think imgonna have to get my Akubra down off the top of the wardrobe.
...dont have a pony these days tho..
...dont have a pony these days tho..
Look up Hugelkultur, the ultimate raised beds, as far as I can tellAll granite here, the only limestone we see comes on the back of a truck ? I had planned to start a raised bed garden this year, didn't bother in the end as it was so dry.
I think you’re way too cheap with your egg prices, @martian. I’ve got some eggs hatching and my plan in a few months, when they start laying, is to sell for 85p per egg, £5 per half dozen, £9 per dozen. With a good story, enough people will payWe started off at £1.50 for half a dozen, which made me blush...I mean 25p an egg? Even so, there was an unseemly scrabble among the locals to get hold of them once lockdown kicked in, we took to collecting the eggs at different times of day to make it a bit more sporting for the punters. I had to buy some from the village shop a couple of weeks ago for ourselves ( a magpie had worked out how to open the boxes on our honesty table and we needed some for breakfast), they were £1.69 a half doz, so we're now charging £2 a half doz. And I'm now beyond blushing. It's a prosperous area.
It's been an interesting process all round, it's been a while since we've done much direct selling, but it's changed my focus a lot. Our manager has just given his notice and is moving to Scotland, he can't stand all the locals walking all over the place, it drove him to distraction. But the eggs have shown that if life gives you lemons, then make lemonade, ie if you have a bunch of rich entitled people walking over your land, then grow stuff that they want to buy and sell it to them. They love seeing the chickens, they love the story, they loved the alpacas that guarded the chickens. God knows why, they were antisocial brutes who looked at the electric fences as limbo practice wires to duck under; the chickens are now living without alpaca protection.
Oh, and if anybody knows of a good farm manager looking for a job, tell them to get in touch...
Yes, I firmly believe this is true. I’ve several fields where rabbits have attacked it for years and that now just don’t grow tall grassSomeone might be able add to this half remembered snippet. Somewhere I read that, and not saying this is your situation or practice, long overgrazed grasses may have developed a strategy of survival shortness. That the surviving plants have done so by being short and shooting. Some farms, possibly my own, may have genuine issues with that and may not for a very long time grow "long" grass.
As said that's just half remembered so could be a bit wrong, which is why I'm looking for further input.
I’ve just taken on a block of land. I’ve put a central fence (single strand of hot HT) down the middle of all the fields, leaving a gap at either end. That way, when the cattle come into the field I can work them round, in daily cells, along the botttom side of the wire to the end then back along the top side of the wire so that, on their last day in the field, they’re back by the gate they came in by, ready to be moved.Things are getting serious we’re now going to get out the farm map to see the most efficient way to split paddocks and move the water to them ??
Look up Hugelkultur, the ultimate raised beds, as far as I can tell
I think you’re way too cheap with your egg prices, @martian. I’ve got some eggs hatching and my plan in a few months, when they start laying, is to sell for 85p per egg, £5 per half dozen, £9 per dozen. With a good story, enough people will pay
Yes, I firmly believe this is true. I’ve several fields where rabbits have attacked it for years and that now just don’t grow tall grass
I’ve just taken on a block of land. I’ve put a central fence (single strand of hot HT) down the middle of all the fields, leaving a gap at either end. That way, when the cattle come into the field I can work them round, in daily cells, along the botttom side of the wire to the end then back along the top side of the wire so that, on their last day in the field, they’re back by the gate they came in by, ready to be moved.
@Whitewalker these portable troughs are a brilliant investment for youngstock.@The Ruminant how do you manage the water . Small portable plastic drinker?
Have you tried high zinc mineral buckets for orf? Hoof & Health, think Brinicomb make a specialist bucket. Had a bit of orf going round the cade shed this year, put a Hoof & Health high zinc bucket in and all cleared up in a couple of weeks. Had a bad do with it after that wet lambing year (2017?) and a field with thistles, think its more due to poor colostrum quality than anything else.Meh... just discovered orf outbreak in home lambs. Now we're going to have to run two mobs, and keep them separate for pretty much the whole summer, or risk spreading it to another 100+ lambs. Should have joined them up by now but good grass growth at home and some late lambers have kept them apart.
My plans for daily shifts till weaning are pretty much out the window, and rest periods are going to shorten too...
The troughs are from kiwitech. Their UK agent is based in Cornwall, but they may have one in Ireland.Where do you buy these I’m in Northern Ireland? We’re only tiny with 50 cows on 50 acres grazing platform ranging from 1 to 7 acre fields. Some are simple water trough resite bigger fields a little more tricky
I have good pressure. Will google them thanksThe troughs are from kiwitech. Their UK agent is based in Cornwall, but they may have one in Ireland.
For 50 cows, you may get away with one of these troughs. They have a very fast flowing valve if you have decent pressure.
Good strong cows, they look well ?Here’s the girls in grass rested scraping a month . Really surprised at the base in it . This is start of 3rd rotation this year. Other pic is what we’re leaving roughly. View attachment 883259View attachment 883260
Man alive! Them Jobe Vortex bottom fill valves are some money, £255! Thinking it would be better to unscrew ball off arm type valve, attach it to a length of string and tie to arm. Drill hole at bottom of one side of tank and seal with lashings of silicon.@Whitewalker
View attachment 883035
Wilson Plastics 150l portable troughView attachment 883036View attachment 883037
View attachment 88303825mm LDPE feeder pipe, goes thru reducing fittings to attach to the shorter 20mm pipe on the trough (lighter weight).
A Jobe valve is the best I've found as the string can be set for use on a slope (and I always put it on a slope, and it's not able to be broken by cattleView attachment 883039
this is how I'm feeding it at the moment, I can turn off the tap and drain the pipe before I need to drag it. I lashed/bale-taped a rope to it so I can put it over my shoulder like a handbag and drag it ahead of the mob while using my hands to pull the trough.
Too easy, a move takes me around 5 min.View attachment 883076I keep this one with the sheep mob, wouldn't let me upload earlier but this one is nice and light with 20mm HDPE and a thinner plastic tub.
Also bitey if you touch the hotwire with it, which is why they're this way around, the cattle fences are hot
Good strong cows, they look well ?
Have you tried high zinc mineral buckets for orf? Hoof & Health, think Brinicomb make a specialist bucket. Had a bit of orf going round the cade shed this year, put a Hoof & Health high zinc bucket in and all cleared up in a couple of weeks. Had a bad do with it after that wet lambing year (2017?) and a field with thistles, think its more due to poor colostrum quality than anything else.
Kiwitech micro troughs and an umbilical.@The Ruminant how do you manage the water . Small portable plastic drinker?
Sorry treat me like I’m thick but what do you mean air gap?Kiwitech micro troughs and an umbilical.
Much of the land was unfenced and had no water supply when I took it on. I’ve moled in a mile of water pipe with risers every 100 yards. I’m pumping water out of the river - hence being able to use the Micro troughs (they’re illegal for connection to the mains as there’s no air gap).
The micro troughs are brilliant.
Look up Hugelkultur, the ultimate raised beds, as far as I can tell
Yes, I firmly believe this is true. I’ve several fields where rabbits have attacked it for years and that now just don’t grow tall grass