I believe the word husbandry is derived from the old word husbandman, meaning man who farmed.
Stockmanship for some reason covers both sexes so I am told.
So I take it the female of husbandry is probably husbandry but it seems reasonable that where there was husbandman there should also have been husbandwoman.
That said the farming community has never been at the forefront of sexual equality has it?
OOOpps that should start another debate, I expect some flack is on the way.
As an ex-kiwi with Southdown experience - they are thick as two short planks and have a death wish.
Sylvia
If I can't eat apalcas where is the profit?
Saffy
According to my Shorter OED husbandry is Middle English for ' tillage or cultivation of the ground,; agriculture: farming' doesn't mention the Scots (I rest my case).
Poor Jonathan, now look what we've done. All he wanted was a bit of info on Dexters and he has probably taken to the botttle after all the other info foisted on him.
PeterO. Who mentioned profit? Wait a few years I'm sure some so and so will suggest every other herd, except their own wonderful one, should head to the butcher. If you or yours can handspin alpaca fibre is worth considerably more than sheep's wool. Think cashmere! But you won't get much at present out of the co-ops. I thought Jonathan wanted pets? If you are commercially minded you can buy top dollar, win shows, and charge £700 - £1200 for stud fees (and wait for them to be devalued by the next lot of imports) but that is a world away from what most alpaca owners are doing.
Now now you lot. Play nicely! I'm sure we've given Jonathon enough information to work on.
My only other suggestion is that you ask some of your farming neighbours for advice on animal numbers suitable for your property Jonathon. As they will probably have similar conditions to you and can visit you to give you personalised advice. There's nothing like a good yarn to an experienced neighbour over the boundary fence. :D
Not much less than it is possible to get when trying to sell good, sound young males who have 3 or 4 generations of ancestors born in this country. ie Nothing:p
How many to the acre? I have 5 acres and have at the moment a bull, 2 yearling heifers, 3 cows with calves at foot & another cow due to calve in about three weeks. I cannot sustain this over a year, but have a neighbour who does not have stock but makes hay for local horsey people. and I have the use of this field after haymaking.
My advice for your small piece of our beautiful countryside, is to do what you want. There are enough Dexter breeders in your area that can give help & advice. Who knows, you may find one that would really like to expand into your two & a half acres, and you may well get dexters in the summer & no work in the winter. I would love to have you as a near neighbour.
All the best with whatever you decide to do, but please speak to your local Dexter people first.
Martin
We are based in the West Country and have 3 acres. We also have kept Southdowns, so I will give you my opinion based on having done the things you are considering.
First point is that it genuinely does depend on your land. Unless you are on Dartmoor with poor grazing you could have good grazing from mid-April through to November. Our 3 acres is sloping. We do not get waterlogged, but it gets wet. We have at the moment a Dexter cow and 2 followers (1 steer 24 months, 1 steer 12 months) we also have sheep. We outwinter our Dexters, and apart from gateways have little problem with poaching (except when the steers get the wind up their tails in which case you get skid marks! ).
You would ideally need some shelter, though not essential. We go down to -5c here and they are ok out as long as you give extra feed. You will need to buy in hay. Aim roughly at 1/4-1/3 small bale per head per day for up to 6 months. If your cattle are not pregnant then you can feed barley straw which is cheaper, lighter, but will need a feed block as well (ours love Beetlics which are cheap and weather resistant). Hay can be fed on the ground, but straw needs to be fed in a yearling ring feeder or they will tromp all over it. Outside winter you should have a molassed mineral lick always available. You should really invest in a yearling crush for veterinary work.
If i wanted to keep pet Dexters I would keep two cows or a cow and a steer. Many will say this is a waste of breeding stock, well there's enough Dexters about and its your money! Perhaps buy a cow with calf at foot. My experience is that steers can be a handful until they get older (say over 30 months) and two will wind each other up. Two older cows are calmer (can't comment on heifers). They will do anything fo a bucket of sugar beet pellets.
On our land (3 acres good pasture) two dexters would struggle to keep it down over the summer and I would have to resort to topping/lawn mowing. You could try to shut some up for hay but would have problems finding someone to make such a small amount. I have sheep so don't have this problem. If you are ok with sending sheep off to the abattoir perhaps buy in half a dozen spring lambs to help in the spring/summer and then put them in the freezer in the autumn. They will graze with the cattle no problem
On sheep, they are substantially more work than cattle. Their feet may need doing every 6 weeks depending on your ground, they need shearing once a year and you will need to spray against fly strike 10 weekly from April-Nov. It is unfair to suggest they are thick and just want to die. This tends to be repeated by people who haven't kept sheep seriously. They are bright but are very cautious, varying with breed. Southdowns are very docile, friendly, heavy to handle (low centre of gravity) and not the best in wet like we have. Ryelands are supposed to be better in the wet. My choice would be something more primitive such as Shetlands. They are nice and light which will save your back. You will need good fencing though.
If your paddock has been animal free for a while then you have the opportunity to be parasite free with little or no worming. We have managed this, although I worm everything once a year to be safe. Get you animals confined when they arrive, worm them well (for example Eprinex for the cattle, Cydectin for sheep) and then after 48 hrs turn them out. The sacrifice area (ideally inside on straw) should not be grazed.
There is a tendency for some hardened animal keepers to say that you can't keep animals on a small piece of land. This is wrong. We are doing it successfully, and you only have to read Cobbett or Seymour to know that 2.5 acres is substantially more than many cottagers used to have. Do it and don't be put off, but don't do it without research. There is no excuse for animals suffering due to ignorance and I have seen a lot of lifestyle types (the River Cottage bunch) move to the southwest, get animals from anywhere and dump them on a piece of poorly fenced land without the first clue how to look after them. They then think its an amusing after-dinner anecdote when they find their animals running up and down the lanes or dying from flystrike. They start repeating the paradigm that their animals just want to die, when it is in fact down to poor husbandry.
However as I was the person who mentioned sheep being hell bent on death I thought I should ask you, how many sheep do I need to keep and for how many years to be considered a serious sheep keeper? As you put it. If 30 years with between 220 and 600 head isn't sufficient, then I am definately not the serious variety! However it seemed pretty serious at the time, especially during the lambing, ( average around 175% give or take depending mostly on if we had bought in and therefore had an abortion problem)and farming 3 different farms of dairy, beef, sheep and arable is a bit over the top for the lifestyle types don't you think.
No personal offence was meant but I get sick of hearing the death comment pumped out as if its the law. Some breeds may be less self-reliant than others, but I know of no animal that is hell bent on death, not even lemmings! As for numbers, well obviously I have a different human:sheep ratio than you, perhaps I am better able to ensure they don't kill themselves . Large numbers of stock does not automatically equate to good husbandry. How often did you hoof trim your 600 head of sheep?
We only trimmed feet of those with long clees or those with a problem of any kind if on close inspection amongst other treatments it was a good idea but not that many needed a regular trim unless the foot was already mis-shapen, there was foot rot or it was prone to grow crookedly in some way. If a sheep was very prone to any health problem it became unprofitable and was culled.
Also if a sheep is prone to foot rot she becomes more likely to get fly strike because she will lay down more and sit in her own poo and also becuase then if they get maggots in their foot they can quickly transfer to the body and overwhelm the poor old sheep.
What we did with the whole flock on a regular basis was run them through a foot bath, either containing formalin or more recently golden hoof, which lessened our foot problems.
Also we dipped to prevent fly strike and used a yellow cream thats name I cannot remember if they got cut whilst being shorn ( ha ha when they got cut...one or two always did,) to help prevent infection but it was also a fly repellent.
Don't worry - not offended - I quite enjoy a good debate.
:;):
I do think hardiness is something lacking in many breeds of sheep, some more than others, cross breds by my experience being the toughest but still don't have as much will to live as most cows in my opinion.
I think Stephanie has already done the rant back - I would merely say I grew up on a sheep station in New Zealand (shearing about 20,000 annually). They were rounded up twice a year (maybe) anything unable to walk got shot for food/dog meat and anything unable to lamb unaided probably didn't survive (it is called evolution in action). In my humble opinion, sheep get themselve in more trouble than any other livestock (is that lack of intelligence or poor design which we don't help by not culling poor stock and/or breeding for the show ring).
Jonathon
Do not underestimate the capital costs of Dexters vs sheep. Apart from the higher purchase costs of Dexters, purchasing a crush (essential for handling) is high cost, you will need a bigger trailer/tow vehicle for moving them around etc etc
Before you think I am anti-Dexter - I have the Dexters (no trouble) and my wife has the sheep (Texel X - trouble and strife)
Peter,
do you really think that a crush is essential? With only 2 Dexters I would hope he would be able to tame them down real nicely.
I'm not saying it wouldn't be a good idea, but there are alternatives, I don't have a crush, infact I only just bought a headgate (which is not even mounted yet). This is my 5th year with Dexters and I've AI'd just with her head tied, had the vet here only twice and that went well, so if your cows are well handled it is much easier. Just didn't want the guy to be put off anymore than he may have already been!
Depends on his experience (none), the Dexters temperament and his vet's sense of humour. Yes something could be jury rigged with gates for a lot less. But trying to restrain a Dexter for a TB test in a 2 1/2 acre field - carry on.
I have had Dexters for almost 20 years now and do not have a crush. But without one you have to be fairly resourceful and preferable skilled at handling cattle. In our shed for winter housing the pens are all made up of moveable gates with pins at the corners, and with a bit of thought a narrow passage can be arranged between two pens. Out in the field in summer I set up a pen and put some feed in to tempt them in, close up the pen and halter the one I want. Some I do not even need the pen for - Saltaire Drill, bred by Jay Hunt, and purchased as a stirk, is so quiet that I can usually just go up to her in an open field and put a halter on.
I must ask my vet if he has a sense of humour. I know that his daughter did not the last time she was needed to hold down a cow cast with ropes while her feet were trimmed. Maybe the horns had something to do with that.
Duncan
Duncan MacIntyre
Burnside Dexters 00316
Burnside
Ascog
Isle of Bute
).
. Large numbers of stock does not automatically equate to good husbandry. How often did you hoof trim your 600 head of sheep?