Don't Count Your Chickens

Me and my Big Mouth. I've helped some friends out with their sheep a few times this summer and when Fran tentatively asked if I'd be willing to look after the poultry if she could persuade Andrew to have a holiday, of course I said yes. They've not had a day off in over 7 years, and looking after friends livestock is something we are well used to. I used to keep a few hens myself as a girl. Not quite this many though! Last week was a steep learning curve, getting to grips with the systems.

Thankfully, husband also enjoys looking after stock, although I don't think either of us fully realised just how many eggs we were going to be handling. 6000 hens = pretty much 6000 eggs a day. That's 6000 eggs to be sorted, packed accounted for and recorded. That's about 42,000 in a week. We'll be getting the hang of it by the time they get back.

Just to make sure we don't get too tunnel visioned, we've also got a few other souls to tend to. Merlin the Shetland Pony - I'm not a pony person, but this one really is a sweetheart.



3 calves........


And not forgetting 6 puppies, 4 working collies - Nell, Fly, Jess and Meg and Jack the Russell.

I know there are a few missing on the picture - but you try getting them all in one place at once!