The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: PipKelpy on March 03, 2020, 08:17:02 am
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Well, depending on how bad we get hit by it and if abbatoirs still take livestock for you know what (was hoping to take lambs in about 3 months time to save taking them to auction) is anyone restocking their Brexit supplies??
Mum wants top up kitchen towel and loo roll!
Her drugs (due to NHS rules) are restricted and she can't stockpile so she might end up in more pain! I do have though 5 months supply of the dogs drugs in stock and will get another prescription when next go back. Dog food in stock! Plenty of fodder for cattle and sheep for this year ------
Which can also bring another problem, what if, with the weather etc, and this bug, hay/silage stores can't be restocked??
We always get told to look after ourselves, which we should, but I've always put the animals first, it's what mum taught me, make sure they have food, even if you have to sell some to feed the others, which is why, when I ran out of money several years ago (still not got much) i sent a load of breeding and store stock to auction and kept back what was necessary to keep going. The money bought in relief and kept the lights on! Now, very lowly stocked compared to what the ground can take but safe for retaining!
Saying that, the 2 beef boys that are here, it's looking like they will have to depart rather than go in my freezer unless later this year all is well!
In the mean time, where to put all this extra kitchen towel and loo roll??
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I am more worried about where I will be getting my barley straw from this year as my usual supplier has not got any planted and he usually grows winter crops. The grass will grow and I cannot foresee problems with harvesting it.
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I did my panic buying last week... an extra bottle of gin and 2 packs of panadol.
I'm now advising everyone to disinfect their mobile phones every day by boiling for 20 mins. They'll be prefectly alright if you put a few grains of rice in the saucepan...If you want to kiss your friends then I suggest a polythene bag over your head first..If you do get sick then make the most of it. I intend to cough either in the direction of Brussels or the house of lords.
Since I'm in the demographic with a 20% chance of croaking I'll be rinsing my lungs with jeys fluid twice a day.If you have any need to go shopping them wear a full gas mask and walk along with an air sanitiser spraying in front of you. Shopping centres love folk like me..
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We didn't need Brexit supplies as such- just a lot of French paperwork.
Pretty obvious this virus can't be contained. I just hope when I get it the weather is better and not too hot, because it's the heat here that's more likely to kill you.
Putting it into context, 3200 died on French roads last year and 60,000 died from UK air quality (French news report) and I bet some areas of France are just as bad. So one way or another something will get me.
They are starting to panic here though, with some supermarket food shelves stripped clean. We have enough wine and tobacco anyway, so that will suffice.
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I am more worried about where I will be getting my barley straw from this year as my usual supplier has not got any planted and he usually grows winter crops. The grass will grow and I cannot foresee problems with harvesting it.
We should ( :fc: ) have plenty of straw this year. So if you're stuck get in touch. Usually bale wheat straw as my animals all love it. But can get barley straw as well. Or do you normally buy off the field and bale your own?
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Have you seen how the air polution over China has just about disappeared while their manufacturing industries and road travel have stopped for the duration? I don't think I shall miss imports from China much.
Meds are a problem potentially, in which case I'll die whether I get the bug or not. If I get the bug then I'm done for.
Our freezers are fairly stuffed and we are busy planting up the veg patch. We have dried milk and plenty of dog food.
If we can't make hay because of the rain then we will simply not breed our sheep next year, and they will get more branches to eat in winter. We are not densely stocked so we should be OK. The geese are happy with grass and the hens would probably manage on bread scraps and their free ranging - we might not get a full quota of eggs though.
Best advice is: keep away from children, mucky sticky things!
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I am more worried about where I will be getting my barley straw from this year as my usual supplier has not got any planted and he usually grows winter crops. The grass will grow and I cannot foresee problems with harvesting it.
We should ( :fc: ) have plenty of straw this year. So if you're stuck get in touch. Usually bale wheat straw as my animals all love it. But can get barley straw as well. Or do you normally buy off the field and bale your own?
We bale and cart off the field. It needs to be clean feeding barley straw as I know of too many ponies colicing after chomping on wheat straw. I know we will get first dibs of any he does grow as he lives next door and we are always doing each other favours.
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..... We have enough wine and tobacco anyway, so that will suffice.
After 45 years of smoking (rollies) and trying to quit quite a few times, a switch went off in my head end of 2018: I just did not want to smoke anymore ! Odd feeling.
OK, I had to vape to help me get through the "habit" for 6 months or so (with the odd nico' gum), but phased that out too with lower and lower nico' content.
It's now 15 mths and I can honestly say that I have absolutely no inclination/intention to stick a cigarette of any variety between my lips ever again.
I'm not sure what happened to me, but may the switch go off in your head also some time soon chrismahon. It's a great feeling. I don't feel any healthier physically - surprisingly - but it's great being free of the subtle control that smoking had over my everyday behavior/life.
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Well.. good health to you all, at times like this you realize just what really matters!
On that note my turkeys and geese may not agree, they are on very restricted rations as it seems that my normal suppliers are anticipating a problem in feed supplies.
I am using all my (limited) problem solving skills to get food for our family from Tescos and now I hear that animal feed manufacturers are finding that ill-health leaves them unable to fulfill orders.
I have very little grass for my sheep and have been relying on nuts and hay for my girls, the only idea that I can come up with is patrolling the local grass verges for grass to cut, has anyone any better solutions?Is this a problem throughout the country or just here in North Devon?All the Best,
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How's things going [member=6019]judee[/member] ?
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Well.. good health to you all, at times like this you realize just what really matters!
On that note my turkeys and geese may not agree, they are on very restricted rations as it seems that my normal suppliers are anticipating a problem in feed supplies.
I am using all my (limited) problem solving skills to get food for our family from Tescos and now I hear that animal feed manufacturers are finding that ill-health leaves them unable to fulfill orders.
I have very little grass for my sheep and have been relying on nuts and hay for my girls, the only idea that I can come up with is patrolling the local grass verges for grass to cut, has anyone any better solutions?Is this a problem throughout the country or just here in North Devon?All the Best,
How did you get on? I was told that there is a very short window on cut grass being fed to animals then it becomes toxic and can kill.
Did you find food fro all your animals? I was lucky to get layers pellets from Amazon, and quail seed from McCaskies click and collect about half an hour from me
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[member=6019]judee[/member] do you have access to branches such as willow, or other edible trees? Sheep love leaves and bark and both are good for them, with plenty of trace elements and some nutrition
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I managed fine in the end. Our wonderful, very local feed merchant, came up trumps with some of the more unusual feeds and we have some happy sheep, alpacas, geese, turkeys , ducks and chickens...oh and goats. They were truly great whereas the "big guys" that we usually use were not!
I'm happy to say that all the stock are doing well and we should have the sheep sheared by lunchtime tomorrow so we are "back on track".We are still shielding so will be as mad as a box of frogs by the time we feel it's safe to emerge. Still no change there then!Keep well all.