[stan]

Hello All, I'm new to house farming sorry we are new, me and my partner, We live in Leeds West Yorkshire.
We have 5 chickens and 2 ducks at the mo, we are looking to get 2 or 3 piglets to fatten up then take to slaughter house for meat, I have done alot of reading about keeping pigs ive got my Holding number now and waiting for herd number.
We would love a plot of land 1 or 2 acres would be great but it cost way to much theses days, We get lovely fresh eggs from our chickens some double yokes.
I would like to ask the best way to get a plot of land cheap if anyone knows how to.
Regards Stan.

[little blue]

Welcome
If I knew the answer, I'd do it myself!!!

[doganjo]

Hi Stan - welcome to the forum.  I don't know about your area but it's nigh on impossible to get land in Central Scotland.  Our house buying system of offers over makes it very difficult.  I was looking for something down here beside my family for about two years, and finally put an offer in a couple of years ago for a two bedroom cottage in bad repair with a 2 acre fenced paddock and fairly large garden -  and was the 6th offer down out of 17!  And I offered £51500 above the asking price!  They reckoned it went for double the asking  I gave up and looked for fixed price deals knowing there would be a reason.  But managed to get this place - too many rooms for one person really but I've managed to spread myself somehow - I Do like lots of space though, and next to a goods rail lien and a by pass - advantage is I can't ever be overlooked.  
My garden is an acre - but it is just that - a garden - but mainly in grass.  I hope to change it round about next year.  I don't do 4 legs except dogs and a cat, otherwise it's ducks and chickens for eggs.
I just kept googling - houses for sale central Scotland - perhaps you could google 'land for sale yorkshire'

[stan]

Hi doganjo,
We was in scotland 2 weeks ago in highland and look at properties, yeah its lovely there but it cost way too much.
Im disabled and miss work like mad, i need to keep my body active or i will end up stiff hahaha.
Many thanks for your speedy reply.
Regards Stan.

[stan]

Hi Little blue, Only if i wont the lottery all my answers would be answered, where are you from ??
Regards Stan.

[sandy]

Hello and welcome, maybe if you get a house and rent a pice of land or an allotment for now, I used to have an allotment at the back of my house and it was only £5 a year now there is a waiting list even for that. If you find a house you may also find a farmer willing to loan you a bit of land or someone who is unable to manage thier land...keep us posted!!!

[stan]

Hi Sandy.
Hello and welcome, maybe if you get a house and rent a pice of land or an allotment for now, I used to have an allotment at the back of my house and it was only £5 a year now there is a waiting list even for that. If you find a house you may also find a farmer willing to loan you a bit of land or someone who is unable to manage thier land...keep us posted!!!

Thanks for reply, we have our own house and our garden is pretty big not too big tho,with having your own house you dont have to ask council too keep animals on your land, I have dont alot of reading before for we got chickens and kepted by the laws, and alos have read about keeping piglets our side garden is lengh of house which is about 30 foot by 15 foot, We went to see a farmer which his grand daughter asked him for a pig for her birthday and now he has over 300 pig which breed on his farm he is an old gentleman which he was honest with us and it means alot to us, we have visited afew pig farm in West Yorkshire and found out alot of info.
The farmer we went to see might let us rent land of him, butthat all depends how much he wants to rent it for, like i said ive read so much about pig keeeping my ind is all over the place.
Sorry to go on.
Regards Stan.

[doganjo]

I'm not sure that 30 feet by 15 feet is enough for a couple of weaners - there's people on here who will know better than me but it doesn't sound enough.  I think you need to rent some more from the farmer. Good luck.

[sunnyjohn]

Hi! You and a lot of others are after a plot of affordable land! It seems criminal that there's so much land tied up in wasted sites, closed businesses, abandoned; patches cut off by road building/re-routing, etc. When the Land Registry's finished putting us all in tick-boxes and worked out what we owe the government (!!!), perhaps they should identify what land is unused /under-used, and create a way for people like us to rent or buy it for sensible money. At the very least, it would stop those irritating plots being a source of weeds or vermin, and we'd save someone the expense of having to keep them tidy or trimmed. And knowing who owns what land would give us a means to contact the land-owner to ask to buy or rent a bit; that odd corner the farmer never works because it's cut off and too small for full-scale farming, though ideal for a small-holder....

In the meantime, an allotment from the local council (or sometimes an allotment association; the council can direct you) is a cheap interim. Allotment plots are becoming scarce, but if you can get them, four standard plots amount to about 1/4 of an acre. My partner and I managed to get five a few years back, though there's now a waiting list for them where we are (Milton Keynes). There are drawbacks, but they can give you workable land to get started, grow something (what it's about, after all), develop your skills and invest in equipment, so when land becomes available, you can 'hit the deck running'. Many allotments allow poultry or bee-keeping, but not all: check if you need to.

Good luck, and please keep us posted.

John 

[Rosemary]

We have two pens each 30ft x 40ft and keep three weaners from April to October then rest them for 6 months. I wouldn't like to keep them on less. It looks like the Somme now.

Hello and welcome, by the way.

[carl]

Hi Stan, A warm welcome from south yorkshire. i am lucky enough to have a bit of land , but know how difficult it is to find additional acreage. I keep pigs and poultry, and have plenty of room for the amount I keep. I would think that the size of your pig plot would be too small. One way that a local group have overcome the problem is to get together and share the land as a community smallholding group. They share the expenses and the workload, and it appears to be a great idea to me.I would be very tempted to join them if i did not have my land.
didn't hugh fearnley whatnot start up some sort of national scheme for land sharing? It might be worth looking up. It makes sense to help each other out and share experiences and knowledge. a bit like this forum, but in real life. Have you looked up the north yorkshire smallholders, they seem to be very active all over, not just in the north riding.

[stan]

Hi All, Many thanks for all the replys, some great advice all thank you.
Sorry to say ive dont alot of reading and been to a few pig farm about keeping piglets in my side garden and sent them photos of it and they all said it will be fine, i hear so many different things.
Its great to get advice from people who have got pigs, we are only keeping them from April till October so the land has chance to recover, Im building a pig house and it will be the best, got some pig wire fence  and got more concrete kick board ( gravel boards )
Oh before i do anything else i have to sell our 10' trampoline only had it 3 months its like new.
Kind Regards Stan.

[Roxy]

Hello Stan, and welcome!!

More and more people are trying to find plots of land, and what there is available seems to be very expensive to me.  I live in the Peak District in Derbyshire, and land here is usually auctioned both for sale and to rent, and  go for amazing prices.  I am lucky in that I bought my land a number of years ago, and have just bought a derelict farmhouse with land, but I paid a lot for that (well, I have a big mortgage I mean!)

If you fancy relocating, the cottage I have just left will probably be up for rent/sale  in a while, if the new owner does not move in himself.  That has a paddock of about a third of an acre, with a wooden stable, on concrete base, which I used for goats - rural location just outside the spa town of Buxton.

[Sharondp]

Hello and good luck with the land search!

[Hilarysmum]

Hi Stan and welcome.  Sorry to be a wet blanket but I think the garden space you have is too small for piglets.  As Rosemary says it very quickly becomes a mud bath.  This is not so bad if its an area separate from the garden.  However it sounds as if you are using your entire garden for this, which if it is the case could cause problems for every day stuff like hanging the washing out.  Have you considered where you will put the output from the pigs, because they go about 6 times a day and it is quite smelly.  Will you have room for a wallow, and would you want a large hole full of muddy water in your garden, in summer a wallow is essential for pigs.  I remember when we lived in a small village with a 200 ft. x 30 ft. garden our neighbours complained bitterly because we had a couple of hens (no cockerel) as they were concerned about flies.  With the best will in the world, I would strongly suggest you find land elsewhere for pigs. 

Even owning your own house there may be by-laws prohibiting you keeping pigs in your garden so best to check it out with local council.

Again I am sorry to be a wet blanket.  HM