[ricardodba]

Hey. Two things. One ; we so wish you well in your venture as we are  still on the same  purchasing  roller coaster. The other, we  too have a non aggressive chaser in the form of a large bouncy mongrel. And have the same questions. We have read your posts with interest and send you our ( ignorant) encouragement . Hopefully we can swap wisdom and success stories soon. When my wife left her partnership to allow us to pursue our plan  her colleague wrote in a card  -'we are are all looking for adventure; enjoy yours'. We say the same to you!!

Hi, thanks for your comments .

I've just purchased a 6m slip lead and intend on walking her on this for the time being...hopefully if i can get her close up to sheep and keep her calm with a few treats when she is calm, this might help her training...but any dog and sheep experts out there im all ears.

Might sound daft...but...She has lamb in her diet (millies wolfheart dry food)...do i need to change to  a different flavor?

[devonlady]

Oh dear !! PLEASE keep her on a lead around other people's livestock!
Even the best trained dogs can cause havoc and heartbreak not to mention the fury of the owners.
My own whippets, greyhound, Ibizan, pugs are fine with our sheep and poultry but I wouldn't trust them loose with anyone else's.
You and your family would be heartbroken if your dog were shot and you would not be popular among the farming community.
Playing soon gets out of hand and any dog from a GS to a Jack Russell will revert to type and sheep don't understand "playing".
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh but it is a harsh subject,
The dog that killed my little flock of Ouessants was the soppiest bitch you could meet but had she been loose around my sheep again she would surely have been shot!!!

[Kimbo]

round here (south Lancashire) a dog chasing sheep would be shot very quickly, no questions asked. Im sure its the same in most sheep areas. The dog doesnt have to catch the sheep to do a lot of damage: they seem to want to drop dead for the slightest reason!
And you really don't want to watch your dog turn from playful pup to killer as its not pleasant to see....and I think nearly all dogs are capable of it.
One of our small spaniels is a total soppy lap dog but he has tried to kill some of our chickens a few times: always when they have suddenly started running for no obvious reason and the dog has got giddy. We don't trust him and I don't think you can trust yours either

[DavidandCollette]

Is your desire for a cow just for milk? If so goats would provide a good alternative

[ricardodba]

Yes, i will be keeping her on lead at all times...until i get all my land completely fenced and secure.

Id like a cow for both milk and meat (meat coming from calf)...but until i can source more land the house cow will be put on hold. I have been looking into possibly keeping a couple of Gurnsey goats...and maybe using kids for meat...At what age do kids go for meat?...is there a better word than 'kids' here...sounds so wrong!! 

Moving on to next subject - are there any Land Rover Defender experts on here?...im going to have to get rid of my car ( its a clio)...not sure if i should get a 90 or 110 and if i should save a bit longer for a 300 engine?...or is the 200 fine? I like the idea of a 110 double cab pickup...enough room for all family and room to throw some bails/dog/livestock in back .

Cheers.

[Penninehillbilly]

There is a lot of LandRover thefts round here (probably elsewhere as well) parts can be removed quickly and easily during the night, many friends have lost either parts or whole vehicle (off secure drives and yards), one person came out one morning to find just the chassis(sp?), We had a Toyota Hilux, probably cheaper to run as well.
We now run a Citreon Berlingo van for road  use and looking at a 4x4 utility vehicle for the fields.
I may be wrong but I think GG's are a bit fine for meat, unless you cross a gg with a stockier breed? kids can go for slaughter in the Autumn of birth (6 months or so)
('Kids' can be sometimes be amusing if people don't realise your'e talking about goat kids), but I often wonder which was called 'kids' first  .
 

[Ghdp]

Hope all on course for getting keys tomorrow! Hope dog training going ok too. Like you we have picked up the clear message from other posts to be strict.

[devonlady]

Good luck for tomorrow

[Ghdp]

How is it going Richard?

[ricardodba]

Hi,

Been here a couple of weeks now...been hectic, but also very interesting and fun. The scenary and wildlife - i still cant believe i live here!...its great to see the grouse chicks startng to appear.

Generator arrived yesterday and solar panels etc hopefully this weekend...i've been running off a small 6.7hp generator, 2x 500w solar panels and a 12v battery system...amazing what you can run on it...been a good learning curve for off grid living.

Just getting used to the Rayburn (its a very old one)...i can keep it in all night now.   

Fencing will start to go up next week...so hopeully another couple of weeks and i can get myself a few hens  ...think i've probably missed the boat this year on getting the veg patch running...but got so many other things to do anyway.

Cheers

[Penninehillbilly]

Hi Richard
Welcome to 'Ooop North', sounds very exciting for you.
 
We are only running our rayburn in the evenings, just enough to cook our evening meal and heat water, saves bothering to feed it during the day. Junk mail is called 'Rayburn fodder', useful for lighting it anyway.
for the veg patch you could always try a few salad stuff, maybe short season carrots? I think there may be cabbage that you start off now? anyway sounds like there is enough to do!  .
I love looking around every day where I live - love it whatever the weather (well maybe no the horizontal wind with rain/snow, but even that has its own power and beauty). Sometimes I think it would be nice to live somewhere flat, but I'd miss the hills and valleys, where the view changes just a few yards up the lane.
You've certainly had some good weather to help you settle in 

[Kimbo]

welcome to world of incredibly hard work!!!! 

[ricardodba]

Hi all,

I just got the off-grid power system up and running in my power shed aka micro power station

Its a 48v 1000a battery sytstem fed by 1.8kw of solar and a 14kva standby generator, the Inverter charger and charge controller are all Outback systems...so far not needed generator on as solar seems so be creating enough...getting between 5 and 6.5kwh per day from solar so far.

Stage 2 is to put a 3m lean-to extension on side of power shed so i can put more solar on roof and have a store below for wood and coal etc...and stage 3 is to purchase a wind turbine.

Fencing hasnt gone up yet, but hopefully will start this week...and i have a nice enclosed pallet which the batteries came in to recycle into a small hen house...it really is none stop, hard work...but im loving it...
 


Cheers.
 

[Herdygirl]

Hi Richard.
Welcome to TAS
 
I am just over the hill at Mount Tabor.  Glad you are settling in and getting the power sorted sounds interesting. 
There is a chap in Todmorden (I think he is there) who has some really nice POL's, my friend bought some a little while ago, I can find out for you if you like?  Just PM me.

[ricardodba]

Hi Richard.
Welcome to TAS
 
I am just over the hill at Mount Tabor.  Glad you are settling in and getting the power sorted sounds interesting. 
There is a chap in Todmorden (I think he is there) who has some really nice POL's, my friend bought some a little while ago, I can find out for you if you like?  Just PM me.

Where us MountTabor?...i still dont know way around here!!!...Do you also have a smallholding/farm?

Thanks for the info about the POLs...but have sourced some other local POLs...but if no good, will comeback to you...thanks