Tales from the farmyard

Up early this morning to finish the hay cutting, then into St G for shopping and Pont de la Taule on the way back to do a few bits and bobs. By lunch time with the sun shining it was back home to turn the hay.

Yesterday evening the sheep managed to get into the chicken run, overturn the chicken feeder and eat all the chicken food. It's obviously the equivalent of crack cocaine for sheep - as today they tried everything to get into the run again. - breaking a gate, braving the shocks from the electric fence and forcing their way between iron bars - in the end I had to move them to another field and crank up the electric fence charge until they'd cooled down. Unfortunately the chicken feed goes straight through them, so now they look like they have been dragged through a cesspit. They'll need to be dagged again when it has all dried.

By four the hay was cooking nicely and I began consolidating the windrows into about a dozen rows for final collecting. This year I have (two) old wooden hay rakes. I found these in Pont de la Taule and although nearly toothless I've mended them both. So much easier to use than the garden grass rake I used last year. The hay had dried amazingly quickly thanks to a gentle warm breeze and the fields SW aspect. It was ready to collect by six...until the rain started. Fortunately it was fairly light and short lived, so if it stays dry tonight and we have a few hours of warmth tomorrow I might get away with it.