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Author Topic: My 1st smallholding venture  (Read 20940 times)

ricardodba

  • Joined Apr 2015
My 1st smallholding venture
« on: April 13, 2015, 12:45:40 am »
Hi All,
 :wave:
Pleased to meet you, my name is Richard. I've been reading the site for a few weeks now (very informative i must add).

Im about to move with my family (wife and 3 kids) to a house up in Haworth (Bronte country in Yorkshire). The house comes with a 1.5 acre field next to it and is off the beaten track. The field currently has sheep grazing on it.

I would really like to have a go at having a small holding and not just having the land sit there doing nothing.
Plan is to have chickens, a house cow (a shetland)...and a veg growing area...oh, and my 10 year old daughter is desperate for her own pony....and possibly further down the line in the future a few weaners for meat.
Im wondering if its going to be a choice between cow and pony due to amount of land!?

Do this sound feasible with the amount of land i have?...i know its not loads of land!

This isnt going to be an overnight thing and the animals probably wont come along until this time next year now.

I intend on using this year to prepare field i.e test soil, possibly rotavate and reseed with grass and flora and get it in good condition for grazing.
The soil as far as i know is peat.


A few questions I have if you dont mind me asking!

Whats best way to go about soil testing - do it yourself or send off the soil?

Do you have any tips on best grass and wildflower to grow on peat?

Regarding the house cow...if the cow (a Shetland) is with calf at foot does the cow still need daily milking?...

Are there any farmers/small holding people on here from the area?

Any other hints and tips on making taking the 1st steps into small holdings will be gratefully received.

Thanks,
Richard

SophieLeeds

  • Joined Aug 2014
  • Yorkshire
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2015, 11:22:42 am »
Hi Richard from Leeds  :wave:

Haworth is beautiful - very jealous  ;D

A cow and a pony on 1.5 acres - no is the real answer. Maybe you could rent some extra land?
"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops or livestock, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings"

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2015, 11:34:42 am »
Hello and welcome Richard.

Problem is that animals need company of their own species and age - so a cow with calf at foot doesn't really count as two. We had a heifer calve unexpectedly this year (Shetlands) so we put her and the calf out by themselves but the heifer was prety stressed until we put another adult cow out with her. It's hard to guard your calf against wolves when you don't have a herd  :)

I do love my cattle though - so maybe you could rent some land?

1.5 acres would be great for veggies, a couple of weaners from spring to autumn, a small orchard and some hens. If it's peat and wet, big animals will trash it (so will the pigs but they'll be restricted and only there for six months of the year).

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2015, 12:22:54 pm »
you don't really have enough land for even one pony if you are growing in part of the field. After a week of rain the pony will be knee deep in mud and that's all your grazing gone.
Id guess the same applied re a cow too, and it wouldn't be fair to keep a cow alone.
Id say vegetables, a few chickens and a couple of pigs but the piggies wont half demolish the land so plan for that
Is it time to retire yet?

Caroline1

  • Joined Nov 2014
  • Cambridgeshire
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2015, 12:52:43 pm »
Hi, welcome. I can't give any advice as just starting out myself, but love your enthusiasm  ;D
________
Caroline

ricardodba

  • Joined Apr 2015
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2015, 01:44:22 pm »
thanks for the replies...although that has put a bit of a downer on things!!...  :thinking:

i dont have to grow the veggies on the field...the garden is big enough for what we need.

So i guess the next few questions:

How much land does a  Shetland cow need? ...is it down to how much grass the field can supply or actual space for the cow to roam about?...if volume of grass...can this supplemented with other feed and therefore i will have enough land...please go gentle on me - im new to all this!!  :excited:

what livestock can i have?...maybe a couple of goats /sheep instead of a cow?

Would it be a good idea to put some kind of drainage in the field?...the field is on the side of a small hill so has a steady gradient running down to the bottom of the field.

I notice there are a lot of mole hills in the field ...is this good or bad?

thanks again  :thumbsup:

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2015, 03:23:55 pm »
How much land does a  Shetland cow need? ...is it down to how much grass the field can supply or actual space for the cow to roam about?...if volume of grass...can this supplemented with other feed and therefore i will have enough land...please go gentle on me - im new to all this!!  :excited:


http://www.shetlandcattle.org.uk/faqs has the question "how much land do I need?"

Don't worry, no-one was born knowing this stuff  :)

ricardodba

  • Joined Apr 2015
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #7 on: April 13, 2015, 05:07:54 pm »
How much land does a  Shetland cow need? ...is it down to how much grass the field can supply or actual space for the cow to roam about?...if volume of grass...can this supplemented with other feed and therefore i will have enough land...please go gentle on me - im new to all this!!  :excited:


http://www.shetlandcattle.org.uk/faqs has the question "how much land do I need?"

Don't worry, no-one was born knowing this stuff  :)


From what this says i should have enough land for 1 cow, especially if i supplement with other feed which i buy in:

How much land do I need?
A quick answer is one acre of good grazing per cow during the summer months. But Shetlands are used extensively in conservation grazing schemes, and on heathland, for example, you might need 25 acres per animal. Your land requirement therefore is dependent on quality of pasture and the availability of supplementary feed. If you wish to produce your own feed for the winter, such as hay, haylage or sileage you will require additional land. As a very rough calculation your cow will eat around 5 large bales of haylage over the winter and you would need more than half an acre of summer growth to produce this. If your cows are to live out they will eat rather more. Cows will exist on less land but you will have to depend on bought in feed.[/

obviously not quite enough room for 2 cows...Does a cow need a cow for company or can a smaller animal such as a goat be used?

Thanks.

Thyme

  • Joined Apr 2013
  • Machynlleth, Powys
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #8 on: April 13, 2015, 05:35:03 pm »
A cow really does need another cow for company.  I had to quarantine one alone for 60 days and she was so unhappy I think it would have been kinder just to cull her.  I tried giving her sheep for company but she started to be aggressive toward them.

Unless your land is very sturdy and well drained having even one cow in one acre year around will make a mess of that acre, unfortunately.  I have about 8 acres of pasture but decided to sell our two Shetlands on in favour of looking into goats instead.  I think we could have managed them with careful planning so they would always be up in the sturdiest best drained pasture whenever the ground was wet, or if we converted some barn space to house them, but we'd have little margin for error.  And since we thought we might enjoy dairy goats just as much that seemed worth a try instead.     
Shetland sheep, Copper Marans chickens, Miniature Silver Appleyard ducks, and ginger cats.

hafod

  • Joined Jan 2013
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #9 on: April 13, 2015, 09:27:44 pm »
Hi. As others have said a cow really does need another cow for company.  I was going to suggest goats, although I know nothing about them, but Thyme beat me to it! Perhaps you could start with a couple of pigs or a few lambs to rear for meat and see how you get on and how the land copes?
As for mole hills - the moles will be creating drainage so that can be a good thing!!
Good luck and enjoy!

devonlady

  • Joined Aug 2014
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #10 on: April 13, 2015, 11:34:50 pm »
Oh!, I do wish you well and know how keen you feel to do it all at once :) I was going to say "If I were you I would..........." but, if I were you I would want to do it all at once ::) So, I would caution you to do nothing (except a few hens) for a good few weeks, then think about what you want from your land.
One and a half acres sounds a good lot of land until you want to do lots with it and you can do lots, but cautiously. You can't keep two cows, or, realistically one cow on your land.
So, if you want to grow food, I would go for vegetables and poultry at first, eggs, meat and veg and then think, maybe a couple of goats for milk, butter etc. and then a pair of pigs for meat but do go slowly if you aren't to be overwhelmed.

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #11 on: April 13, 2015, 11:55:17 pm »
I was also going to say goats. They can manage with less land especially if you can supplement their food with cur branches. My own goats just have a yard and no pasture but they have plenty of bought in greenstuff.

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #12 on: April 14, 2015, 09:21:28 am »
Moles show the soil is good, but they're a bit of a disaster where there's dense livestock.  They make the area muddy, which reduces the amount of grass growing, and lambs will get listeriosis.  But where there are moles there will be plenty of earthworms, which is what they eat.
You don't want moles in your veggie patch because they tip over your plants, especially seedlings.  Molehill soil is great for adding to your veg growing area, and for making seedling composts.

I can feel your yearning for your cow and I understand that, but I think you should at least put it off until you've lived there a minimum of a year, to see your land through all the seasons.  Yorkshire is quite wet, and cows, even Shetlands, are heavy and their feet sink in - same with pigs whose feet are very pointy.  As they sink in they cut up the grass roots and destroy the sward.
Buying in feed isn't cheap either. When my granny was young (late 1800s  :o :o) it was her job to bring the cows home for milking - SLOWLY, so they could graze the verges on the way to stretch out the grazing on the farm.

Before we start our smallholdings all of us have big plans, some of which will work, others are unrealistic.  So we all understand where you're at right now.  Be excited about what you can grow and keep, and once you've moved in perhaps you can rent some extra ground, or even buy some.
Good luck  :hshoe:
« Last Edit: April 14, 2015, 09:35:47 pm by Fleecewife »
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

ricardodba

  • Joined Apr 2015
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #13 on: April 14, 2015, 02:26:01 pm »
Thanks again guys for all your comments.

I dont plan of having any animals other than chickens before next spring.

I would like to get the field looking a bit more like a meadow first. I was going to plow or rotavate the entire field...maybe this is a bit extreme?
I've attached a pic of the field...maybe this will give you all a better idea of how it currently looks..
How do i get rid of the those wreeds?
Should i put drainage in?

Thanks.

Kimbo

  • Joined Feb 2015
  • Anglezarke, Lancashire
Re: My 1st smallholding venture
« Reply #14 on: April 14, 2015, 06:42:07 pm »
the rushes in your field suggest that drainage would be a good idea but please cost this carefully . Professional drainage is VERY expensive and amateur drainage can cause more harm than good.
Im conscious that we might sound negative..... that's not so but big animals on such a small acreage is probably too much of a challenge
Is it time to retire yet?

 

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