Today we were honoured with blue skies and sunshine, a stunning sunrise and a gorgeous sunset. It was a day for LOTS of jobs and so, in no particular order: firstly we added Apple Cider Vinegar to the poultry water. ACV is a great ‘pick-up’ and can help the birds in times of stress (such as being kept inside all day due to the Avian Flu lockdown) and it also can boost the immune system. It is full of minerals and vitamins, helpful for when birds are moulting - as per the photo of Katherine below. Katherine is our Bourbon Red turkey and her moulted feathers lying under the perches in the mornings, do rather make it look as though we have had a fox attack. You can just see the start of her new (pin) feathers coming through – in two to three weeks she should look stunning again. We also topped up the goat path with another barrow of woodchip; cleared away a load of old branches that had been browsings for the goats back in the summer and began to tidy the lean-to (an item that had been on our ‘to-do’ list for at least two months...).
We then cleaned, trimmed and sprayed Pepper’s front feet. They have become rather sore again causing him to kneel down rather than put his full weight on his legs – we may need to get the vet to come out if things don’t get better for him!!
And of course all the usual feeding and mucking out was done. The sheep hay rack needed topping up but Cadbury (pictured) - and a few others - decided to start eating whilst the bale was still in the green trolley. There was hay in the rack still but of course this new bale was sooo much tastier...