Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Hello from Yorkshire!  (Read 9927 times)

lowlander

  • Joined Sep 2014
Hello from Yorkshire!
« on: September 06, 2014, 01:12:57 pm »
Hi everyone. I have just moved back to Yorkshire after a 3 year break down in Wales and my partner and I have rented a farm with around 7.5 acres of grassland. We currently just have dogs (a lurcher, a collie and a Maremma - an Italian livestock guardian) but we are looking at getting some animals to help with the grass. The plan is not (yet) to operate a full small holding but to grow fruit/vegetables for ourselves, keep chickens for eggs and keep pet grass mowers! We may expand this in future but for now this is the plan.

In terms of facilities we have a small dutch barn (open at one end) and four stables plus a stable yard. The land has a gentle slope and is divided into 8 separate areas - 3 of these are decent grazing fields - the biggest a couple of acres, 4 rougher areas - lots of thistles, weeds as well as grass (2 well fenced, the others not so good) and one bit nearest the house that we intend to use for veggies. I work from home as a dog trainer so I also want to be able to use the tidier fields to work with dogs - so hopefully can rotate this with using them as grazing land.

We are hoping to foster a couple of donkeys soon and I am investigating sheep - looking at perhaps having a small flock of pet sheep - ideally pretty hardy ones that can be out most of the time? Any recommendations welcome! Looking forward to learning lots here. We are starting with very little knowledge so have everything to learn.

Factotum

  • Joined Jun 2012
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2014, 10:14:22 pm »
Hi to you, we're in Moray.

When we started we thought we'd begin with sheep- but our fences were not good - as proved by a neighbours sheep coming through and eating our grass!

Talking with local farmer, he actually recommended starting with cattle - don't need such good fences, less likely to die for no good reason, less needy of treatment for feet rot, fly strike etc.

Having kept both sheep and cattle - I think I find cattle less trouble, though I expect this depends on the hardiness of the breed.

Good luck.

Sue

devonlady

  • Joined Aug 2014
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2014, 10:17:12 pm »
Hello from Devon :wave: You have a place that many will envy. Shetland or Jacob sheep are friendly and hardy, in fact our Jacobs are over friendly.

kelly58

  • Joined Mar 2013
  • Highlands, Scotland
  • Home is were my animals are.
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2014, 11:20:32 pm »
Hi from Caithness  :wave:

Hevxxx99

  • Joined Sep 2012
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2014, 10:43:45 am »
Hi

I'm in North Yorkshire.  Whereabout are you?  I have Muscovey ducks, geese, turkeys, hens, sheep and too many ponies (plus a Cleveland Bay) at the moment.  ;D ;D

Don't believe donkeys are hardier than ponies and will eat thistles: they aren't and they don't (unless they're starving or they're cut ad dried).  My sheep at the moment are North Country Mules and Texel crosses. They were hand reared commercial lambs and have wintered out in fairly bleak fields on the North York Moors without any problem and a little supplementary feed.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2014, 11:14:18 am »
Welcome from t'other side of the country - north Cumbria  :wave:   We're commercial (but traditional, low input) beef and sheep farmers, and I have a flock of 'fleece sheep' and a small herd of Jersey house cows 'on the side'. 

Agree that donkeys are not very hardy.  If you want hardy equines that will eat thistles, get a couple of Fell ponies. :hugpony:

Tiny paddocks sometimes mean no shelter though - are there hedgerows, trees etc to provide shelter in each paddock?  And a water supply?

You shouldn't have any trouble sourcing sheep locally that can mow your grass, live out (provided shelter and water are accessible ;)) and grow you some meat, if that's what you want.  Buying local types from a local farmer would be the best bet - they'll be used to the local ticks, etc, and it'll forge a connection with the local farming community too.  There will be 'store lamb' sales ongoing at the moment; ask the nearest farmer that has healthy-looking sheep if s/he'd give you some advice on choosing? 

If you're getting a couple of donkeys or ponies, and want some land for veg and chooks, then 15-20 sheep would probably be plenty.  (I'm working on 2 acres per equine, 5 sheep per acre, as a rule of thumb.)  Or if the equines are a 'next year' thing, get more sheep now that will finish before you want the donkeys/ponies to come, and that'll give you a bit of early income and some meat in your freezer.

It's Masham Sheep Fair at the end of the month - all the local and many rare/primitive breeds will be on show.  Go and have a look-see and see what you like the look of, and talk to the sheep-keepers with them ;)  I'll be there on the Sunday if you want to catch up for a chat.
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Rosemary

  • Joined Oct 2007
  • Barry, Angus, Scotland
    • The Accidental Smallholder
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2014, 12:00:48 pm »
Hello and welcome  :wave:

lowlander

  • Joined Sep 2014
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2014, 03:57:34 pm »
Thank you all for the welcome and suggestions. We are just south of Dewsbury in West Yorkshire but I was born and bred in North Cumbria Sally - just outside Carlisle - and my parents still live there so I know that part of the world well. :)

The donkeys are more because we really like them than because they are hardy - we know they need shelter and decent grazing and they have already been allocated the long thin top field which is pretty decent pasture and leads directly into the yard and the barn (for summer and day time) and they'll be stabled overnight in winter.

All the fields all have at least two sides with hedgerows (mainly hawthorn) with stock fencing in front - three also have one side of wall - so there is shelter in all the fields for sheep but we could put up pallet barriers as well if needed. Water is more of a pain - we have a stream that runs along the bottom of the fields but the fields drop off quite steeply to it and it is hard to fence in securely on the opposite side - so it is actually fenced off from the main fields. There are two taps in the stable yard so at the moment the plan is to run hoses down to the top of the fields and fill water troughs from that. Otherwise we may need to use water tanks of some kind.

Hadn't really thought about cattle. Will look into that more. Sheep seemed to be more manageable and hardy - quite like the idea of Jacob or Shetland - though my partner's cousin farms sheep just over the pennines so he might be a sensible place to start.

Thanks for the headsup Sally about Masham - will definitely try to get along to that - would be a great way to check out the different breeds and work out what will be best for us. In the meantime think we had better get our CPH number sorted.

Treud na Mara

  • Joined Mar 2014
  • East Clyh, Caithness
  • Living the dream in Caithness
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #8 on: September 07, 2014, 08:17:56 pm »
 :wave: and welcome from Caithness. Good time of year to be getting started. Not too much in the way of urgent jobs but plenty of time to make sure all the fences you need to be stock proof really are  ;)  And good time to be looking around at what's available and suitable stock wise. Good luck. Lots of great advice and support on here.
With 1 Angora and now 6 pygmy goats, Jacob & Icelandic sheep, chooks, a cat and my very own Duracell bunny aka BH !

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2014, 11:07:54 pm »
 :wave: and welcome from Shropshire.

lowlander

  • Joined Sep 2014
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #10 on: September 08, 2014, 10:51:32 am »
Hello!  :wave:

Really good to know it is a good time to be getting started. It feels quite overwhelming as there is so much work to do around the place - overgrown fields, buildings and stables needing thorough cleans and repainting, lots of weeding, preparing veggie plot etc. But I think we will just do a little bit at a time. We are lucky that my partner works so we are not relying on any income from the place - it would be nice if eventually it could be self-supporting but we can take some time to get there.

I have checked most of the fencing - was the first thing I did because of our dogs. Our lurcher is an escape artist and I know there are at least two fields she hasn't managed to get out of so I doubt anything would. The rest all need a bit of attention - and we need to put in some extra stock fencing in places - so that is the priority.

Have discovered that cousin has Lonks - very hardy certainly but look big - I haven't seen anyone talk about them so am guessing they may not be suitable for a small holding.


SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #11 on: September 08, 2014, 10:59:53 am »
Lonks are now very rare, one of the big blackfaced hill breeds. I was given a very few locks of Lonk fleece recently - a treat. 

No reason you shouldn't have Lonks as your sheep.  And if your cousin has them, you've a ready source of sheep, advice and knowledge.  (And tupping, if you decided you wanted to have ewes and breed them.)

You could get a few wethers off your cousin, rear them to fat size and sell / butcher them.  Then decide if you want more Lonks or something different.
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

SophieLeeds

  • Joined Aug 2014
  • Yorkshire
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #12 on: September 08, 2014, 12:00:23 pm »
 :wave: only 10 mins away from Dewsbury :)

"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops or livestock, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings"

benandjerry

  • Joined Jan 2014
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #13 on: September 08, 2014, 07:07:51 pm »
Hello & Welcome I am a wannabeeeee  :wave:

lowlander

  • Joined Sep 2014
Re: Hello from Yorkshire!
« Reply #14 on: September 08, 2014, 11:14:15 pm »
Thanks Sally - great to know they would be suitable. We will get in touch and see what he thinks.

Sophie - am guessing from your user name that you are in Leeds? Lived in and around there for 10 years (Headingley, Roundhay, Barwick) before going down to Wales for a few years. Very glad to be back in Yorkshire - feels like home.  :)Have seen your intro - you have quite a collection of animals - and Caucasian Shepherds! Beautiful dogs. I have Maremmas - well just one at the moment - but have had them for over 20 years and bred a couple of litters. Our current boy is 9 and from our last litter. Trouble has always been finding appropriate homes for them of course - not a breed for everyone. I guess it is the same with the Caucasians!

Hi benandjerry - thanks for the welcome - I'm still a wannabee really - but one step closer to the dream. :)

 

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