The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: Swallowtail on January 23, 2020, 10:01:34 pm
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Having had chickens for years foxes were an ever present issue, in the end I joined a shooting club and upon gaining an FAC bought a suitable gun(s) to control the situation. With such a large animal a normal air rifle or even an FAC rated one would not be sufficient to despatch humanely, something along the lines of a centerfire .222/.223 with moderator. Not something which can be bought without an FAC and also the moderator has to be permitted on the licence as well. So not a quick fix.
As for rabbits, a .223 CF would be a bit much so .22 rimfire would allow clean kills at suitable distances; much further than an air rifle, although an FAC rated air rifle would suffice.
Rats, a good air rifle and scopes will deal with them. Pigeons etc then 12 bore.
So all told, apart from a .177/.22 air rifle at less than 12ft/lbs you need an FAC. Which these days takes ages. In the end I gave up chickens and did beekeeping/running courses etc. But still keep shooting both at the club and the occasional request for help.
However, recently moving into South Lincs there isn't the crop choice as in Bedfordshire with OSR, Bean and Borage so maybe the time has come to hang up the smoker and suit and pursue other avenues.
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Well [member=199281]Swallowtail[/member] seems we all forgot to welcome you to the forum, so a belated welcome and thanks for the background.
So, if you are going to give up the bee keeper suit and also stalking the fields, what you gonna do in S Lincs then?
They must surely grow something there that needs bees !?
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Someone in the family became allergic to bee stings, after the 2nd visit by a fast responder and use of epi pens we were advised next time they might not be so lucky. You wouldn't believe a single bee sting can kill you, but it can. From being stung it took around 90 secs to call 999 and inject the first pen before passing out. So it was wrapped up.
Regarding bees and farming, when you look across the fields what do you see, miles and miles of what? Barley, wheat, oats, looks great....the bees see a vast desert with nothing to feed off, only the hedge rows and flowers in gardens etc. Oil seed rape, great spring build up and can bring in a large honey crop, but when that fades and dies the bees can starve. June can be a period of dearth for beekeepers and it isn't that unusual to have to feed them because modern farming practices produce these huge deserts of nothingness for bees and other pollinators.
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Someone in the family became allergic to bee stings, after the 2nd visit by a fast responder and use of epi pens we were advised next time they might not be so lucky. You wouldn't believe a single bee sting can kill you, but it can. From being stung it took around 90 secs to call 999 and inject the first pen before passing out. So it was wrapped up.
Regarding bees and farming, when you look across the fields what do you see, miles and miles of what? Barley, wheat, oats, looks great....the bees see a vast desert with nothing to feed off, only the hedge rows and flowers in gardens etc. Oil seed rape, great spring build up and can bring in a large honey crop, but when that fades and dies the bees can starve. June can be a period of dearth for beekeepers and it isn't that unusual to have to feed them because modern farming practices produce these huge deserts of nothingness for bees and other pollinators.
That is so sad and wextremely worrying. When the bees die we die.
So no bees and no chickens - sheep, goats, pet farm? Vegetables? we're going to need those over teh next few months. I think we'll be in a different world for a year or more
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We grow some veg and stuff, but slowing down now. Between that and the grandkids we're kept busy. Any spare time is used up trotting around places helping to manage the never ending rat population. Given the lock down, rats will be building quickly tho.
If anyone IS considering keeping bees, check out beebase, it's a gov't run website managed by FERA and is free to join. Importantly it gives hots spots across the country of the various diseases which they can succumb to. American Foul Brood is the worst and can require FERA to issues orders stopping movements of bees intercounty or create quarantine areas etc. So if you intend to keep bees create an account with them and keep and eye on what diseases are in your county and where. It will also give updates on the Asian Hornet.