The Poultry Keeper

debcat · Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 6:31 pm Post subject:

the nfu has a website
[url]
http://www.nfu.org/[/url]

hth

mojo · Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 6:34 pm Post subject:

please take very special precautions with demolising a asbestos building...do get advice...and congrats on the the new baby.do take care dont do too much

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 472 Location: gwent

hiya again i found the nfu website for where i am looks as though i will have to ring them to join as their fees change as are catered to your needs as it says on there website,thanks for all your help and advice anyway i will take it easy while I'm pregnant thanks rather now than later lol i couldn't imagine being in the middle of looking after goats building our own home and being pregnant at the same time i would have to be a super mum so at least i have got the timing right.hopefully the nfu can give us some good advise too so will ring them on Monday.thanks again Very Happy

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 472 Location: gwent

just thought i would look up too see what the poisonous plants are i did not realize bracken was a fern that's not good there is a lot of ferns up there at the moment they are died off but they will be back sprouting by the spring that will mean we would have to clear the ground manually using some sort of weedkiller wouldn't it?oh dear looks like we are in for some fun.has anyone else ever had to clear their land from ferns before?and how did you do it? Shocked

also would we need planning to stick a shipping container up there so that we can store our machinery and equipment safe?you know the big metal container things you see on the back of lorries etc?

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 472 Location: gwent

well i have been busy this morning on the phone i contacted defra who really did not give me much advise i don't think the girl really knew what it was i was going on about when i asked about what housing requirements etc and what paper work is involved in keeping goats she tried to put me through to a vet who didn't answer so i just gave up on that for now,but as one of you mentioned i may be able to get a grant to help clear the bracken so i went chasing after that i was given the national Assembly number as was told they deal with grants they we not very help full but gave me somebody Else's number who then gave me the countryside council for wales number who told me we may be eligible but they will not have any openings in the application yet and we may have to wait a while as it may be some time this year so to sit tight and wait to hear off them they also said something about restoring natural boundaries too so sounds interesting glad i looked into it Very Happy

.i have contacted my local nfu they have advised me to get public liability in case some one gets injured on our footpath but i have to sort our home insurance first as we are in a flood area and are waiting on the environmental to send a flood report before we are able to get our home and contents so at least we know where we are with that.with the grant it is some sort of ten year commitment thing but that does not matter it appears they only want to preserve the land which is what we want to do just as long as it does not interfere with the fact we do want to build a house there at some point the man i spoke to said it would depends on where we want the house but i cant see it affecting things too much then eventually we will be able to get some goats which I'm really looking forward too now.right I'm off to ring my solicitor find out how things are going .thanks again everyone you have all been really great Very Happy

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 472 Location: gwent

i have posted some pics in the gallery under my first name Marilyn if anyone interested Very Happy

Lisa · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:03 pm Post subject:

Have you seen May's Smallholder mag? There are a couple of pages covering the kind of thing you're thinking of doing... (regulations are all gobbly-de-gook to me though... Embarassed

)

jaydee67 · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 7:45 pm Post subject:

Anyone see the April issue? Did it have a chicken on the front cover? The place Craig goes riding got some birds from us last year and one of their babies was supposed to be featuring on the cover! Forgot to buy a copy.

Lisa · Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 8:24 pm Post subject:

Not me - only raided WHSmiths today after seeing all the animals in the petting zoo at Whipsnade last weekend Rolling Eyes

- Berkshire Mummy and 9 babies.... aw.... we want one (several Wink

)

Though I think something milkable is in poll position... Wink

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 472 Location: gwent

hi i bought the April one from countrywide it has a duckling on the front cover even though i subscribed i don't get my first issue delivered till June i think they said oh well Rolling Eyes

.i have just written a letter to the senior planners as when i spoke to a planning officer the other day he could not give me an answer on whether i needed planning to put a shipping container on our land its just we want somewhere secure to put our fencing and machinery that we will need to do the boundary and thought one of those containers would be perfect so i have told them what we are intending to do and about keeping the goats there but needing to clear the bracken as well first so hopefully they will not object as generally bracken has a lot of destructive habits as well as being poisonous to livestock and wildlife from what i have read on the net.i have had to mark on a copy of the plans where we are intending on putting it ,i cant see them saying no as the Celtic manor hotel further up the lane has completely destroyed the land that was on the one side of the road and they have also destroyed the lane itself by using heavy machinery along there the tarmac is full off potholes and the lane floods as a result of them moving millions of tons of soil from the top bank to make up their golf course on the bottom their land would of been the same classification as ours but they get away with murder because they bring so much money into the area Confused

and we have the Ryder cup coming here in 2011 so there will probably be a lot more development before then.anyway i don't care as long as i get to have my smallholding with some goats and a few more chickens Smile

.i spoke to the countryside council for wales who runs these 10 year projects for farmers etc has anyone else ever signed up with them for any of their schemes just wondered what they fully involve as the the man i spoke to did not really give to much information other than they will help fund the removal of bracken and help with boundaries Question

poultry poofs · Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:44 pm Post subject:

Browse this site and you will find almost everything you need to know to do with livestock land management etc if there is anything specific e-mail your questions and they will forward them on to the appropriate department.To be honest its best getting the publications and reading them yourself as the staff are usually trained for one specific area and are mostly administrative clerical staff and wouldnt know what you were on about in fairness to them.They would forward any specific enquiries to the staff who deal with that area.There are a few forums that cater for people in similar circumstances such as www.acountrylife.com

http://www.smallholder.co.uk/

http://www.defra.gov.uk/

http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/publications/pubcat/ag.htm

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/animindx.htm

A lot of the stuff on DEFRA is in PDF files and can be downloaded and saved for you to read at your leisure and saved waiting for it to be posted to you.
The key thing teally is to sit down and think about what you want to do ultimately and plan things for that aim and acquire the info you need to make it happen.Writing it all down as a plan with key elements to tackle like land issues,livestock,machinery,legal etc You will find things a lot easier to control and setbacks wont seem so awful Wink

rich

debcat · Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:39 pm Post subject:

and another one Very Happy

[url]
http://michaellock.forumup.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=1035#1035[/url]

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 472 Location: gwent

wow thanks for that will take a look at them in a bit i spoke to the neighbor who has just built his house next door to the land he was really concerned with what we were intending to do with it but hopefully we have put his mind at ease he is really not happy with the bloke on the other side i think the bloke used him a little as he knocked on his door asking for his architects number and seeking advise when his only intentions are to sell the land on when its developed .anyway i thought whilst he brought it up i would ask for his details anyway as we have full intentions of staying and living on the land eventually he was kind enough to offer to show us around as we have not seen the boundary behind ours yet as he has dogs that would probably attack us as they do not know us and he has said there is no fence in place but the boundary is marked by mature trees so we know where it is he said we cannot access it from behind as its overgrown so think he is going to show us from his ground.there is a lot of activity on the other side where the bloke is in his caravan he has loads of building equipment up there now so i think he has either been granted permission or still has full intentions of going for it there has been lorry loads of top soil being delivered there the past two days so he is definitely carrying on.if he gets planning they would not really be able to refuse us eventually if we keep trying we are just so lucky to be in the position we are things are probably going to get real tight money wise but it will be worth it in the end to be able to have my own small holding is a dream come true and I'm going to try my damned hardest i know there will be knock backs but I'm a determined sort of person.thanks everyone you have all been so great cheers

sasha.p · Joined: 04 Sep 2005 Posts: 472 Location: gwent

thanks rich,do you work for the council or defra or something one of those links has been excellent advice and has shown me I'm definitely going in the right direction i have been looking on my local council site and have read so much regarding planning word for word i will be a pro by the time Ive finished lol and i did take a look on defras site but never managed to bring up the stuff you posted the links on .thanks Smile

poultry poofs · Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 2:44 am Post subject:

No I dont work for anyone Cool

.....just been dealing with farming matters for a long time.The links to DEFRA posted is to the section covering farming and livestock matters you will have to browse through to find what concerns you as I dont know what that is exactly,theres plenty there to keep you occupied. Laughing

rich