Whistling wind.
By mid afternoon yesterday the whistle in the lungs of Number Three Plonker had begun to recede. The Gatorade tip went down very well. (Thank you Marla) His favourite is mango. Orange came a close second. He was not interested in his grain so I made a huge pot of vegetable soup and every few hours he woofed down a serving of that. And his milk and eggs of course. Little bits at a time. With 6 drops of oil of oregano twice a day. His lungs are still noisy but a lot better. 
The other plonkers looked at their oats and eggs and milk, eyed the gatorade and contemplated pathetic coughs.
It was a dark, drizzly windy kind of day so all the animals had to stay off the soft fields. 
Today will be a better day for the farm animals. Yesterday their quality of life went into a chilly pause.
All the chooks are well on the grass. Tima is learning to sit up and beg (I am not kidding, if I had another person I would take a photo for you) and Sheila is trying to convince me that I don’t need to clean out the chook house before putting her and Poppy in there. She will do it, she says. 
Today would be a good day she thinks. But it is like a charnel house in there. Feathers everywhere. Horrible. I left it as is in the hope that we might trap the predators who drove us out. But no sign of bastard Mink to date. He is out there though. I know he is. I will start cleaning the chook house out this weekend just as soon as I can get the tractor over the field. Sheila will wait. The chooks are on the grass within sight of the verandah where the dogs sleep at night. So far so good.
Here is my witches cauldron. It has been brought down out of the hay loft at the old farm. We will use it when we clean all the fattening chickens for the freezer. After I give the pot a good clean that is. Here in America this is called a kettle.
It is a wonderful old piece of iron. So much history.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Today will be better I am sure. Soon it will begin to warm up. I hope so, if only for Number Three’s sake. He needs warmth.
Your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
56 responses to “Whistling lungs.”
That Plonker realises he’s in pig paradise now 😉
Just wondering if you lived on a farm in NZ? You certainly know how to work a farm. Also think Queenie and her calf are just gorgeous together.
Morning Pippa. Nope. I grew up on a beach. I swam in the sea all my summers as a kid. My GrandPa had a farm of sorts. One of the reasons I am blogging is to show people that if they can get back to the land lack of experience should not stop them. Common sense is a wonderful thing. c
Sweet little Plonker #3, hope he keeps improving. Fancy the other two feigning coughs for Gatorade 🙂 Laura
If you turned shelia into the chook house for a day or so she would loosen up all the packed parts. yesterday while mucking out the buck run I earnestly wished for the assistance of a Whuffling snout or two.
I do use the pigs to clean up ahead of me at the end of winter. I just throw a bit of whole corn around and they dig the lot up, very helpful.. Yes, maybe I should do that with the chook house too.. c
who knew gatorade would help a plonker? well, i guess a few figured that out! it looks like warm/hot weather is in store for the middle of next week. glad to hear the plonker is wheezing less.
Wonder if Gatorade would help other species with coughs: like humans, for example…
“The other plonkers looked at their oats and eggs and milk, eyed the gatorade and contemplated pathetic coughs.” I burst out laughing!
I am toasting my coffee to WARM, CALM weather! Very glad to hear the lil’ one is improving.
What does oil of oregano do?
Oil of oregano is a natural antibiotic( bit of a panacea really with his having such whopping conventional antibiotic shots), but I will keep up the oil until his lungs are clear. . as it is also a natural expectorant. Here is a link.. .http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/essential-oils/health-benefits-of-oregano-essential-oil.html. I was put on to this by a number of The Fellowship, yet again begin taught by our readers! wonderful.. c.
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing.
So, Gatorade is to Plonkers as the Black Doctor (Coke) is to people! Back when I was on chemo, Coke was the only thing that would cut through the nausea and give me a tiny portion of energy to just keep on keeping on. Young Master Plonker is looking a bit perkier – I do love the frilly ear notches accessorising his Urban Black!
Is the new Plonker a Hampshire? My Dad raised hampshires on our farm and he looks a lot like I remember ours (the white belt around his tummy)…….they were cute babies,,,,I used to feed them corn from my hand but then, oh my, whoa was me since I got a rather nasty case of worms from them…I was about 7 and just couldn’t seem to remember to wash up really good after feeding them, cause I was thinking how much fun I was happy….LOL…the feeding, not the worms…LOL! I loved growing up on the farm and learned so much about life and nature. Sure hope this little guy makes a good recovery…and hope Auntie Sheila warms to him a bit 🙂 Warm weather coming this weekend so have a great one, Celi !
He is a Hampshire cross and when he is better he will go back in with the other two and then once settled out they will go into their field. i cannot wait to get them outside.. But not with Sheila. She and Poppy are on a lean mean diet..c
Ah…Piggy Weightwatchers Diet…LOL! 🙂
Happy to hear of the progress for Number Three.
The sun is beaming this morning here in southeastern Minnesota.
Never heard of Gatorade before, had to look it up, don’t know what the uk equivalent would be. Glad no 3 is feeling better. Do plonkers do silly things? As over here if you do something silly you can be called a plonker, like in the English sit com, only fools and horses, set in south london. Del Boy used to say to his younger brother if he did something stupid, you plonker Rodney! x
They do do silly things, they will get into and chew anything at all. Somehow the pigs I raise for meat got to be called The Plonkers. It is kind of a collective name to distinguish them from the pigs that I keep (who have their own individual names). The plonkers are raised for the freezers. c
Ahh silly me I thought all young pigs everywhere were called plonkers! Thanks for putting me right x
Just the strangeness of the farmy! Have a lovely day janet.. c
Thank you and you, hope you get some warmth today. x
Janet, I looked it up: Same name and sold in Sports shops.
Thank you learning a lot today! x
The same stuff here is called Lucozade – an electrolyte replacer. Of course there are many, many drinks now sold in sports stores. Laura
Herbal (natural) medicine is my new love!! For me, it’s all about escaping the hold of the pharmaceutical industry and getting back to our roots (pun intended). So I’m thrilled to hear that you are using oil of oregano on #3.
Now, if that natural healer – the sun – would just come out of hiding, we would all feel better.
We really really do need the sun, a little warmth would be just the thing.. c
What’s with the pig with moose-antler ears in your featured photo? You been doing some cross-breeding?
He is only visiting. Cool ears though.. morning Bill. c
the things you do for love of your animals..it is sheer magic! Would plonker no 3 like to have a blanket to keep him warm, I seem to remember another pig wearing a blanket coat….Isn’t Sheila wonderful, so helpful too wanting to clean out the chook house.
I ,for one , would love to see Tima doing her party trick…haven’t you got a timer on your camera…or a spare pair of hands laying around somewhere….. love p
How cute! You know those oinkers hold a special place in this little piggies heart. And Tima begging – I so believe it and would love to see it. I think mommy has some of me so called begging to – how embarrassing – snorts. Have a great day my friend. XOXO – Bacon
Watch out! She will bring those embarressing photos out on your 21st!
uh-oh…. you might be right. Going to do some recon right now in the photo album. Snorts. XOXO – Bacon