The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: Lukey on May 27, 2015, 08:33:13 pm
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Hello All,
I currently only 17 years old, and still live at home with my parents, I've got 3.3 acres(two paddocks) of conservation grazing for winter, Which I am permitted to keep two ponies on. Now, I am looking into possibly into getting a further, wait for it..62 acres of conservation land, which is spread across two sites, one 48 acres, which contains 17 acres of good grazing but the rest is fen land and reeds, the other site is 14 acres which is unimproved acid grassland , If I'm honest, It is a little to much for two ponies, as we all know! :excited:. So I have been looking into sheep, preferably a primitive breed. I am leaning towards soay at the moment, I have always liked the look of them and there ease of care i.e. they don't usually need shearing as they moult, less prone to foot rot and fly-strike etc. But I am prepared to deal(and my parents) with any illness in the sheep, if any occur. They will all receive apocopate vaccines and a like. I would probably just keep them to sell on the lambs, not actually slaughter any myself.
Both sites have been fenced with stock fencing with a barbed wire strand at the top in recent years, both sites have access to water, the biggest site has many streams and the other site has access to mains water.
Any help and information will be taken greatly fully.
Luke
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Are there restrictions on what breeds may graze there? Soay lambs are worth.... not a lot. Another rare breed?
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Wow Luke, you sound as if you have already got lots of information and ideas yourself.
I have half a dozen Ryelands but am not in a position to give you any sort advice. I just want to wish you good luck with it.
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have you thought about Shetlands ... cattle that is?
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Welcome Lukey and good luck with what looks like a busy time ahead of you.. Great to see a future farmer blooming.. My step daughter is doing animal management at Usk campus and loving the live stock side of it... :cow: :sheep:
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Good for you! As BiW says, you might want to think about cattle - there's always a market for excellent beef and Shetlands do produce that :thumbsup:
I don't think you're in her area (she covers "North") but it might be worth contacting Ruth Dalton at the Rare Breed Survival Trust. She knows a lot about both conservation grazing and Shetland cattle. Ruth Dalton <[email protected]>
http://www.shetlandcattle.org.uk/conservation-grazing (http://www.shetlandcattle.org.uk/conservation-grazing)
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Thanks everyone for the responses! :)
Me- There are no restrictions that I am aware of at the moment, will look into that. I have noticed that Soay don't go for a lot, which did but me off a little bit as they wouldn't pay for them selves as much as other breeds would, The next breed I have been looking into the most after the soay were Hibridean's, are they any better price wise? I would like to have a rare breed that needs to be bred, I did look into Boreray, but couldn't find any for sale apart for 3 rams!
Bionic- In my opinion, Ryelands are one of the cutest breeds out there, especially the coloured Ryelands! They don't seem like they would do that well on the 43 acre site as it is quite wet in places, other wise they would be option for me!
Backinwellies- I have actually looked into cattle, Highland cattle at the most. Never read about the Shetland Cattle, I think I'll start with keeping sheep and then see how the conservation grazing goes and then maybe move on too cattle if I feel confident enough. i.e. Tb testing, etc
Quirkygirl- Thanks for the welcome! :) I am considering going onto a college course which would help me along the way, as I need to learn as much as my brain can take! It would benefit me I know that. :)
Rosemary- Thank you! :) I don't think I am confident enough yet to work with cattle, yet there again, I work with 3 large young cobs, which are a nightmare, so I suppose I could manage, what worries me is that I don't have anything indoors, which with Cattle, I think I need, If a sheep fell ill or I had an orphan yard I got a close family friend who a livery yard in gower which I could keep a ill sheep, not so much cows though. Do you reckon I'd need an indoor space? Thanks for providing with her e-mail, I have seen her name pop up else about conservation as well.
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Where are you Lukey? I live in Talley (north of Llandeilo) and have Llanwenog sheep and Shetland cattle (which are outdoors all year ) if you want to come and have a look.
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Where are you Lukey? I live in Talley (north of Llandeilo) and have Llanwenog sheep and Shetland cattle (which are outdoors all year ) if you want to come and have a look.
I live in Llanelli, so not that far away, Thanks for the offer! Been looking at Shetland cattle and them see like the way to go If I decided to keep Cattle.
Luke
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Look on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust website and see what takes your fancy :) And welcome to the forum, of course :wave:
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Look on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust website and see what takes your fancy :) And welcome to the forum, of course :wave:
That's what I have been doing so far, only the Heb's and Soay appeal to me in the sheep department! :) Think I may look across other livestock as well! :) Thanks for the welcome! :)
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can't really offer much advice TBH but I would be wary of soay unless all the land is exceptionally well fenced - from what I've heard soay are hard to contain.
If it were me I'd lean towards Shetland (sheep) as I've had them before. I'm still thinking of shetland cattle myself (but only a couple) but haven't yet plucked up the courage.
Oh, and welcome from Cwmduad (north of carmarthen) :wave:
marcus
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can't really offer much advice TBH but I would be wary of soay unless all the land is exceptionally well fenced - from what I've heard soay are hard to contain.
If it were me I'd lean towards Shetland (sheep) as I've had them before. I'm still thinking of shetland cattle myself (but only a couple) but haven't yet plucked up the courage.
Oh, and welcome from Cwmduad (north of carmarthen) :wave:
marcus
I have heard that they are hard to contain, and I visited the largest site today,(47 Acres), It has about 25 metres of barbed wire fencing! :(
buttttt there is many rolls of stock fencing on site, so could fence it with that if allowed.
I have looked into Shetland sheep as they seem a hardy breed, and they come in vary of colours, They would go well with Shetland cows as well!
Never heard of Cwmduad before! Thanks for the warm welcome :)
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Doesn't look to promising about the grazing , not good! not giving up hope yet!
Luke
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:fc:
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Luke we're Abbeycwmhir so not a million miles away :) Ryelands wouldn't do well at all in our area and Soay are beautiful but pretty wild :( I wonder if you could start with some of the native sheep? You can't go far wrong with a good old hardy Welsh, they'll lamb outside and bar some silage or hay will do pretty well. You would need to shear but there's plenty of contract shelters our way or its a skill you can teach yourself if you invest in a genny. The sale from the lambs would cover the cost.... Talking of which if you sold them as fat lamb you wouldn't have the feed bills.
If you are sold on the rare breeds perhaps take a look at Old Chapel Farm outside Llanidloes, they keep rare breeds including Mouflon (sp?) and are working towards restoring hill land to its ancient state, sorry that's a bit bm vague but they do some really good work and have volunteers and run courses throughout the year.
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Luke we're Abbeycwmhir so not a million miles away :) Ryelands wouldn't do well at all in our area and Soay are beautiful but pretty wild :( I wonder if you could start with some of the native sheep? You can't go far wrong with a good old hardy Welsh, they'll lamb outside and bar some silage or hay will do pretty well. You would need to shear but there's plenty of contract shelters our way or its a skill you can teach yourself if you invest in a genny. The sale from the lambs would cover the cost.... Talking of which if you sold them as fat lamb you wouldn't have the feed bills.
If you are sold on the rare breeds perhaps take a look at Old Chapel Farm outside Llanidloes, they keep rare breeds including Mouflon (sp?) and are working towards restoring hill land to its ancient state, sorry that's a bit bm vague but they do some really good work and have volunteers and run courses throughout the year.
Never heard of Abbeycwmhir so searched it up, what a lovely looking place! :) I have actually been looking at Welsh breeds, I do like the look of the welsh badger face sheep as they are very unusual looking! Also like the Balwen welsh mountain too. They are certainly something I'd consider keeping, also makes sense to keep a welsh breed as it's wales!
I'll have a look on google to see if old chapel farm have a website, thanks for that! Well the Mouflon are certainly 'different', It's sound interesting what they are trying to do, re restoring hill land. I will look into the courses as they would be of benefit to me! :)
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Lukey, if you are thinking of Welsh breeds have you seen the Llanwenogs?
Backinwellies has some for sale if you are interested
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Yes Llanwenogs might not be as 'pretty' as Balwens but look like 'Shaun' are 'local' generally very friendly and can rear 2 good lambs off very little and taste great! and yes as Bionic says I do have some for sale :) (only cos I would be over run with them if I didn't sell some).... Oh and they are on the rare breed list too.
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Bionic- I have actually seen Llanwenogs in person at Swansea Community Farm, Never actually looked into them tho :)
Backinwellies- There actually a interesting looking sheep with the completely black face, The ones I met at the community farm we're extremely friendly which is a great thing and there on the rare breeds list! but I'm afraid, I haven't had good news regarding the grazing, I haven't had it! :( Really gutted! but, I am not giving up as I want to keep sheep, so I am on look out for some grazing that I can rent(long term), but I tried for a field earlier this week for my horse, 30 other people wanted it as well! so may take a while! >:(
Luke
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Oh shame .... keep looking :fc:
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No offence to horse-owners or, indeed horses, I love them dearly but all the available rented grazing is taken up with them. Apparently folk can charge more than if someone ran, say sheep or bullocks on them and no way to share the grazing (which would be better for the land, cattle, then sheep then horses) as :sofa: most horse people wouldn't understand this. I could have rented my few acres out time and again for horses and when I say by all means put them on there for three or four weeks when I move the sheep they all want sole access to my grass all year round.
Lukey, keep looking, keep dreaming. Who was it said "Dreams are the gateway to reality"? How many of us have found that to to be true!
(actually, it may have been my Dad who said it!)
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Backinwellies- I will, never going to give up! :)
Devonlady- It is ridiculous what people charge when you mention 'horses', that word seems to have add a £1000! Most of the land around here is used for horses sadly, or solar panel farms!! The field I saw the other day that the 30+ people wanted, it was a 3.5 field with Japanese knotweed in every corner went for near £1000 per year I believe. Someone said 'I'll have it regardless of the price'. I always read cross grazing different livestock benefits the land and the animals as they have different parasites which reduces worm burden on the land etc. ugh, like I have said already, I shall not give up! I've got my eye on 5 acres, split into two fields, it is quite overgrown and needs about 30M of fencing but is only a couple of miles away from my house, just need to locate the owner of it. :)
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Good luck :fc:
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Hello Lukey....
I appreciate this is a bit academic now that you've had this (temporary!) set back.... but I was so pleased to read that you were a bit taken by the Balwens.... They can be rather pesky, so aren't often anyone's first choice....
But they were ours, and we adore them.... and the lambs that we have had born here are very manageable, despite the flightiness of their mums!
We've also just got in some Katmoget Shetlands - and they are gorgeous!
Pictures of what we've been doing with our sheep (and fleece) on our website and facebook....
www.smilingsheep.co.uk (http://www.smilingsheep.co.uk)
(little video of our most recent lambs on The Smiling Sheep facebook page!)
So, when the perfect plot of land turns up, which it will, please keep the Balwens in mind (they are still 'at risk' - so a very good cause!).
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Devonlady- Thank You :fc:
Brendon21- Balwens are a wonderful looking breed, They will be defo on my short list of sheep breeds, along with the Shetland sheep you've mentioned. Just had a look at the Balwens societies website. Oh, you've got a lovely flock of sheep as well, Just had there haircut it seems! :) You've gained a 'Like' off me on facebook :thumbsup:
It's just a waiting game with land, I'm sure something will show up sooner or later :) :fc:
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I have a asked a question in the 'land management' section regarding Marsh land just to let you know :)