[Anna]

We moved to Southern Slovakia in Oct 2006 with our 3 children.  The livestock so far are 3 hens, 1 cockerel, 1 bantam hen, 1 bantam cockerel, 4 ducks, 1 saanan goat, 15 cats, 2 dogs, 1 gerbil and 3 hamsters.  We´ve had ups and downs, for instance a cat population explosion from our original 2 cats and we did have 11 chooks altogether when I bought them as 6 week chicks but 5 turned out to be boys and a fox got a couple more, so their numbers have reduced drastically.  I shall be getting more chicks in april to make up the numbers.  I am also hoping for goat kids in the near future.  Millie was serviced by next door´s billy, but I don´t know how successful it was.  I´m also interested in keeping pigs for rearing for meat as you just can´t get decent pork here.  A couple of sheep are also a possibility as lamb is not a Slovak product either, and I really miss my roast lamb!

I have some general questions:

I bought my 4 ducks last april when they were 6 weeks old, I believe that I have 1 drake and 3 ducks but so far no eggs.  I bought the chickens at the same time and same age and they have been laying since they were 21 weeks old, even with 1 or 2 during the winter.  When do ducks begin to lay?

What is the best age to buy pigs and I don´t mean my age either.

Has anyone come across colorado beetle before?  I tried growing potatoes last year and the whole crop was ravaged by this pest.  I stupidly admired this pretty stripy beetle and too late realised how devastating it would be.  The locals simply pick them off and put up with the problem.  Any organic ideas?  I´ve read about a nematode but it doesn´t seem to be accessible to the public.

Thanks

Anna

[Fluffywelshsheep]

We moved to Southern Slovakia in Oct 2006 with our 3 children. 

hiya slovakia is a lovely country have been their for about 2 months a long time ago in college, I found the language barried a big problem to start with but sign language is great lol.

colorado beetle don't think we have a prob with it here,in Scotland  but i'll have a google

The Colorado beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) is not established in the UK and is a notifiable quarantine pest, whose introduction is prohibited under the EC Single Market Protected zone arrangements for Plant Health (see left column for further information)

http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/pestnote/colorado.htm


Oh and welcome to the group
Linz aka fws

Okay on google i came up with this

BT stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacteria that produces crystalline protiens that, when the larva ingest the bacteria, cause them to stop feeding and eventually die. You need to get the right strain of bacteria for the beetle (var. san diego, sold as M-One, and var. tenebrionis, sold as Trident) and it is only effective on young larva, older larva are tougher and don't succumb as easy.

http://www.gardenbanter.co.uk/showthread.php?t=96649

hope this helps
just in case you wanted t know what they looked like
found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_picture_candidates/October-2004#Colorado_potato_beetle

[Fluffywelshsheep]

just found another articule on it

Bacillus thuringensis, or Bt spray, is effective against the beetles and their larvae. Use it with care, though, since it will kill many helpful beetles, as well as butterflies and moths.

Handpicking works well in small gardens. When you have only one or two tomato plants and a small potato patch, it's not hard to check the leaves every few days and pick off any beetles or larvae you see there.

Barrier methods are also effective. Light floating row covers of Reemay or similar fabric can keep the beetles and other pests off of young plants.

For years, organic gardeners have interplanted bush beans and potatoes to foil both the potato beetle and the bean beetle. Why it works isn't certain, but the most likely explanation is that monocultures are essentially huge welcome mats for pests because they're so easy for the pests to find. Interplanting several crops confuses many plant pests. For greater effect, add some annual flowers, such as marigolds or cosmos.

It's a good idea to include flowers in the vegetable garden to attract beneficial insects that control many pests. Plant asters, Echinacea, liatris, tansy, and other composite family plants with abundant nectar and pollen. Plant carrot family plants such as dill, parsley, angelica, and sweet cicely as well. Perennials can go in their own separate bed, while annuals can be interplanted with the veggies. Add mulch to help the beneficials overwinter in the perennial bed, and you'll have an army of insect predators working for you to keep the potato beetles and other pests under control.

take from here http://www.helium.com/tm/858870/abound-garden-fortunately-pests

[Hilarysmum]

Hi welcome, the collorado beetle is endemic here in Brittany, the big boys spray, I collect and destroy them. 

Best age for pigs assuming you are keeping them outdoors is 8 to 12 weeks.  If you can avoid the intensive white pigs, go for a natural local pig if its available.  It will be better equipped to deal with the local temperatures and the diet. 

If you want to go for a good traditional British pig for breeding the British Pig Association are first choice.

[Guy]

welcome anna - a really friendly and useful site - why slovakia?

[Blinkers]

Hi there and welcome from me too......and I was going to ask the same question as Guy.....WHY Slovakia

[Francis Bacon]

Hi Anna,

Welcome to the site, look forward to hearing all your news 

Donna

[Pebbles]

Hi Anna

You'll get loads of great advice here on pigs, chickens and much more - there are a lot of experienced smallholders only too happy to help.

Welcome.

Pebbles

[Rosemary]

Hi Anna

Welcome to the TAS forums - I'm sure you'll find lots of useful information and advice. Look forward to hearing why Slovakia.

[stephen]

sorry its late but welcome to the forums! 

[carole]

Hi
Welcome to the forum, where in Bristol, as thats where we moved from to better life in Brittany.

Carole

[Anna]

Thanks for the great welcome! 

We moved from the Kingswood/St George area in Briz and were really looking for a better life for our children, trying to give them the kind of freedom we had growing up.  Remember those childhood summer holidays when your mum would shoo you out of the house in the morning and not expect you back until it was dinnertime?  You just had your trusty bike, a load of imagination and the whole world outside to explore.  This is what we have found here in Karlov, a hamlet in a valley near Bušince, a village that we collect post from.  20ish mins drive from us is Lučenec, a town where the children go to school.  There´s a Tesco, Lidl and Hypernova and plenty of shops for all our needs.  We also wanted to escape from the commercial/rat race aspect of living in a city in the UK.  Life is cheaper here and now I have the large garden (half an acre-ish) that I craved to grow anything/everything that I like.  There´s a stream for the children, woods all around and fields galore.  The neighbours have made us so welcome and helped with all sorts of things, from showing me how to chop wood, kill chickens, ploughing the garden and how much Medovina (made in a neighbour´s still) I can knock back and still walk home.

The language is quite difficult and after 17 months of living here and no proper lessons, I have picked up about half.  My grammar is appalling but I can make myself understood, although when someone talks back to me I still panic as they talk so fast.  The children correct my pronunciation as it´s very ´englishˇ.

Mike is still working in Briz as he has a well paid job but not enough to just give it up and work for a lot less just yet.  Wages here are substantially lower than the UK, even in the main cities.  He´s due to come over for a week in mid-March with a friend and theyˇre going paint the whole house and all the other jobs that I havenˇt got time for.  I think I´ll let them dispatch the remaining cockerel (that just leaves the bantam cockerel then) as he´s very heavy and he´s hurting the hens, drawing blood under their wings and breaking their large feathers with his claws when he´s on top.

That´s it really.

[Hilbillie]

Hi Anna and welcome.  It sounds like heaven (apart from hubby still working in UK, you must miss him) you are very brave going it alone like that.  I know what you mean about the language thing when they start talking back fast, we live in Brittany and my schoolgirl french gets me by most of the time but like you say when someone starts talking back really fast I start to panic and go into a bumble!  I'm planting my first crop of potatoes this year and when I bought the seed potatoes (which I must say are nicely chitting in egg boxes in the laundry room!) a packet of flower seeds (Le Lin) was included in the box which apparently is a natural "repulsif" to these beetles when planted amongst the spuds, worth giving it a go I think and a pretty little flower to boot!

[Fluffywelshsheep]

i think interplanting is good way to go

[Anna]

Thanks Peeps,

I just googled ´le lin´ and found that it´s linseed so I shall definitely be getting some of that, so thanks Hillbillie.  FluffyWelshSheep, I just went on to your pics and noticed your into sock knitting.  I´ve been knitting for years although I have a very bad habit of dropping a project as soon as I see a nicer pattern on the net or in a mag.  I subscribe to Simply Knitting and they´ve just done a series on sock knitting which I had ignored until I saw some dpns in Lidl of all places.  so I bought some different sizes and gave them to my eldest daughter, Robyn, for her 13th in Jan but sneakily got some sock yarn and started the mag pattern.  I´m totally hooked on my first sock ever.  It´s the perfect project as I don´t get much time to myself.

Anna