More pix of the chicks - I can't help it

Riding and more riding

This is Drummer, a horse I  ride for a lady over in Wydial.  I have booked onto my next lot of BHS exams; the Riding & Road safety in April and the Stage 2 Riding & Stable management in June. I have also started looking at adverts for ponies for the kids, I've seen a gorgeous show pony for Luke (at a mere £2,500!) and a perfect little 11.2 hh lead rein pony for Claudia (at a more reasonably priced £650). I must "hold my horses" though as we can't graze ponies or horses on the paddock until the summer really.  Plus I'm not really sure we should, or can, pay over £1000 for ponies for the kids at this stage. It may take a while to find suitable ponies, that are safe but yet also nice for the kids to ride.

I also ride my friend Laura's horse, the Diplomat - although as he is an old gent this is really more of a plod than a ride :-)

I am still having a lecture and then an advanced riding lesson at Hallingbury Hall each Wednesday - they have some amazing Dutch bred dressage horses.  I have a little dream that I buy a dressage horse from Sally Hardwick & qualify for the regionals next Feb on it.. . . . . then I remember I have 3 young kids and that sort of thing will have to wait. It does feel now like I haven't stopped riding, which is great. It used to be such a  huge part of my life and then for over 10 years I must have only ridden a handful of times but I am now well and truly back in the saddle!

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Pictures of chicks

New Chicks

Here are the new chicks, they are 1 day old Light Sussex and Red Island:

They are really cute. The kids love holding them, its a bit worrying though because Jack is always lurking around when the kids are holding them - presumably just on the off chance that Cassia will drop one! As they have no mummy they need the heat lamp on to survive.  I did hold my breath going into the garage this morning in case the bulb had blown in the night and I'd find 6 cold little chicks.  They were fine :-) When they are older, at around 5 weeks, I will move them to the field where they have a fabulous hen house (bought second hand from Marie Martin) and a lovely large area to roam about in. I just need to get the electric fence put up to keep Mr Fox away.

It seems so cruel, but the plan is to eat these chickens, although I'll keep a boy and 2 girls so that we can breed from them . I won't do the deed myself of course, I'll have to take them down to Hare Street where a farmer will do it for me and then get them oven ready. I am at a cross roads with eating meat, and have decided that if I can I will be happier eating meat that I have raised myself, so that I know it has had a good life.

Chickens that are sold commercially are white Cornish or Cob breeds and they have been bred to pile on weight as quickly as possible.  A supermarket bought chicken will have been slaughtered at around 6 weeks, and often the breeding is so bad that the birds legs give way before 6 weeks as the bird has got too heavy too quickly. Supermarket free range birds are better, but we can produce our own for around the same sort of price and can guarantee how free range they are.

I don't mean to knock commercial producers in anyway, the animals are kept in very clean conditions and we need affordable meat, but we have the space and time to raise our own. Plus I love having baby animals - lets hope I can actually take them off to the farm to be "you know what" when the time comes!


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Plans Submitted

Thank you so much to everyone in and around Furneux Pelham who answered our questionnaire, we appreciate it.
I really hope the council let us do this, it would be so amazing if they did. They will get back to us within 15 days...........

I went with the kids to Wimpole Hall Farm today: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wimpole

it is great going to these places with a view to seeing how they set up their farmyards and how they keep their pigs and sheep.  At Wimpole (an eighteenth century manor house) they have a fabulous thatched bard (or two!) in which to house their animals.  Obviously we will never have such luxury, but the pig enclosures were interesting and I chatted to the woman who was working there looking after the pigs. I asked if they sold weaners - but they don't.  Mind you, Russell isn't too keen on keeping pigs anyway.

I have ordered some meat chicken eggs from "Little Hens" - run by Luke's friend Toby Braid's mum Carrie.  www.littlechickens.org.uk

They should hatch a week on Friday.  Carrie has also offered to get me some turkey eggs next time she is at the auction.  Looks like the meat chicken and Christmas turkey business is getting off the ground. I've already had 4 orders for Christmas turkeys!

I'll post more about meat chickens next week - oh the thrills ;-)

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Weed or paddock, paddock or weed

The field gives me plenty to worry about and how I do like a good worry :-) At the moment I am worrying about the amount of weed that is taking hold in the paddock.  I had thought growing a new paddock for horses and sheep was easy, you just drill the seed and let it grow.  However, as it was starting from soil, the weed has had as much chance of growing as the paddock, and indeed it is.  One area is mainly weed - and its a funny looking weed, to my "untrained though have read a book on it" eye - it looks like a dock but with a thistly stem. Hmmm.

Anyway, I called the farmer who we rent to land to and she offered to send round her agronomist, who is visiting the field this week to look at their wheat crop.  Sounds like we may need it spraying.  After the worry I think I'll take any chemical spray offered and think about being more organic a few years down the line!

I hope no one thinks I've turned into a bore.. . . . . . . .

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