Day 5.
I think I need a second paddock. Chickens and cows don't sleep well together.
The chickens were understandably afraid of being cooped up with three huge cows, and the cows disliked having scared flappy things beneath their feet. The chickens had escaped somehow before morning, giving me a rest from the awful noise they made. I still don't know how they got out though.
Thankfully, making a small pen for chooks is far easier than for cows, because it doesn't need to be so strong. It still needs to have no gaps, but that should be fairly easy.
Today I'm out of branches, so my first port of call is cutting finer branches from trees, and even cut some trees to store for either building or firewood. Fencing takes a lot of material, so it's a good thing I have half the space taken by forest.
It may only be a third forest by the time I'm done here.
Someday, I'm going to need to find a way to sharpen this saw, but hopefully I can get this done first. My knives likewise, because cutting ivy takes a lot of work to cut, and I now have to cut a bundle more.
I'm getting better about venturing out into the corridors, but even though I've been out here several days now, it still sets my heart pounding. My blood races, and I can't wait to get back to the safety of my walls. I still hear the monsters every night, although sometimes I wonder if they're the screams of lost souls, or perhaps victims.
My morning is spent building the chicken fence, and I test it by catching all of the fat birds I can find and putting them inside. I soon realised I had a problem when they just flew out. There was no way I could build a roof for a pen that large! And the time it would take me... I'd starve before I was able to get them put away to grow a garden.
There was one chicken that couldn't escape, and I examined her to find out why. She had a naturally smaller wing on one side, a deformity that made her unable to fly evenly. I surmised that to copy this, I would need to clip one wing on each chicken.
This time, I had a much higher success rate, and before long I had counted the entire flock to fifteen, including the rooster. They stayed put nicely once they were grounded.
Next I had to get the cows into their pen. That was a little more difficult. I was calculating how much food I have, and how long I will have to survive until I have a garden, and the results were not pretty. I'll need to butcher at least one of the young cattle, and I don't really feel so comfortable with that. A chook, maybe, but cattle is pushing it. I really need to conserve my food, which brings me to my problem.
How am I going to get the cows into my pen?
The answer was a simple one in the end. I got the leaders, namely the bull and two of the largest cows, to follow me, and the rest followed them. I'd herded them to a stone area first, them simply offered them the same grass they'd been eating, and they came.
Still, it took a long time to get them all in, with much frustration, when a group would break off and make a run for it. I was panting hard by the time the last one was in.
At last I was able to take away my ramps, and the cattle were all in. the sheep were still loose, but I figured I'd catch them tomorrow. How much harm could they do, anyway? I spent the rest of my daylight removing grass from my chosen garden area.
I don't know if the beans were climbing or bush beans, so I don't know if they need a trellis to climb. Climbing beans are more productive per plant, but bush beans don't need a climbing frame, and tend to fruit in less time.
Carrots need a deeply cultivated, fine soil, with no obstacles. I need to remove all stones and clods from the soil if I'm to grow carrots in it.
For the peas, I will need to set up a trellis, and probably take additional care in making sure they stay on the trellis instead of stupidly falling off. Unlike beans, peas are pretty dumb when it comes to climbing things. They'll just randomly let go or grow in another direction to their support.
Pumpkins like an area to sprawl around on, without letting the soil beneath their fruit getting so damp as to let the fruit rot. A rich soil would be good for them, commonly like a compost. I should bury the grass I'm removing and let it compost to feed my garden.
I don't think I've ever been very fond of pumpkins, but if it's a choice between pumpkins or nothing, I'll eat them. Besides, they make excellent chook food, and I like eggs.
Some of the grass I'm leaving to dry in the shelter of my 'house', so that I'll be able to use it as tinder. Thankfully, I found some nice slates in the soil, and I can use one of them to cook on. It won't be fine cuisine, but I'll be able to have fried eggs. When it comes to it, meat can just be spit-roasted instead of fried.
I'll need to get on with raising a clutch of young pullets, because, despite my slight squeamishness when it comes to the idea of killing things, but I need to balanced diet if I'm to survive here. Chickens are going to be the easiest source of meat, and the easiest to cook, and if I can get a nice number of eggs under a broody, I'll have a source. At least I'll be able to give them an easy life.
By the time it was dark, I was worn out, and I blanked out the moment my head touched the blanket.