[john and helen]

what should i expect when i get my SH.. 

what is your daily tasks... time, .. come on sell it to me  i can guess some of the replies 

[happygolucky]

Not got a SH  but with dogs and chickens its in put and out put, first feed and water them, then clean  up the crap   then back to the start, not forgetting yourself, good if  you have water handy as in the winter thats a major issue, nothing worse than slipping in mud with frozen water to defrost!!

[JMB]

Alarm at 6am, feed sheep, pigs and chickens, work at 7, come home, same again.
Currently hand rearing a lamb so on night shift too.
Weekends are worming, drenching, cleaning out, mending stuff.
In between that, moments of pure joy and panic
J xxxxx

[suziequeue]

I'm away at work during the week but I know OH has very similar life to JMB (although not getting up so early as he doesn't work or have kids to get ready for school).

When I get home at the weekend I take on all the morning jobs with the chickens and sheep etc and then we get going on the two-man jobs such as shifting stuff, clearing stuff, making stuff and digging stuff.

I slope off to my favourite cafe for lunch occasionally and sometimes cook a meal but otherwise it's just graft........ and I LOVE it :-D

[doganjo]

Dogs start barking at 8.00 am, get up,     scream at them to shut up  half an hour later they start again so let them out to p & p,  get their breakfasts ready while they shoot round the paddock for quarter of an hour,    feed the cat,    feed the dogs,  , let cat out to hunt for bunnies  ,  take my own breakfast through to the study to check emails and rest.    Have my shower,  get dressed,   open hen house and feed and water hens  - it's now about 9.30; take dogs out for a run in the front paddock, do some obedience or retrieve training,    put dogs in car, put kettle on    Sit down with a cuppa and check Facebook and fora.  Get coat on and drive to woods    Walk round with dogs fleeing about like mad bats  , call them in to do some discipline  Heel work. sit stays, leave and recall individually, release to play, call back in, send out to hunt individually, watch for points, keeping the others at heel. Throw a few dummies, - seens, blinds, backs, doubles, then some distance control, then release to play on return back to car  Home for lunch while dogs snooze, let cat in for another snack,  then let him out again, then in again as he doesn't like the rain, he goes for a snooze. Time for some housework, then on the PC to do some work till teatime. Feed dogs, and cat again, let cat out as it's stopped raining    Check emails and Fora again, make a cuppa, then get to bed - read kindle till midnight   

Isn't retirement wonderful? 

[tizaala]

What to expect ? Lots of hard work, a lot of pain (when your hands are so cold and you get hit with a hammer) . Abject misery when the weather is working against you and you have to struggle through a sea of mud every day.
Just when you think you have the fencing sorted a goat will show you that it was all in vane.
 Astronomic feed bills that the animal convert into tons of s**t, this is the end product of all your work with animals.
The joy of finding your water frozen solid for two weeks leaving you no option but to carry it uphill for all your stock and yourselves, (- 23C two winters ago )
The wonder of new life , followed by the reality that it's just another mouth to feed no matter how cute.
Well, you always wanted an open plan office .......this one has no roof.

[john and helen]

  thats the one tizaala  sounds great...
well i don't have an open plan office , but i do have my moments...you see i am a floor layer... most would think..agh easy..you go into empty room and lay floor,
in reality.. i go into half full room and as soon as flooring is unrolled...my version of human goats appear..electricians, painters, plumbers ......and they all get in the way.... at least you can eat your animals 

I am so looking forward to changing my life

keep them coming folks...love reading the good aswell as bad bits 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Love the human goats idea!
Our dogs (doberman and terrier) wake me up at 6.30 and I give the Dobie his heart tablet which is keeping him going and take them out to the field (dobie not safe with livestock off lead so we have a high fenced field) and let out the chickens. Feed the horses (in summer they will be out all the time but high grass sickness risk and no shelter (soon to be rectified) in fields means they come in at night to eat some hay which lowers the risk.
come in eat breakfast, feed dogs. Look at internet for 10 mins then out to turn out horses, feed sheep and geese (in winter) and muck out horses, do their hay feeds and water bucket. Smaller horse is lami prone so hay has to be soaked all day. If Im riding that happens before turning out. Do goose and sheep waters.
In the afternoon I bring in the horses, poo pick their fields and then dogs go out for a run and play in the fields. Check the sheep again. Bring in eletric fence battery if needing to be charged. Muck out chickens if needed.
In the evening I put the chickens away and shut them up, feed and shut up the horses and stables and dogs out again and fed. Also stable cats get fed.
Not too much work altho in between are all the other jobs like breaking ice on water in the winter and carry containers of it to them, also jobs like painting wooden structure or machinery, doing the raised beds to grow veggies, bringing in wood for the logburners, baking (I make a lot of bread and cakes) etc.
All in all not too bad, it was a lot harder work when we had cattle. Now only hard work in winter or when lambing starts - which it is shortly to do!

[plumseverywhere]

Every day is completely different - the joy of livestock is that you cannot predict what they are about to throw your way! One day you can be contentedly drinking a glass of homemade wine, watching the lambs jump about and the chickens peck about your feet....the next, using tampons and pressure pads to try and stem the flow of blood where a loose dog has got in and torn a sheeps neck as you wait for the vet to come and destroy it    You can guarantee the little disasters will happen when its raining/bank holiday/you feel ill.

'Typical' day here (with no disasters...) wake up just before 7am, shout kids to get up for school, take dog with me to feed goats, let out chickens and do quick headcount of sheep.
sort human kids out, get them to school ...check my mother (disabled with alzheimers) is up and her carer is in...
throughout the day usual stuff - make several batches of goats milk soap - parcel loads up - negotiate wholesale with shops.
collect children, feed goats, fill water troughs up, run about like a mad thing being 'mummy'.

imagine throwing into the mix my mum falling/messing/phoning the police to tell them aliens have landed or the children being ill or me being ill or the goats being ill and you can see how finely I tread my line     oh and today wind has blown down fences...I'm fencing as well as delivering soap to a shop where I have to look nice in a frock n heels 

yes its cold and expensive like Tiz says, where you have livestock you will always have deadstock, some days I want to jack it all in but on the balmy summers evening with that glass of homemade plum wine and the lambs jumping.....

[feldar]

Sleep deprivation be prepared for it no matter what animal, smallholding is all about it, all the bad things and some good always happen in the wee small hours

[renee]

Moose going through the fence in to the horses in December with the result that the horses are in a small paddock the size of a postage stamp the whole winter. Lemming invasion with lemming sh.. in all the wool. Oh Dear wrong country 

[Anke]

Moose going through the fence in to the horses in December with the result that the horses are in a small paddock the size of a postage stamp the whol winter. Lemming invasion with lemming sh.. in all the wool. Oh Dear wrong country 

 

[john and helen]

Oooooh some great replies 

jeeze Plums.. know what your going through.... (alzheimers)

I have a little working cocker who thinks waking me at 5am normally with one of my smelly socks from the laundry basket in his mouth is totally fine. if i didn't love him so much, ... 
we have kept ducks and chickens... so not totally novice ..but we have no idea with pigs, turkeys, goats etc etc

when we use to go over to the farm in france, i always experienced a feeling that i have never had anywhere else
i use to walk around the field about 7 acres.. and often just sit for 10 minutes ... and totally unwind..
I can't wait to be able to do that again ...

cant say we had a moose run through..but we did have 35 wild boar run through... that was hell of a sight

[sabrina]

Be prepared for nevering ending jobs to do, lack of social life ( well in my case anyway ) time spent feeding, cleaning and double checking that all animals are still alive. Weather to wet, cold , or dry for your veg to grow. Money dissappearing faster than the speed of light  on fencing , animal food , vet bills. BUT, its a way of life I would not swap for anything.