Category Archives: Livestock

Quite a lot has been happening over the last few weeks, most notably it has rained, day after day after day. We are not complaining, as we need the water, but a bit of sun might be nice once in a while. The good news is that we also had some snow, so we rushed up the hill to Smerna to make snowmen etc.

I know itÔÇÖs not much, but for the Peloponnese this really is quite impressive Smile

So, to get back to the important stuff, this is the time of year that lots of animals are born, and lots of animals get deconstructed and put in the freezer.

Our very first lamb ever arrived on the 5th of February, and is male so is entirely destined for the freezer. Despite this, he seems pleased enough to be here. Our other pregnant ewe is still proving coy, or possibly in denial. Not sure which.

So, that was the life part of the deal -death has been a little more in evidence; we no longer have goats (HURRAH!!!!), but we do have 30kg of assorted chops in the freezer (also HURRAH!!!).

Oddly, the idea of “doing” the goats was much more daunting than the impending pig dispatching (next month?), perhaps because a goat is too small to shoot, so you just hack its throat open with a sharp knife and hope that you get all the important bits in one go. Therefore we resorted to plan B, i.e. asking a neighbour to do it for us. It helps if your neighbour is also Godfather to your child, and has been killing and skinning goats since he was a small child, and sold you the goats in the first place. so this is how we said goodbye to Allie and Amy, our best beloved one-year-old goats:

Rachel (our current WWOOFer) was very impressed by the size of the animals – bigger than the ones she’s used to seeing in Africa, apparently.

Lots of people turned up to get involved – it’s one of those events that attracts an audience.

Note Yiorgos’ full compliance with Health and Hygiene regulations

The finished articles, 15kg apiece, hanging on the veranda overnight, much to the delight of the local cat population. We decided the next day that it was too warm to keep them hanging, so we butchered and vac-packed the bits, to go into the fridge for another few days maturing, before being frozen. Butchery 101 was provided by an excellent article here from The Guardian, of all people.

Note the brand-new hack-saw, which we thought would be a good substitute for a butcher”s saw -it wasn’t. At all. Apparently a tenon-saw works well, but mine is so old and grubby, I didn’t want it anywhere near my lunch, so we made do with just a sharp knife and a meat-cleaver.

Given that it was a first attempt, and the animals are quite big, we spent the best part of three hours on this, but it really was quite easy, following the guide on the internet one cut at a time. (We did nip indoors with the odd bit of carcase to try and work out which but goes where, exactly – but only once or twice).

Finished cuts are in the foreground – mainly ribs so far.

Working into the small hours (6.00 pm, actually) – WWOOFer Rachel doing a great job of boning a shoulder.

And that’s just about the end – what you can see on the table is two entire goats, minus heads and feet. Hardly seems worth the effort.

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Update – Friday, four days after killing the goats, we had shoulder of lamb a la Jaimie Oliver, and have to report that it was outrageously good. Not trying to be smug – we had many reservations that the meat would have a rank, goaty taste, or just wouldn’t be nice enough to want to eat regularly. Glad to report that one year old goat (no idea what to call it – it would be a wether if it was a sheep) tastes divine. Might not be the same if you have a billy-goat on the premises though.

We also made deviled kidneys, which was a success, and goats-liver pate, which was just about edible. Sweetbreads were enjoyed also. The rest of the grizzly bits are now dog food (although we have kept the intestines for sausage making, assuming we get time).

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New lambs

Big chicken

Am quite jealous of the neighbour’s chickens – they have much more meat than ours…..

In case you didn’t recognise it – it’s probably an emu. Not sure we want any, as the evil glint of mad psychopathy is all too evident if you look at the eyes

The patter of tiny trotters, or how not to collect straw.

On Friday, we organised the collection of 150 bales of straw from the other side of the village. As we don’t have our trailer, we borrowed Tassos’ little green one, and set off (having taken the dog to the vet for his anti-itching injection). The first thing I did was put my back out (clever to do it at the beginning of the day, don’t you think?).

When we got back to unload the first 50 bales, we found this waiting for us…

Followed by this:

Then this:

Then this

Dear old Mrs Pig had decided to have her piglets outside, in the full sun, and it was HOT!

We had to urgently rig up some shade for her, whilst catching piglets, and all with me hobbling around bent double after looking at a bale of straw that morning.

The saga continued….

and continued…

All in all, ten piglets (plus one that didn’t make it), who are all happy, suckling and fit. So far. The only issue was how to convince Mrs Snuffles to move into her new, bijou residence, complete with comfy bed and heat-lamp for the piglets. The piglets were fine, but mother was exceptionally hot, and utterly indifferent to the idea of standing up. As she weighs more than 300 kilos, persuasion seemed an unlikely prospect. First I turned the hose on mother (not in the crowd-control, anti-riot sense, but to cool her down. She seemed suitably appreciative, and I got a chance to clean up all the gore so she would look good in the photos Smile

Next, I put all the piglets in a box (that is SO much easier to type than to do, even with fat finger syndrome), and put the piglets in the house. Piglets then left and went back to mother – heat-lamp not appreciated. Plan B – same again, only this time I bothered one of the piglets until it started squealing – I am now holding a litter of irate piglets, with 300 kilos of enraged maternal instinct barrelling down on me, with no back door to the sty. [Note to self – must make second door in pig-sty, for escape and evasion purposes]. All this, and I can hardly walk, let alone run, because of the back/bale thing. I am please to confirm that all went according to plan in the end, and I am still alive, and the piglets are doing well. I did need a change of trousers, however.

At 24 hours, they are already playing the cute-card:

The following afternoon, they made their first foray outside…

….for an al fresco picnic….

The stripes come from their dad, who is half wild boar (wild? he was livid!)

Finally, did I mention that we still collected the other 100 bales? This is how we stacked them –

….well, it had been quite a long day…

and my back hurt…..

Making the pig-sty

Here is a picture of Mrs Pig’s current accommodation – it is certainly spacious and airy, but the roof leaks somewhat. Given that she is expecting the patter of tiny trotters, it is time to sort something out. The only problem is that it needs to be cheap, and PIG-PROOF. Cheap is easy, but we know from experience that the pig-proof part will be tricky. So, here goes:

The joys of reinforcing steel – never a problem to get hold of rebar in Greece. At least we know that this is going to be earthquake proof Smile

Having made a steel cage, and cemented it onto the floor, I cut a door out of one end. Instant pig-pen, but still no roof.

The finished article, with a plastic sheet spread over more reinforcing steel on the inside and some plywood to keep the drafts out. We will run the electric fence wire all along the bottom edge, so hopefully they won’t dig out underneath it.

And here is Mrs Pig (or Mrs Snuffles, as Lexi has now christened her) completely ignoring her new home. We fear change, apparently.

The night we finished it we had a huge storm, with 10 cm of rain in 24 hours. Mrs Snuffles resolutely stayed out all night, (it was still over 20 centigrade, so not really a problem), but when I fed her inside the next morning, she decided that a new bijou residence might actually be just her thing after all.

Don’t have a cow, man!

So, having completely failed to heed Bart Simpson’s advice, here she is:

Allegedly, she is a Limousin, but having googled a few pictures, we think perhaps not. Hopefully she will grow up and give us baby cows, and maybe some milk, but right now just keeping her alive is going to be the tricky part. As you can see, we don’t have a stable (why would we – we don’t have a cow!), so building something appropriate before winter would be advisable.

Probably the most exciting thing for me is the compost! How sad is that? Brand new, shiny animal, and I can think about is poo. There seems to be something the matter with my lifestyle…..

Poor little beast is very nervous, so I am currently “making friends” with her by patting her on the back at every feed time. What this actually means is that I am chasing the poor calf around her pen constantly, a bit like lunging a horse. Round and round and round she goes, when she stops, I could get kicked. Ho hum.

Don’t count your chickens……

Because we can..

As none of our chickens ever sit on eggs, we started up the incubator early, and we have 50 chicks from 3 batches. Good result.

Then, all of our hens decided that it was a good year for sitting, so God only knows how many chicks we have running around now, and more to come – at least another 30 so far! (Question: how many roast chickens can you eat in a year? We may be about to find out.)

We have a turkey who has no idea how to sit on eggs – she would sit all day, and then go and roost for the night. Therefore we also have a few turkey eggs in the incubator with indeterminate hatching dates, as we pilfered her nest – not much hope for them, but better than none. In addition, we have managed to hatch 7 (now 6) turkey chicks – we shall see how they go.

Finally, we have approaching 20 guinea fowl eggs, so they will be next on the list for incubation, unless one of our new guinea fowl decides to sit.

Why double-glazing is a really bad idea.

All w arm and snug and cosy, tucked up in bed with no drafts, no ice on the inside of the windows, no eleventh blanket to keep the cold out – why not have double-glazing?

Because it’s sound-proof, that’s why. Last night (actually, very early this morning), we lost 15 chickens and 3 Guinea-fowl, brutally murdered, and we didn’t hear a thing. It wasn’t until we were making breakfast that we finally heard one of our Guinea-fowl making a racket (which is why we have them!) and I wandered out to investigate. Bits and pieces of chicken spread all over the place, some very sad and sorry-looking survivors, and two unknown dogs rushing about in a frenzy. So much for electric fences and predator-proof chicken-coops.

Now, I don’t object too much if we lose animals to foxes or pine-martens (actually, I object a lot, but you know what I mean) – they were here first, they’re just trying to earn a living etc. But dogs? We have toted up the year’s losses, and at over 50 birds we have decided that the chicken-ark system is just too expensive to carry on with. No more moving our animals around the farm, ensuring a even spread of grazing and manure. All locked up in a big secure cage, just like the locals do it from now on. And why?

Because the worthless, feckless, useless idiot Greeks have a great system for un-needed dogs – if you don’t want it, throw it away. But don’t do anything responsible, like find a new home for it, take it to a rescue shelter or some such. Oh no, much more sensible to take it off to the countryside and release it into the wild. “Fly free my beauty! Cretins, the lot of them. What they are actually doing is saying “I don’t want to be responsible for killing this dog, so I’ll get some other poor idiot to do it for me”. So, one dog, suddenly homeless, makes a bee-line for the nearest house, gets side-tracked by chickens, and blood-bath ensues. Dog then shot by owner of chickens, and good result all round, except for the poor chickens.

If it was just an occasional thing, I could understand it, but it is constant, and getting worse, what with the economic position at the moment. So, if you are Greek, and reading this, tell me please why you are so offensively uncaring. unthinking, and generally all-round useless. Thanking you in anticipation.

In case you think I am being a little harsh – here is what we salvaged from this morning’s entertainment.

Hard to believe, but this used to be 20 chickens….

Had to count up heads (the only bit left in a couple of cases) to make sure some weren’t just missing in action. Our final surviving Guinea fowl is very sad now – hardly has the heart to bully anyone. Here’s another question – if you are planning to breed guinea-fowl, and you only have one, who does it work? Immaculate conception? Cloning? Answers on a postcard, addressed to the dogs’ original owners please.

Still, there is some good news – we still have a pair of turkeys, and the sheep weren’t bothered (locked up for the night, but then so were the chickens ). We also have 25 layers still, so we can fire up the incubator and crack on with the next generation, just as soon as everyone gets over the shock of new housing and starts laying again. The circle of life continues.

6 month-old chickens

Having been set back by the olives, we have dispatched a dozen chickens a little later than usual – two months later to be precise. However,they are such a good size, with more meat than usual, that we are thinking that this might be the better way, despite the additional cost.

Given that 25% of everything that a chicken eats comes out the other end a few hours later, it is not a big problem to keep them for longer, but it makes the cost of each bird outrageously high if you were looking to make a profit on the deal. For us, chickens are the most effective method of fertilizing our land, with the added bonus of free eggs and meat.

A little note, we have finally got a result with the hot water and plucking issues. If you heat the water to 65 degrees Celsius (70 according to our thermometer), and dunk it sufficiently, the feathers come out without force! At last! All those internet posts and books saying how water loosens the feathers, and us tearing and heaving and cursing – you NEED a thermometer – scientific process and all that! Ellie can now pluck a chicken faster than I can draw it – the whole process is no longer a stress. Can’t wait for the motorised chicken-plucker, though!

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Organic Farming in the Peloponnese