Pigs.

Well Babe my Pietrain sow is bagging up and very vocal at the mo, so we decided to get her maternity quaters ready, We have flattened out an area on some stone and parked a horse trailer stuffed with straw there for her, last time she pigged she went out in the middle of a storm from her beautiful sty packed with straw and dug a huge nest outside, sadly it rained all night and in her struggles to give birth in the mud she drowned most of her litter, so this tim she will be unable to get near mud and the only option will be the nice bed...
we had visitors before we finished so I hope she will hold on till at least tomorrow.... All thats left to do is fence it off...
Ducks and Geese..

Diane and Paul popped up....

Yesterday we went to Aberaron to pick up some beautiful ducks, 3 Muscovey females, 1 gorgeous Drake and 2 youngsters... Also a trio of Kakhi Cambells, stunning birds... for a total of £18, which was very affordable and great as we were in a poor week... then we drove to Pwllheli and picked up 2 wonderful geese, they are supposed to be both male, but me thinks an error may have been made, I feel they could be a pair, we shall see... Geese can be difficult to sex, as they age they become easier, the faces show one sign, I can see definate masculin jowels and more refinment in a females face, then when older the females under carriage almost draggs the ground, I believe this is because they have a egg pouch, its a place were the eggs sits closer to her skin, well, we shall see with these 2 they are about 10 mnths I think the lovely lady said, They were such a lovely couple, showing me there lovely little herd of cattle and there goats, I hope to do a deal with her and swap piggy for a young cow, we shall see if she gets back in touch....

We left there quite lte and drove to Cricieth, there we were the only ones on the beach, we played and ran and even Dotty the dalmation enjoyed splashing about, it was about 10.30 and the tide had just turnered to go out, it is a memory that shall never leave me, how lovely it was on the beach with the kids and Joe... 

Wing clipping...

To ensure our wonderful ducks and geese didnt try to fly back to the sea, we had to clip there wings, you do this on one side to unbalance them so flight is impossible, you cut off the primary flight feathers so no wind can be held in there wings, they look really awkward after being done and I hate doing it but, hopefuly they wont need doing again... they are in our poultry paddock and have a huge pond to play in ... what a lovely feeling it was seeing them in our pool, and collecting our first 2 duck eggs..... great day..

I decided to kill one of the spare cockerals that had been dumped on us at christmas time, some body drove up and chucked about 7 out on the bottom of our land, we have no idea who it is but, it happens every year...So as they were wild I shot one on the head with our airgun and then bled it, I had lots to do so asked Andre to pluck it, this was the first time he'd plucked a bird, he did a very good job, then he left him hanging for us, in the mean time Paul and Diane came up, so we finished off outside and I took in the bird to dress.

I asked if they were screamish and wouldnt be offended by me dressing it in front of them.... they  were fine, I think they expect wierd stuff from us..

So I put some newspaper down and set to work in front of my Rayburn.... All went fine, they were actually quite interested in the goings on, I showed them the inside of his heart, his liver, lungs, and Gizzard, as I prepared the bird I kept laughing to myself... how many people would entertain and do this, with my 3 children helping and Lily age nearly 5 interested and asking questions.... what an unusual sight...

He was put in a pot with all the bits and bobs, liver etc.. and I added my organic veg that I had bought at Portmadoc Farmers market and sat him in the pot, adding only salt, peper and a bay leaf.... 2 hours later he was done, absolutley wonderful taste, the kids adored the organic veg and everyone could taste and see the difference, we now believe in the difference of organic and eagerly await the growing of veg in our huge garden.... I am so tired Joe has just cooked pancakes and I'm off to bed as we need to do a lot of building tomorrow.... night night...xx