[HallePalomino]

I'd like to introduce myself, and see if anyone here is as new to smallholding as me? I've been gradually building up to  owning livestock, due to always living in the town centre despite feeling like a country girl at heart.

I now live slightly out of town into a semi-rural area, but as we're currently renting we're very limited! So I'm making do with renting agricultural land until we own our own smallholding.

I'm not completely au fait with how to register as a smallholding. Is this necessary and are there benefits? At the moment there's not a great deal to register but everything's in planning so I'd like to know for future.

I'll be looking to expand with more chickens, and between now and Spring I'll be researching various types of livestock for a (small) smallholding. Looking forward to finding out what each can offer and how it all goes together really! I think ducks or quail would be the next step for me, but as I say I will need to do my research so probably won't be until Spring as I imagine winter will be the trickiest time to look after them!

I've got an orchard planting project in mind for Autumn, so I'm looking at http://www.forthvalleysorchards.org.uk/ courses to get me started.

I'd love to hear from anyone in the beginning stages of creating their first smallholding to tell me how they've found it, and from experienced smallholders to give me words of wisdom as a beginner smallholder!

[Sandyknox]

Hello from dumfries , I'm relatively New to small holdings as its my first year lambing , I currently have 8 sheep , 7 lambs , I decently recommend keeping a small holding I have loved it for the last two years , feel free to message me and I will tell you everything I know and you could give me some tips

[HallePalomino]

Great, thanks!

Sheep are one type of livestock I would not even know where to begin, I think it'll be a few more years until I feel confident enough to deal with lambing!!

Have you any thoughts about expanding to include other animals? Would you think about goats, etc? I think goats are really interesting creatures (don't know why I just like them!) and some of the breeds I saw this year at the RHIS were just amazing! I like rare breeds but would need to make sure I researched the best types for beginners, if there are such a thing.

[happygolucky]

Hi, we are in Clackmannan but up for sale, no small holding at all, just a very few and maybe less chickens....although who  knows what when we move.......I have a daughter on  here that emigrated and there she is just starting her small holding, she always wanted to as her dads family were all farmers so its in the blood I guess.....anyway, Hello neighbour, its such a wonderful central part to live in, I have looked at houses around the forth valley, so nice

[Rosemary]

Sheep are one type of livestock I would not even know where to begin, I think it'll be a few more years until I feel confident enough to deal with lambing!!

If you haven't already, have a read through our website - there's a diary starting in 2003 plus ots of articles on various types of livestock. Just click n the buttons at the top of the page.

You are startng the journey we're 13 years into - and still loving it and learning loads.

We keep laying hens, batches of meat poultry, fatten a couple of weaner pigs each year, have some Coloured Ryeland sheep and now Shetland cattle. We're thinking about rabbits next year - easler to clean than poultry  We also have veggies, soft fruit and about 70 fruit trees, mainly apples but a few pears, plums and gages too.

We run courses here - click on Smallholding then Courses. We have an Introduction to Small Scale Sheepkeeping coming up soon.

And you should get yourself along to the Scottish Smallholder and Grower Festival, 28th September, Lanark Agricultural Centre www.scottishsmallholdershow.co.uk - loads for you to see and do 

[HallePalomino]

Hi, we are in Clackmannan but up for sale, no small holding at all, just a very few and maybe less chickens....although who  knows what when we move.......I have a daughter on  here that emigrated and there she is just starting her small holding, she always wanted to as her dads family were all farmers so its in the blood I guess.....anyway, Hello neighbour, its such a wonderful central part to live in, I have looked at houses around the forth valley, so nice

Are you moving locally?

I feel it's always been in my blood, but I don't know whose blood it belongs to because none of my family have farming backgrounds! My dad's been 'egging' me on ('scuse the pun!) to get chickens for years, so now that I have them he has gracefully let me keep them on his land as we're currently renting. I'm looking to double my little chicken family from three to six over the next few weeks

Unfortunately his land has no grazing so I have to rent my grazing land elsewhere which is why I'm hoping to eventually buy my own place where everything can be in one place!

The forth valley is lovely, although sadly we don't have the views we used to have - I used to love waking up to see all the way across to the Ochils! Soon though, hopefully we'll have a nice little place in the countryside

[Sandyknox]

I love sheep they are good to work with once you get into the rithum of things , I haven't as of yet as I am trying to find the best sheep to keep before I go into other animals , currently trying to sell my Jacob ewe and lamb , my friend has a goat farm but never thought about going into goats

[HallePalomino]

Sheep are one type of livestock I would not even know where to begin, I think it'll be a few more years until I feel confident enough to deal with lambing!!

If you haven't already, have a read through our website - there's a diary starting in 2003 plus ots of articles on various types of livestock. Just click n the buttons at the top of the page.

You are startng the journey we're 13 years into - and still loving it and learning loads.

We keep laying hens, batches of meat poultry, fatten a couple of weaner pigs each year, have some Coloured Ryeland sheep and now Shetland cattle. We're thinking about rabbits next year - easler to clean than poultry  We also have veggies, soft fruit and about 70 fruit trees, mainly apples but a few pears, plums and gages too.

We run courses here - click on Smallholding then Courses. We have an Introduction to Small Scale Sheepkeeping coming up soon.

And you should get yourself along to the Scottish Smallholder and Grower Festival, 28th September, Lanark Agricultural Centre www.scottishsmallholdershow.co.uk - loads for you to see and do 

Thank you Rosemary,

I've had a little peek through, and some of it makes me daydream about one day I'll be able to have this that and the next thing, and others of it makes me quite nervous that I'm getting in over my head!! I've always been an animal person, but having 'flocks' and 'herds' makes me quite nervous

I'm going to do an Orchard course next (although I saw you run these too!) and then I think I'll look at perhaps goats and sheep as a possibility from Spring onwards.

Thank you for your help

[bigchicken]

Hi and welcome from the bigchicken Dunfermine way. I have no land of my own and rent from a wonderful lady. I keep some Shetland sheep and Scots Grey bantams with the usual odds and sods. I rear some turkeys for the Christmas market and this year I have some geese also for the Christmas market. Getting into rare breed a bit more on the hunt for some Scots Dumpy bantams and maybe a rare breed sheep but haven't decided what. Best of luck in your adventure.