Livestock numbers reducing

We sold 7 adult cattle & 3 calves last week, leaving just 1 bull & 1 calf on our property. After the recent rain, prices were up somewhat on last year's depressing prices (where could you buy even dog food at 40/c per kg), so we were happy with the result. Even though there is plenty of feed now, we don't want to have to supplementary feed during winter as we did last year, so the worry is gone. The 2 remaining boys are in with the alpaca female herd at the moment, & the young calf is sticking close to the bull, just in case! The work done on improving the cattle yards, ramp & relocating the steel yards has really paid off, as it was very easy to round them up & load them into the truck.

Our alpaca stud male is in the paddock with the females, & is working, so we should have a good drop of crias this time next year. We have also put last year's 12 tuis in with the male herd for weaning, so all of the older alpaca females have a chance to put on some condition while the grass & weather are good. One alpaca wether needed vet attention last week, as he had run into something that had made horizontal scratches across both eyeballs. After some injections & some days of putting eye ointment in each eye, his eyes are much improved. The 3 new cria had their 1st injections yesterday, & are well.

Buff Orpington chicks are still hatching, still cute, & the6 week old ones have just been moved to the mnobile outdoor feeder, which they like. The ones born this week are still in the brooder box in the garden shed, with 2 of the previous batch in with them to teach them how to eat & drink.

Vege garden is doing well, with tomatoes coming along now, enough for plenty of meals! And the pigs are going on Friday - hurray! My daily farm work routine will soon be a lot easier!

After Rain Hurrah Hurrah!

We have had a very wet February, & have watched our dams go from nearly empty to full in 24 hours, & overflowing in a week. Drought seems to go on & on, but it sure can be over fast! Since the big drop (75mm in 24 hours), we have had pretty good regular rain since, & I have only watered the vege garden & shadehouse twice, which is a nice relief too. We know, really know, the reality of "as happy as a pig in mud" - both pigs have enjoyed the mud immensely (but not the semi-permanent creek flooding through their house - they relocated themselves to one of the vacant chook pens!). The grass is green & growing madly, & the cows have stopped mooing everytime they see the ute in the paddock, so the expectation of hay being fed on demand has (temporarily) gone away.
I think the fruit season is just about over for us, & I don't quite know how many kg of poached white peaches are in the freezer (too scared to count, I think!), but it's a lot. Blackberries were pretty poor though, & the birds have beat us to the 2nd raspberry crop. Veges are all doing fine, & I took a tray of them into the Transition Towns Stall at the Markets last Saturday to help out, & it was surprising just how much could be contributed.
Chicken hatching/raising/moving is continuing apace, so some refurbishment with shadecloth of our small mobile tractor to stop little chicks getting out has happened, & all of the larger ones have been moved again. Most of the rats (but definitely not all) drowned in the flooding rains, & I have caught some more, so the problem is less, but not gone. There are 3 broody hens & 1 broody duck sitting on Orpington eggs in the main pen Chookingham Palace (where the rats are), & 5 broody bantams in Fowlmoral also sitting on Orpington eggs, & some more in the incubators, but this is the last group for this season.