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Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 10:41 pm
by PeterO
Hi to all - a belated Happy Christmas. After some 3000 miles touring we have bought a 25 acre 'lifestyle ' block in Golden Bay (South Island) which we get possession of at the end of Jan.
It has a radiata pine plantation (about an acre) - any problems grazing Dexters amongst the pine needles? Also some large oaks - any problems with acorns?
All the best for the New Year
Peter
Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 4:17 am
by Inger
Yes Peter, you'll need to clean up the acorns with some pigs. I know of a couple of Large Black Pig breeders in the South Island who could help you. :D
Where are you staying until you take possession of your land? Have you located any Dexter breeders down there with stock for sale? Hope you enjoy New Year's Eve this year. The weathers pretty good up here. A little windy, but its fine.
Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 6:17 pm
by Kathy Millar
Congratulations, Peter :D Hope you enjoy your new homestead. We will all look forward to hearing about your adventure. Do you have a sea view?
Kathy
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 8:26 pm
by Peter thornton
If you are using pigs to clear the land then you must, of course, use the New Zealand Kune Kune pigs!
These are delightful and very easy to manage. They almost died out a few years ago but you should be able to get hold of them now.
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:38 pm
by PeterO
Thanks for all the 'pig' advice. Peter - I can't use Kune Kune as I couldnt eat them so Inger's large black seems better. From this do I assume Dexters and acorns don't mix? What about the pine needles?
Peter
Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:58 pm
by Duncan MacIntyre
I suppose you could mix pine needles and acorns, but I don't know why you would want to.
I shouldn't think cattle are likely to go for pine needles in a big way unless they are starving, but acorns are a different story. I don't have any personal experience of keeping cattle where they have access to acorns but I think one of the problems is the variation in size of acorn crops - normally they do not cause too much problem but some years large trees will drop huge quantities.
All the best for your new venture.
Duncan
Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:22 am
by PeterO
Duncan
Come global warming and changes to the Gulf stream Scotland may have siberian type weather - you can then burn the pine needles to roast the acorns to feed the locals.
Good luck
Peter
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:09 am
by Peter thornton
Couldn't eat them?!
Not sure if you mean that they're too cute, but I can tell you that they make great sausages especially when crossed with a Middle White!
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:41 am
by PeterO
Peter
Yes I mean't too cute - what do you use with the middle white - AI?
By the time you pay abbattoir costs your price per lb must be sky high (or do you home kill).
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 11:57 pm
by Peter thornton
Not sure if you've seen fully grown Kune Kune's? They are not as small as people think, at least the Rebecca Gina line.
Our Kune Kune boar is not that much smaller then the middle white sow and has no difficulty. Think Dudley Moore and those long legged American actresses he used to "date".
We kill them at around 65 - 80 kg.
You wouldn't start from here if you were running a commercial herd but if you arfe wanting a few pigs to clear some land then I can't think of any better!
Oh, and my 7 week old gilts were fetching about 1/2 the price of Dexter heifers at the last York sale!!
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:34 am
by Inger
Large Blacks are much nicer eating than Kune kunes. Its generally accepted (sorry Peter T) that purebred Kune kunes are too fatty to eat. They're not Rare anymore anyway. There are heaps of them advertised, because people keep them as pets and you can only keep so many pets. Large Blacks are definitely still rare here in NZ and they do a really good job cleaning the place up - as long as they don't have nose rings. Our last pigs were butchered at 6 months of age, weighing 101 kgs for the male and 97 kgs for the female. Really nice smoked ham for Christmas too. 
How is the Dexter buying going Peter O? Have you found any off the Dial-a-Dexter list yet? Dexters are really good at cleaning up the rough stuff as well. They've done an excellent job on our rugged farmland. Our Dexters and Large Blacks seem to co-exist quite happily. Its our sheep that cause us the most aggravation. They're never in the same paddock two hours in a row. 
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:30 am
by PeterO
Inger
I don't get possession until 31 Jan, container arrives Feb so it looks like stock is March.
I am getting a lot of family pressure to switch to Murray Greys - docile, naturally polled, good beef and a bit more commercial than Dexters. We will see!
I would appreciate it if you would let me have the names/numbers of your SI Large Black farmers by e-mail - all I would want would be a few weaners to start.
What breed of sheep do you have (Welsh Black)? We are looking at South Suffolk (the NZ version of Suffolk).
Cheers
Peter
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:36 am
by Peter thornton
I'm certainly not going to try to convince you that Kune Kune are better eating than large blacks!
But just a last point on them. Inger said that Kunes go very fat. They certainly tend to go that way if you're not careful but they have an unfair reputation because people keep them as pets and then wait far too long before sending them to slaughter. I guarrentee that you will change your mind if you get a couple!
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:38 am
by PeterO
Inger
No problem with large black - found a breeder in Takaka (on the Rare Breeds site) and I will go and have a look.
Peter
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 12:20 pm
by Inger
That's good PeterO. The South Island Breeder will have addresses for other S.I breeders, I should think. I can understand your family's thoughts on a more commercial breed of cattle. Perhaps you could just keep a couple of Dexters as well, for a hobby. We have Wiltshire Sheep for meat and a few Gotlands, a Perendale and a Romney thrown in for wool. Suffolk is a popular breed of sheep. We bought Wiltshires because they have a large carcass and shed their wool, so no shearing. Check out what breed the locals keep. There may be a particular breed that's best suited to your area.
PeterT, you might be right, but I'm sold on Large Blacks now, so I'd be loathed to change breed. Besides Large Blacks need all the help they can get. :;):