The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: PipSqueak on March 30, 2019, 02:56:41 pm
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We still can’t believe it! After an eight year struggle we are actually here, on our own smallholding- 26 beautiful acres of West Wales. We have just got internet back after a week, so in the interim, inbetween sorting the sea of boxes, we have been exploring. Most of the pasture is better than a we thought, but is worse. The woods are a carpet of nascent bluebells scattered with wood anemone, celandine and sorrel... Chickens will come first when we have built their enclosure, then horses, pigs and sheep.
Now I just have to screw my courage to the sticking point and have a play with the very large tractor and the JCB.
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Sounds fantastic! Keep us all informed of progress
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Great stuff. Swap the horses for cattle - far more use and not as stupid :coat:
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At last. You must be struggling to believe it :yippee: . The woodland sounds wonderful - don't let the pigs near it or it will be desert. Looking forward to hearing your settling in tales
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Well done, plan, plan and plan again, then do it . Good luck in all you do
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Thanks all. The woods are too beautiful to let pigs into (and would be a nightmare to fence), so we have a rough paddock near the yard earmarked for them. The horses are a pair of rescued shires which, as well as riding, we will use for getting wood out of the woods as they are definitely not accessible by vehicle.
We are currently working our way round the fencing, which has only held horses for years so will need some tweaking for sheep. Luckily it was only three horses (and two Shetlands) so they haven’t had too much detrimental impact on the pasture. We want more experience and the correct handling arrangements before contemplating cattle. We also heard of a study which said that they exhibit signs of stress in groups of less than eight, which is more than we would want.
There is a vast amount to do, but we are tackling it a bit at a time, and, as this is our first owned property (having spent over 20 years in married quarters and renting), for the first time nothing we do is wasted. Every little thing helps for the future.
That being said, I am desperate to get some sort of animal here, if only the chickens, but we plan to make the back of their pen (where it backs onto scrub) out of Heras panels which currently have the joints rusted so freeing and moving them is quite a big job.
I will be asking SO much on here!
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Welcome at last …. I will have to visit :excited:
I have eggs in incubator at mo …. sex linked ones too so may have some spare chicks in 3 weeks :)
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Your adventure begins :innocent:
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Welcome at last …. I will have to visit :excited:
I have eggs in incubator at mo …. sex linked ones too so may have some spare chicks in 3 weeks :)
Yes, you must, it would be great to meet you, and we could perhaps talk chicks - thank you! Just drop me a message when you fancy popping over ;D
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We also heard of a study which said that they exhibit signs of stress in groups of less than eight, which is more than we would want.
I'd dispute that - we have three cows and a bull and they display no signs of stress whatsoever.
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Well done. It's easy to get bogged down with too much to do so just make a mental note of little sub-units and be content if you get one done at a time.Most sane advice i was given when we started here was "Farm machinery has one aim in life - to try and kill you". Tractors and diggers are fun but stay safe.
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So thrilled for you after your long wait. Looking forward to hearing of your progress. We are in Shropshire so probably not too far from you. Are you north, south or middle of west Wales?
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So thrilled for you after your long wait. Looking forward to hearing of your progress. We are in Shropshire so probably not too far from you. Are you north, south or middle of west Wales?
Thank you! We are south of Carmarthen towards Kidwelly.
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Welcome to the area - I recognise your barns from the listing! I'm just down the road in Kidwelly and its a lovely area. Feel free to message me if you would like any local information. Something to visit if your planning hens is the monthly poultry auction in Llandeilo on the last sat of every month. Well worth a visit, even if just for a look :)
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Welcome to the area - I recognise your barns from the listing! I'm just down the road in Kidwelly and its a lovely area. Feel free to message me if you would like any local information. Something to visit if your planning hens is the monthly poultry auction in Llandeilo on the last sat of every month. Well worth a visit, even if just for a look :)
Fantastic, thank you. We have already found a lovely community here, but I will bear your offer in mind if we get stuck. That is a good idea about Llandeilo- it hadn’t occurred to me to just go for a nosey.
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So thrilled for you after your long wait. Looking forward to hearing of your progress. We are in Shropshire so probably not too far from you. Are you north, south or middle of west Wales?
Thank you! We are south of Carmarthen towards Kidwelly.
Hmmm maybe a bit far to pop round for a cuppa. :roflanim: