Our keeping-the-mud-at-bay is sort of working in the poultry area. We have woodchip, grass mats and pallets and between them they allow us to top up feeders and drinkers and access the compost heap without having to walk on too much squelchy mud. The birds themselves are not quite so good at sticking to the non muddy bits mind you!! They all still have access to the rest of the poultry paddock where there is still a lot of grass, albeit wet grass. You can see behind the chicken however, that we have some quite deep muddy puddles, these have been created by water running down from the four-acre field, past the barn, into the top three-acre field and then down into the poultry paddock. Thankfully, the water from the roof of the stables is now being collected in an IBC tank with an overflow that goes straight into the ditch. Without this, we would be very, very wet, as opposed to just very wet!!!
And where are all the birds? Well, we had just finished cleaning them out so they were all inside, raking through the new straw looking for bits of barley, and often, it has to be said, finding some. There is not a single animal on the holding that does not enjoy straw, although today, Apple was enjoying her bath rather more as you can see in the photo. The ducks absolutely love their mini ponds. The geese do too, although since we moved them all nearer the stables, the geese have been a bit shyer about using them. Barbara’s wing is now non-droopy although when she has a good flap, we can see that it does not stretch quite as much as the other one so a bit more healing is needed here!!! We are so thrilled she is still with us, it could have been a very different story!!! The good news as well, is that we have seen no sign of the fox since that night!!!