New Kitten at work - Woody

Jude has got a new rescue kitten at work called Woody :)

He's soooo cute! Dylan (cat) is still a bit weary of him but Solly (dog) is really protective :P

Quigley

Quigley has come from Tasha's to visit for a few weeks and hopefully make some babies! :))

Shrek The Musical + London

Been to London today with Nat to see Shrek The Musical :)

Thought it was good!

Video: iTr3vor NEVER SAY NEVER!!

Video: What Nicki Minaj Wants In A Man

Video: Record breaking cocktail genius!

Year 2 Module Choices

Ok, so I need to decide modules choices for Year 2.
Theres 4 pathways: Biology, Equine, Animal Production or Companion.
Biology is about enzymes, proteins, molecules ... NO.
Equine doesn't really bother me so choice of the other 2.

Animal Production is more farm'y so I'd really like to do that, but Companion would probably be better if I ever went to vet school, and most of friends are doing that, not that I'd decide on that!

We have 40 credits worth of choice. My Work Experience Placement is a 10 credit module, so that means I don't do a 10 credit academic module next year.

Animal Production I have to do Grassland Management (10) and Animal Production Systems (20), so with WEP (10) thats all my credits ... so can't do Organic Farming (10).

Companion is choice of Animal Behaviour (20), Health and Behaviour of Horse (20 credits + over 2 semesters), Companion Animal Health (10), Companion Animal Anatomy + Physiology (10) and then I've chosen WEP (10)

We have to go through all the module briefs and descriptions to choose. Don't like look of Animal Behaviour.
So need to decide between Health or Anatomy...
I guess Anatomy will be dissections so might do that ... and Health looks good but is 100% exam!

*hmm*

Cambridge: Agric Tour

I've been to Cambridge this week on an Agric Tour to go and see loads of farms.

Lots of them are LEAF demo farms (Linking Environment And Farming) so are the best of the best, and supply to Waitrose, Harvey Nicks, places like that.

On the way down on Tues we stopped at Bottom Farm to see Duncan Farrington who makes Mellow Yellow - Rapeseed oil, salad dressing, mayo and things like that for Waitrose and farm shops.

On Wednesday we went to G's who grow salad. They grow it from seed in big plastic trays in huuge greenhouses made from the same stuff as the Eden Project, then it gets planted out. They grow 80million lettuce each year in the greenhouse, then they buy more in from Chichester and Hull for when they plant into the ground!

Then they're planted out with a siik machine they built on-farm...

Wednesday afternoon we went to another LEAF farm that grow Organic and Conventional vegetables. We got on a trailer on the back of a tractor and he drove us round the farm!
They have to irrigate the crops (for quality rather than yield) and it costs £30,000 a week! Saw all of Waitroses organic red onions for this year in one field, and 25% of their conventional red onions.

Thursday morning we went to Thrift Farms to see Robert Law who was Farmers Weekly's "Farmer of the Year 2006" and grows crops and has sheep - 300 pet lambs this year!
Some of his sheep are on land owned by OFCOM so they're walking around the monitoring pylons and things! He has to be careful with fencing up there and can't use electric fencing 'cos it interferes with their equipment.

Thurs afternoon we went to Midloe Grange Farm to see more wheat. We were walking through a field of wheat and saw a baby hare just sat there...

Devon Rex Kitten

I've been speaking to a few breeders and asking questions about getting a Devon Rex.
One breeder in Stoke sent me these pictures ...

Have fallen in love with him already! :))

Think Grumps will get the subtle hint?

Think Grumps will get the subtle hint that I left in the kitchen? :P

IWantADevonRex

Want a Devon Rex cat

I've fallen in love with Devon Rex cats!

They've got really short fur with no top coat so me + Mother shouldn't be allergic to them, and females give off less allergens than males so would be even better.
They're really clever too! Can fetch and saw one that can unscrew bottles and 'talks' :P

Found some photos on Flickr ...

 Cute?!

Grumps has always said No but is just screwing his nose up now ... Mother + Nat like them :P

:))

More iTr3vor

I Love iTr3vor

Love this video of iTr3vor dancing in the Apple Store

Tickling Cookie The Penguin

Just found this video ... watch a minute in of him being tickled!

*WANTS* :')

BHWT ex-batt rescue

Had a really good day in Northants at a BHWT ex-battery he rescue.
I got there about half 9 and they'd already been at the farm for a few hours collecting the hens. They came back and we unloaded them from the crates into the shed.
There were 200 of them. They were a lot more lively and flighty than I thought but apparently that's 'cos they've come from the new enchanced cages.

There were a few poorlies that have gone home with Em and Anna for a bit of TLC before going on to new homes.

We went back to Annas for a Chinese and to have a look at her lot - love it! Everyone has heaters + lights, all been thought out + works perfectly. Loads of chickens too! :))

Me + the bro’s in Asda

Me + the bro’s in Asda 

♥

We’reSoCool

Mabel settling in

Mabel has been settling in!

She's been tweeting...

... and making herself at home on my bed! :P

More Aber visitors!

Aber Visitors...

Had to tidy my room, vacuum it and then do a weeks worth of washing ... the rest went home along with my stinky lambing clothes.
Mother + Grumps came up this afternoon :)
Went to the beach, got some nom in Varsity and then just walked around Aber.
Took them to the Uni farm on the way back to halls to see the lambs and calves then came back to halls.

They brought someone up with them...

 Mabel ♥

She's been walking around my room, the corridor and the kitchen, and even went for a visit to next doors flat :P

The flatmates all like her ... I think! Guess its a bit wierd having a chicken in halls but I'm used to it :')

Count On Me

Love this video :')

Little lamb at the farm :)

This is the little 'blind' #62 lamb at the Uni farm  :)


She was following me all around the farm checking on the ewes and lambs, across the yard and into the farm office then stood and waited for me to make up bottles. Gave her a bottle and she then came back out to the shed to give the others bottles  :)

Sorry its a rubbish video, hard to video and be followed in the dark!
Then after all that she ignores me + toddles off at the end!

Home :))

Home today!!
We got up uber-late so just packed and went straight down to town to get the train ... well, replacement rail service coach.
Took a few hours to get to Shrewsbury then Grumps picked us up in the new car :) I would say what it is but don't actually know. Black BMW of some description.
"Push that button" "Look at that" "Push that" Its got one of those posh screens in the dash + he loves it. Wants me to drive it but I'z not insured on it till August(?)

Got home about and went straight to see the chickens, obviously. Nommed some tea and went to Follys(Nan) which always means hot chocklit and cake :)

Went to town on the bus with Nat on Monday, bought some Krispy Kreme doughnuts + went to Costa 'cos we're really civilised.
Walked to Mothers office and drove home then went to see the bubbas next door. Rose was exactly the same as if I'd been there yesterday but Evie came + said hello for 10 mins :P Tommy is growing up aswell.

Oh yeah, I'm teething! Wisdom teeth are coming through!
Back of my mouth has been hurting since Weds but didn't think anything of it. Top right tooth is half through and that didn't hurt, but the bottom left which hurts has got nothing?!

Dropped Mother at work on Tuesday, came back and woke up Nat for school (I'm so grown up) and dropped him in at break. Really wanted to go in and see everyone but didn't have an excuse. Will do at some point soon though! :))
Back to pick up Mother and we went to Frankie + Bennys for nom (chicken pizza) and straight into Brum to get the train. Saw Danni Mac (cousin) in Urban then back on the train to Aber.
Cody got on in Wolvo then had to change at Shrewsbury to get a coach and Tom was on the same coach :)

Sarah Millican + Lambing with the Bro's

The Bro's are up in Aber :)
I woke up at half 8 and had to listen to them snoring for another 3 hours + eventually woke them up.
Walked down into town + got a huuge breakfast in the cafe then went down to the beach. Ruth was kayaking with the football girls so saw those, walked along the beach and to the arcade on the Pier to waste a bit of money!

Steve the shepherd from the Uni farm phoned me 'cos the person meant to be lambing tonight has been rushed into hospital so could I do it. Said Nat + Danny were up and would phone him back. They were alright with coming so said we'd do it! :P
Off to Store 21 we go for them to get some cheap lambing clothes ... and sweets + glow sticks, just what you need for lambing ;) Oh, and we got Chocolate Digestives for Sarah Millican...

Got the bus back up the hill and attempted to get an hours sleep before going out but failed.


Went to see Sarah Millican at the Arts Centre. We were in the centre, 3rd row so close :)
She was good - heard a few of the jokes on the telly + stuff but obvs going to get that. One woman was filming it so Sarah stopped and made her stop recording + made her delete it. Bit awkward.
Wrote her a note + left it with the "Emergency Biscuits" for her in the interval and she spoke to us in the 2nd half.

"Naan bread" :')

Came back to halls after and then got a taxi to the farm!
I was soo tired 'cos of not sleeping properly (if at all!) the last few weeks so was really grumpy with them at the start, didn't mean to be! Went off to see the bull beef for ages, they're meant to be aggressive but were skitty, eventually came over and sniffed me and took silage from my hand :)
They bottle fed a couple lambs + Nat took some photos (will chuck 'em on here at some point) so hopes they weren't too bored!
Steve dropped us back at halls about half 6

Bro's visit Aber

The Bro's came up to Aber to see me this weekend! :))

They came up after school and had delayed trains so had to get it from Wolverhampton so I wasn't sure what time they'd get here but knew it was about half 9. Said they'd ring me 20 mins away so I'd go to the station and get them.

*brrrring ring* "We're at the door :)"

I was still in bed! My bad :P

We went to CKs to get drinks, had those and then went into town with Becky. Downeys ("Scary Pub") and then Yoko's/Why Not.
Was really tired but had a good night. Came back quite early + Danny proceeded to spend the next few hours being sick in the kitchen.

Good Times...

Off to the vets!...

Delyth (from the Uni farm) rang at half 8 and said she's on the way to the vets, did I want to go with her??

Of course I did! :P
Just had to get out of bed and she picked me up and we went straight to the vets.

The ewe had twins stuck, trying to come out at the same time! One leg was coming out first.
Managed to get them out and all 3 are alive :)))

All kicking off here now though *RollsEyes*
Lamb 24 (a PHD girls trial lamb) escaped. We were looking for it everywhere, I eventually found him round the back by the bull beef sheds.

Got a Suffolk with twins that prolapsed, pushed it back in and now she can't lamb past it
... a Blue Faced Leicester that had a prolapse, put it back in + a prolapse strap on her, who is now lambing
... another triplet ewe thats lambing.

Uni on my own...

Lambing at Uni farm iab!

On my own tonight :( 'cos the other 3 either have friends round or are going to Cardiff!

Will be fine ... just be paranoid of the scary noises + wind! ;)

I'z staying longer in the morning (I asked) 'cos I want to go round the fields with Steve, see the sheep + hopefully turn out some lambs + ewes :)

Not normally tired when we leave at 7am so will be fine + can sleep all day ;)

Have recorded a couple lambs but not much else happening here tonight. Delyth is staying with me for a couple hours for the hand over + stuff.
Time to put the kettle on! :)

On my own and it all kicks off!

Back in halls :)
Actually not tired at all. Was a good night shift but some stuff kicked off too!
Pulled a big Texel lamb who'd got his shoulder stuck and she threw something else out straight after... Looked like a mahoosive afterbirth + prolapse.
Phoned Delyth, she said its just a prolapse, push it back in, will be ok.
I sent her a picture and she texted me straight back... "I'm on my way, might need a vet"

We managed to get it back in eventually, holding the ewe upsode down so gravity helped us. Put a spoon and strap on to try and keep in it.


We had two 1st year Zoology girls come this morning to help. One wants to be a vet, was nice but has never even touched a sheep! The other one was soooo cocky. "I've been lambing for 3 years, I know this blahhhh" Chatting rubbish ;)
We were lambing a ewe and so I got them to help, fell and try to pull it. The cocky one messed it all up so we had to get Steve the shepherd to help in the end.

Me + Phoebe (researcher who works days) just had to walk off in the end! They've said she's not being asked back :P

Lambing pictures...

Ross the lamb:

 Milking Jordan...

 ... bottle feeding Harvey ...

 .... and bottle feeding Junior.

Tonights update...

We'z were literally just getting ready to get her to the vets and she lambed 2 of the triplets on her own!


The last one had to be pulled and had been dead inside her a couple days, but no vets ( :) but :( 'cos I didn't get to go) and she made it, with 2 lambs!

Had another ewe with 2 lambs coming at the same time ... one forwards + one back!

Had to ring Steve to come + do it but they were fine. We've ran out of pens so had to turn ewes and lambs that are ready to go out to the field, into holding pens next door (with loads of pens + runways + cool farm mechanichy stuff where they shear, vaccinate ... stuff like that) so we could move fresh lambs into their small pens.


Just had a quick shower to get rid of Eau d'Ewe. Time for bed me thinks!
Not tired at all though!

Back at Uni farm

5 hours in + its all kicking off!! [Geordie accent](in the Uni lambing sheds)[/Geordie Accent]


Was all fine and all really kicked off at 1am.
Had a twin ewe that presented just a head, with legs back, so I pulled that. Left her a bit and she had another head so pulled that one too.


Just before that had another twin ewe that presented a head and 2 legs, fine so left her for 40 mins.
Realised something wasn't right so had a feel and felt another nose there aswell. 2 lambs trying to come at the same time!
Pushed them back in + tried to sort them out. She was still pushing them both out so had to fight against her pushing.
Rang the shepherd who came straight out + sorted them out after much eventually.



THEN now we've got a triplet Blue Faced Leicester who prolapsed, has a prolapse harness on to push it all back in but she's not been pushed back in properly so can feel the legs but kind of through the wall.
We're leaving her 20 mins to see if she'll sort herself out but might have to take her to the vets iab!

Ed Sheeran - You Need Me, I Don't Need You (Acoustic)

Someone posted this on facebook + thought it was siik :)

Animal Science Night Out - Fancy Dress!

First night Uni lambing

Was out first night lambing at the Uni farm today!
Me + Sian were there, got picked up at 10 and Delyth explained everything about the sheds ... have got Blue Faced Leicesters, Texels, Beulahs and Lleyns. Then theres their 'hybrid' sheep called the Aberdale which they're improving the prolificacy of with the Inverdale gene - they have more twins + triplets and can be kept on rubbish grass so the better grass can be kept for others!
The big shed is split in half with an invisible line and either side has to be treated as completely different sheds 'cos they're on different trials.
Can only use one sheds stuff, silage, straw etc 'cos its all weighed out and costed down to the pence.

Then theres another 2 tiny sheds outside, one of which is part of a PHD students trial.
For the trials we have to weigh the lambs, sex them, then score them on presentation, how difficult the birth was, if needed help and the level of help, vigour after 5 mins of birth, if needed help to suck, a bottle.... Then the ewe on mothering ability, milkiness etc.
Its not hard to do just need to get your head round it and it takes a bit more time to do! Is good to say you've lambed a Performance Recorded Flock and were part of trials :)

They had 1 case of Salmonella and so we've been kitted out with wellies, waterproof trousers and big high vis bomber jackets that we leave at the farm ... especially as we're lambing at another farm too.

Its such a change from the last farm, its all brand new, and has different ways of doing things. We're not meant to pull any 'cos it affects the trial data whereas we had to pull everything at the last farm.
We also have the farm office to do in which has heating! and a kettle, toaster, sandwich maker, washing machine, fridge, freezer... lol

Delyth left at half 1 and we were fine after that. Had 1 breach that we sorted out and 1 Beulah that was normal presentation but took aages to get the lamb out so we helped her. Just left them to it as best we could, if you go in and lamb everything it will affect all the trials data!

We left at half 6 and Cody + Becky turned up to do the morning shift with Steve the shepherd + learn about lambing! :)

4th Night Lambing in Wales

Video: Which one is it?!

Uni Sheep Farm...

We went to the Uni sheep farm earlier to see the shepherd + just see the farm in the light!

Theres a big shed split in half with an invisible line, then 2 small sheds and each group is treated differently and on different trials. We need to only use that groups silage, meds etc. Then have to weigh the lambs, sex, score on lambing, if needed help, if needed help to suck, score the ewe's mothering etc...

They've had an abortion problem and 1 case of Salmonella so are bigging up the Biosecurity. They took us up to Stores and ordered us big high vis jackets, and gave us waterproof trousers + steel-toe wellies. Has to be high vis 'cos of H&S apparently?!
Then we've got to get changed + leave those clothes at the farm so we don't spread it to the other farm. Its probably overkill but of it ever got passed over the Uni farm's (and probably our) name would be black!
Best be safe! :)

They don't just have a microwave ... have a kettle, fridge and hot chocolate, cup a soup etc!! :P

Me + Sian are there tomorrow night :))

Day 3 Lambing

Back in New Cross Lambing again tonight!
We had a prolapse ewe that was having triplets that started lambing 2 weeks early so had to get the farmer to come out. "She won't be lambing yet" "She's had 2 bags pop already, think she is!" ... he had to cut her stitches and lamb them but 'cos they were 2 weeks early their lungs hadn't developed at all so died within minutes :/
Another ewe had a really wierd bag that wouldn't pop and was covered in a thick/leathery orange membrane. I lambed her first one then there was a hald developed lamb with lots of gunk and organs and whatever else - was horrible to do! :(

Had Gary the lamb who had his neck right back, put him under the heat lamp, refused a bottle so I had to stomach tube him, which luckily worked a bit but he was still dodgy.
Phillip wouln't suck from his mom so went in one of the warm boxes and back to his mom every hour and he was eventually ok :D
No other major problems me don't think, were all fine! :D

Got an hours sleep + made it to my lectures.

Collapsed into bed at half 12 and stayed there all day :lol: Uni farmer rang at some point + woke me up - do I want to lamb tonight ... no, already lambing somewhere else.
He's trying to find someone to cover Saturday though :D

Said we can go down 1 afternoon to learn how to measure score the lambs and stuff!

Lambing update

Person sorting lambing out texted me to see how we got on.
I said "Ok, had to ask my friend to come + help me though! No idea how you lamb nights on your own?"
He basically said he didn't know what to say, he can easily lamb 100 ewes on his own and the farmer won't pay 2 people to do an easy 1 person job!

:/

I told Sian, my friend who came to help and was was really annoyed too! We're allowed a couple of us to go (originally said there were 4 of us) but will have to split the money. If the 4 of us go, which we probably will, we'll get £2 an hour...
I don't mind the money, its just I thought it was hard and I've been Lambing before. Me + Sian were working all the time (didn't even sit down all night!) but Cody has never been lambing before so how is she meant to be able to cope with that?!

Anyway, I spoke to the farmer earlier and he was happy with us, apart from the lamb that had a swolled head and died - we should have got to it quicker. Thats fair enough + I knew we should have, but we were moving sheep so couldn't have done it any quicker! If theres 4 of us it should be better :)
He's happy to have the 4 of us there, just we'll only get 1 persons pay.

Back on Thursday night! :)

First Lambing Night Shift...

Got the taxi there, got lost but eventually found the place. Rang the bell for 10 mins ... no-one in. Walked up to the sheds in the pitch black and there was a man there. Just a contractor the same as me, and he left when I got there!
The book with pen numbers + lambs which needed milk and stuff was in Welsh!

On my own with 800 sheep in lamb, a little old dog and loads of wierd noises freaking me out.

There was a triplet with 2 little lambs (she'd lost the 3rd) which were reallly cold so I hoiked them out and put them in a pen under a heat lamp - couldn't even find where they were plugged in at first!

Texted my friend Sian but didn't have signal to took ages, eventually she got it and said she'd come up and got a taxi there about 2 hours later. 10 mins after that the farmer came! So he explained everything to us - they pull all the lambs if they can, to stop them getting stuck or their faces covered with the membranes and dying.

There was a sheep struggling to lamb so the farmer had a look and the ewe had ruptured her muscles all along her belly and around her bag so the lamb was right down and he could hardly reach it. Got some strings tied around its head + legs after 10 mins, tried to pull it out and eventually did. Was already dead 'cos she'd lambed prematurely, the other twin lamb was so far down inside her it was impossible to get to so we had to leave her to it.
Then there was a ewe which had a head out and no legs so it was stuck, the lamb died and the head started to swell, making it even harder to lamb! Had to get the farmer back to come and lamb it which he struggled to do.
While that was happening there was a ewe with triplets trying to lamb so I went and helped her, the first one came ok but the second was its legs out and head bent right back, pushed it back in a bit and got him out, then delivered the last one - first thing to go right! :)
Then we had another ewe that wasn't due until the 10th who started to lamb - it was a tiny lamb so we tried to help it and failed, phoned the farmer and he came out - she was aborting so we just had to leave her.
Everything was going wrong and we were wondering how we'd lamb the rest of them?!
Penned up some sheep so went back to check on them all 15 mins later and there was one lambing so we helped her out and it went fine.
Did the same for the next 6 hours! Adopted some triplet lambs onto a single so that each ewe had 2 and could give them enough milk.
Fed the ewes and bottle fed the lambs at half 4.

We were just getting ready to leave at 6, checked the ewes one last time and there was one with just a head out. Couldn't leave it 'cos it would swell up and die. I lambed that and then did its brother too. Just about to leave her to it and realised she was a triplet so pulled the 3rd one! Good job we realised!
Taxi didn't come until half 6 so got back at 7ish!
Think we pulled 25 lambs, which isn't bad :D At home we only pull the lambs if the ewe is struggling and the lamb is stuck but here we pulled most of them and if she had one lamb we'd pull the others stright away instead of leaving her. So its more hands on and pulled more in 1 night than a in week at home!

We didn't stop at all for 9 hours, hardly had time to grab a drink so didn't nom my Hula Hoops in the end! Its ridiculous how they thought 1 person could do it, esp leaving them on their own having never been before! Even with 2 of us it was really hard work, probably needed 3 or 4 of us to be able to pen, feed and lamb at the same time...

Lambing tonight...

Spoke to Rhydian earlier, who's sorting out Lambing. He said they only need 1 person tonight to start at 9pm.
Bit of a pain 'cos we were going to share taxi's and it'd be better if we were in 2's!
We rang one taxi the other day who quoted £14 but phoned our friend Ace and he said £9 so have booked him for half 8!
Hopefully we'll be in pairs next week so we can share the taxi, and waiting around for the ewes to lamb!

Rhydian is lambing tomorrow but will find out who's doing Monday and during the week. Hopefully we'll be able to go in pairs as it gets busier. He said only experienced people so I'm fine but Cody has none so really she can't go on her own. The other 2 have a bit so they should be ok.

We finish at 6am then need to get back to halls. I'm always up 'til late anyway so 6/7am is too much of a stretch :S
... unless we have 9am lectures! :|

Tbh I'll be tired for a few weeks if its £80 or £30 a night, and it'll be really good experience to have lambed on 3 farms , see the differences etc. :D

Think I'z got another chest infection too 'cos been really struggling to breath and taking my inhaler. Cba to book a Drs appointment if it'll clear up on its own.
Just been to CKs and got some cough medicine :) and Olbas menthol lozenges "To help keep breathing easy" ... worth a try ;)

Zoo

Back at the Zoo again today.
Cleaned out more monkeys! I did Mango, the capuchin that was eating an egg last week.

Got them all clean and then put Easibed down and hay in their nestbox.

They took in 4 or 5 new cockerels on Sunday so asked me to identify them.
Not sure what they were but were crosses. 4 had single combs and 1 had a huge Derbyshire Redcap-esque comb. Big long legs too!

Then we started scrubbing down the Petting Barn where the rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, mice, chinchilla, vervet monkeys ... and even porqupine are!
Scrubbed down the walls and windows and the pens, to get ready for (hopefully) lots of visitors over half-term.

More Lambing??

Someone emailed me from the Uni today saying he heard I was looking for Lambing and would I go there + stuff.
You're a day too late!

He isn't the farmer, just is sorting out people to go lambing for the farmer, so I asked a few qu's and said we'd got the Uni lambing already booked but might be able to do both 'cos that doesn't start for a couple of weeks.
Would be night shifts again, and there are 800 ewes in the shed at a time and as some leave, it gets topped up, so could be quite busy!
Its in Trawscoed which is about 8 miles out of Aber(?) so we'd have to get a Taxi there, which would cost  ~£14 each way!

Hopefully will be able to do both!! :)

Lambing 2011

After emailing lots of people, being forwarded on and trying for quite a while I've finally managed to sort some Lambing out!! :))
Was surprisingly hard to do considering we're in Wales!
Emailed Uni's Farm Manager and went to see him today with my friend Cody to get it sorted out....

They have a big shed with 400 ewes in then there are another 2 sections of the shed which have cows in one it and the other had a metal runway or something.
Waited around for a bit and managed to speak to the Farm Manager and then the Shepherd.
There will be 4 or 5 of us going and 'cos of lectures we'll be doing the night shift!
8pm - 6am and then on 2 days we start lectures at 9am and finish at 6pm!!!

Will be worth it to go lambing and play with the lambs, can sleep in the afternoon! :P

We got there on the bus today which took about 20 mins but the Arriva buses stop running at 6pm in Aber and won't start till 8am so will have to look at other buses or a taxi. Becky does her her car up here but we won't always be with her!

Need to sort out what experience people have so he can put us together and sort out a rota :)

Alan, Alan! - Zoo

Another day at the Zoo today :)

Was good - I cleaned out Miriam + Roley, Jean's pet Capuchins. Cleaned the window, scrubbed and scraped all the surfaces and shelves and scrubbed the walls. Swept everything up in there and put fresh Straw and Easibed down for them.

Then I scrubbed down the wood in the Kookaburras and hopefully made their enclosure look a bit better :)

Went and helped Cody clean out the Black and White Ruffed Lemurs after that.

The Emu have started laying so they have loads of Emu eggs and have been giving them to the monkeys! They crack them open on their shelves and then eat all the egg :P

I got really excited 'cos of Alan!

They (Prarie Dogs) hibernate so I didn't see them last week, but there were at least 6 out today!
They're in a big enclosure with with Ring Tailed Lemur - the lemur came over to the bars and I stroked their feet - were really soft!

The Marmosets had their pop-hole opened this week so can run outside into their run. The babies were coming out and running back in, but they'd jump over onto the bars by us, had to stroke their tiny little feet :)) Soo cute!

Mom Marmoset (hiding in the background of the photo) wasn't very happy and would jump at us too then do a lap of the cage. They were all sticking their arms through to try + get the phone! :P

Chicken Sitting...

So I made myself a Chicken and Small Animal Sitting website last week just to put out there and see what people think.

Would like to think I'm kinda qualified to look after other peoples pets. Have had chickens for 5 years and them obviously looked after all the Boarding Animals at the farm so should be ok.

Have looked after friends pets before but never set it properly like this.

I'd had a couple of messages on the forums asking if I knew anywhere local that looked after chickens so it kind of made sense to offer! :)

Anyway, I've already had quite a few emails about it and a booking!!

I had a look at other places and other Chicken Sitters and most people charge around or upwards of £2 per hen per day so I thought I'd try that.
I've already got a booking 3 hens, coming for 18 days over the Easter holidays :P

Had someone ask about me having their 3 hens for 6 months over the summer!!

High Peak Poultry Show - Bakewell

Been to Bakewell today to go to the High Peak Poultry Show :)

Got there about 10ish and we're allowed in until 11 'cos of Judging, so we went and had a brew in the cafe. Met up with a few chickeny friends and sat there for ages talking.

Went into the hall just after 11 and then met up with a few more people.
Walked around the show, friends bought a few chickens from the sales pens! :P
Elaine got 3 goldtops (Silkie X Sussex) and 2 Welsummer bantams, like Esmerelda. I liked the look of the Fresians but got enough .... until hatching!!

Tasha's lot were up for judging and with her Barred Wyandottes she got 1st and 2nd in the pullet class and 1st and 2nd in the cockerel class! Was a bit tense waiting for the results and we thought another chicken had got it from looking at the judge, but he got 3rd! *phew*

Bit later on they came round to look at the 1st prize winners to compare the 1st's against each other. Another tense time, they went and got a Ggerman Langshans cockerel and him moved Jack (Tashas cockerel) into 2 pens next to each other to compare them .... put them both back and ... Jack got it!
He got Best Soft-Feather Heavy Bantam so was moved to Championship Row (or circle in the case) and he got Best Wyandotte.

Other friends showing got 1sts, 2nds and 3rds for their eggs.
Good results all round then!

Dropped my Driving Licence...

:(
Was getting the train to the Zoo this morning, got my tickets out and dropped my bus pass. Picked it up and didn't think anything of it until later in the day I realised I didn't have my driving licence! Must have fallen under the seat or something.

Rang round Arriva, National Rail, Train stations but all were useless and gave me a different number to ring. Nothing handed in.
Emailed them and got a really quick reply saying to wait 5 days (for it to be processed if it has been handed in) and if it has they'll contact me! :)

I know theres only a tiny chance of it being handed in but will try them anyway.
Think its £20 to replace, so not too bad ... just a pain! :(

Title did say "Lost" but I'm not that bad at driving, I hope!!

Monkeyin' Around

At the Zoo again today :)

Managed to just get the bus in time to get down to town, to the station and on the train 5 mins before it left! :) Hope we can manage it every week :P

Cody was ill + had a Drs appointment this afternoon so didn't come.

Got there about 10 to 12, tidied up a few bits + swept the paths.
Then went and cleaned out one of the monkey enclosures (same place we cleaned the corridor last week). Opened the monkey house door to scare them out of the hosue into their run, then had to shut the pop-hole so they couldn't get back inside.
Had to scrape all the surfaces to get rid of poo + food + stuff, scrub them down along with all the perches and things, and them scrub the walls + clean the window.

Put some Easibed bedding down on the shelves and floor and filled their nest box in the corner with straw.
Was sooo hot in there 'cos of the heaters/radiator in there to keep the monkeys warm, and we had to lock the door behind us just incase the mokeys got in the house, as a 2nd security door ... sweating like a PIG.

We then had to carry all the muck buckets to the much hear in one of the back fields, 'cos the tractor is broken! Fed the horses + goats on the way back, and 'cos it was really muddy, John tried to grab one of the tiny little pygmy goats but she was having none of it! :P

Turns out my flatmate Angie was there with her bf! I didn't see her but she saw me and didn't come + say hello!? lol