Winter preparations

Just returned from our vets in Alton today with our vaccination and needles in preparation for this weeks husbandry work. Actually, I am surprised I even got there as since I had not done the trip before, I relied upon my (usually trusty) sat nav however, it decided to tell me that I had reached my destination at least a mile from the actual vets!! I checked that I had put in the correct address but it still insisted that I was there when I knew darn well that I wasn't so I resorted to telephoning them and asking for directions (technology huh!).

Ice Cool Lad is now back with us again and indeed looking in fine fettle! He generated quite an interest with the girls as we put him back in his paddock!

Our hens are still laying (we are now up to 6 eggs a day) despite the drop in temperature and the shorter days.

As we are having to spend another winter in our static caravan, we have come up with what we think is a bit of a brain wave to keep the water pipes free from freezing........ Alpaca manure! We are bagging it up and surrounding all of the exposed pipework under the static with the filled bags. We haven't tested it yet but our belief is that the manure will compost/ferment and produce heat within the bag which in turn should generate enough warmth to remove the possibility of the pipes from freezing. Will let you know if it works or not!!

One final note; the male kitten we bought from the farm auction the other day turns out to be female! So we have to now rename her as Simba is not quite girly enough!