[caracroft]

Hi Everyone,

I love this site so decided to join properly as I have been sneaking around reading all the info in the background!!!

We want to try to be as self sufficient as we can with food and have moved to a property about 15 months ago with a small amount of unloved land and been sorting it out with this aim in mind.  We erected a 40ft polytunnel last Autumn and tried some over winter planting but this wasnt too successful as the seeds should have been planted earlier!! It is now though full of plants and doing really well!

Since then we have sorted out two areas of our land 1 for chickens and 1 for pigs. Currently the pig area is coming on really well- we have stock wired and electric fenced it all and we have channeled water to it.  We are waiting for a pig ark, self filling waterer and pig feeder to be delivered. 

Main problem is sourcing the pigs  -  we really would like OSB's and living in Essex it is difficult to find breeders nearby.

Next onto chickens .....  when we moved in though we brought our ducks with us and they were quickly despatched by local foxes, so we know that free range is out of the question which is sad ... but we want to try to make as large an area as possible safe for them.

thanks for reading and hope I havent rambled too much

Cara   

[simone]

Hello, <waves at Cara from just outside Colchester>

We're also in Essex and moved to our smallholding last October, we've spent the winter renovating the house and done nothing outside, we do have hens - like you we'd learned that free-ranging is a no-go, now we have electric netting (50m) portioning off part of the garden where they free-range during the day.

Whereabouts are you?

Simone

[Rosemary]

Hello and welcome from  Carnoustie 

[caracroft]

Hi Rosemary and Simone thanks for your welcomes!!!

Simone - We love colchester - used to live just north of chelmsford, now in Upminster.  We had a lot of work at first on the land part as down one side it had about 5 derelict sheds full of rubbish!! This took some time to sort and it was very overgrown too!! Many a bonfire!!! 

As we have been concentrating on the pigs I havent looked too much into the chickens electric fence Simone, how have you erected your netting - is it tensioned, if so how? and have you put netting over your chickens like a roof or just round them?

Thanks for your feedback
Cara

[MelRice]

Welcome from Saxony.....Via Yorkshire and Essex. Four of my girls are 'Essex girls' (though its hard to tell through their Yorkshire accent!)

[zoe_emma]

Hi 
We're in East Yorkshire and also awaiting chickens. We moved out here in October, we only have a little patch but it's taking us a while to get sorted!

[NormandyMary]

Hello from me, a former Essex girl (when Ilford WAS Essex and not Greater London!) I still have family in Essex, Saffron Walden, a brother who used to live in Marks Tey just outside Colchester! I went from Ilford, to Swindon, to France. Have to say, the last move was the best!

[LouiseG]

Welcome from sunny but chilly suffolk.

[plumseverywhere]

Hello from Worcestershire 

[MAK]

Hi from La Creuse in the Limousin - before that Cambridge and Suffolk but born and proud of ESSEX 
I hope all goes well and that you find the pigs. We found pure bread GOS out here so you should be lucky too.

[caracroft]

 

Thank you all for your welcomes from all over the Uk and France!!  So many of you have your roots in Essex!!  I would have loved to end up in France, we did consider it about 6 years ago, but it didnt happen 

Anyway have many plans here and enjoying getting up and running.   

  Cara 

[MAK]

Caracroft - have you thought of keeping meat Rabbits? 2 females and a buck should yield about 120 pounds of meat a year. Simple cheap runs that are fox proof and a lot of pleasure watching the young grow.

[caracroft]

Hi Mak,
No never thought about meat rabbits but will look more into that, thanks for the advice.
Cara

[MAK]

After about 10 days we finally crwaled into the hutch and disturbed the nest to count our new litter of rabbits. 13 !!! If they all survive then I will have plenty to put in the freezer and some to give to neighbours who will at some stage re-pay the gift. we need to expand our rabbit menu though.