"I was lucky enough to visit Argaty, near Doune last week. Argaty is home to some of the Red Kites that were reintroduced to Scotland in 1996. In winter, there can be up to fifty birds wintering there – last week there were twenty-five and they made a spectacular show. Although the birds have a five-foot wingspan, they only weigh around 800g, so they are no threat to lambs. The estate of which Argaty is a part does a lot of conservation work, including bees and pond life. If you get a chance to visit Argaty, which is supported by RSPB, please do so – it is well worth a visit.

Saturday found me at Caledonian Marts in Stirling at their sale of rare and traditional breeds, and poultry sale. It turned out to be a good social event where I met a number of folk who are regular contributors to the forums on “The Accidental Smallholder”. I did well insofar as I resisted bidding fever for most of the day. There were a couple of lots of poultry that I was interested in but when they went above my top price, I stopped bidding. In the past, my urge to “win” has taken over! In the end, all I came home with was a dozen Copper Black Maran hatching eggs.

Despite it being autumn and hardly the natural time to hatch eggs, I have had two Black Rocks go broody. Since the hens have slowed down laying anyway, I thought they might as well do something useful. We have a Copper Black Maran cockerel, so I’ll be able to retain purebred eggs in future (hopefully, but no counting).

Anyway, when I got back from the sale, both broodies had absconded from their nests. By bedtime, both were back, though, and looking fluffed up and grumpy. One went in the broody coop and one in the bachelor pad, each with six eggs. This morning, the one in the broody coop was sitting tight but the other one had decided motherhood wasn’t for her, so all twelve eggs are under one hen. I hope she manages to avoid cracking them. Twenty-one days to go!

A friend of mine has recently purchased three Kune Kune weaners – two gilts and an unrelated boar – with the intention of breeding. I was a bit sceptical, but I have to confess, they are lovely. I can understand why people would want them as pets, now.

One of our dogs is lame – she’s off to the vet tomorrow. She has a swelling on her left front leg; the joint is slightly twisted – I’m not sure if she injured it when she was young or whether she was born like that – so it may be slightly arthritic. Other than that, everyone seems fine – touch wood."