Badger's Wood...

When I was back home we managed to do a couple of decent days gardening. We shifted many healed-in hedges, planted a new camellia lawn, and we started work on Badger's wood. We had already decided on the creation of the wood last year when we planted the royal oak in honour of the Diamond Jubilee. However, we had yet to design the track that was to run through it, or to plant any of the other trees, which will eventually form a very dense copse of woodland.

We had carefully measured out and planted the border of the wood with Holly, Silver Birch, and Hornbeam (which had just been healed-in there until the old barn is pulled down and the second half of the vineyard planted). So we knew where the boundaries were, we just had to make a path which was long and winding, and looped around the jubilee oak.

I mowed out the path with the push-mower, while Peter walked behind with the weedkiller, spraying the  grass.

When it is all planted up with English trees in September it will look great. It will take about 3-5 years before it starts to look like an established wood and before no other part of the path can be seen except the part immediately ahead of you. The map at the beginning of the post accurately plots the course of the path, and the position of the oak tree. It is quite a long path given all its turns, and will feel even longer when you can't see where it is leading you...

Although we don't have Badgers in NZ, we do have hedgehogs. Maybe this little one which has already found its way to Badger's Wood will start a family...

Production Line...

Peter has been busy knocking out wooden squares to go around all our new trees, to hold the mulch and bulbs in. He has got it down to a fine art. We should have plenty of timber left for building the potting shed, and making borders for the Lime Walk and Bluebell Walk. 

We have planted up the second stretch of the driveway with a further 14 Plane Trees, and have been at work mapping out and planting up Badger's Wood. We have also started planting up all our urns and pots with fresh potting mix and spring flowers, and have started preparing a site for our boutique vineyard, which we shall share with you in our next post.

While we have been busy at that, the Dorset Horns have kept giving birth to late lambs. No more Highlands yet. They must be due by the end of this month though.

Badger and Bailey...

Yesterday Bramble became a proud mother for the second time within 12 months! Last time she had twin girls - Audrey and Arabella. This time she had twin boys - Badger and Bailey...

Above: Badger - named for his white facial markings.

Below: Bailey - named after the whiskey and cream liqueur.

We have been feeding Bramble a high protein, high energy feed to provide all she needs to cope with the strains of motherhood, and to ensure a plentiful supply of milk for making our organic goat cheese.


Addendum (6 August): Barclay and Briar...

Low and behold, the very next day Audrey delivered Barclay (Buck) and Briar (Doe). She gave birth in their play pen during the night, and somehow she and Briar made it out into the paddock, but Barclay was left behind. We arrived to find him half-dead in the morning, probably suffering from hypoglycaemia. We gave him a dose of dextrose, warmed him in blankets in the sun, and bottle fed him every hour for the whole morning, then spent time trying to get him to latch on to Audrey. After a lot of coaxing Audrey started to bond with him (as she had appeared to bond only with Briar) and finally we got him suckling on her (Note - great lactation consultant as I make, the thrill of bottle feeding a goat QID for the next month did not enthrall me).

We penned them into a little pen with lots of hay and feed and today both kids are standing and walking and suckling well. They will go back into the paddock with the rest of the burgeoning herd tomorrow. Arabella also looks set to drop twins within the next few days. We will have gone from 5 to 11 goats in a week! Below is a short clip of Arabella with Barclay and Briar in their pen...

Addendum (11 August): Barclay and Bailey...

It is with much distress that we share the news that Barclay took sick the day after our last update and despite being bottle feed, housed, warmed and well cared for he died on 10 August.

It is also with intrepidation that I share the precarious position Bailey is in. Bailey, who like his brother Badger had looked so well for the first week, fell prey to a similar illness as Barclay.

However, between the 2 kids getting ill we learnt that this was most likely to have been 'FKS' (Floppy Kid Syndrome). So, with haste we turned our living room into a CICU (Caprine Intensive Care Unit). Bailey has been on a subcut balanced electrolyte infusion. He is also getting a third generation Cefalosporin injection IM BD (twice daily intramuscular powerful antibiotics), as well as Thiamine injections BD with Dextrose and Electrolyte boluses every hour.

He initially improved overnight and went from Death's door to Death's garden gate. We shall see whether this expensive scare (sorry, Intensive Care) wins out. We shall keep you posted. In the meantime he is curled out in front of the fireplace waiting for his next caring ministration...



Final Addendum (15 August): Barathea...

Arabella finally gave birth to a single doe kid yesterday, Barathea, who is now inside due to the freak arctic storm spreading up over the country. She is doing well. Bailey has also made a 90% recovery, and is back with the herd during the day, but is coming in every night until the weather passes. Time to get a new barn built I think.

Above: A new-born Barathea being sniffed by her mother Arabella. She was named after a friend's race horse Barathea Blazer, due to the pronouced blaze on her forehead.

Below: Half of the goat herd on a cold morning. Come Spring they'll get a good wash!