Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => Pets without Feathers => Topic started by: Chookster on September 11, 2009, 23:13
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hello guys, i have chickens and quails housed separately but the whole lot are surrounded by electric fencing. There is more land i am allowed to use which gets rather tall grass and brambles and short of the strimmer and a scythe i wondered if there was any animal i could use on a small holding basis (meaning up to 3 animals) which would help sort out the overgrown and unruly area.
i 've considered goats, pygmy goats, sheep - someone even suggested wild guinea pigs or a miniature horse or donkey. This is a very very awkward access place and it is a large allotment plot which is next to the end of a street of houses allbeit with long gardens but all the same, i use their alley to get to my allotment so i have to be careful not to upset people. I know i'd have to get a holding number apparently. Would pygmy goats be the best thing?? i want something that's going to give me a return rather than just paying out for a 'pet' too.
any ideas???
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forgot to mention - not on a lot of money so was worried about sheep as i heard a lot of problems can occur to them like foot rot etc - would really like to avoid large vets bills!! :wub:
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forgot to mention - not on a lot of money so was worried about sheep as i heard a lot of problems can occur to them like foot rot etc - would really like to avoid large vets bills!! :wub:
my son has sheep and an old farmer told him a sheeps main aim in life is to lay down and die, and they do take a lot of looking after although foot rot can be avoided
pygmy goats are very friendly, will eat all the brambles etc, only problem I had was keeping them in, they can jump, squeeze through tiny gaps and eat their way through hedges - oh and steal the chickens food
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I'd go with the wild guinea pigs.
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I've got some very slightly miffed ones.
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I heard the same as poppies about sheep, they can suffer from 101 different ailments the first symptom of which is usually death!
I am a pig person myself but strong fencing is a must, then they need an ark but they are good at digging up roots. Hardy too, not vets bills. :D
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I would agree with SMD66 get pigs.
Pig Cost £30-ish
Pig Ark- you can make it your self.
Pig Fencing (eletric) Can cost a bit.
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Have you thought about pigme goats?
http://www.pygmygoatclub.org/
(http://www.pygmygoatclub.org/gallery/images/yard.jpg)
(http://www.pygmygoatclub.org/gallery/IMG_1253.JPG)
(http://www.pygmygoatclub.org/gallery/RUBEN.jpg)
Or if you have space inside for the winter what about Dexters?
(http://www.gormellick.co.uk/images/25473271.jpg)
http://www.dextercattle.co.uk/
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You can rent goats. Really !
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I remember that programme on TV Aunty, 'Rent a ghost' :lol:
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No ::)
We had a member called van connick who had kept goats and rented them out for clearing land. Tis true ! :D
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Did a ruff there, speed reading :lol:
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:lol: oh you lot LOL ::) what you like.x
well, certainly gives me a lot to think about.... Ihad also heard about the many problems to do with sheep so i think they're out and the land 's prob not suitable for them... pygmy goats i'd considered but will have to think a bit more - i think it's a toss up between the midget goats and pigs.
Is there a miniature pig breed at all???
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I HAVE to have a pygmy goat!!! OH hates goats though.... :unsure:
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pot-bellied pigs and Kune-Kune, are small, both not particularly bred for eating tho, so would have to be pets more than 'productive' animals.
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if you don't want vet bills (all animals need a vet at sometime) i'd buy a strimmer, petrol one should do the job and it won't ever need a vet :)
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good point TMG ! :D
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It does need petrol occasionally though! ::). Lot less hastle ;)
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I would agree with SMD66 get pigs.
Pig Cost £30-ish
Pig Ark- you can make it your self.
Pig Fencing (eletric) Can cost a bit.
.....
Have you thought about pigme goats?
http://www.pygmygoatclub.org/
(http://www.pygmygoatclub.org/gallery/images/yard.jpg)
(http://www.pygmygoatclub.org/gallery/IMG_1253.JPG)
(http://www.pygmygoatclub.org/gallery/RUBEN.jpg)
Or if you have space inside for the winter what about Dexters?
(http://www.gormellick.co.uk/images/25473271.jpg)
http://www.dextercattle.co.uk/
... and about pigs... the bloke on the next bit of land said i needed to make sure i got 'silage' removed as it was the law.
I know nothing about this. What's this all about. Is silage the pig's waste bedding?? Don't pigs manure the land as they go for you?
i thought i could put a couple of pigs out on the bit of land i needed them to be on and they would basically prepare that bit of land for me to dig on the next season/year. Shows how much more research i need to do to make sure i have the right animal (or strimmer/scythe!)
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... and about pigs... the bloke on the next bit of land said i needed to make sure i got 'silage' removed as it was the law.
He bottom talking of out. (rearrange words to make sense)
Silage is a crop of fermented hay.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silage
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You could 'poo pick' for the compost heap if you want, they tend to go in one particular area, away from their bed and where they are fed. What's left on the ground breaks down and isn't that smelly. We rotavated it in and grew loads of veg where our first lot had been, everything came really well. :D
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Where do you get wild guinea pigs from?
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Where do you get wild guinea pigs from?
they live in the trees in Sherwood forest :lol:
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I should invest in a net then?
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no, a long stick!
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You could tempt them down with mars bars.
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they are partial to a glass of pinot grigio too, (or is that me?)
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they are partial to a glass of pinot grigio too, (or is that me?)
:lol: :lol: :lol: