Winter has arrived !

 

 

Winter has arrived ... this is the view from the barn this morning, we are being battered by hail and snow showers.  The wind is a cold northerly one and its times like this when you are thankful for the barns and all the hard work in the summer in readiness for the winter.

 

This was a sunnier day last week the cat decided to follow me on my evening walk with the dogs.  He is causing a bit of a stir with the girls and babies.  The babies are all well and growing up fast.  It won;t be that long until weaning time comes round.  I have been busy catching up on some toe nail trimming last week.  The next job on the list is the routine worming which I hope to be doing shortly.

 

The Mud Monsters !!  Niggy, Noggy and Norka now have a purpose fenced paddock all to their selves... this is their space and they can do what ever they want to do with it .... which means rutting !!  making lots of muddy holes !! Having a great piggy time.  I am pleased to have this job done as it means that the piggies are now out and about, enjoying some freedom.  Creating havoc in their own space !

 

 

Haggis and Dougal tucking into their haylage .... I think that most of the jobs have been crossed off the 'to do list' ..... just got to get knitting now.  I have lots of lovely yarn to use.  This is one of the nicer jobs ... sitting knitting infront of a nice cosy fire !! 

 

And finally ..... this is a view of my haylage.  The first bale in the photo is this years haylage.  It has turned out lovely again.  The other bales are of last years hay.  The haylage is working out great.  I can honestly say this was a good move.  I had debated about doing haylage for a couple of years until I decided to give it a go last year. 

 

The alpacas just love it !  The bales smell so sweet and are a lovely golden green colour.  I thinks its the way forward for us here.  I am lucky that I can make my own haylage, as not many people seem to do it.  The alpacas just love it, both the boys and the girls have a big bale each in their barns to help themselves when they come in on an evening.

 

The horses are rationed the haylage as they would just stand and eat it all .... and end up with colic.  I am really pleased with the way it has turned out.  I think its safe to say we all prefer it.  The haylage has more nutrients and is higher in feed value than the hay, it also does not have any dust spores in it.  This makes it a much nicer option that the hay, especially for one of my horses who has a dust allergy. 

 

Apart from that ... it only takes 3 days from start to finish to do ..... and with our weather .. that has to be a good thing !