Unexpected guest

So it looks like our 3 cats have now become 4.

My parents are away this weekend and they’ve left the utility room window open, to let the cats come & go as they please. I went in today and this wee kitten was in there, and was too small to get out again.

I wondered if it had gone missing from someone, as it was quite skinny, but it was quite wild, so I think it must be feral.

I posted a picture on facebook and someone in the next village said that it had appeared at their house several weeks ago, but disappeared again.

I’m holding it in this awkward manner because it was scratching me a lot. This was the only way to do it!

I worked on taming it for a while tonight, and made some good progress!

I guess she is staying!

Gaelic Lessons for Sheep

My animals don’t speak any English, so my new arrivals are at a disadvantage. I have started their Gaelic lessons as quickly as possible. Fortunately they’re already fluent in Bucket

Chicks

Just as one batch of chicks leaves the barn for an outdoor run, another appears at my doorstep. These were awaiting me last Sunday and are now in the barn. They’ll be here for a few weeks, until they’re old enough to go outside.

Sick Lamb

My late arrival isn’t doing well at all. I had them out in the apportionment for 3 weeks and since then, her mother has gone AWOL. I’ve been out a few times looking for her but no joy so far.

The lamb was limping a bit at first but now it’s starting to fade; not eating or drinking and just lying down all day.

I’ve been tubing it to make sure it’s getting enough to drink, and it’s eating nuts when I put them in its mouth. I’ve given it a drench in case it was fluke and there is no sign of ticks on its body. I’m stumped.

Duck Problem

Seeing as the chickens are all moving into a shiny new hen house and run, I have been trying to figure out what to do with the ducks.

They’ve been harder to keep an eye on, as they’re a bit wilder and roam much further away from home. I’ve had an idea, though.

I have a stream flowing through the croft, between my house and my parents, so my plan is to build a run for them around the stream. They often go out there and paddle about and there aren’t any wee lochs or ponds for them to play in any closer – although one was paddling in a puddle in next door’s drive yesterday!

I’ve already started putting up the fence and hope to get that finished soon. I really could do with a week off to catch up on all the chores. No rest for the wicked though!

New Arrivals

This is one of my favourite times of year, when it comes to the sheep. Lambs have been sold and now it’s time to start thinking about the new cycle of life that’s about to start.

I’m going for more quality, rather than the quantity I had last winter, and with that in mind, I have bought 3 Roussin-crosses and a Suffolk-cross. These will all be put to my Suffolk ram, and I’m quite excited to see what kind of results I get.

The rams will be let loose in about 6 weeks time.

Hen House 2.0

My hen house is now finished, but still no hens have moved in. I cannot wait to get them in there, but I’m waiting for it to be perfect before I do!

In the past few weeks, the Comunn Eachdraidh, based next door in Cross School, have had interior insulation applied throughout the building. I’ve managed to wangle getting all the off-cuts from this work, to be used in the hen house!

That’s the work they’re carrying out in the school.

My father and I worked on it an evening this week and most of Saturday morning. It’s progressing well.

The roof has been covered with plywood, as have part of the walls. Hopefully the chickens will appreciate this when the winter really hits!

This part of it is just about finished, but what I want to do before getting the chickens in the hen house, is erect a fence around it. I’m fed up of the chickens being around the house. They make such a mess! Hopefully I’ll get that done over the next fortnight.

Complete Hen House

It’s about a month now since my hen house was delivered, and it’s now ALMOST ready to house some hens!

I’ve spent a few hours working on it, over several days.

The first day, I had my cousin James to help me. We got the floor together and the sides up in about an hour. Innes was also there to help carry all the materials onto the croft.

Next was getting the roof on. That took about another hour or so, this time with my father’s help. The motto of the day was: no ladder, no problem!

It looked pretty good once the roof and nest boxes were fitted.

Today was the final push, brought on by the storm forecast tomorrow. First up was moving the hen house down to lower ground, using the tractor. I towed & pushed it into position.

We got the doors hung and anchored down the hen house.

The hens will move in, once I get the fencing up!

Radio Silence

I’ve been quiet on the blog for the past few weeks, not because I’ve been lazy but because I’ve been flat out! This is on of my busiest times of year, with filming Farpaisean Chon Chaorach, playing football and the day job taking up all my time. That’s 2 of the 3 finished for the year, so I’ll have loads of stories to catch up on this weekend!