Spring Update

Well, another alpaca shearing has been completed - 67 this year, and now to start processing the fleeces. As the weather has turned so hot, it is always reassuring to know that the alpacas are not wearing their thick coats, so we only have to worry about heat stroke in the chicks & piglets. Our latest piglets (Rebus & Roux) arrived last Sunday in catboxes into Piggy Palace (an extension of Chookingham Palace), & are still very shy (& sunburnt, despite the hot weather & available shade, they are excavating their entire pen). We'll keep them until 3 months old - one of them will be served as spit roasted pork at our next party! Last year's piglets certainly tasted delicious, & it was reassuring to know that they had been well & healthily fed (as vegetarians) & had very happy (although short) lives, & that their departure from this life was quick & not stressful.
Three Dexter/Anguscross calves have been born last week, with 1 more to arrive (2 bulls & 1 heifers). I hope it's soon, as the cow looks very uncomfortable in the heat with her udder being so huge. We moved them down to Pearl Paddock with a dam & plenty of grass, so they are in quite good condition.
Chicken hatching is now in full swing with 2 small incubators running constantly. We have had bad luck so far with chicken hatchings, with infertile eggs, too many storms, & with feral cat & chicken hawks disappearing with baby chicks, leaving not a feather & defeating our electronet defences. However, the latest update in chick protection has them all being raised (after 1 week in the brooder) in a fully enclosed part of Chookingham Palace, with Buff Orpington bodyguards - so far, it's working out well. The 1 week old batch have had their first day in the outdoor cage, & will be moved tonight to the Secure Zone.
The vegetable garden is about halfway planted, & heavy mulching is being done in the early mornings to keep evaporation down. We are eating fresh peas, snowpeas, chinese cabbage, kale, broccoli, rocket, sorrel, carrots, & have feasted on the sweetest strawberries. The potatoes are growing well, & I have to plant more tomatoes, eggplants, cucumber & other summer vegetables now that (hopefully) the likelihood of frosty nights has diminished, although we can have frosts any time of the year here.
The shadehouse is being tidied up, with the native trees & tagasaste are being planted out in the laneways near the house, but with the hot weather, planting out will have to be suspended until we get some rain. The grass is still green & long, but the hot dry winds will change that soon.