Hiya from Rural World!

[red]

hi Rachel - welcome

400 sheep eh?? i feel very small with my 3 next to you!!

[MKG]

Hi Rachel

[Ranter]

Hi Rachel
Another one in Leics here, although I live in the centre of Leicester so about as urban as it gets.
Good to see other midlanders here.

Cheers
Lisa

[oldfella]

hello Rachel

[yugogypsy]

Welcome Rachel,

I'm in Canada, with, 1 donkey, 1 small horse,18 chickens, 2 cats, 1 domestic partner, 1 tenant, 1 acre of land and 3000 square feet of garden.

My partner is like yours, does a bit of everything according to the time of year, just now its lawns and gardens , later it will be putting netting on grapes and putting up deer fences, or stacking firewood or painting a house.

My Dad always did a big garden and Rick (my partner) and I decided to do the same, though we use different methods and the garden has been relocated.

Enjoy the forum, I've learned a lot in the year I've been here.

Lois

[snapdragon]

Hiya,

BFL? Sorry, you've lost me there!.......

Sorry Rachel - I read some stuff recently about Blue Faced Leicester sheep - (they seem to be known as BFL) - they have a long fleece that spinners and weavers seem to like. I guess most british sheep these days are meat breeds, the fleeces I got last year were from meat breeds.

[Super.Niki]

Hi Rachel!

Another Leicester one here too! Right in the centre with a windowsil garden!

Welcome to the forum! Nice bunch they all are!

xx

[Rachel Squires]

Hiya,

We don't have any blue faced leicesters (I think) although we do have the odd Border leicester in there. The majority of our ewes are mules or wendsleydales and our tups are texels (not sure of the spelling there). I have a few southdowns as a bit of an experiment but they are nowhere near as hardy or are as good breaders as the other sheep and they are very prone to flystrike cos of their dense wool so I won't be getting any more. To be honest, our flock looks a bit scruffy from the outside cos we buy up the cull ewes that high intensivity farmers would send for slaughter and we get a few more years out of them. They don't look very pretty but they are cheap to buy and make excellent mothers and are less likely to have lambing problems. The only thing you need to watch out for if you're gonna try this approach is that they don't have 'bad bags' ie that their udders are not too damaged through past illness to provide enough milk.

What I'd really love is a house cow and some chickens but that's something for when we get our own place.

Thanks again, to all the lovely welcomes that I'm continuing to receive!

Rach

[chadspad]

Welcome Rachel, tis a great site!

We could use something like that this side of the Channel. The French and the Internet are yet to form a happy liason and finding anything can be a bit of a pain.

Jon, u saying the inthevendee forum isnt your bible then lol?

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Welcome Rachel, tis a great site!

We could use something like that this side of the Channel. The French and the Internet are yet to form a happy liason and finding anything can be a bit of a pain.

Jon, u saying the inthevendee forum isnt your bible then lol?

Errrmmm...not exactly, no. I have visited that fine place but I confess that I don't find it entirely useful. The Gamm Vert isn't bad, but mostly I find what I need (chickens, straw, drink) by word of mouth.

[Thurston Garden]

Ahoy Rachel!

[Ratty]

Hello Rachel from another newbie in the East Midlands (Nottingham though). I'm off to have a look at your website, and have really enjoyed reading about all your sheep exploits on here!

Ratty