm. There is still a good bit of seed on it, even at this time of year it will make very good hay. I would normally not have bothered to try to make hay from it this late, because of being unsure with the weather, but the price hay is fetching at the moment, it would be daft not to make hay from it. We sold fifty bales of the hay that we made a week or so back, that paid for nearly the whole cost of all the hay that we made. The advert we placed to sell it, introduced people who needed hay in small bales. As long as the weather stays good it will be sold as soon as it is made.

The paddock is one of my favorite spots on the farm. Unless the owner of the farm next door is trespassing whilst out shooting, it is an extremely quite spot. I will tell you about him soon. The only thing that you can hear is the Birds singing and occasionally the Steam Trains whistles when the wind is blowing from the direction of the steam railway, that is about a mile away. There is a very old large Ash tree in the middle of the paddock, that probably makes it as attractive to me as it does. Since I have lived at Denbury the tree has lost a couple of large limbs in the wind. It is a shame, although you wouldn’t notice it if you saw the tree for the first time as it is, I can see that it has lost a fair amount of shape. I remember the first limb that it lost whilst I was here. To get to the paddock that the tree is in, you walk through the field where the valley camera is located. In the very far left hand side the path narrows, that then leads into the paddock. Not until you nearly reach the paddock can you see the Ash tree.

On one particular morning after an extremely windy night I just noticed a wall of green in front of me as I entered the paddock, so much that it looked as if the whole tree had been blown over. My heart dropped into my stomach. It took me a good ten minutes to make my way through a wall of leaves to find that a very large limb that faced towards the front of the tree, had been blown off. I wasn’t that much relieved, I was still pretty devastated that so much damage had been done to the tree on my watch at Denbury, especially as it looked as if the tree had never had such major damage in its many decades or even hundreds of years of its life. As the limb broke of from the front of the tree as you faced it from the path, we soon got use to it. Unfortunately a couple of years later another very large limb on the left hand side of the tree was blown off in a storm.

Another nice part of the paddock is that the stream runs through it by the side of the wood, There is a very small flat area by the side of the stream that is obviously used by animals to drink at. I call it the beach, it is a great place for children to play, paddle and catch the odd tiddler. Now that I have written about it, it is not one of my favorite places, it is my favorite.

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Woody has not stopped having very unwell periods since I…

Woody has not stopped having very unwell periods, since I last told you about her. It comes on so quickly, without any warning. A couple of days back, when we turned her out in the paddock, she seemed to be the best she had been for a long time. With out exaggeration, she came out of her stable, like a race horse coming out of the starting stalls. I was so shocked and unprepared, she initially was taking me to the paddock. In the afternoon she was flat out as if dying. It has been going on for so long now, that it can only be bad pains in the belly, or if you like colic, probably caused by the foal moving, or laying in an uncomfortable spot.

The trouble with colic, is that you can never be sure what type of colic is it. There are many causes for such pain, ranging from the mild and inconsequential to life threatening or fatal. One of the problems with equine colic is that it can be very difficult in the early stages to distinguish the mild from the potentially fatal. This is why we were concerned for Woody, we had to take the pains seriously right from the start.

I sure it would bore you if I went through the different types of colic, but we should presume that Woody , although in a lot of pain is experiencing a mild Spasmodic colic. Probably the most serious colic is Displacement colic, or Twisted Gut, without going into it, that is basically what it is. In most cases immediate surgery is required if the animal is to survive. Quite often even with surgery the animal will die.

Woody is about a month away from foaling. She does not look as large as she normally does, and I am a little concerned as to what the condition of the foal will be at birth, or indeed if Woody will be able to manage a foal. Once Lady’s foal has had a good first feed of the colostrum, I am hoping that there may be an amount, that I may be able to take for Woody’s foal, if it needs it. Chances are that I am over worrying, and all will go as it should do.

I was asked on the forum what Races Horses are the Horses we breed. They are all bred for the flat. I would worry for any Jump Horse, if I bred them. I don’t like to see a Horse run for great distances, with a lot of very high jumps.

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There seems never to be a dull day on the…

There seems never to be a dull day on the farm. One of our horses, Branston a colt, has learnt how to open a gate inwards, it allows him to get out of his enclosure and cause havoc, where ever there are other horses. Without us realising, he has been doing it for a few weeks. We have been blaming each other for leaving the gate open. Today we caught him at it. Branston is only two, you would not expect him to be doing that at his age. He would not have learnt it from another horse, he would only have seen us opening the gate inwards.

On the other occasions that Branston had got out, he first goes to Arnie’s paddock, where Lady, Woody and Breeze are also turned out in the day, after a few menacing threats, that makes the mares run riot around the paddock, Branston realises that it would not be wise to have an argument with Arnie, and trots up to Smugglers paddock, further up the farm drive. Smuggler is a four year old colt, about the same size as Branston. They have a argument across the gate, biting each other until I managed to catch up to him, to chase him back to where he belongs. Before I could get into the position to chase him back, he decided to leg it further down the drive, towards the road. I managed to get in front of him, to turn him back, by running round the lake to cut him off.

As I got Branston back to his paddock, I could hear horses behind me, when I turned I could not believe my eyes, there was Smuggler and his paddock mate Sunny, running so quick toward Branston’s paddock, I could not get time to close the gate. I turned Sunny but Smuggler got into Branston’s paddock, a situation you really don’t want. Two unfamiliar colts are very liable to hurt each other. Branston at his age would initially be very submissive, but Smuggler you just don’t know what he would do, if he decided to start attacking Branston, Branston would retaliate, where it would end, you can never know. There was a lunging whip leaning against the wall. Cracking the whip, a lot of running around and shouting, we managed to chase Smuggler out of Branston’s paddock. After blocking the drive to stop Smuggler from running up the drive, towards the road we got him and Sunny back into their paddock. We never make a mistake in tying Smugglers gate. I can only think that Smuggler or Sunny had been playing with the tie, when Branston was at the gate he push it slightly open, allowing Smuggler and Sunny to squeeze through. Fortunately none of the horses got hurt, but it was very close.

Don’t make to much of Lady not being rugged up tonight. Although the excitement of the colts getting out, could bring the foaling on, I left the rug off as it is not that cold and the rug was nearly over her head last night. I don’t like to strap the rugs up around the legs, to keep them on, so near to foaling, if you miss the foaling there is a chance that the foal may get caught up in the straps. We are waking every hour to make sure she is OK, although I reckon we are awake more than asleep, we seem to be more tired when we get up in the morning, than when we go to bed. The sooner she foals the better