At the end of May 2021 we reached the 8 year anniversary of moving from a previous suburban semi-detached life to our rural 15 acre smallholding in the North Pennines. On one level we are now so settled here that this is just another anniversary and no big deal really. However when I take the …
Continue reading ‘The 8th anniversary and another successful calving’ »
After a number of unsuccessful attempts at artificial insemination with the pigs earlier in the year, we decided to try natural service instead and we borrowed a Tamworth boar for a few months. When he arrived we quickly found that he was very relaxed and easy to work with, so that was one big worry …
In our area, there is a 4 year regime for cattle TB testing as a result of the generally low incidence of the disease here. It’s still a theoretical possibility that they might test positive but it’s fairly unlikely. When our Dexters had their first ever bovine TB test in Dec 2016/Jan 2017, the event …
On Friday morning we awoke to find a couple of inches of snow had fallen and settled too which was a slight surprise. It wasn’t quite cold enough for it to stay though and it rained occasionally for most of the day so everything turned first to mush then fairly quickly into mud For most …
Despite working from home for the last 6 months and hardly ever leaving our holding, it seems to have been impossible to find the time for a blog update. There are always a number of other tasks that seem to be more important or an unexpected event happens which throws any plans that had been …
It’s hard to believe but we’ve now been on our smallholding for 7 years. These days it’s much harder to picture our old suburban house or even the work involved in packing up to move here in May 2013 Hopefully we are becoming better custodians of this place as we go along but there was …
Continue reading ‘Seven years in and loving (nearly) every minute’ »
One of the reasons we originally decided to get pedigree Dexter cattle was because they are a native UK breed. This means they are well suited to the British climate and able to live outside all year round even here in the North Pennines. However, as they’re always outside that means they have to calve …
Very reasonably in my opinion, Fifi farrowed during the afternoon on Sunday 8 March which definitely beats sitting up all night for a 4am farrowing as we’ve had quite often in the past. She produced 9 lovely Tamworth x Berkshire piglets (8 boars and a single gilt) with very little trouble. From that point right …
Continue reading ‘First litter for Fifi – from start to finish’ »
The past weekend has been a major entry on my calendar for some time because a number of fairly big events were scheduled. However looking back on it all now, I realise I hadn’t fully appreciated that nearly all stages of pig breeding were involved – artificial insemination on Sissy plus a new litter for …
Continue reading ‘All stages of pig breeding in one weekend’ »
This weekend was weaning time for Sissy and her small litter of 2 piglets so the farrowing shed became the piglet shed just for one night. In the morning Sissy moved back to the woods for some peace and quiet while the piglets enjoyed a hearty breakfast without having to share it with mum They’re …