A kind and knowledgable man from Cambridge Farm Vets visited us this afternoon. We had booked three CAE tests for the goats. CAE is a debilitating disease of the joints and maybeven cause encephalitis. Before we breed with Wisp and Meghan and again with Willow we must ensure they are CAE free. The goats were also vaccinated as were the sheep with lambivac to protect them against the deadly chlostridium (a bacteria found in the soil).

Before the vet left us I asked him to take a look at the injured blackbird. The vet has a special interest in wild animals so he was the perfect man for the job – and so gentle.

We must feed Sweetie Pie more worms and more protein (hard boiled egg apparently) as she is very thin. If she survives it will take more than a month for her wing feathers to regrow. We are now feeding a blackbird at The Gables. Hey ho!