Alright folks, let me tell you about trying to get this right. You know how rugby players gotta be tough as nails? Well, I figured my livestock needed the same kind of grit. Kept seeing the sheep look a bit puny and the chickens weren’t laying right. Made my blood boil, honestly. Something had to give.
The Wake-Up Call & First Moves
Honestly, I just got sick of it one Tuesday morning. Woke up to find Daisy, one of my older ewes, standing there looking like she’d been through a full 80-minute match in the rain. Rough coat, mucky eyes, the whole deal. Kicked my boots on right then and there. Grabbed the notepad and pen off the kitchen counter – the one always sticky with jam – and marched out.
First thing I did? Walked the whole place, end to end. And I mean really looked. Didn’t just glance at the feed trough like usual. Got down on my haunches (knees cracking, let me tell you!), checked the water buckets – found two with green slime growing in ’em near the pig pen. Grim. Saw uneven patches in the chicken run where the ground was just mud soup.
Tackling the Basics Head-On
Didn’t mess about. That afternoon, I grabbed the pressure washer from the shed – the one that leaks if you don’t hold the trigger just right – and blasted every single water container I owned. Filled ’em fresh with the clean hose water. Looked for shady spots where I could prop some more buckets for easier access later.
Next day was feed day anyway. Usually just dumped the pellets and scratch grains where I always do. Nope. This time I hauled those sacks around like a flanker moving rucks. Put the chicken feeders up on bricks near their coop so the feed didn’t get kicked into muck. Made sure the sheep pellets were spread out farther from their shelter – they used to crowd and bully the smaller ones near the door.
Hitting the Wall & Adjusting
Felt pretty smug for about… three days? Then one morning, rain came down like a ton of bricks. Everything turned soggy. Went out, saw the fancy new chicken area was pure mud again. Water buckets looked like soup kitchens spilled in ‘em. Found a couple of young lambs shivering under the tree. Crap.
Felt like throwing in the towel. But nah. Remembered that rugby ain’t about the first tackle. Dug out some old wooden pallets I had rusting behind the tractor shed. Dragged ’em over to the chicken run, bashed ’em flat with the sledgehammer (still have a bruise on my thumb!), laid ’em down as walkways. Not pretty, but kept their feet out of the mud. Used tarp scraps tied over part of the lamb shelter for extra rain cover. Looked awful, like a shipwreck, but hey.
The Routine That Sticks
Now, after a few weeks of fiddling and cursing, here’s what sticks. Crawl out of bed before sunrise, flip the well pump on. Check water first thing:
- Empty anything stale, even if it looks “mostly” okay.
- Scrub buckets once a week proper with vinegar, not just rinse.
- Got more buckets tucked away in shady spots now.
Feeding? Changed the game:
- Sheep pellets go way back from the shelter door now – like a scrum formation!
- Chickens get their breakfast spread out on the pallet paths.
- Pigs? Their trough gets hosed down every single day. Stops the muck building.
And shelter? Learned to patch leaks before they start. Check for drafts when I shut them in at night. Shove extra straw into damp corners. Made it a habit.
Where We’re At Now
Took maybe a month? Not gonna lie, still tweaking things. Saw Bertie the ram give a proper headbutt to Alfie last week – competitive spirit’s back! Eggs ain’t rolling out like a conveyor belt, but we get a decent clutch most days. Coats look smoother. Less coughing. They seem… perkier?
Point is, it wasn’t magic dust. Just stubbornness, checking the fundamentals like water and feed and dry spots, and adjusting when things went sideways. Like rugby. Gotta play the long game. Still learning, but hey, the animals look like they can hold their own now. That’s progress.
