How Now Brown Cow!!!

Isn't Nature amazing! Less than 24 hours after being born Fede has changed colour...

He originally looked black (sort of) with white hooves but has now changed to a light brown in colour. Obviously not a pure bred Dexter! The place that Charles picked the cows up from was in the process over changing their herd over to Galloways, so there is a chance that Dad could have been a Galloway bull. I guess we'll find out in due course, as Galloways are known for their dominant gene as a small breed.

Unfortunately for little Fede we don't want him to breed with either his mother, grandmother or his aunty and as I would hate to sell him off and think that he could end up on someone's dinner plate, we will have to make sure he lose's his testicles.

Sorry Fede!!! But it is for your own good!!!

Another New-born in the Family!

After the few days of bright sunny days and Nikki's calf suffering in the heat, it is now raining again and Nina's calf has entered the world.

I thought I heard Becky crying up in the top paddock and assumed she'd got herself on the wrong side of the electric fence from her Mum but when I looked I found Nina in the throes of childbirth and 2 small hooves poking out from behind. Nina wasn't happy that we were there so we left her to it and we would return to check on her in a half hour or so.

After only 15 minutes Charles went up to the shed and stopped to check that all was well and found that the little calf had already been born and that Nina had chosen a very slopping patch of ground to give birth on, so that the calf had rolled down the hill and was now on the wrong side of the electric fence. Picking him up he carried her around to some flatter area and left her to mum to lick and feed.

It was a truly fast and almost painless experience for Nina (her first calf).

After hearing cows in surrounding properties birthing for hours and moaning on and on, and to hear both of ours hardly make a sound and birth so easily and without complications was great!.

Happy birthday to the latest addition of the family, Fede!

A New Edition to the Family

We now have a new edition to the family as of last night...

Nikki had her calf, we heard nothing! but Rebekah who was staying in the guest room, heard what she thought was a cow in labour late in the night. Didn't think much about it this morning but when we returned from town with a load of work for ourselves... lo' and behold a little black Dexter calf was in the paddock.

It has been cool and raining the last 2-3 months and on the first stinking hot day for ages the poor thing had to be born the night before. Bekky as we have named her, is a little heat stressed at the moment, but all attempts to get them all in the shade we have erected over the pen so far, has failed, so we'll try again to entice them in later when it's cooler.

At least she appears healthy and happy! as does Mum.

Mow mow mow the grass! or is that Moo???

Charles has been shopping and came home with 2 Dexter cows (mother and daughter) who are supposedly both in calf, so we could have 2 extra 'lawn mowers' soon.

They might look placid but as a small breed they still have a lot of strength as we found out when they charged through 6 barbed wire fences when spooked by our little neighbour (LuKa aged 4). They are really scared of little people.



Named Nikki and Nina they have settled in and are both chewing their way through the grass which is higher than they are in places... but with all the rains the grass is growing faster than they can eat... perhaps another 2 cows for the 'herd' is a good idea.



We look forward to having calves soon and will post photos as soon as the moment happens.

Back again, sorry for the delay and Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Well its been awhile and there is a lot to catch up with... a new member of the community arrived. A young rooster who is trying his hardest to control the hens and catch them for a 'quickie'! but they have other ideas... he is learning and as his voice breaks his crowing is not as strained, we've decided to call him Russell 'Crow'.



He's a Plymouth Rock rooster to match the 4 PR hens that Charles bought from a lady in Kyogle, but he seems to fancy the 4 mongrel bred younger hens. Typical male... heehee!

Russell with his Harem.

He has taken to following Charles around like a faithful dog and comes running as soon as he sees him. Me on the other hand, he doesn't trust and has had a few goes at me (I have put him on warning that he could taste very nice!!!) I play with the hens and pick them up and scratch them, which I think he perceives as a threat to his authority. But as long as I get the eggs I'm happy!

More updates tomorrow!

If You Build It They Will Come

The Rammed Earth Chookhouse is finally finished...

It took a lot of labour, earth and pain, but I think it was well worth it! The result is a work of art, a chookhouse to be proud of and one that will keep the girls warm, cool and above all safe!!!




The whole pen covers a huge area but is divded into 4 areas which are all indivually accessed by both human and chicken (the latter only by opening one of the 4 doors bult into the walls). This enables us to rotate the chickens as we rotate the veggie garden beds.



And so they arrive... I did say "build it and they will come!" Or someone more famous once did.

We have bought 4 mongrel hens for their hardiness and 4 pure bred Dark Barred Plymouth Rock hens for.... Well, you will just have to ask Charles that one!
He wants a DB Plymouth Rock rooster now. Hmmm, chicken fancying anyone???

Next on the list is the electric fence and then our little lawn mowers... More soon ----->>>>

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Sunshine on my shoulder makes me Happy!

Well at least on the roof it does!

Finally after months of waiting the 1.5Kw PV system has been installed on the roof of the studio. with the Gross feed meter attached we will be generating 'Green Power' for Country Energy (our normal supplier) and then buying back from them our energy needs. Currently we sell for 60c per Kw and buy back at 20c per Kw... beautiful!

The careful monitoring of our energy usage over the last few months has given us a good idea of where most of our energy is used and by making sure we switch off all those pesky little red lights and tiny digital clocks that seems to be an essential componant of everything that we buy these days, we should be able to keep our energy consumption well under what we can generate on a sun shiney day!

So! we should get a cheque and not a bill every 3 months! Yippeee!
Next part of the solution will be the removal of the old electric hot water system for a solar version and replace the cooker for a LPG stove (still using non-renewable energy but more efficient and a little cheaper to use at this moment time!)

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