Wiltshire Village Meats Farm Diary July 2007 - hedgehogs, grey partridge, kittens and owls

Wiltshire Village Meats Farm Diary - grey partridge, kittens and barn owls

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FARM DIARY
THE EVERYDAY STORY OF LIFE ON A WILTSHIRE FARM

a sow in her'en-suite' despite the cool weather. Crooked Soley

Grey partridge at Crooked Soley

Grey partridge tries to draw attention away from her young by faining a broken wing

Tim Johnson unloads his pet sheep in Devizes Market Place

Cameron and Alasdair help set up the goslings pen in Devizes Marketplace

Andy Cook of Walter Rose with the two chefs at Devizes Food Fayre

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July 2007
Rain and mud!

Last July our diary was all about the effects of the extreme heat on the livestock, the need for wallows for the pigs. Also we had great fun photographing a wonderful array of moths that kept flying in to the house at night when all the windows were wide open! What a difference a year makes! The pigs still need and enjoy their wallows on the few warm days we have had but they haven't been as critical as usual. I have seen a few brave moths and butterflies but not many - and we certainly haven't had windows open at night for a while. We are very fortunate, we are not flooded, and crops have not been ruined (yet!) but the incessant rain does make extra work keeping pigs properly strawed up. We are also hoping the rain will stop soon so that harvest can begin. So far not much of our crops have been flattened, this is down to choice of variety, fertiliser inputs and a certain amount of luck.

3rd July 2007- wildlife update
The rain hasn't stopped us enjoying the wildlife. We meet a hedgehog scurrying around the yard in the early mornings and late evenings. It is of the non-rolling variety so easier to photograph. Up at the Soley pig unit I saw a family of Grey Partridges. This is a species that has declined dramatically over the last few decades but we are fortunate to have quite a few on both farms. We haven't seen so many chicks this year, perhaps because of the wet weather. I was able to get quite close - obviously too close for comfort for the mother who tried to lure me away by running a short distance away pretending to have a broken wing. The chicks were too well hidden to photograph. We have also been told that an owl box we put up a few years ago in an old redundant barn has finally been occupied by a barn owl. I will let the English Nature 'bird-man' know so he can monitor what success they have. If I can get any photographs without causing disturbance I will show them here.

Not wildlife but newlife - we have three new residents in the stables, three ginger kittens come to us from a neighbouring farm. They are very friendly. It caused quite a stir taking five kittens to the vets for their vaccinations last week!

14th July 2007 - Devizes Food Festival
Thank you to all who visited our stand at the Food Fayre held in Devizes Market Place on Saturday. The sun shone and plenty of people came and thoroughly enjoyed the various stalls and cooking demonstrations. One of the highlights of the Fayre was the livestock that Tim Johnson brought to the Market Place. The Johnsons farm at Coulston near Devizes and supply Walter Rose with all their beef. Tim brought along a very docile cow and calf, a slightly more opinionated sheep, some goslings and turkey poults. The children especially loved being able to see and even touch the animals. Walter Rose had a large marquee (which we shared) and had two chefs from top hotels cooking very delicious smelling dishes (we didn't get a chance to taste them as they sold out very quickly!). It was a long and tiring day for everyone but great fun. We have lots of ideas for next year, and other events.

17th July 2007 - Harvest starts - and stops 20th July 2007 - Rain storms!
We have cut one field of oilseed rape before the rain came back. Interestingly this is three days earlier than last year. The rest of the crops wait forlornly while the rain continues. We are very fortunate, we don't have many fields that are likely to flood and our home is not knee-deep in water. However, the oilseed rape pods are splitting open and shedding their seed and the wheat is turning brown instead of golden. The torrential rain on Friday flattened some of the crops which will make them hard to harvest.

We also had the wiring burn-out in some barns where we keep pigs, either due to lightening or water getting in. This meant the feeding system didn't work and couldn'tbe fixed until after the weekend. This meant a long day on Saturday for Cameron and Bruce feed the pigs manually. We do give thanks, however, that the building did not catch fire - that doesn't bear thinking about.

For further information on anything on this site please contact Muriel Naughton
Email: Naughton@Farming.co.uk

	Wiltshire Village Meats Welfare - - Quality		In association with Walter Rose and son Family Butchers
JUN 2008 MAY 2008 APR 2008 MAR 2008 FEB 2008 JAN 2008 DEC 2007 NOV 2007 OCT 2007 SEP 2007 AUG 2007 JUL 2007 JUN 2007	FARM DIARY THE EVERYDAY STORY OF LIFE ON A WILTSHIRE FARM
	Links to other pages HOME FARM SHOP FARM SHOP - Greeting Cards WALTER ROSE ABOUT OUR FARMING FARM DIARY RECIPES QUESTIONS CONTACT US	July 2007 Rain and mud! Last July our diary was all about the effects of the extreme heat on the livestock, the need for wallows for the pigs. Also we had great fun photographing a wonderful array of moths that kept flying in to the house at night when all the windows were wide open! What a difference a year makes! The pigs still need and enjoy their wallows on the few warm days we have had but they haven't been as critical as usual. I have seen a few brave moths and butterflies but not many - and we certainly haven't had windows open at night for a while. We are very fortunate, we are not flooded, and crops have not been ruined (yet!) but the incessant rain does make extra work keeping pigs properly strawed up. We are also hoping the rain will stop soon so that harvest can begin. So far not much of our crops have been flattened, this is down to choice of variety, fertiliser inputs and a certain amount of luck. 3rd July 2007- wildlife update The rain hasn't stopped us enjoying the wildlife. We meet a hedgehog scurrying around the yard in the early mornings and late evenings. It is of the non-rolling variety so easier to photograph. Up at the Soley pig unit I saw a family of Grey Partridges. This is a species that has declined dramatically over the last few decades but we are fortunate to have quite a few on both farms. We haven't seen so many chicks this year, perhaps because of the wet weather. I was able to get quite close - obviously too close for comfort for the mother who tried to lure me away by running a short distance away pretending to have a broken wing. The chicks were too well hidden to photograph. We have also been told that an owl box we put up a few years ago in an old redundant barn has finally been occupied by a barn owl. I will let the English Nature 'bird-man' know so he can monitor what success they have. If I can get any photographs without causing disturbance I will show them here. Not wildlife but newlife - we have three new residents in the stables, three ginger kittens come to us from a neighbouring farm. They are very friendly. It caused quite a stir taking five kittens to the vets for their vaccinations last week! 14th July 2007 - Devizes Food Festival Thank you to all who visited our stand at the Food Fayre held in Devizes Market Place on Saturday. The sun shone and plenty of people came and thoroughly enjoyed the various stalls and cooking demonstrations. One of the highlights of the Fayre was the livestock that Tim Johnson brought to the Market Place. The Johnsons farm at Coulston near Devizes and supply Walter Rose with all their beef. Tim brought along a very docile cow and calf, a slightly more opinionated sheep, some goslings and turkey poults. The children especially loved being able to see and even touch the animals. Walter Rose had a large marquee (which we shared) and had two chefs from top hotels cooking very delicious smelling dishes (we didn't get a chance to taste them as they sold out very quickly!). It was a long and tiring day for everyone but great fun. We have lots of ideas for next year, and other events. 17th July 2007 - Harvest starts - and stops 20th July 2007 - Rain storms! We have cut one field of oilseed rape before the rain came back. Interestingly this is three days earlier than last year. The rest of the crops wait forlornly while the rain continues. We are very fortunate, we don't have many fields that are likely to flood and our home is not knee-deep in water. However, the oilseed rape pods are splitting open and shedding their seed and the wheat is turning brown instead of golden. The torrential rain on Friday flattened some of the crops which will make them hard to harvest. We also had the wiring burn-out in some barns where we keep pigs, either due to lightening or water getting in. This meant the feeding system didn't work and couldn'tbe fixed until after the weekend. This meant a long day on Saturday for Cameron and Bruce feed the pigs manually. We do give thanks, however, that the building did not catch fire - that doesn't bear thinking about.
	For further information on anything on this site please contact Muriel Naughton Email: Naughton@Farming.co.uk