Ex Battery Hens; Then and Now

Took a couple photos of the Ex Batt girls earlier and realised how much they've changed since I got them from the BHWT.
They were from the last batch of hens rescued from the old-style battery cages in December '11.

First there is Tracy Beaker with her twisted beak. She took a few weeks to start eating properly but copes ok now and has feathered up really well!

Then there is Justine, the friendliest and cheekiest one of them all! She's the only one to escape their Free Range area to come to our bit of the garden and see what's going on. She's feathered up really well compared to what she was but still hasn't moulted her wing feathers so they're still bare quills.

With the rest of the flock...

Callum my bosses son was annoying me as I was mucking out the stables earlier so I've found the perfect way of keeping him quiet...

...I think I should stick to working with animals!

Camels!

I've been working with Camels all week and over the Jubilee weekend. It's been a completely different placement to anything I've done before but had great fun doing it.

I've been with Joseph's Amazing Camels in Warwick who have Dromedary (one hump) and Bactrian (two humped) camels which are used in film and TV as well as at public events for camel racing, trekking and camel polo.

I have some experience with horses so knew how to put on head collars and tack up a horse but camel tack was completely different so that was a learning curve! The Dromedary saddle sits over the hump while the Bactrian saddle sits between them; the saddles we use have been imported from the Far East as there is a limited market in the UK! They have all sorts of props and costumes to go on their halters and saddles depending on the theme of the event.
The camels knew I'm new so really tested me, trying to intimidate and growl at me but Joseph said to act confident and they soon calmed down. We gave them a bath last night before putting them to bed in their clean stables and I narrowly avoided getting spat at!

Today we went to Bolesworth Classic - a big showjumping event. The camels raced in the main arena with our jockeys doing some showjumping before the famous jockeys and main show sponsors got on and had a go racing.

Oliver Townend and Dave Quigley on the camels:

Donald Whitaker on Kazak:

and Geoff Billington even had a go!

I have been staying with Joseph & Rebecca and their family have a cottage which they rent out so I have been staying in that for just over a week, working in the days and eating with the family of an evening.

In the past, before the camels, Joe & Rebecca kept lions for a circus and told me all sorts of stories about them, their training and the places the visit which was fascinating. They gave them up over 10 years ago before their children came along.

Last weekend we went to a festival in Aberdare (Wales) and took their team of Racing Pigs. I had the glamorous job of dressing up as a typical West Country farmer to start the pigs off and run behind them to stop them going the wrong way.
Also at the festival were Dick & Dom and entertainment from X Factor contestants, Only Men Aloud and other local acts!

Meet Hagrid

The chicks at Uni have hatched but one one Frizzle hatched with the quail and he's massive compared to them so he's been named Hagrid:

Meet Dr Chicken

I picked up the nickname Dr Chicken from regular customers at work as they'd bring chickens in with various ailments and we'd sort them out and I was asked to write an article for the June issue of Your Chickens magazine and here it is...



Have had lots of tweets and messages saying people like it, so hope they do!

Possum social

I think I've found a great idea for our next Animal Science social;

A game called Possum:

Obsessed with hatching!

I've gone from broody to obsessed!

I thought about setting a few quail eggs in my incy at Uni, got a bit carried away and bought 40 eggs from a breeder and another 36 from the Organic shop on my street who said they are fertile - they're due on the 21st May, my brothers birthday. Because of that and already having 12 bantam eggs in my Octagon 10, I needed another incubator so my friend Lee saved the day + lend me his!

Then, I was on eBay and saw an MS Broedmachine incubator for sale on there. They're the best you can buy, made in the Netherlands and so don't often come up for sale... so I kinda bought it!

Is in Nottingham so ma friend at Uni there has collected it for me and I'll go pick it up.
One of these:

Annie, one of my Pekins, was on 3 eggs due this weekend but only one has hatched so far - a Speckled Sussex x Araucana which if is a girl should lay green eggs. Not sure if the other 2 will hatch late or not at all.

I've got my brooder ready for the quail chicks too (if they hatch)!

Is a Hagen Vision bird cage (a bit like eglu's for budgies!) which has a deeper tray than my indoor rabbit cages so should keep them warm. I've got a big double height Vision Cage for my Diamond Doves and really like them!

Womble update

You might remember Womble, one of the rescue horses, who Stephie and I worked with last year.

I was at the yard earlier and he came over to his stable door for a fuss and is 1000 times better than he used to be - I remember when the vets needed to castrate him (I think it was) and he had to have 2 lots of sedations before they could even get a head collar on him.

I turned him out to the field and he was perfect - lead really well, stopped at the gates, didn't freak with the dogs running around his feet and everything.
He's always been turned out with a grab strap on his head collar because he's still not perfect to catch in the field and had rubbed his head on a fence post so I had to get him back in and bathe it with a bit of Hibiscrub which he didn't really like but he didn't make too much of a fuss.

Escapey Kitty

We had the most playful kitten ever in at the vets earlier!

He just wanted out of his kennel all the time and was sticking his paws out to try and get to the nurses every time they walked past sorting out the others.

Caught this cute photo

Meet Spike...

I've stayed in Aber over the holidays to carry on Lambing nights so thought it would be an ideal time to get some more practice in at the vets too.

It's worked really well as I've been finishing Lambing at 7, getting a couple hours sleep and going to the Vets then getting another few hours sleep after seeing practice before starting Lambing again at 8.
I've had a lot of caffeine to keep me going this week but its been good to see surgery!

I saw we had Spike booked in for surgery and was expecting a Rottie or Mastif, then in bounds this bundle of fluff...

He was in as he had an obstruction in his gut so Kate had to do a foreign body removal operation.

They found exactly what they were looking for, which turned out to be part of his lead, and then as they were suturing up Kate showed me a clever little trick.

When closing up the intestinal wall she pulled the two ends of the incision together and sutured perpendicular to how she'd cut it so that the lumen isn't restricted afterwards which could lead to further blockages.

Bottle feeding Kilo

Kilo, named because he was less than a kilogram when he was born, has definitely settled in and made himself at home.
He's had SO many visitors its untrue and the neighbours kids came round to give him a bottle this afternoon.

Rose was a natural, posing with a bottle

 and Evie preferred to give him a cuddle after he was done with his dinner...

Exotics at the Vets

Had another good day at the Vets today!
Was Lambing at the Uni farm 'til half 6 so only had an hour + half sleep but wasn't too bad!

First thing we had a bitch in who needed a caesarian. Glesnie the vet got them out then Nerys, the vet nurse, and I rubbed them in towels to get them breathing. I got to inect the bitch with antibiotic + painkiller. Then the puppies went in a box with a hot water bottle, so cute!

They look like little Rottweilers but are actually King Charles Spaniels!

Then had another cavalier in who needed syringe feeding with A/D and Glucose rehydration liquid so I did that a few times throughout the day - another first!

I watched a few op's - dog castrate, dog dental and had a cat with a big tumor on his face which needed looking at and X-rays.

We had Toby the German Shepherd in for X-rays to look at his hips for hip scoring. He's only 5 months old and the breeder said the parents were hip scored but he was really bad so not sure how true that is...

A vet and nurse had to go out to pick up a dog - a Neapolitan Mastiff, who doesn't like men. I wasn't going to mess with a dog that big so kept out the way for that one! ;)

Later on this afternoon I was in seeing consults with John; we had a 47 year old Amazon parrot with a dodgy eye, could have been bad conjunctivitis or the eye had ruptured. Gave local anaesthetic and antibiotic eye drops and it opened up.
We were meant to have a snake in which I was looking forward to but they didn't show up!
Like seeing all the more common animals but really like exotics - the parrot was really interesting, I was surprised at how old it was!

Kilo meets Sherlock

Kilo the house sheep meets Sherlock the house rabbit...

Meet Kilo...

We had a lamb born at the farm this week who was about 800g when he was born. We didn't think he'd make it as he was so small but I tubed some colostrum into him, stuck him under a heat lamp and he got stronger...
He came into the Farm Office with us as we sat and did our Nutrition assignments about silage *yawn* and he's got through the worst and going to make it.
Next to a 500ml bottle so you can see how small he is...

I took him back to our student flat to bottle feed him throughout the day and he's had so many visitors already.

Of course I couldn't leave him behind so I bought him and now officially own a sheep...
He'll stay with us for a few weeks and then eventually he's going to live on a friends smallholding near home so I'll be able to visit!

Vets in Aber

Second day at the vets and a quiet one..
We only had 2 surgeries booked in, and neither of them happened!

A man bought a stray cat in, with no microchip etc and needed spaying. She was anaesthetised and shaved ready for the op, just before opening her up the vet saw some scars... She'd already been done!
Were the scars from where she'd been done and they could feel dimple so no need to open her up to check.

Also had a dog in which had dislocated his hip so they put a plate and screws into it last week but he wasn't walking on it + it was crunching a bit when it moved in one particular way.
They thought they'd have to cut the head of the femur off but after X rays it looked ok and they couldn't see a problem so rather than causing more damage and maybe damage to the plate and screws they decided to leave it.

We did have quite a few Lambings in though which I went downstairs to watch, and a few caesarians which are always interesting!
"Kilo" my pet lamb weighs just that, 1kg, but we had a lamb from a caesarian which was 9kg's!

Had a calf in with Salmonella which needed bottle feeding with Life-Aid so I helped do that - barrier nursing so had to wear gloves and wellies so we could dip them after.

The Edible Garden Show 2012

Had a really good 3 days at The Edible Garden Show this weekend!

I was there on the PoultryTalk stand and took 6 chickens along with me, some for the show cages and others to go in an Ark on the stand.
Doris one of the Pekin Bantams I bred last year sat happily on top of the ark for all 3 days being stroked and picked up by children wanting to take photographs with her.


Never put all your eggs in one basket ...unless its just to show different colours at a show


I did a "Chicken Keeping for Beginners" talk in the Poultry Ring of the Smallholders Marquee which was photographed and I appeared in the Daily Mirror!
The talks went well, hopefully people took bits away from it and that encourages people to look into keeping chickens.

Rupert Stevenson came along to take some photos at the show and sent them to me (Thanks Rupert!) so I actually have some sensible photos for a change!


As well as this one which is currently featured on the Edible Garden Show website.

Jamie and I had a great time on the stand speaking to the public, allowing them to get up close and personal with the chickens and take photographs with them.

There was a great buzz around the show with photographers from the BBC and National Press there taking photos and videos which we were featured in. There was also a piece on the BBC News but I didn't manage to catch it.

I was dressed as a Chicken for most of the show (why not?!) and went to see The Chicken Vet for a quick check-up.

I had a bad case of Northern Fowl Mite but they cleared that up for me...

I wrote a Beginners Chicken Keeping factsheet to go with the talk, Jamie had 800 printed and they all went!
There were 6 different care-sheets in total and think two or three of them went completely, with a chunk of the other ones going too so there was lots of interest in chickens.

Out in the Livestock Marquee I spotted these piglets...

 ...and a cute goat kid!

Overall it was a great show...

Everyone there was really positive, visitors looked like they were having a good time and said they will definitely be coming back next year, it was a credit to the organisers!

The Edible Garden Show 2012

Had a really good 3 days at The Edible Garden Show this weekend!

Was there on the PoultryTalk stand so took 6 of my chickens with me, some for the show cages and others to go in an Ark on the stand.
Doris (newly named!) one of the pekins I bred last year sat on top of the ark for all 3 days being stroked and picked up by kids, was surprised at just how friendly + chilled she was tbh! :))

Never put all your eggs in one basket ...unless its just to show different colours at a show

I did a "Chicken Keeping for Beginners" talk in the Poultry Ring of the Smallholders Marquee ... got in the Daily Mirror because of it and everything too!
Think it went ok, felt more awkward being centre of attention with people all around me rather than just 1-2-1 like on the stand and at work but was fine! Hopefully people took bits away from it + encourages people to get chickens anyway.

Rupert Stevenson took some photos at the show and sent them to me (thanks!)... some sensible photos I actually like for once!

 And this one which is on the homepage of the Edible website and in their news roll ... feel famous :P

Couple more...

There were loads of photographers from the BBC, Daily Mirror etc there taking photos + videos so may have been on a few of those. Know it was on BBC news telly but I didn't see it.

I was dressed as a Chicken for most of the show (why not?!) and went to see The Chicken Vet for a check-up.

I had a bad case of Northern Fowl Mite but they cleared that up for me ;)

Was a great show... Everyone there was really friendly + looked like they were having a good time - credit to the organisers!

I wrote a Beginners Chicken Keeping factsheet to go with the talk, Jamie had 800 printed and they all went! There were 6 different care-sheets in total and think 2 or 3 of them went completely with a chunk of the other ones going too so there was a load of interest in chickens.

Piglets!

 Cute goat kid!

Looking forward to going next year! :)

Aber Vets

Been to the Vets in Aber today!
I needed to book Sherlock (my house rabbit) in for castration so asked if I could watch the op when I booked him him. Kate, one of the vets who also does our Equine lectures said I could stay and see practice for the day!

Got there about 9ish with Sherlock, met everyone and Nige showed me round. They have a lab and a few other bits as other labs + practices are so far away!
First of all there was a rabbit who had a lump removed from the top of her head. There was a calf downstairs which was looking really bad, pneumonia, under a heat lamp + and on a drip with glucose. Didn't improve much over the whole day though :(

I took the dogs from kennels for walks around the garden + car park for a loo-break and to stretch their legs. Molly one of the dogs had an operation on her back leg a couple days ago so I had to keep a cold compress on it for 15 mins every hour or 2 to keep swelling down and help ease the pain a bit.

Saw a cat castrate on a black stray the vets had adopted and were looking for a home for.
There was a dog in looking toxic with an obstruction that'd been there a couple days before the owner bought it in. They took X Rays and we had a feel, it felt like a rubber ball and the X ray showed something there but couldn't work out what it was. They opened him up to have a look, found it to take out but we couldn't work out what it was! After cleaning it could tell it was rubber, I thought it was the bit off the handle of a lead but the owner didn't know what it was either.

I weighed Sherlock (1.8kg) and we have him anaesthetic. Rabbits are hard to intubate but they got a tube down his trachea for anaesthetic. I watched the castration, they sutured him up and sometimes have to use glue but he was fine. He's really grumpy and not eating, refused chocolate drops + all his other treats but managed to get him to eat some carrot. Have tramadol to give him for the next 2 days!

Kate went out the back to see a ewe someone had brought in which was carrying triplets which were stuck, she managed to get them all out after a struggle but were all dead.

Near the end of the day John, one of the vets, was going out to see a cow which calved twins yesterday + was down. I followed him in my car, she was really dehydrated and looking toxic. We checked her teats + looked like E. coli mastitis so wasn't looking good. We gave her antibiotics and put a stomach tube into her. I pumped 3 bucket's worth of water and rehydration powder into her to get some fluids back into her.
(Edit: I asked John and she'd died the next day)

Back to the vets to pick up Sherlock + eventually got home about half 6, had a really good day though :)

Lambing; prolapse + dissection

Lambing again tonight, with Becky + her friend Tara...

We had a ewe yesterday, dead when we got there that had prolapsed her intestines and died.
Tonight we had a ewe with a small prolapse, tipped her and pushed it back it, it popped back out, pushed it back in and it popped out again. We were talking about putting a prolapse spoon in or strap on and then *pop* She ruptured and her small intestine popped out! :(
We quickly grabbed a bucket to keep it clean but knew it was too late her her but maybe we could save the lambs...

Phoned the farmer who came out and agreed, he had to put her to sleep and we did an emergency caesarian to get the lambs out.
They were a couple of days premature and the last thing to develop is the lungs so they were struggling to breathe. One died after about 10 mins but we kept the other warm in the heat box, stomach tubed him some colostrum and he was still struggling but just managing to breathe.
After a couple of hours he was getting better with it and took a bottle and looked like he was going to make it! :)

Being the Animal Scientists that we are, we carried on looking at the ewe and dissected her fully. It sounds a horrible thing to do but at least we got 1 lamb saved and learnt a bit from her; was strange to dissect her and the organs were still warm... we normally get them after they've been frozen!
Was good to see where they are relative to all the other organs too, we get a reproductive tract in a tray, then a digestive tract in a tray, but never see exactly where in the body they are. Think we knew what everything was apart from an organ just on the top of the heart... found out that it was the Thymus!
Got loads of photos to use for future reference.

2012 lamb count: 134 + 30 = 164

Busy night Lambing

Had a really busy night lambing tonight with Cody + Petal!
53 lambs born including loads of triplets, 2 sets of Quads and not many singles so we couldn't even adopt them all off to balance numbers and give each ewe 2.

We had one single Lleyn ewe that was trying to lamb a big lamb which presented with just 2 front legs crossed over and no head. We really struggled to get the legs back in and head back forwards and knew by that time that the lamb was dead (you can tell they aren't moving, won't suck your finger and don't pull their legs back) so just had to get it out.
We got the head through the pelvis without the legs to try and get it out that way but it wasn't coming out. Eventually we had to get the farmer out to help us... as the lamb was dead he had to cut its neck to get the head off, pull one leg out and off to then get the other leg out followed by its body.
Gave the ewe some antibiotics hope she's ok!

2012 lambs: 81 + tonight's 53 = 134

Lambing; famous lambs!

Had to go lambing on my own tonight...
The girls said they were all busy so didn't really have a choice. Got there and the farmer was out at a wedding so I was properly on my own! Luckily it was a quiet night so wasn't too bad.

This pair of orphan lambs have been sold to S4C (Welsh TV channel) to go on the telly and become famous!

Only had 7 lambs... until 2.30am I'd only had one set of triplets but then a few started lambing at 3 or 4am!
Made sure all the lambs had milk or gave them bottles... 'cos it was so quiet its the first time I've been cold lambing this year!

Total so far is 74 + 7 = 81

Lambing; Made a friend!

Lambing again tonight, with Sian + Eve, and I made a friend!

Just delivered a set of triplets and then she hobbled over to me and sat on my lap :)

The shed was pretty full 'cos we had a few more sheep bought in, another 220 ewes, which are due to start next week so should be quieter the next couple days as the last lot finish off.

We had quite a few lambs with loads of triplets born, nothing very eventful happened though... 21 lambs born!

2012 total... 53 + 21 = 74