Clarkson’s Farm
Discussion
james6546 said:
Evoluzione said:
It's a bit silly commenting on a method of keeping cows whilst not knowing anything about it or even watching the program.
If you do want to watch it it was on Countryfile 13th June.
Then make a more informed comment.
I was only commenting on cows being inside vs. outside.If you do want to watch it it was on Countryfile 13th June.
Then make a more informed comment.
I've seen a couple of robot milking parlours, they are fab bits of kit and do genuinely make the cows happier as they can just be milked when they get uncomfortable.
We used to milk cows but the regs changed and the farm wasn't equipped to meet them without significant outlay.
Do you make much money out of Alpacas, if so how?
Evoluzione said:
It was a general comment, not directed at you personally hence why I didn't quote you.
Do you make much money out of Alpacas, if so how?
Not so far! To the extent that we tried to get a loan for some land with a barn last week and the bank said no even before we had given them details as they don't take alpacas seriously.Do you make much money out of Alpacas, if so how?
We have only been doing it a couple of years, but the plan is to do weddings (yes it is a thing), alpaca walks and events to get enough money to build up the herd. Then go into breeding more seriously.
We also sell alpaca food, products made with their fleeces and offer studding with our new stud.
I don't know if it will ever replace our real jobs in terms of income, but we are trying. I think last year we made a pretty big loss, but at least it can be offset against our earnings!
My long term plan is actually to buy a small farm, have a farm shop and maybe cafe with some camping pods and then the alpaca experiences.
james6546 said:
Evoluzione said:
It was a general comment, not directed at you personally hence why I didn't quote you.
Do you make much money out of Alpacas, if so how?
Not so far! To the extent that we tried to get a loan for some land with a barn last week and the bank said no even before we had given them details as they don't take alpacas seriously.Do you make much money out of Alpacas, if so how?
We have only been doing it a couple of years, but the plan is to do weddings (yes it is a thing), alpaca walks and events to get enough money to build up the herd. Then go into breeding more seriously.
We also sell alpaca food, products made with their fleeces and offer studding with our new stud.
I don't know if it will ever replace our real jobs in terms of income, but we are trying. I think last year we made a pretty big loss, but at least it can be offset against our earnings!
My long term plan is actually to buy a small farm, have a farm shop and maybe cafe with some camping pods and then the alpaca experiences.
It may be safer to just leave it as it is - rented off to a sheep farmer!
Evoluzione said:
Thanks for writing, it's very interesting. Well to me anyhow as we're due to get the keys to a farmhouse and smallholding on Monday. We'll be easing ourselves in to a new life over the next few years and i'm looking at various things to do with the land.
It may be safer to just leave it as it is - rented off to a sheep farmer!
The old adage how to make a fortune out of a small holding?It may be safer to just leave it as it is - rented off to a sheep farmer!
Start with a large fortune!
Iwantafusca said:
Lord Marylebone said:
I didn’t watch countryfile, but a friend of mine has a 600 acre dairy farm, and switched to keeping his cows inside all year round, about 5 years ago and claims it is much better.
The cows are fed by robots which trundle round preset routes pushing hay and silage around, there are automatic troughs for water and feed pellets, and the cows are milked 24 hours a day by robots. They just make their way to the milking bay when they feel they need milked.
He claims the cows are much happier wandering around freely inside away from the weather (it is a massive shed to be fair) and because the cows aren’t occupying the fields, they can all be used for growing grass for silage, hay, etc.
It’s also easier on the farmers as they don’t have to have the 6am and 5pm, 7 days per week milking schedule. They just leave the cows to milk themselves while they do other farming tasks.
Sounds depressing, never see sunlight?The cows are fed by robots which trundle round preset routes pushing hay and silage around, there are automatic troughs for water and feed pellets, and the cows are milked 24 hours a day by robots. They just make their way to the milking bay when they feel they need milked.
He claims the cows are much happier wandering around freely inside away from the weather (it is a massive shed to be fair) and because the cows aren’t occupying the fields, they can all be used for growing grass for silage, hay, etc.
It’s also easier on the farmers as they don’t have to have the 6am and 5pm, 7 days per week milking schedule. They just leave the cows to milk themselves while they do other farming tasks.
james6546 said:
Evoluzione said:
It was a general comment, not directed at you personally hence why I didn't quote you.
Do you make much money out of Alpacas, if so how?
Not so far! To the extent that we tried to get a loan for some land with a barn last week and the bank said no even before we had given them details as they don't take alpacas seriously.Do you make much money out of Alpacas, if so how?
We have only been doing it a couple of years, but the plan is to do weddings (yes it is a thing), alpaca walks and events to get enough money to build up the herd. Then go into breeding more seriously.
We also sell alpaca food, products made with their fleeces and offer studding with our new stud.
I don't know if it will ever replace our real jobs in terms of income, but we are trying. I think last year we made a pretty big loss, but at least it can be offset against our earnings!
My long term plan is actually to buy a small farm, have a farm shop and maybe cafe with some camping pods and then the alpaca experiences.
https://www.woolvillealpacas.com/
They seemingly are making a very nice living out of it.
AstonZagato said:
My daughter is doing work experience (studying to be a vet) on a dairy farm at the moment. By god, it's hard, hard, smelly work. 5:00am start, gets home at 6pm. Covered head to toe in cow sh!t. Her car now smells like a cow shed. Given me a new appreciation for herdsmen.
It's why robots are better than people! Who wants to be up at 5am and home at 7pm 7 days a week? The bigger herds which milk 3 times a day finish at 10pm. It's a crap way of life, it really is. You can't go on holiday, you can't take an afternoon off, your life is dictated by the cows. Not as if they make much money either, there is a regular milk cheque so cash flow is less of an issue than in other types of farming, but it's far from profitable.
Evoluzione said:
Thanks for writing, it's very interesting. Well to me anyhow as we're due to get the keys to a farmhouse and smallholding on Monday. We'll be easing ourselves in to a new life over the next few years and i'm looking at various things to do with the land.
It may be safer to just leave it as it is - rented off to a sheep farmer!
Alpacas are fantastic, they just take some effort to make into a profit making business!It may be safer to just leave it as it is - rented off to a sheep farmer!
When we got married in 2019 we asked for donations towards alpacas and bought 5 as a solution to me having to mow the 2 acre field that came with our house (I still have to mow it as alpacas can't eat long grass...).
It then turned out that we both really liked the alpacas and have now got a 6 alpaca walking team, 3 breeding females, 2 little un's (breeding next year) and 2 pets and we now have to rent another 8 acres!
I don't regret it though, they all have such different personalities and were a fantastic distraction during covid, even attending a few of my conference calls.
The walks are reasonably popular, we do 2 per weekend on average, but that is just from word of mouth with advertising on one of the peak district websites to start next week I think.
I worry that the walk is only around our fields as we have had a few people let go of them, so don't really want to take them onto tracks and roads, but everyone who comes seems to love it. The view helps, we are very lucky here.
Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:
Hi James. Hang in there with the business. We live in an ex-mining village, and what was the site of the pits has been regenerated to become 'pit' woods. It's 80 odd acres with paths and bridleways, and the below linked business is no more than 100 metres from one of the entrances. They charge, IIRC, £25 for a walk with them in to and around the pit woods. Might it help to have a good look around their site? (I'm sure they won't mind a bit of free advertising!)
https://www.woolvillealpacas.com/
They seemingly are making a very nice living out of it.
Small world, Sarah (my other half) went and did a couple days of helping with an alpaca judging course with Jamie from Woolville a bit earlier in the year. We are near Carsington Water so aren't too far away either.https://www.woolvillealpacas.com/
They seemingly are making a very nice living out of it.
Woolvilles site is so lovely, we can't quite match that, although people who come and visit seem happy.
We charge £15 for an hours walk that includes feeding all of the alpacas and then a walk, I thought £25 was a bit steep but we are a lot cheaper than others so might increase the price a bit.
Oh, and we have an alpaca yoga session this weekend! We had 30 people attend the last one in May, totally weird concept to me, but it was a nice day.
james6546 said:
Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:
Hi James. Hang in there with the business. We live in an ex-mining village, and what was the site of the pits has been regenerated to become 'pit' woods. It's 80 odd acres with paths and bridleways, and the below linked business is no more than 100 metres from one of the entrances. They charge, IIRC, £25 for a walk with them in to and around the pit woods. Might it help to have a good look around their site? (I'm sure they won't mind a bit of free advertising!)
https://www.woolvillealpacas.com/
They seemingly are making a very nice living out of it.
Small world, Sarah (my other half) went and did a couple days of helping with an alpaca judging course with Jamie from Woolville a bit earlier in the year. We are near Carsington Water so aren't too far away either.https://www.woolvillealpacas.com/
They seemingly are making a very nice living out of it.
Woolvilles site is so lovely, we can't quite match that, although people who come and visit seem happy.
We charge £15 for an hours walk that includes feeding all of the alpacas and then a walk, I thought £25 was a bit steep but we are a lot cheaper than others so might increase the price a bit.
Oh, and we have an alpaca yoga session this weekend! We had 30 people attend the last one in May, totally weird concept to me, but it was a nice day.
Just another little nugget if you ever head that way again, on the main lane that goes through the hamlet, if you continue up it towards Bolsover there is a house that was on 'Grand Designs' (not knowing if you watch said show) The converted Water Works, this one -
Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:
james6546 said:
Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:
Hi James. Hang in there with the business. We live in an ex-mining village, and what was the site of the pits has been regenerated to become 'pit' woods. It's 80 odd acres with paths and bridleways, and the below linked business is no more than 100 metres from one of the entrances. They charge, IIRC, £25 for a walk with them in to and around the pit woods. Might it help to have a good look around their site? (I'm sure they won't mind a bit of free advertising!)
https://www.woolvillealpacas.com/
They seemingly are making a very nice living out of it.
Small world, Sarah (my other half) went and did a couple days of helping with an alpaca judging course with Jamie from Woolville a bit earlier in the year. We are near Carsington Water so aren't too far away either.https://www.woolvillealpacas.com/
They seemingly are making a very nice living out of it.
Woolvilles site is so lovely, we can't quite match that, although people who come and visit seem happy.
We charge £15 for an hours walk that includes feeding all of the alpacas and then a walk, I thought £25 was a bit steep but we are a lot cheaper than others so might increase the price a bit.
Oh, and we have an alpaca yoga session this weekend! We had 30 people attend the last one in May, totally weird concept to me, but it was a nice day.
Just another little nugget if you ever head that way again, on the main lane that goes through the hamlet, if you continue up it towards Bolsover there is a house that was on 'Grand Designs' (not knowing if you watch said show) The converted Water Works, this one -
Condi said:
Lily the Pink said:
I would very much dispute the claim that cows are happier spending time out in the fields.
Anyone who has seen cows on the first day they are let out into the fields in Spring after overwintering in sheds will see how terrified they are to be outside again, running scared from their own shadows and literally jumping in fear in some cases.
See how much nonsense it is to anthropomorphise human emotions and feelings onto animals ?
What utter nonsense. If you don't know when your pets are happy or sad you're doing a terrible job of looking after them. Farmers just have more animals to look after, but if you simply open the shed door as most people do then the cows could stay inside if they want. As it is, they are very obviously excited to be outside. Anyone who has seen cows on the first day they are let out into the fields in Spring after overwintering in sheds will see how terrified they are to be outside again, running scared from their own shadows and literally jumping in fear in some cases.
See how much nonsense it is to anthropomorphise human emotions and feelings onto animals ?
Remember, you are genetically 98% identical to a pig. Animals are not so different to us.
Anyone who claims animals (or at least mammals) are incapable of similar genuine emotions to humans and it's just ''anthropomorphology'' is a borderline psychopath.
james6546 said:
Evoluzione said:
Thanks for writing, it's very interesting. Well to me anyhow as we're due to get the keys to a farmhouse and smallholding on Monday. We'll be easing ourselves in to a new life over the next few years and i'm looking at various things to do with the land.
It may be safer to just leave it as it is - rented off to a sheep farmer!
Alpacas are fantastic, they just take some effort to make into a profit making business!It may be safer to just leave it as it is - rented off to a sheep farmer!
When we got married in 2019 we asked for donations towards alpacas and bought 5 as a solution to me having to mow the 2 acre field that came with our house (I still have to mow it as alpacas can't eat long grass...).
It then turned out that we both really liked the alpacas and have now got a 6 alpaca walking team, 3 breeding females, 2 little un's (breeding next year) and 2 pets and we now have to rent another 8 acres!
I don't regret it though, they all have such different personalities and were a fantastic distraction during covid, even attending a few of my conference calls.
The walks are reasonably popular, we do 2 per weekend on average, but that is just from word of mouth with advertising on one of the peak district websites to start next week I think.
I worry that the walk is only around our fields as we have had a few people let go of them, so don't really want to take them onto tracks and roads, but everyone who comes seems to love it. The view helps, we are very lucky here.
What makes them spit by the way? Is it when they fell threatened? I've read they're good at protecting their other animal friends like chickens from foxes etc.
I'm now going to Google what the heck Alpaca Yoga is.....
Edited by Evoluzione on Friday 25th June 21:32
mike74 said:
Condi said:
Lily the Pink said:
I would very much dispute the claim that cows are happier spending time out in the fields.
Anyone who has seen cows on the first day they are let out into the fields in Spring after overwintering in sheds will see how terrified they are to be outside again, running scared from their own shadows and literally jumping in fear in some cases.
See how much nonsense it is to anthropomorphise human emotions and feelings onto animals ?
What utter nonsense. If you don't know when your pets are happy or sad you're doing a terrible job of looking after them. Farmers just have more animals to look after, but if you simply open the shed door as most people do then the cows could stay inside if they want. As it is, they are very obviously excited to be outside. Anyone who has seen cows on the first day they are let out into the fields in Spring after overwintering in sheds will see how terrified they are to be outside again, running scared from their own shadows and literally jumping in fear in some cases.
See how much nonsense it is to anthropomorphise human emotions and feelings onto animals ?
Remember, you are genetically 98% identical to a pig. Animals are not so different to us.
Anyone who claims animals (or at least mammals) are incapable of similar genuine emotions to humans and it's just ''anthropomorphology'' is a borderline psychopath.
No doubt the naysayers will say this was just the dogs responding to a trained reward response, like if it fetches and retrieves something it gets a treat, and if it didn't get the reward it would just stop retrieving. You only have to watch the attitude and carriage of a working dog out there seeking and retrieving to know it's just not as simple as that.
Relatives had a herd of Jerseys out in N Yorkshire, certainly they reacted just as described by others when let out into pasture after a time inside due to bad weather for example.
Re cattle being inside. We're out of cows now but it used to be the highlight of the year turning the cows out to grass. They went mental. For about an hour. Then they got on with grazing. The novelty quickly wore off. Then a day or two later when it was peeing down they would be huddled round the gate bellowing to be let back in. Constructing an argument around one day in the year is a bit daft to say the least. Personally, I would never want to have cows if they were in all year round, that's me though.
I have a lot of farming friends and a few of them have moved towards keeping cows inside all year round. Most of them have the shed doors open still but the cows generally like to spend all their time inside in their all-inclusive hotel. End of discussion as far as I'm concerned, the cows have spoken.
I have a lot of farming friends and a few of them have moved towards keeping cows inside all year round. Most of them have the shed doors open still but the cows generally like to spend all their time inside in their all-inclusive hotel. End of discussion as far as I'm concerned, the cows have spoken.
james6546 said:
Lily the Pink said:
Maybe I didn't make it clear enough. It's the anthropomorphism that I disagree with.
What a bizarre argument. Of course you can tell if an animal is happy or sad. I'm not calling it Bert and making it wear a top hat.Gassing Station | TV, Film, Video Streaming & Radio | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff