[judee]

Hi,Has anyone ever moved an entire smallholding, animals, arks and all? We are planning a very long distant move and I would love to know if anyone has achieved, what appears to be an incredibly difficult feat.Many thanks for any advice.

[chrismahon]

We moved all 28 of our chickens and 8 coops to South France. Meant building a whole new set of coops and putting them in place before the chickens arrived, because some coops couldn't be moved anyway. You may find the cost of dismantling, moving and reassembling, if it's possible, exceeds the cost of new units. Temporary housing may be necessary.


Took 2 years of planning and a month to achieve. We've moved the whole lot twice since.

[doganjo]

I moved 6 ducks, 20 hens, 4 quail, 5 dogs, and two cats from Aberdeenshire to Stirlingshire - 150 miles approximately. 

I let the removal firm deal with the house contents and a friend took my duck house and henhouse down on a trailer. 

The animals came down in two journeys in my car inside dog crates. 

I took the dogs and cats down first, leaving the removal men to pack the van; then put the cats and a couple of dogs in separate rooms in the house; the other three dogs went outside into what would be kennels, with runs that I had had installed the day before moving. 

I went back for the birds, and by the time I got home my friends had left the chicken and duck sheds where I wanted them, so they could just be put in there overnight. I didn't bother with bedding, just gave them food and water

The removal van arrived around the same time, so the house contents magically got put more or less where they should be - I had listed every box and put labels on the doors in the new house on my first trip down.

Then I fell into bed.

Next day, I sorted out runs for the chickens and ducks, the quail went into a shed, and put down bedding for them all

[SallyintNorth]

I moved 2 Fell ponies, 26 sheep, 2 cows and 2 calves, a quad bike and trailer, plus myself and 2 collie dogs, pretty much the length of England - from north of Hadrian's Wall to Cornwall (just). 

The dogs came in the car with me but the other animals, quad and trailer all went in one big livestock transporter.  The driver was very experienced and did it in one haul with one very short pitstop for himself.  The big commercial transporters are actually very comfortable for the animals; they'd have had a very different experience in the farm livestock trailer.  (And it would have taken 3 trips to get them all down there on our own.  The fuel for which would have cost pretty nearly as much as the transporter "return trip" rate.)

It cost a bloomin' fortune though.  It had been arranged as a "return" trip (when they'd have been going home empty otherwise) but the comms broke down and I ended up having to pay both ways.  Or I would have had to wait another week or two, and that would have meant me coming back up to load them as well, as all my stuff had gone on ahead the day before so I needed to move myself.  Plus I thought I might have been cutting it a bit fine with one of the cows being pregnant and her earliest possible calving date was looming.  (She did lose that calf, actually, but not until 4 months later - so she hadn't been that close at the time of the move - and the vet didn't think the journey could have been a factor.)

Farms generally sell all their gear and often their livestock in a dispersal sale, and buy new (old) equipment and livestock at the other end.  Moving tractors and their implements seems to be implausible / not cost effective.  Unless you have vintage gear, I suppose, which would be not easily replaced.

Either way is fraught, in my view! 

[Fleecewife]

The thought of having to move the smallholding gives me nightmares.  I've moved house with kids, pets and garden stuff many times, having been in the services, put I'm staying put now.


Doganjo - you were lucky.  With our move here, I did as you did with everything marked as to where I wanted it, but I truly don't think the removals lads could read, as everything was dumped in the barn, willy-nilly.  I don't think we ever found everything, even 26 years later 


Judee - I think you need some masterful planning and a huge amount of contingency planning for when no-one else does it right....

[judee]

Many thanks for your replies. I think we will have to go along with the big hauliers as we have so much stuff and all of the animals have to come. I am dreading it but it seems that planning is the key to achieving the big move. I will start by contacting hauliers to get a good idea of prices. Absolutely dreading it but needs must!

[SallyintNorth]

I PM'd some private info and will copy this general bit here in case it is useful to others.

If you don't know a transporter, contact your nearest livestock marts and ask which transport companies bring livestock from your destination area (so they would be going back empty, or with room for your livestock if you don't need a whole wagon), and at the destination end asking for local transporters' contact details and then asking them whether they routinely take lorryloads to your current location.  Mart staff probably know exactly who is most likely to be able to accommodate you! 

[doganjo]

I know it is very difficult, and seemingly a waste of time as you'll "sort it all out when you get there", but do make a list of numbered boxes of what they contain, and write the name of the room on the box as well as the number of the box.

Two reasons

Many boxes just disappear in removals

1. if you have this information, you can check back with the removal firm if anything goes missing
2. Being cynical about things 'dropping off lorries'  - it is a deterrent if there are numbers on boxes 

Also put labels on furniture for the room they are to go into, and put a label on the room on the wall just inside the door - not the door itself as they will all be open - makes life easier for the removal men and you, instead of having to yell, //not that in here it goes in the dining room// - they don't know the house and won't know what you have in what rooms.  And tell them you've done that when they start packing vans and definitely before they leave your old house

[judee]

Good advise from all. Thanks. We have been here 15 years and have collected so much that I cannot imagine moving it all. I must have my animals so that increases the stress in finding the right place at the right price. Oh well it's all an adventure!Let's hope it's a fun one.

[Fleecewife]

If you write everything down and take pics along the way, then you have a potential magazine article or even a great book for everyone else to have a good laugh, or pick up some tips. It could even help to cover the cost of the move