More Pigs!

We got more piggies today! Gloucester Old Spots...

These Old Spots look a lot different than our previous ones, but they are certainly just as cute. They are quite fat though so first call of the day is to put them on a diet! They are very lovely and friendly and have a wonderful temperament. A  perfect addition to Howe Farm!

Martin's dad made the pig ark. He's a genius.

This is what the Olympics is all about...

Mo. Farah.

Dexters!

Because we don't have enough animals to take care of, we decided to buy ourselves some cows!

It is really the fault of our friends Emma and Julie, who came to visit for the weekend and took us to look at some cows they were considering buying. Not having a strong will, we walked away with two cows with their calfs for ourselves while Emma and Julie got their own 10 month old heifers.

The breed are called Dexters and they are perfect for people like us, who don't have a barn to keep cows in during the winter months. Dexters can stay outside all year round and only need their food supplemented when snow on the ground prevents them getting the grass underneath. They are small cows so easy to handle, and although some Dexters can be hard to handle, being a wild breed, these specific cows are use to human contact and rather docile. We will keep the calves until they are 30 months old, and then they will be slaughtered for meat. We will keep their mothers and start breeding from them almost right away.

So all we have to do now is fence in the field we plan to keep them in and get prepared mentally for having actual cows on our land. It wouldn't' be a proper farm without cows would it?

Howe Farm in Pictures

These are Buff Orpingtons, which we breed. They are my favourite chicken we have. They seem very regal to me.

I have to collect eggs (about 1000) every day. They come out on this conveyer belt, and there is a handle I turn to make it go forward.  I then have to grade them, which means putting each one through a machine that weighs and stamps them. Yes, it is as dull as it sounds.

Howdy 

This is the spooky dead tree on our farm we are considering using for our logo. There is an owl box on it and we have seen the owl swooping over our fields. Its partner lives in another owl box in another field.

Our sad little BBQ that has hardly been used. Beyond the tree line is Tony Blair's house!

Pigs on Howe Farm!

Yesterday Martin and I picked up these little ladies!

They are super cute and funny and we love them already. And they hopefully love us because of all the nice grass they have to dig up and all the room to cause a mess in. We got five. They are British Lops, which is the type of pig we started with. These ones are a lot longer than our original bunch, and I look forward to watching them grow. And grow. And grow...

they may or may not be going to the toilet in this picture...