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KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
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Author:  KK75 [ Mon Dec 22, 2014 10:07 pm ]
Post subject:  KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
Hi everyone great forum you have here.
I’ve recently started to question where our food comes from and how the animals have been treated / raised before they get to us. Have they been given hormones or antibiotics? And the price for organic is quite high most of the time. My goal is to have 3 meals a week grown on the farm. 1 Fish, 1 Lamb and one Chicken

I decided to get myself a few Dorper sheep and quickly found out how bad my fences were!!! I've been fixing them up a bit at a time since about May and they are not too bad now. No escapes in the last 3 weeks while I have been away at work!!! :joy: Keeps the better half happy!!

I put a Ram in with the girls at the end of November so I’m looking forward to a few lambs come about May with any luck :god:

The next challenge will be the chooks so ill start with building a pen for them this time i am home.

I have a small Aquaponics setup as well that i will be slowly expanding to aim for the 1 fish meal per week. I suspect this may end up being the hardest or at least taking the longest time to achieve. Of course over time this will give me most of my veggies if all goes to plan.

Cheers
Kev

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Author:  Snags [ Tue Dec 23, 2014 10:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
They look delicious
I have had a bit ,as a friend grows them sustainablly in her permaculture system and its very nice.
Author:  KK75 [ Tue Dec 23, 2014 3:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
Cheers Snags
It will be interesting to see what they are like when the time comes.
Author:  Aussiedownunder [ Tue Dec 23, 2014 6:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
A joke how do the new Zealanders find there sheep in the long grass
DELIGHYTFULL
Author:  KK75 [ Tue Dec 23, 2014 6:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
Always remebered this add for the Hilux and had a laugh. Found it again on youtube a while ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39fFJOWee4k
Author:  Simo [ Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
That is a quality ram you have there, shoud get some nice fat lambs :thumb:
Author:  Burnsy [ Sat Jan 03, 2015 12:40 am ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
He is a big fella bet it is fun tackling him for drenching if you have no race.
Author:  Snags [ Sat Jan 03, 2015 12:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
My friend who runs them on her property in a permaculture way doesnt drench.
Feeds them DE,copra, copper sulphate and few other goodies in their feed.
The idea is to have the sheep poo fertilise your soil and feed the worms not kill them.
Its a learning curve previously wormed sheep that have been donated to her have died because they had no natural resistance,while her flock is now self sustaining un drenched
There was a good article on land line about organic sheep and them naturally medicating on specific weeds in Tassie (it might still be on IVeiw???)
From memory plantain was key
Author:  Peasants [ Mon Jan 05, 2015 5:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
Looks great KK! We have Wiltshires...similar to the Dorpers in that they need no shearing and are a great meat sheep. After a lot of worm/parasite problems with merinos, touch wood....we have got to a position with the Wiltshires that we don't drench...no crutching either which is also a blessing!!

Something else to consider in the future- rabbits. They are good for meat, just need a good secure pen so they don't escape!
Author:  KK75 [ Tue Jan 06, 2015 12:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
Burnsy I had the exact same thought!! I have a small pen I built for drenching the girls that I just used normal farm fencing but when I brought the boy home I looked at it and realised it was not going to cut it. I'm looking into building a small pen and race.

Snags that sounds interesting getting the flock to build up a natural resistance and ill have to do some research on it in the future as I would ideally like to have no medications used on the flock. Do they build up a resistance or are the worms eliminated from the property over time?

Peasants I did look at the Wiltshires and only went with the Dorpers because my neighbour used to have them and I used to get them on my block as well so I had some exposure already.

Happy new year to everyone as well.

Kev
Author:  Snags [ Tue Jan 06, 2015 11:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
KK75 wrote:

Snags that sounds interesting getting the flock to build up a natural resistance and ill have to do some research on it in the future as I would ideally like to have no medications used on the flock. Do they build up a resistance or are the worms eliminated from the property over time?


Bit off both
Paddock rotation to keep the grasses long ,the parasites are closer to the ground,allow some poisonous weeds to grow and let the animals self medicate,feeding of tree fodder crops ,less chance of parasites and high tannin helps kill what may be in the gut
Apple cider vinegar and garlic drench.
Chickens or guinea fowl in with the sheep to keep the parasites down.
Author:  KK75 [ Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
Well I'm finally getting around to building the new Chicken coop. The ground here is full on clay so really hard to dig. I had to wet the ground first then use a manual post hole digger. It took me days to do all the poles as I had to re soak the holes every so often. I have to attach the wire over the next few days and the roof will have to wait until next time I'm home.

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Author:  Peasants [ Sat Jan 31, 2015 8:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
Looks great!!
Author:  arbe [ Sat Feb 07, 2015 5:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
Looks great.

I was going to get Dorpers but after seeing the jump fences (which sheep dogs would have trouble getting over) or push through them I don't want the hassle. I was then going to get some whiltshires but now have 3 merinos (pets) so I will just stick with them.
Author:  gazza [ Sat Feb 07, 2015 11:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: KK's Sustainable Farming adventure
yep those dorpers sure point out the weak points in your fences :)
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