Oh what a big cock....

There are a few things that I never imagined I would hear being said to me, and " oh what a big cock you have" is one of them. For obvious reason this is a statement that surprises me when people say it to me, however, on reflection he is rather impressive. I am of course referring to one of the cockerels we have here!

We seem to have rather a lot of cockerels, which is a bit of an issue as apart from the obvious reason, they serve no other purpose. They eat a lot, and are a nightmare to catch, which means to have them for food is just not happening. There are four, older, dominating cockerels, two in each orchard, which are the fathers, of a lot of the chicks. However, there are also several younger cockerels which are beginning to be a pain.

The noise cockerels make is never ending, and don't ever be fooled into believing that they only crow in the morning. Mine "cockadoodeldoo" all day long! from about 3am they start, and in a very long dawn chorus, continue until the evening. This is something we have got used to, and thankfully we manage to sleep through the annoying morning wake up call.

The older cockerel that we have is the one that causes the most comments "AL" as he has been named is an impressive cock, as many of the Spanish inform me on a regular basis. I don't claim to be a cock expert,  however, I have seen a few, and I must admit he is rather large and I can see why both men and women feel the need to comment.

There is something very majestic about the way that AL stands in the orchard, and you can feel the wisdom he expels. The chickens follow him like a harem, and he ensures that they all remain in one group, with no stragglers. AL has become the Hugh Heffner of the chicken world, and just like his human  role model he attracts all of the "girls" AL has none of the wealth that Heffner has, therefore, it must be his charm and good looks!

We do have dogs....

Someone asked me the other day if we have dogs, as I rarely mention them in my posts, and they thought it was strange. So, the answer is yes we do have dogs, unfortunately one of dogs died not so long ago, and it was a subject that I didn't feel I was ready to blog about. Sam was far more than a dog, he was part of our family for over 13 years.

Sam was there every morning when I got up, he watched over our children as they were growing up, and was the constant thing throughout all of our chaos. Being a large dog we knew he would have issues with his back legs, and not live forever. However, he did us proud and lived until he was 14, which for a large dog is good. Sam had health issues towards the end, and I always vowed I would never let him suffer, however, bringing myself to make that final decision was never going to be easy. 

I refused to let him go, and he continued to show his dignity and pride up until the last moments. Sam choose when to go, he did it at home in my husbands arms. This broke all of our hearts, and I never knew I could feel pain, and loss like I did. We have another dog, Charlie who was abandoned and given to us, who sensed this loss and tried to comfort me, but he will never be Sam. Don't get me wrong I adore Charlie, but the void I felt was huge, and it would take a special dog to ever fill that.

As the weeks passed the emptiness was still there, I would get up in the morning and expect to see Sam. They say that you have to go through the stages of grief to fully get over it, and I don't feel that I have reached the end of that path. People suggested getting another dog to replace Sam, which made me chuckle as NO dog would ever replace Sam. however, the idea of getting another dog was not something that I had dismissed, it just had to be the right dog. 

I help one of the animal charities here, and often look at their pages of abandoned dogs, which there are thousands. None had appealed until the other day when four puppies were brought in, usual sad stories, and I was flicking through the photos, when a face looked back at me, and I knew he was the one. There was something in his eyes that reminded me of Sam, and I knew in my heart that Sam would approve. So, Max became part of our family, and he is beautiful, intelligent, and slightly nuts which allows him to fit in well!

Oh Rats!

Farms and rats go hand in hand, I have a philosophy that if they leave my animals alone, and I don't see them they can stay, however, begin to annoy me and it is war! when we first arrived there was a massive rat issue, as this place had been empty for some time. The rats had been allowed to bred, therefore, they were everywhere.

The first time I came face to face with one in the orchard, I was horrified, however, confident that with three cats and a terrier, the issue would be "dealt with" Oh how wrong I was...our cats love hunting lizards, and have no interest in the rats at all. The dog came face to face with a rat one night, and just stood there...this was round one to the rats!

We went to the ferreterria and asked for their help, they suggested getting a cat...errr yep we have three, and they are useless! So we bought a trap, "jaws of death" it was called, and I felt confident that it would do the trick. That night we placed delicious food on the trap, put it in place and waited. The next morning my husband went bounding down to the trap, it had been set off, food gone, but no dead rat! round two to the rat!

By this point they had begun to annoy me, and had killed some chicks and ducklings, which made it immediate war! We had to step up our game,and poison was suggested, however, I am always concerned with that as we have so many other animals, we have two more ideas, before we had to go down the poison route.

Our friend was going away and asked it we could look after her terrier, we were delighted to, and of course she had assured me that he would deal with the rats. I was confident that the rat issue would be stopped with this great hunting dog at the finca. Oh how wrong could I be, we took him out in the orchard, he saw a rat and...ran in the opposite direction...round three to the rat!

We were at breaking point as more chicken feed was vanishing, and more than the damage they had begun to do, it was the fact that we had been outsmarted by small, ugly creatures! My husband borrowed a gun, and he waited, and he waited, and when they finally appeared he took his chance, but the rats are hardy, and the small calibre gun did nothing...round four to the rats!

The poison had to come out, and with gloves on and a plan we dropped it down every rat hole we knew off, ensuring that it was well covered and no other animal could get to it and be harmed. I don't like poisoning animals, however, the rats gave us no choice, they were not going to play by the rules, which resulted in the final result.

We begun to find dead bodies, which wasn't pleasant, but necessary! In my mind the only rat we want to see is remy!

Talking Chickens

I read an article the other day that mentioned that some chicken owners firmly believe that their chickens talk to them, and that they understand what the chickens want! I wouldn't go as far as to say I talk to the chickens, unless I am threatening to curry them for low egg production! However, these dumb animals are in fact very vocal, and do make different noises at different times of the day, and for different events.

Here is my chicken speak outline:

I'm happy- this is the one we hear the most as they wander through the trees, pondering what to do next, you can imagine them thinking do I lay an egg, or scratch some dirt, decisions decisions....this noise is a gentle cluck.

I'm hungry- this is the highlight of the chickens day, so as you can imagine, there is a huge amount of excitement. The clucking is louder, faster and more purposeful, the scratching becomes quicker, just in case they find that rogue piece of corn.

I'm thirsty- the heat here can become intense, therefore, this noise we hear often, as they stand very still making a panting sound, very much like a dog.

Ta-daaa!- this is the excited noise that the chickens make when they lay eggs, very proud of themselves, showing off to the other chickens. This noise is very similar to "Buk, buk, buk, buuuuuuuuuuuuk and can go on for some time, and when you have as many hens as me can go on for most of the day which is great.

OMG the sky is falling- this is the Chicken Little moment when they believe that the sky is falling and the world is ending. The noises they make include intense squawking, shrieking, cackling and generally making a huge amount of noise over very little. This can include real danger such as a dog or cat, or something not as harmful as a twig or a leaf.

These are the most common noises that we hear throughout the day, and having read this back, I have decided that I need to get out more and get a life!

Bunny Farming

We have always had rabbits even before we lived here, as they make fantastic pets for children, and there is something appealing about them. Over time we have acquired two other rabbits, due to personal reasons from their current owners. They are all boys, which is fine, and on the whole they get along, and we never think of them more than our pets. However, whenever our Spanish friends come round they ask if they are lunch!

Eating rabbit here in the Canaries is incredibly common, and even the Spanish kids think it is strange that we have three rabbits as pets. Many have offered to take the fatter of the rabbits, and cook us lunch, I have refused every time. Eating one of the rabbits would be like eating one of the cats, which is odd, and not something that I could stomach.

However, not one to turn down a money making opportunity, one of the Spanish guys we know has offered to buy bunnies off us. After much discussion it seems there is a market for baby bunnies for the pet shops. Now whether you agree with bunny farming or not, it is a subject that is out there, and if you Google there are some awful images of how they keep their rabbits.

We of course are going to breed rabbits in a humane, comfortable and loving way are not hundreds of them! This involved a new "casa stew" bunny enclosure being built to ensure that everyone had enough room. Dutifully my husband got to work, and we now have the equivalent of a 5* hotel for rabbits. All we need now is some female rabbits, and let the breeding begin!

Siesta Time....

A day without a siesta is like a cupcake without frosting, they go hand in hand, and are an essential part of the day. When we first moved to Spain I scoffed at the people who went off mid afternoon for a "little" nap. However, I am now one of those people that need my power nap, and I am not alone, the daily siesta count is high.

Dog naps, cat naps, chicken naps, and even bunny naps are all vital to ensure that we function. maybe it is the heat, but it gets to a time of day when everything slows down and has that sleepy appearance. This nap has nothing to do with the lack of sleep that we seem to get, as I can sleep for hours, even with my massive daily intake of coffee. However, siesta time has become important, and I can feel myself needing this time every day.

It is not like there is nothing to be done, and I could think of a million things that need fixing, painting, building, or picking. But there is something about this siesta time, which is vital to everyone, apart from my husband who is superhuman and can live with very little sleep. So, as we all settle down for our afternoon nap, you will find the chickens snoozing in the trees, the dog curled up on the sofa, and the cats wherever they can find a spot! Me I prefer the sofa, with a comfy pillow, and 30 minutes of peace!

Milking the goat!

Jack and Jill are settling in well, and are incredibly funny to watch as they run across the orchard, their ears flap which makes me chuckle! They play with the dog and cats until they consider that they have had enough, and then gently butt them out of the way, unless you are our stupid dog who keeps coming back for more!

We were advised to tie the goats legs to stop them jumping out of the orchard, however, we didn't, as I am a firm believer that if you give an animal food, water and love they know where the best place to be is, unless you are a dumb chicken! The goats are happy, we love having them here and they are slowly growing into fat, cheeky creatures.

However, the thought of milking Jill is causing me a headache, as even with the power of Google, I have no idea where to begin. I can usually blag my way through anything, however, on this occasion I feel that knowledge would be good.

I understand the concept of milking Jill, and that the milk would be great to make cheese however, the actual act of milking is becoming an issue. Thankfully she is still too young to milk, therefore, I can spend longer researching and preparing for the milking time.

The amount of support material on the Internet for milking goats is incredible, with tips on technique and the "correct" procedure turning milking one small goat into an Olympic event.

So for the moment Jill can be safe in the knowledge that I am not going to sterilize and warm my hands in preparation of squeezing her teats. I do have my milking stool ready though :-)