Cow pats, the delight of.....

These little beauties have just started appearing in the Paddock. Sprinkled here and there, donated from the rear end of Elise, our new young heifer, they are welcome additions to the farm.

They are good manure.

And the Bools and Gus love them. Think they have the most heavenly of perfumes therefore must be rolled in. 

At first the donations were quite firm and non-rollable in, then during the last week, since she has arrived, they have become quite, quite squelchy therefore making them into a heavenly mulch. Just right for sticking to the coats of Bools and Gus.

Bools has always enjoyed the sheep poo, (on the left in the photo) as do the chickens, crows and magpies. No-one seems to eat Elise's leavings though. They remain little mountains across the surface of the Paddock. Unless they become squashed by Bools, Gus, or my boot if I do not pay attention to where I am walking. Like I said, it is sticky stuff. 

Elise is doing well, and most times obeys our requests of her eventually. She takes the milk from the bucket easily now, although this can be a bit of a performance because the sheep also want to drink the milk so some barging can occur, but all in good humour. She has not got her voice back after mooing herself out last week, but hopefully that will come back soon. 

Now off to move the hay from the Tall Barn into the Middle Barn because we urgently need to build a pen in the space where the hay is being stored. Unfortunately Elise and our little band of goats are not letting the sheep into the Sheep Barn, which is just about bit enough for everyone to sleep in,  but Elise and the goats don't think so. Yesterday it rained hard during the night and the sheep had to huddle round the edge of the barn. It was not cold and it did not rain hard, but we have realised that we need to separate the flocks. So Elise and the goats into the Tall Barn, leaving the sheep with their paddock. 

If we manage to find the money to put an upstairs in the Tall Barn and make into guest accommodation, then whoever is staying up there will be woken up by the goats and Elise  when they are wanting to be fed or milked. Ah well, it is a farm after all!

Rabbits: 14 originally, now 13 deceased from myxomotosis. 1 remains. She has just had babies. She also now has myxi. Don't know whether to end her life, or not, just yet. It is quite heartbreaking to see the squirmy little ones who will no doubt have been infected by their mum. Ending their lives is going to be very, very, hard. So we do nothing at the moment, just watch, hoping for a miracle which we don't really think is going to happen. 

Blessings to Tommo, who lost Sprocket recently. 

...and the dogs are banned from the Sheep Paddock.