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Author Topic: Hello from 'Up North'  (Read 1288 times)

wildandwooly

  • Joined Feb 2021
Hello from 'Up North'
« on: February 25, 2021, 08:45:00 pm »
Hi all  :wave:
I've been checking out this great website for the last 6 months and finally joined! So much great information on here. I have 8 acres of pasture recently acquired, some of it pretty steep. Am hoping to bring it back gradually to how it was many years ago as it's been sadly neglected for at least 8 years....I have chickens and ducks and although I've always had sheep around me have never kept any myself. But I am about to ( as a fibre flock) so any advice on managing land/restoring meadows/keeping sheep/staying sane will be very very welcome!   :hugsheep:

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: Hello from 'Up North'
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2021, 08:58:41 pm »
Hello and welcome from Carnoustie :wave: How far "Up North" are you?

wildandwooly

  • Joined Feb 2021
Re: Hello from 'Up North'
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2021, 09:07:51 pm »
In County Durham high up and on the borders of Northumberland and Cumbria. I used to live high up in Yorkshire so high up must be my preferred place  ;D

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Hello from 'Up North'
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2021, 11:45:46 pm »
Oh I know the area, I used to live North of Hadrian's Wall (but still in England by about 15 miles)  and used to travel across the moors to Stanhope for spinning :).  Beautiful countryside :)

The land will almost certainly take a lot less stock than you would get on the same in Yorkshire.  Farmers talk acres per sheep in those parts, not sheep per acre ;)   

My username was chosen because I too, Sassenach that I am, felt myself to be in the Far North.  To my embarrassment after I had been on TAS a while, I realised that of course the whole of England is south to a significant proportion of TAS members, including its founders and owners.   :-[.  Haltwhistle is in fact the geographical centre of Great Britain, so I was only very slightly over half way up!

Then of course Cumbrian farmers call Yorkshire "down south" and Londoners think Manchester is The North... 

I'm in Cornwall now, so unequivocally South West!  Lol. 

Anyway, welcome to the forum :).  What sort of sheep were you thinking of?  :sheep: :spin: :knit:
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Hello from 'Up North'
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2021, 01:16:04 am »
Ooh, a fleece flock!  I had one of those for a while, a group of various crossbred wethers I had collected and bred and kept purely for their fleece.  Now I'm down to 2 white Shetlands for my fleece flock, although we have a Heb flock + a few Soay.  Do you spin, felt, knit, weave?


I'm a 'high up' person too, having been born in the flatlands of the Fens, and brought up in a relatively flat part of Norfolk, but now living at 1000' in the south of Scotland, on a hilltop with a smashing view.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

wildandwooly

  • Joined Feb 2021
Re: Hello from 'Up North'
« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2021, 07:22:12 pm »
Yes Sally I do agree I'm not really 'up North'   :D
My eldest daughter lives in Scotland and would probably tell me off!  :D
I'm getting Shetlands - all wethers initially as a purely fibre flock.....for now  ;D. I sadly don't spin but have friends who do. One of my friends used to go to spinning classes in Stanhope! What a coincidence  :). She has said she'll take me along once we can meet up and go out  :fc:
I'm used to being surrounded by 'Swalies' but after a lot of research Shetlands fit the bill here + I'm keen to use them for conservation as well. Anyone who has any advice on Shetlands please do share!  :hugsheep:

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Hello from 'Up North' ,
« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2021, 09:55:05 pm »
Great choice!  Swales are fabulous sheep and suit your locale, but the Shetlands will give you better fleeces for spinning :).   But be aware that some Shetlands have better fleeces than others...  So make sure you buy ones at the better end of the spectrum! 

I keep a mixed flock (for meat and fleece) of a few different pure breds and a lot of crosses.  Sadly my only pure Shetland now is the tup.  Of 18 sheep on the farm as I write, all but 4 are part Shetland. 

Shetlands generally are very hardy, thrifty, and have good feet.  Wethers will need no hard food, just a bit of hay in later winter, won't need winter housing. 

Have you thought about how you will get them sheared?  Shetlands are best sheared with narrower combs than the local shearers use on commercial sheep.  You will get a lot of "second cuts" in the fleece if they use the wide blades on the tiny bodies of Shetlands.  Or you could get some hand shears and have a go yourself :)

« Last Edit: February 26, 2021, 10:06:14 pm by SallyintNorth »
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Hello from 'Up North'
« Reply #7 on: February 26, 2021, 10:36:50 pm »
....or of course if you only have a few, Shetlands can be roo'd ie no need for shears.
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

macgro7

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Leicester
Re: Hello from 'Up North'
« Reply #8 on: February 26, 2021, 11:45:56 pm »
When I was at Uni (in Leicester) someone from London came to give a lecture and said "here in the north..."
We are the center of universe (or at least England), we are the midlands. Not north, nor south  :roflanim:
Growing loads of fruits and vegetables! Raising dairy goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits on 1/2 acre in the middle of the city of Leicester, using permaculture methods.

wildandwooly

  • Joined Feb 2021
Re: Hello from 'Up North'
« Reply #9 on: March 06, 2021, 06:04:38 pm »
I know people who think anywhere past Northampton is North :D

I'm going to hope I can pluck my Shetlands without the need for shearing but yes the advice on plucking fleece and when is very helpful as I've only ever seen sheep sheared before. New to this 'roo-ing' stuff  ;D. Sally thanks for the advice re the size of comb to use if they do need shearing at all. I'll see how they go end spring/early summer. Someone told me a while ago that Shetlands in their second year often roo ok but that ones in their first year sometimes need shearing the first year. Is that right? Apparently when dagging you can just pluck as well??

The comment on number of sheep to land or land to sheep is def very true here  :D. It's a long winter season and short spring/summer here too, the grass starts to grow later and the cold weather often kicks in earlier. However it's just so lovely to have sheep around again. I'll have to see how I go as I want to get everything right. Once I feel confident with my wethers who knows I might expand a bit.....someone said somewhere it can become addictive!  :sheep:  :sheep:  :sheep:  :sheep:

 

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