The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: readaboutchxnpigs on November 29, 2011, 01:06:16 pm
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Moved into a Northumberland end terrace in Jun 11 with a decent garden and 1 acre plot. Sharing most of our opportunities with the neighbours and friends. Currently have pigs :pig:, turkeys, ducks :&> and chickens :chook: a beautiful wife :love: and 3 fab children :wave: :wave: :wave:. Will stick as we are over the winter (hopefully) and maybe get sheep :sheep: in the new year.
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H i and welcome to the forum :wave: :wave: look forward to your postings.
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Welcome from North Yorkshire. :wave: :wave:
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Hello and welcome from a wet and windy Carnoustie :wave:
Where about in Northumberland are you? I used to live in Seahouses. Love Northumberland.
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Alnwick Moor, we sure do appreciate the extremes of weather in these parts! It is beautiful
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welcome are you anywhere near john manners combines loved the arch you have to drive through in the village :farmer:
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:wave: Hi and welcome from finally dry and calm Shropshire.
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hi i'm a new member in spain .trying to be self sufficent with bees ,chickens turkeys geese and goats on 8 acres , in need of good advice-willing to barter in animals
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Hello readaboutchxnpigs and mally.one, good to see you both here. :wave:
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Hi there :wave: readaboutchxnpigs from just over the border in north Cumbria (but you are right across the other side of Northumberland from me)
We're commercial but low-density low-input beef and sheep farmers with collie dogs, a hound pup, a Jersey house cow, pigs, ponies, chickens and a plan for fantail pigeons, rare breed sheep (for fleece and our own meat) and more Muscovy ducks. Maybe geese.
Hi mally.one too :wave:
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Thank you for the welcome and input everyone.
Sallyinthe north or anyone for that matter, we mave muscovy ducks (2) but no eggs, do they produce or are they just pretty? We have recently introduce a muscovy drake, some interesting dancing going on!!! We also have 2 indian runner ducklings not sure which sex yet. But after my first taste of pork lastnight i've popped a button on my traousers this morning - oops!!
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:wave: We used to keep Lavender Muscovies and they certainly lay eggs but not very many (compared with hens) and those are laid seasonally. We (the ducks in fact) regularly raised clutches, most of which were drakes, which are very good eating. Back then we could sell a trio of Muscovies for more than a sheep ::)
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All my Muscovy girls have laid, but as Fleecewife says, not as prolifically as hens and very seasonally. They also go off lay if anything upsets them - and pretty much any kind of change upsets them... But Oh! the eggs! Just to die for. And the meat is brilliant too.
I've always had a drake when the girls have been laying - but I haven't enough experience to tell you whether they will lay without a drake about.
They need a good hiding place to lay, they are very security-minded. Mine had an old dog kennel with lots of straw in, at the very back and not facing the doorway inside a dark small store; they'd make a nest way way back inside the kennel, and buried deeply in the straw, not visible; you had to crawl into the kennel and feel about to find them.
I did wonder whether maybe your girls have laid but have hidden the eggs so well you've not come across them!
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Our geese - eight of them - hide their eggs - hence finding dozens the other day. Odd time of the year to lay but weather has been strange this year. Chicken, turkeys, geese etc. will certainly lay eggs whether or not a cock bird is around. Jan