The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: Micko on January 06, 2010, 12:52:49 pm
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New to this smallholding malarky and got to make a go of it here in Tyneside. Me and the Mrs are planning to move onto our land (by whatever means possible), get the polytunnel up, collect loads of rainwater and try and clear some land.......anyone got a pig or 2 to help??
Cheers for now
Micko and Dee Dee
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Hi Micko and welcome!
Beth
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Welcome, Micko and Dee Dee - if you see a Brittany with a long tail going about near Newcastle - I bred him - name's Ranger - just hope he doesn't live up to it!
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Hello Micko and Dee Dee and welcome from Devon. :)
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Annie....We've got a couple of muts....Chas looks like a thug but would probaly lick you to death. Sure he's going to love the pigs when they arrive...especially the pigs lugs.
What's it like down Devon way JulieS?? My sprogg is trying to get back down to Plymouth today from Newcastle here and looks like all planes are off. Mad up here...had the dogs on the 'big' garden (soon to be cultivated and stuff) and they almost dissapeared.
Cheers - micko
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Micko and Dee Dee, Hello and welcome...I love the Teeside accent and in my head I am reading like Jimmy Nail!!!!
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Hello and welcome from me in Lanarkshire ;D
Look forward to hearing how you get on.
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Micko and Dee Dee, Hello and welcome...I love the Teeside accent and in my head I am reading like Jimmy Nail!!!!
Me too, if a gentleman appeared on my doorstep with that accent I'd fall in love all over again - oops, I did, but he was 30 years too young :-[ ;D
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Welcome from fife
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sorry to disappoint.......lived up here for many years but not orginally from Geordieland but our lass is a Shields lass and she looks a bit like Jimmy Nail!!
Great to hear from you all and thanks loads for a dead warm welcome. All really into your smallholding stuff ain't yer. Been having a good look through and there's loads of good gen to be had.
Micko
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;D hope she is not going to read that!!! Now I don't know what accent, maybe you come originaly from Londonshire????? I detect a bit of cockney ;) ;) Oh, I am not a Scottie although often have a bit of Scotch inside me...the drink that is my OH is a midlander like me......anyway, you sound fun and I carn't spell.... especialy when I have had Scottish water diluted with Whiskey!!! water is strong up here. ;)
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Hi, Micko and welcome from icy Alloa.
What kind of mutts do you have?
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Hi and welcome, borrowing a couple of pigs is a great idea for clearing ground. In our experience tamworths did the best clearing job. Of course if you bought a couple of neutered males, you could put them in the freezer when they had cleared the ground.
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Nah...she's champion with it. Got odd taste in blokes though, fav ever male is Michael Stipe of REM....WEIRD! Me..I've lived on Tyneside for 20 odd years now so gradually get into the Georgie ways but come from Chester originally. Absolutely love it here though.
Got a couple of rescue dogs who needed feeding up when we got them, poor souls. Now thriving but just had to spend just over a grand to fix big whippets lugs. So now having to scrimp and save to buy buy seeds, fencing materials, timber for compost area and ten thousand other stuff.
Lyla is a bit of a whippet cross (fat one) and is a bolshy bitch and total dominates Charlie who must have some Staffy in him but with bigger legs. He loves little dogs and reckon he'd love one for a pet. The lass wants loads more dogs when eventually get the caravan on the land, espec ex-racing greyhounds which should be fun with all the rabbits about and sheep in next field.
Aye...definitely thinking about the pig clearance technique. Will definitely have to be living there though as there's plently of nutters around. Tamworth are supposed to be cunning escape artists aren't they? Love the look of them though and it's all about the taste at the end of the day. We're keen to get some Middle Whites (remember she likes Michael Stipe!) and also some Mangalitzas, who must be doing well in this freezing weather. No doubt she'll tempt them into the bed to keep warm though along with the freeky dogs!
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Having once shared a bed with a pig (not going there) strongly recommend you dont let them past the bedroom door!!!
If you are seriously interested in mangalitsas (wonderful pigs especially when crossed with a tamworth) talk to Smithy on this site hers are gorgeous, and she had some for sale recently.
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Hello and welcome from Derbyshire, we have a mad rescue pup too who needed feeding up but certainly doesn't now...
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Hello from just up the river... Hexham area. sounds like you've got a plan! good luck
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Hey Hilarysmum....this pig story sounds very interesting and reckon you should tell more!!??
We are serious about the Mangalitzas and may look at getting that side started once we've got all our set up done and starting to try and make some money from the veg. Got to be patient I suppose...or is that a bit boring!? The whole point about a smallholding to me is livestock and am dead envious of all of you who are doing it and have been for years.
One of my fav pigs is the Tamworth and never really thought about crossing with the Mangals....sounds interesting and suppose there must be some benefit?? Just been watching the F word final where Mangalitza was served up and was obviously too fatty for many....but thought that was the beauty of them. Should get some advice from Smithy then eh?
What make is your rescue pup little blue?? They're dead skinny when you get them from the shelter aren't they....but suppose they have been roaming the streets poor buggers. Amazing our Chas survived on the streets of Gateshead all alone. He has a liking for all things edible though and many things pretty much inedible (cat poo and cow pats...lovely....go on....lick your mam's face Chas!!).
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Ian.....great to hear from you and your pretty close to us by the sounds of it. Our land is in Prudhoe...just a pasture and young wood at the moment but soon to be put to good use.
Be good to hear about yourself and what you're doing.
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Hi All
Micko's long suffering wife here! Had a good look through the site and it's great - so many people with the same interest as us too (I can usually see peoples eyes glaze over as I talk about anything to do with smallholding so it's a refreshing change!)
As you've probably already picked up from Micko's posts, we are so excited to get started - know it's going to be such hard work but so rewarding. Can't describe the feeling we had standing on our land on New Years day, snow up to our knees and freezing cold but so happy. Our dogs loved it too!
Just wanted to make one thing clear - not bothered about my husband likening me to Jimmy Nail (he's so romantic like that, always giving me compliments!) but his comment about Michael Stipe may just get him into serious bother!
Cheers - DeeDee
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We do have something in common, Michael Stipe is Ok, ;)don't suppose he would like me though?? my type as well as Richard O'Brian (Crystle Maze), Moby, the really ill lead singer from???? Oh god forgotton the group, I loved them, they sang, "gonna get myself connected, see the writing on the wall. na na nnana nnnnn, tumble you might fall, tumble you might fall...you know who I mean? mind you, my fave and he certainly looks well, Johnny Depp. Anyway, off the subject a bit but, this freeze is a killer, I only have CHickens and 2 DUcks but lugging water and cracking ice is time consuming....I bet others on here with sheep...cattle...pigs....horses...Zebras...Dogs...camels etc etc are spending the whole day feeding and watering animals.....
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Oh no...not someone else who likes The Stipe....weird lot aren't you!
Aye..the weathers a bummer...we've got a small landscaping business and having to spend all this week and probaly the next twiddling things at home.
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What make is your rescue pup little blue?? They're dead skinny when you get them from the shelter aren't they....but suppose they have been roaming the streets poor buggers. Amazing our Chas survived on the streets of Gateshead all alone. He has a liking for all things edible though and many things pretty much inedible (cat poo and cow pats...lovely....go on....lick your mam's face Chas!!).
She's a German Shepherd, was 17 months when we got her just over a year ago. She was bought as a pedigree pup but the old couple couldnt cope and left her chained up. She has obviously been hit, and has a broken front tooth and an obsession with water. She became very stressed by the other dogs in rescue and stopped eating properly. She had no socialisation so is very scared of the big wild world, but soft as a brush at home with us.
We have a cat who was a stray (the spitting image a beloved late cat) and f*rted like i can't describe all the way home in the car and for ages after, Goodness knows what he'd been living on! He only drinks running water, and has to touch everything with his paw. And loves anything shiny, like a blooming magpie for hiding stuff!
Allegedly, cat poop is full of protein and most dogs would eat it given half a chance. I know Sheba would... and as for licking your face, she likes to get her tongue right in for a good snog, and isnt beyond pinning you down to do so!
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YUK
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;) ;)
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Stereo MC's!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And whats wrong with poo, Rabbits eat it, Ben eats it!!!!
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We definately have something in common Sandy - Moby Mmmmmmmmmm! And Billy Bob Thronton (what was Angelina thinking when she moved on from him to Brad Pitt???). Nothing wrong with poo either, at least according to our boy dog Charlie - he's a bit of an expert and can find the most tasty morsels around. Our other dog Lyla is more choosey, though they have been known to fight over some of the particularly interesting dropping! On the downside, Charlie gets travel sick, so if he has feasted on such treats during a day out in cattle/sheep country then the journey home can be rather fragrant!
Little blue - Sheba sounds lovely and its clear you've done a wonderful job with her. Rescues can be very challenging but the rewards are GREAT. What a terrible start to life she had, you only have to understand the basics about dog behaviour to know she must have been terribly mistreated. Good on you for taking her on and giving her a chance to become the wonderful dog you describe today.
I know our two had different experiences before they came to us, although both were found as strays. Charlie (Mummys Little Soldier) was fully grown (about a year old) and painfully thin - his head seemed massive when compared to his body. When we brough him home he tried to curl up in the cat basket (he's the size of a small Labrador, so no mean feat!). He can look rather fierce, with a lot of Staffy in him, but is the most gentle dog you could hope to meet. Not a bad bone in his body. He's very handsome too - people regularly stop us to ask what "breed" he is! Unfortunately, what he has in looks he lacks in intelligence! We've given up trying to train him as he really doesn't get it at all! Lyla (Daddys Little Princess) is more "hound-like". She runs like a whippet (and looks like a fat one!). When taken into the rescue centre she had recently had puppies (no-one knows what happened to those poor mites). She also has a chronic ear infection in both ears, never treated so her ear canals were nearly closed. When we brought her home, she hid at the back of the sofa, shaking, cowering, growling and obviously terrified. Poor girl - never tried to bite, just so scared. It took us some months before she would trust us, but now has her well deeserved place on the sofa, lying on her back with her legs in the air and fuly expecting a tummy tickle! The ear problems were more problematic to fix and after numerous attempts to tear recurrinbginfections, late last year our vet recommended a rather serious operation to open the ear canals on both ears. Cost us £1,300, and because she had the problem before we got her, insurance wouldn't cover it. She then developed a reaction to the buster collar so needed 24hr supervision from us for 2 weeks until the stitches could be removed. What a nightmare but our gorgeous girl is now fit and well, with a new lease of life!
What joys these fabulous animals can give us.
Dee
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My foxterrier is particularly fond of chicken poo, she does a good job of clearing up after them given the chance. Would take sheep/goat/cow as well (but I won't let her into those fields), and a particular favourite is frozen horse stuff (always around on the road...). I always worry that it will come back...
But it means that she definitely needs regular worming...
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Know exactly what you mean - Charlie loves cow poo best of all, when it's crusty on the outside with a soft centre. A bit like M&S cookies I guess! Lyla prefers a certain type of sheep poo - haven't worked out whats so spe cial but that what the two dogs fight over. Worming and flea treatments cost a fortune though!
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Blo**y Hell, you put that so well you just made my mouth water..must be becasue I am around the pups 24/7 ;)
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My dogs, Ben and Islay Love to help me feed the chickens!! they collect poo too and I see Ben sniffing at the Chickens bums....he also finds hidden eggs for me...must have another search as the Ducks eggs are not around at the moment, I found. well Ben found 44, all still good, a couple of months ago!!
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You lot have got me absolutely cracked up!
Charlie has this look on his face when he's mucnhing into a particularly tasy cow pat, like "Mam - you really need to taste this - DIVINE!. But no way am I sharing, it's just too good". And I'm thinking "you disgusting mutt - well fed and loved but still you can't resist cow poo".
Maybe we can ask Hugh Fearnley W to investigate and prepare some taster dishes? Mind you, I'm not volunteering for the taste test but I do know a friendly mongrel who'll be happy to offer his services!
Dee x
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My Jack Russell, Daisy, loves to stick her head through the flap on the cat litter tray leaving tell tale bits of cat litter in the floor. We always
joke that she has been at the pick and mix. Disgusting animals but can you imagine life without them!!!
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Digby ( :pig:) loves to get into the hen house, where he eats the chicken poo. Its not easy getting him out either.