Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

A very cold day on the holding which began with snow flurries (you can just see the white on the goat decking in the first photo) and ended with a biting northerly wind. Any chickens still moulting (and we have a few) stayed inside their houses where possible. Just as well as it seems we definitely have a daytime fox as today another bird vanished and this time we saw a few remaining feathers as evidence. It is terribly upsetting and we are now making plans to move the remaining poultry into the barn with this year's youngsters so giving them access to our top paddock. We usually move all the birds by Christmas in order to rest their main enclosure for the winter but we are now going to have to do it a little earlier than planned!
Also sad was saying cheerio to our four pygmy nannies as this afternoon we drove them to Solomon's Farm in Latchley where they are to spend the next three weeks with the rather delightful looking McTavish posing beautifully in the middle photo. With any luck he will encourage them to come into season and when we collect them, they should then all be in kid!! We will miss them terribly; as will the three kids we are left with: Nutmeg, Pepper and Garlic. All three screamed when we took their mums away and gave us filthy looks at tea-time when it was obvious we had not brought them back!!! They no longer need to take milk from their mums but they still want to be with them.
Good news though: the first onions, planted just over two weeks ago, are starting to sprout!! New growth in November!! Wonderful!!