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What do you love/hate about your farm?


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Thanks, Julie, for a good and detailed explanation!

 

I have had few sheep but have had dairy goats, and found they also much preferred overhangs for lounging rather than being inside in many kinds of weather. They also seemed to prefer not feeling "confined" but liked to be able to see around them.

 

As for gates in corners, we have cattle and so most of my observations are based on them. While we find that the adult cattle easily learn to utilize mid-fence line openings (we don't have many gates and in some locations, Ed either raises or puts the wires on the ground for moving the herd), the calves oftentimes get "stuck" by running past the openings or getting into corners near openings. Of course, not having "real" gates is part of the problem as the youngster have learned they can't go through a place and now we are wanting them to go through there. It's a management issue, compounded by how the young stock react to their mothers passing through the openings when the youngsters don't make the passage right with them.

 

And for moving cattle, corner openings/gates simply help us to channel all the animals more easily. Since we don't tend to gate cut (except in the working pens), that's not generally an issue for us.

 

So a lot of what you want to set up will also depend on the type of stock your are planning to have. Julie did a great job of describing many of her experiences with regards to sheep, and I appreciated that.

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  • 3 years later...

Such a great topic!

I'd be interested to know how you all selected the land / plot that you ended up on. What criteria did you use? I recently moved back to where I grew up only to find out that my dogs have a hard time with the humidity we get out here. This has me looking elsewhere in the US for greener pastures and lower humidity.

For those of you on a farm - did proximity to sheep / cattle trials play into your decision at all?

Anyone willing to share their experiences about making the transition from suburban life out to the farm?

Thanks in advance. This information is fascinating to me.

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Our criteria:

1 proximity to the job that pays for the mortgage (farm income from 80 ewes cannot cover the mortgage in the DC MD VA metro area)

2 we could afford the mortgage 

3 pasture with at least 200yard outrun for training 

4 interesting terrain for training

We we’re very lucky to find a small farm in the DC MD VA metro area that met these criteria 

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1 hour ago, iLLt3cK said:

Such a great topic!

I'd be interested to know how you all selected the land / plot that you ended up on. What criteria did you use? I recently moved back to where I grew up only to find out that my dogs have a hard time with the humidity we get out here. This has me looking elsewhere in the US for greener pastures and lower humidity.

For those of you on a farm - did proximity to sheep / cattle trials play into your decision at all?

Anyone willing to share their experiences about making the transition from suburban life out to the farm?

Thanks in advance. This information is fascinating to me.

The farm next to the one we used to rent was for sale, an opportunity not be missed. It meant we could move with our stock (strict rules about that here), and we graze them free range on amost the same area, ideal! Same roundup in autumn, with the same people.

Proximity to trials did not play a role at all. I have working dogs for my sheep, not the other way round.

The biggest transition was when I moved from my home country to Iceland (about 23 years ago), almost immediately bought a couple of horses, and it has been a slow but steady process to fullblown country life since.

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