Cattle - We still have a poorly calf. My father-in-law went to the vets this morning as he was worried about the calf and didn’t think it was going to make it. The calf is looking better tonight.

Ducks - Got 5 duck eggs today. 4 this morning and unusually one tonight. I have taken an order of 12 khaki campbell duck eggs for hatching which I will collect Sunday and Monday morning and send 1st class on Monday morning.

Guinea Fowl - At 3pm this afternoon the guinea fowl were still in their different groups and not altogether at the door of the hut. This suggests that the guinea fowl are getting ready for the mating season, egg laying and nesting. As yet there are no signs of nest building from the guinea fowl.

Guinea Pig - This morning Guiness’ drinker was frozen up so I made sure that he got some fresh water.

Hens - Got one hen egg this morning. I am not sure where the other hens are laying.

Pigs - I seem to spend most of my time shovelling muck but the young pigs barn is nice and clean and has fresh straw, although by the morning they will have rooted it all around as they look for food.

Quail - I have two quail with poorly eyes. One of their eyes is puffed up and has water around it. I have tried to lance the area on one of the quail with a needle so that I could get rid of the water but this has not proved easy. I also tried with my knife but this was too big and I also couldn’t get the needle through the skin. I will have another go tomorrow.

See you back in the farmingfriends yard bright and early tomorrow!

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Cattle - One of the young calves is poorly so we have given it some antibiotics.

Ducks - Only got 4 duck eggs this morning.

Guinea Fowl - The injured guinea fowl is keeping up with the others now and I hope that her foor is healing. The two guinea fowl that roosted in the tree are now down which is a relief and they are all now in the hut. MeilaMary, a regular reader, has another poorly keet. If anyone has any advice then I am sure that MeliaMary would appreciate this. Go to the forum for more information about the poorly keet.

Guinea Pig - Guiness is enjoying running round his clean and fresh straw filled hut.

Hens - Got one hen egg today.

Pigs - Gave Cagney and Lacy abit of a muck out and will continue with this tomorrow.

Quail - I put a pile of fresh straw in the quail hut and I noticed that the quail have laid eggs on the fresh straw. Junior, a regular reader would like to know if there is anything we can do to prevent egg binding in quail, so if anyone has any advice we would love to hear from you.

See you tomorrow for more news from the farm.

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Cattle - The fold yard is open at one end and exposed to the elements when the wind is blowing into the fold yard so we have put some straw bales to try to block the wind abit.

Ducks - Got 6 duck eggs. The ducks enjoyed being out today and are very easy to get in on a night as they now come when i call them or when they hear my voice they head towards the barn.

Guinea Fowl - If you remember 13 of the guinea fowl were roosting in the trees and in the barn rafters last night. 11 of them have come down but two of them are still roosting in the trees. I think this is due to there still being snow on the ground in the paddock and near the poultry hut so they don’t want to fly down and land in the snow as my guinea fowl do not like snow as guinea fowl do not like the wet.

Guinea Pig - Guiness got a clean out yesterday and I held him for about 10 minutes so we did abit of bonding.

Hens - Got 1 hen egg today. The hens love to free range and they are now in a routine and will easily come in at night.

Pigs - Gave the pigs a big muck out today. Noticed that one of the young boars is getting frisky and trying to mate with the gilts. I am hoping that the gilts are sold and will be going this weekend but I need to confirm this, otherwise the gilts and the two boars will need to be separated.

Quail - The straw gets paddled down in the hut right around the edge of the hut, so I will need to add more straw in the next few days so I don’t get quail with toe-balling.

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Sara, I just wanted to say the Herb Growing ebook is brilliant. You must have taken a lot of time over it. I would recommend it to anyone. I especially liked the growing cress in an eggshell - it seemed fun and everyone in the family could get involved. Trisha

Thanks Trisha for taking the time to write in with your feedback.

Click on this link if you would like to know more about the How To Grow Herbs For Cooking eBook.

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Cats - I think the cats like to be stroked and petted once they have had their nightly feed as they are all  beginning to congregate at the kitchen door on a night.

Cattle - The heifers that went to market on Monday didn’t make as much money as the previous two but still got a good price.

Ducks - Got 6 duck eggs this morning which have been sent first class to the Isle of Wight for hatching. The ducks all went out today and Missy Limpalong’s foot seems to be getting much better after two days of rest and she kept up with the gang today as they wandered or should I say waddled around the farm.

Guinea Fowl - The guinea fowl all went out fine this morning and didn’t seem to bothered by the snow that was still on the ground in places.Tonight was a different story. I was about 10 minutes late opening the hut door and by this time about 17 of the guinea fowl had flown up onto the bales. Iclimbed up three levels of big round bales and waving a large stick about and shouting come on, come on, I managed to get 4 to come down. Unlucky for some, but 13 are now perched either in the trees on the roof truss of the barn or the actual roof of the barn. I do hope it doesn’t snow in the night. Received some great photos of MeliaMary’s guinea fowl and the fantastic guinea fowl area that she is building for her guinea fowl keets in Australia. Check out MeliaMary’s guinea fowl keet update .

Guinea Pig - Postponed Guinesses muck out til tomorrow.

Hens - Got one hen egg. The hens were pleased to go out today but they all came back to the hut at the same time and went in easily and no pecking at my fingers tonight, phew!

Pigs - Another big muck out is required so I have pencilled this in for tomorrow. I can’t move in the outer barn for pig muck that I have removed from the pigs enclosure so tomorrow I will move it to the pig muck heap. I can hardly wait! Lacy the pig has a new penpal. Some of my friends bought a pig penpal for our friend’s son’s birthday.

Quail - Eggs collected this morning was over 15. All quail seem well at the moment. They are still huddling together due to the temperature. Got around 20 eggs tonight.

Back tomorrow for another farmingfriends update.

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I am thinking of trying to rear some pheasants and partridge this season for my small shoot.I have not done this befor so i just need to know how long i leave day old chicks under the lamp befor moving them out into a night shelter and then runs.befor putting them into the release pens.

Hi Daryll,

Thanks for your enquiry about rearing pheasants and partridges.

I don’t have much experience of rearing pheasants and partridges. Only that we found a young partridge chick and I raised it with the guinea fowl keets that I had in a brooder at the time.

It is recommended that the lamp for pheasants and partridges is a red lamp to keep the birds calm. My partridge was raised under a normal heat lamp though but then I only had 1 partridge and a dozen or so guinea fowl.

I keep my guinea fowl under a heat lamp for the first 6-8 weeks depending on the temperature outside.

For guinea fowl keets the temperature should be 95-100 degrees fahrenheit for the first two weeks and then decreased by 5 degrees fahrenheit each week after that. Watching the behaviour of the chicks will also help to determine if they need the lamp. Huddled under the lamp is usually a sign that it is too cold, all away from the lamp too hot. A good indication that the temperature is right is if the chicks are just even spread out under the lamp. I usually start to turn the lamp off during the day by week 4-6 depending on the weather outside.

I have read that game birds need to be kept in indoor pens until they are fully feathered and mature and then they can placed in outdoor pens.

I have also read that when the game birds don’t need the lamp for heat so much then a 40-60 watt lamp can be placed above the feeders and drinkers to signal for them to eat/drink at night.

Hope this information is useful.
Kind regards
Sara @ farmingfriends

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Cats - Fluffy was very friendly today.

Cattle - I think one of the cows was in bulling today as I could hear the bull making snorting noises which he usually makes when a cow is in bulling. I didn’t see which cows were near the bull so will have to have a look tomorrow to see if it is still happening.

Ducks - Got 6 duck eggs again today and have taken an order tonight for 6 duck eggs for hatching. I will collect the eggs in the morning to send to the Isle of Wight!

Guinea Fowl - All the poultry have been kept in again today. The some of the guinea fowl males were chasing each other inside the hut, so the pairing off of the guinea fowl season is beginning. The guinea fowl males that are not attached to a female will chase each other to gain the affection of a female. It is funny to watch two males chasing each other. One minute running one way then the next minute running back with the other guinea chasing the first. I don’t know how they decide who wins but the females never really look that interested!

Guinea Pig - I am going to give Guiness a clean out tomorrow.

Hens - Got 3 eggs today. Two this morning and 1 tonight. When I went in the hut tonight, one of the cheeky hens jumped up and bit my hand thinking that I had some food in my hand. I am pleased to say that it didn’t hurt.

Pigs - Three of the young pigs left the barn half way through feeding and went for a wander around the fold yard. One of them actually went into the cattle barn but soon came back under the troughs when the cattle started to kick their legs about. Thankfully no-one was hurt. I am very pleased that I didn’t have to go into the cattle pen to rescue the pig!

Quail - Have got double the number of quail eggs tonight than I got the last few nights as the weather has warmed up today.

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Cats - Despite the snow the four white cats were waiting at the door for me this morning and dashed through the snow covered yard to were their food bowl is kept. Stripe was waiting there, he seems to have more sense than to wonder to the farmhouse doorway in all weather or he has more faith in me making the twice daily journey to the cat feeding area!

Cattle - The two heifers (one charolais and one limousin) were loaded early this morning for market and taken to market. Watch the video of my husband getting ready to load the heifers for market.

The glamorous life of a farmer!!! Where’s the lighting crew when you need them?!

Ducks - 6 duck eggs this morning. Due to the snow the poultry have not come out today and hopefully this has allowed the limping ducks leg to rest. Fingers crossed! Although she was still limping tonight.

Guinea Fowl - It is interesting when I go in the hut that the hens clamour at the door, closely followed by the ducks with the guinea fowl all gathering at the far end of the hut.

Guinea Pig - Gave Guiness some carrot today and made sure he had plenty of straw.

Hens - Got 3 hen eggs today. Put lots of fresh straw in the hut this morning as the poultry were staying inside all day due to the snow.

Pigs - A few of the young pigs had a wander around the outer barn and into the fold yard but after the practising they are now easy to get back into the inner barn where they live. They were bedded up tonight with plenty of straw.

Quail - Only about 15 eggs tonight which is about half the number that I have been getting on a night in the last few days. The cold weather really affects the laying of the quail even though they are inside the hut and have plenty of straw. I have noticed that the quail like to huddle together.

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If you don’t have a weigh to measure your pigs weight then I believe that you can measure the length and the girth of your pigs and then work out their weight.

First you measure the pigs length in inches from between the ears to the root of the tail.
Secondly you measure the girth in inches by measuring around the shoulders up against the front legs.
Then you multiply the length measurement by the girth measurement and divide by 12 if it is a lean pig, 11 if a medium pig and 10 if a fat pig. The answer is the weight in pounds.

Written down this sounds easy, so lets hope that you can get your pigs to stand still long enough to be measured. Mine would have to be measured whilst they are eating so that they are stood still! Fortunately I have a pig weigh. Phew, although it isn’t always easy getting them in the weigh!!!

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Cats The cats got a new bag of cat biscuits and they always eat heartily when the bag is new. They seem to eat with renewed vigour. All five cats are present and correct. I imagine that they will be sleeping in the bales to keep out of the wind and snow flurries.

Cattle - Two heifers are in the calving pen which can only mean that they are going to market tomorrow weather permitting.

Ducks - The duck is still limping and one of her claws does seem to be abit swollen. I don’t know if this is because she has hurt it or because of the way she has been walking this last week. I need to check if she has a callous on her foot or if the foot is warm to the touch which may suggest an infection. Got 6 duck eggs again today.

Guinea Fowl - The injured guinea fowl didn’t come back to the hut tonight and she wasn’t in her usual waiting place so I had to do a good hunt of the hedge rows and I am pleased to say that I found her. She too is limping.

Guinea Pig - Gave Guiness more starw as it may snow tonight and I want him to be snug and warm in his hut.

Hens - All the hens came dashing across the orchard this afternoon when I came out. Some of them have a tendancy to get under my feet so I have to be extra vigilant that I don’t stand on their feet. One egg was in the nest this morning but it was cracked.

Pigs - How much muck can nine young pigs make? ALOT!

Quail - Made a delivery of quail eggs to Langlands today.

Will be back tomorrow. Bye for now.

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