[Jas]

Nice and steady seems to be the way to go but I'm sure temptation must be there if you've got the land and want the livestock
There must be some horror stories of people going and getting everything and once and not coping!
Already have ducks as my daughter is severely allergic( anaphylactic) to chicken egg but ok with duck eggs and my parents always have had chickens so have knowledge with poultry. Plus a menagerie of dogs reptiles amphibians  invertebrates and 6 kids so have a little experience with animal husbandry and my daughter is starting agricultural college so she will be teaching me 

[Fleecewife]

  However now we pretty much ignore our hens save for keeping them watered, fed and occasionally  cleaned out.

Oh womble - how could you.  Hens make my day, every day     (I know you really mean for care.)

We had a couple of panics in our first two years with lambing, but you have to make mistakes to learn.  We also learnt to be selective about whose advice you take - not all folk with years of farming/smallholding under their belts will do things in a way you would want to.

Also, don't be afraid to admit when you need to take a step backwards.  We had always been desperate for pigs, breeding pigs (I grew up on a pig and turkey farm, with a couple of hundred sows).  Eventually we thought we were ready and bought our first two Tamworth piglets. They grew quickly and were such fun - they love to race and play.  However, they soon reached the age at which they needed to breed, and we knew we couldn't cope, with inadequate housing, as well as with sending such intelligent animals off to slaughter.  So we sold our gilts on to an organic breeder and all was hunky dory.  They lived in woodland and had a lovely life of sex, babies and food 
We knew that if we changed our minds and felt we were able to keep pigs later on then we could start again.
It's the same with the breeds you choose.  You might have your heart set on a particular breed, but once you have them you realise they are not suitable to your land, or your system.  Nearly all animals are edible, so fill the freezer and try again.

Most importantly, once you get over those first couple of years, and your confidence grows, you will know what to do routinely so the pressure is off and you can really enjoy what you are doing.

For what to do when, it is always a good idea to meet your vet and get their advice on working out a plan of vaccinations, worm testing and treatments when you start.  It helps them to know you before you have an emergency, and for you to know them.  Work out a husbandry calendar as a guideline, to be modified as you go along.
I also found it useful to work out a day to day routine of what work had to be done each day and when, such as letting the poultry out and shutting them in at night, watering the veg garden  and so on, so you know the things which have to be done no matter what else crops up.
We also named each of our fields to avoid confusion, and we still have those names such as the Soay paddock, even though we don't keep Soay any more 

And you really don't have to know it all before you start.  We are so lucky to have TAS now - when we started up we didn't even have a computer let alone TAS 

[Marches Farmer]

Lesson One:  admit you have a lot to learn - the folks who know a great deal will warm to you and be happy to help with advice or in a more practical way.

Lesson Two:  spend lots of time observing your stock to start with - the more time you spend looking at healthy stock the quicker you'll spot those in trouble.

Lesson Three:  make your new mantra "The Stock Comes First", for it's on your holding because you decided it should be and you have total responsibility for its welfare.

[Womble]

Oh womble - how could you.  Hens make my day, every day     (I know you really mean for care.)

Yes of course. But once you're used to having them they really do look after themselves to a greater or lesser extent. Sheep, I've discovered, less so!

You might have your heart set on a particular breed, but once you have them you realise they are not suitable to your land, or your system.  Nearly all animals are edible, so fill the freezer and try again.

Yup. Been there, done that!

We also named each of our fields to avoid confusion, and we still have those names such as the Soay paddock, even though we don't keep Soay any more 

We have a Polo Field. Not that we play a lot of polo, more that there used to be a rusting Volkswagen in one corner 

[SallyintNorth]

We also named each of our fields to avoid confusion, and we still have those names such as the Soay paddock, even though we don't keep Soay any more 

We have a Polo Field. Not that we play a lot of polo, more that there used to be a rusting Volkswagen in one corner 

In the farm here, there's the Tank Field - because in the war, a tank was left in there!  And fields named after people who used to rent them, 30 years before I came to this farm :/

When I moved to the moorland farm, there were no field names, so we had lots of fun coming up with them.  The one in front of he farmhouse, where the cess pit was, we named Sink Pits .  And the one below that, Sink Pits Bottom.