times are a changing

This weekends clock changes have brought havoc, as usual to our household. From 5 o'clock alarms to remembering which clock had been changed already. Animals also find this a strange phenonemon and are waiting for their grub long before it's due.
On Sunday I became a thespian. Taking part in a commercial promoting Shakespeare to the ordinary folk which is being commisioned by the Theatre Royal, Newcastle. I had several attempts before we had a rap, leaving Jane to continue bringing all the tools in from the field by herself. She was to be my understudy incase I got stage fright. The chickens refused to perform entirely and I informed the director 'never work with children, animals or your mother'!!!

immunisations and iguanas

The girls immunisations were due. So after collecting the paraphanalia from the vets we discussed the most comfortable way we could do it. As I am a bit squeamish Jane drew the short straw to do the actual deed. Feed time would be best, they rarely take any notice of anything while their snouts are in the trough, we thought. Food in trough, over the fence and scchhluckgg, squishy squelchy mud we were stuck fast. Fortunately Jane was able to reach the back of the first girls neck and straight in and dispensed the dosage. With empty hypodermic in hand she carefully passed it to me and manually lifted her stuck feet one at a time until she reached the other pig. Again as quick as a flash straight in the back of the neck. All done, pigs none the wise to what had happened, no trauma, no distress. Pheww. Petting them we noticed one of the girls had a graze on her back. Jane cleaned it and checked that it wasn't anymore than a graze. She was fine.
The next morning they were happy as pigs in.... well they were very happy. While they were having breakfast I checked them over and there was no sign of the graze at all.

So what about the iguanas? They were in a tank at the vets. The tank resembled a miniture rain forest. At first I didn't even notice them. It was the peculiar noise they were making that drew my attention!

breaking ice

The girls were as snug as a bug in a rug when I took their breakfast this morning. Their water buckets had a thin layer of ice which I broke by punching it gently. Dutifully I replenished the water by which time the girls were ready for a drink. Before putting the snout in the bigger girl tapped the top of the water with a trotter. I dont know if this was instinct on a cold day or if she had seen me break the ice and had decided to copy. We do have the most intelligent pigs !

The girls have settled into their new pen, having a good old rut. All this rain of late has certainly swamped the field. fortunately we placed their ark on the highest point so it's dry and quite snug in there. To add some extra insulation I gave them a bale of straw this morning (as it has been nippy in the mornings and we have had a frost. One morning there was even a thin layer of ice on their water buckets.) By this afternoon they had rearranged the straw, airiated it and stacked it. I hope they are not frightened of heights as it is so high it will feel like they are both on the top bunk!

Handle with care

As we were enjoying our deserved refreshments they explored their new pen. I washed the troughs and buckets collected some straw from the barn and barrowed it up to the pen. They played a game of 'lets push against the gate while Jane is on the other side' which was great fun for them but exhausting for me. I placed their clean troughs and buckets over the fence and while they were checking them out took the opportunity to open the gate and push the wheelbarrow of straw in. Now it was time to play the game 'lets run in and out the gate' but once the gate was firmly closed with them inside, their favourite game became 'lets tip the wheelbarrow and run around the pen with straw in our mouths'. I managed to get most of the straw in the arc when I spotted something brown amongst the straw at precisely the same time the pigs saw it. Quick as a flash, I picked it up and threw it over the fence. It had narrowly escaped being a live snack. It landed softly still wrapped in a duvet of straw it seemed non the worse for its adventure. I carefully placed the hedgehog and straw duvet in a bucket and took it straight back to to the barn. It seemed oblivious to it's outing and continued to sleep. I hope the rest of  it's hibernation is uneventful.

Moving is usually a traumatic experience but our girls handled it well today. On opening the gate they followed confidently into the next pen where breakfast was waiting. However moving the arc was a different matter. First attempt was to tie rope to it and the quad and drag it. The quad move a few feet, the rope snapped and the arc stayed put. Manual handling was the only way, with 2 strong men at hand I guided the way. It was no mean feat what with sloppy mud to contend with, sucking the wellies off with each step and me not knowing my left from my right. A brief rest when we reached the grass and through the gate into the second pen. By this time the pigs had finished munching and were inquisitive to why their house was hovering 2 feet off the ground. unafraid the entered. Another rest while we decided where it would be best sited. Offering apples to the pigs to tempt them out of the arc while it was positioned in its final destination. A cup of tea and a custard tart in order!

delicious

Well the belly pork was absolutely delicious, the best bit of cracknel I've had in donkey's years.
It is strange just having the 2 pigs. They have a new pen which just needs it's gate hung and by Saturday should be in their new winter quarters.