A Little Cottage in the Country

I'm a little bit in love with Silkie chickens! They aren't a breed I'd ever kept until earlier this year when I was a bit spontaneous and bought two bantams at auction. Sadly I lost little Cappuccino but still have her sister Latte. Although Latte is gregarious she has spent a lot of time on her own over the summer so I thought it would be nice to get her a couple of friends. Enter Mocha and Milkshake, both a rather fetching chocolate colour with black pom-poms. Thankfully they seem to get on well with Latte, you can never tell, birds are no different to people in that they don't all gel or get on because they're the same species! After a bit of a quarantine period they've been gradually introduced to the rest of the flock and are fitting in nicely.

The little rascal hasn't been on for a while due to one thing and another. I'd like to say he's got better behaved in the interim but sadly that's not the case. He still thinks he's King of everything, and needs to keep the sheep in line. I try to reward him for standing on his platform, where he's out of the way and can't cause mischief, but he seems to have learned to jump up and get a treat, then jump off and butt sheep. The little blighter is always one step ahead of me, don't be fooled by the angelic face!

I'm currently in the midst of the equine version of Love Island, and it's not much fun! I keep Star on her own as she can be food aggressive, plus I only have funds to give one horse a good life. However my neighbour also keeps horses so Star can see them over the fence. For the past 11 years Star has been having an on/off thing with Ted, a very handsome ex eventer. Star's normal MO when I take her to see Ted is make an almighty fuss snorting, puffing, and generally being a bit difficult with me to get Ted's attention, he comes to the fence and says hello, whereby Star then totally ignores him apart from looking coyly under her eyelashes. To say she's a bit of a madam is an understatement! Last year a stallion got loose from the village and found Star, her idea of flirting was to show him her bum then when her went to sniff her she tried to double barrel him in the chest, taking out the electric fencing. The local police were called to that particular incident...

Most people think of sheep as docile woolly creatures that hang around in fields. I think the consensus among the general public is sheep eat grass and lay down, and that's all they do. Well sheep are surprisingly characterful and are actually very boisterous things, both amongst themselves and with you. I am frequently covered in various bruises, feeding times I'm basically a human skittle. Get in amongst sheep with a bag of food and you'll know about it. Willow has terrible spatial awareness issues and has frequently hit the back of my legs with the force of a truck trying to get to the food. Put it this way, they won't stand on ceremony. The smaller varieties of sheep will also jump up, it's not been uncommon for me to be wandering about with muddy hoof prints on my bum. And they will quite often ask for attention, or a scratch, in the only way they know how, which is a friendly butt. A friendly butt is uncomfortable and non friendly one bloody hurts. Mit...

Okay this was going to be a Merv on Monday post but I ran out of time yesterday! Merv has been having the world's longest moult - he's been itchy and cross for months as his winter fluff has been shedding out. I guess the variable temperatures really haven't helped matters. He's also been going alarmingly blonde, causing me to ponder the question do goats get like their owners or do owners get like their goats? Well I was blonde way before him. Thankfully a lot of his coat has now shed although he's retained a blonde gruff and also what looks like 70's style shaggy chaps on his back legs. I have told him he looks like he's auditioning for a spot in a Village People tribute act, I half expect him to burst into a rendition of YMCA when I go down there! Quite whether these creations will stay or not only time will tell, we're all just relieved he's not as cross and itchy as he has been. He still enjoys a side helping of my pocket at teatime t...

It often surprises people when I tell them sheep can live to twenty years old. Milady sheep is of undetermined age, I bought her along with another ewe a few years ago as cull ewes. For whatever reason - age, getting worn out, reproductive issues - they couldn't have more lambs and these ewes go to the abattoir. I bought them for abattoir weight so they could live out a retirement with me. Since I only have wethers (male castrates) if there were medical issues meaning they shouldn't get pregnant again it was no issue. Milady is a Herdwick, one of my favourite breeds, and Herdy's go white with age. She's almost snow white, so I can only guess she's probably in her early teens. She came off the fell, and since Herdy's are hefted - bonded to their particular patch - she could never go back as wherever she was put she'd try to make her way back to her bit of the fell. One of the biggest issues with ageing sheep is teeth. Obviously being a grazing animal th...

This is Merv, he's supposed to be a pygmy goat but I think he's actually a pygmy cross as he's smaller than a standard goat but much bigger than you'd expect a pygmy to be. I have to say his attitude is far bigger than he is! He's currently going through the terrible twos as in goat years he's the equivalent of a stroppy teenager. I think we're all hoping that does calm down because he can be a lot to handle at times. Even though he's castrated he still wants to be boss, much to the annoyance of the sheep. As you can see he has no problem finding trouble, and if he can't find it he'll create it. I'm typing this one handed as he managed to somehow get my wrist caught between his horns this morning as I was putting down a feed bowl. One of the things I love about goats is their playful sense of curiosity but that can be challenging too.  Merv doesn't have to stay in the field if he doesn't want to, he can easily get out, he's...

 I have two North Ronaldsay sheep - Bobble in the photo above, and Mitten in the one below. They're both wethers and were the first sheep I owned, they're 10 years old now. I'd always wanted sheep and saw these at a local RBST farm. One followed me all the way around wanting a fuss, so I was smitten. North Ronaldsay's are the sheep that famously were walled out on the island and survived by eating seaweed. After several generations on the mainland the need for seaweed in the diet ceases though so no need to worry about regular beach forages! They're brilliant, tough, hardy characters and I just love them. Bobble actually had an operation for bladder stones aged two, and recovered amazingly. Obviously I spend a lot of time with my sheep so they're very tame. They are just lovely characters to be with, Ronaldsay's are always amazingly individual, and quite fiercely so. Tends to blow the "people are like sheep" thing out of the water, Ronaldsay...