This has been the hottest week we have experiences in Southern Australia. It has been over 110 C in Melbourne but I suspect it is much hotter out here away from the sea. It feels cool in the house but the thermometer says it is 35C . Having so many plants die is heart breaking . I have nursed an avocado tree I was given for years but one evening I found all the leaves had burnt dry and were dropping off. Josh has rigged up a shade cloth for it but I suspect we are too late.
A clever man with a back hoe dug all the manure out of the sheds loaded it on his truck and took tons of this useful compost down into the paddocks. I got one area cleaned and white washed but it is too hot to complete the job. At least the goats are happy to sleep outside in the paddock. They are still producing lots of milk so we went to an auction and brought three dairy calves to rear. It took a week to settle them onto bottles of goats milk but they are happy now. Sheila has a white shied shape on her face , Grace has a white elongated love heart and Betsy has a brown face. I tie different coloured baler twine on their bottles so I can feed them the right amount over each session in two halves and make digestion easier.
The worst problem is with the chooks who really find the temperature impossible. They all have shady tree and plenty of water but this is not enough. We have to hose them or bath them at intervals and keep an eye on individuals. I have had suffering chooks in the house to try and save them. So far we have lost 10 birds , all over three years old.
Edd brought new Polish and Houdan chooks last week . It is really hard on them adapting to a new home and the heat. Our own youngsters are suffering but so far surviving. My daughter Bo took her boys out to a pool and came back to find her budgy had died . Her house has no air conditioning or much insulation so she has to go out. She brings the kids here some evenings where they love our little above ground pool.
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