Now I am helping to pluck and tuck them into freezer

I spent a whole day helping them out of their eggs when they hatched, and now I am helping to pluck and tuck them into the freezer. It is the sort of thing that could turn me vegetarian. But after I have eaten one just to check on palatability,

It is not as though we are short of guinea fowl around the yard. There are my original breeding flock, fifteen youngsters in a pen ready to release now that the others are gone, and yet another fifteen warmed up nicely in the incubator.

My broody guinea fowl has deserted her nest.

Probably thinks there is little point to it all. Or maybe the tree branch being dropped on her was just the last straw. In any case the other guinea fowl show no such temerity over sitting on the nest. They have continued to lay in it and have once more swelled the egg numbers to the point where Mrs Guinea Fowl must have started to feel queasy about heights.

The other cull that has just taken place has been pigeons. Over the summer they have bred and multiplied under the open barns. John has been out with an air rifle and shot twenty three last night. He is out there again now. There are mountains of feed, hay and silage stored under the barns, and the pigeons create a lot of mess with their droppings.

I do love their gentle cooing but I am afraid it is not a particularly effective plea with the master executioner.

So out to the fields and let’s forget about the mass slaughter at home.

The big field that John was hoping to let out for grass, and then started to think might have to go down to beans as nothing was happening, is suddenly on the agenda again for grass.

John had determined that the contract was not going to be taken up. He planned to go in the next day with the mole plough to lift the land prior to ploughing. And then the farmer who had indicated he was putting it down to grass but had previously made no move to act on the agreement..... did.

Rolled into the field in a big 200 plus horse power tractor with a new Trio machine on the back. This is a machine with a combination of tines/legs that lift the soil, then a crumbler that knocks the clods out and then discs that really slice everything up. This Trio made mincemeat of the field in just a day and it will only need to be passed over with a combination drill full of grass seed to be finished.

“It would taken me a fortnight to get that field ready” John said.

Just shows what can be done with big machines and really up to date tackle.

Mrs Down’s Diary