Pets
Poppy is a German Shorthaired Pointer (GSP). Doug has had a lifelong dream to have a black GSP. She is sometimes the dream doggy, other times she is more of a nightmare!
Sambuca isn't exactly a pet, we got her to keep the rodent population down, a job that she is very good at. However I have put her under this section as we are certainly not planning on eating her. We got her from a rescue place and chose her because she tried to kill Doug's hand and we were impressed with her killing urges. She is a bit feisty, but very sweet when she is in the mood. Watch out for your hand though...
We got Daisy in April 2013. She was 10 and had only been first ridden a few months before we got her. We had a lot of trouble with her feet for the first 8 months or so, but we hope that is sorted now. The instructor at the riding school where we have lessons says 'she has a lot of ideas' - should wants to do what she wants. not anyone else.
We got Owen a little after Daisy in spring 2013. He was 15 at the time. He is a real gentleman although he still has plenty of character. He suffers over the winter with rain scald and foot fungus which tends to make him a bit grumpy. He is not happy when hungry either.
Livestock
Sheep
We have two flocks of sheep. We got sheep because we have a lot of land to maintain and we thought they would be a good way of keeping the grass down while producing some meat. Fencing for them is hard work. At the moment we use movable electric sheep mesh but we dream of one day being able to fence all the fields with something that will contain sheep (multi strand electric?) and then moving them would be much less effort.
Flock 1 are all Ouessant (Ushant in English - which is a French island in The Channel) sheep, we got them with the idea that they will keep the grass down in the orchard (when such a thing properly exists) as they are small and easily handled and are less keen on eating trees than some other breeds. They are also good eaters, although small - but that is fine when there are just two of you. There is a ram and 6 ewes in this flock and of course lambs for some of the year. The ram - Tyson - is a lovely friendly guy who only gets a bit butty in the silly season (Oct and Nov, while they are mating). We find them great as they taste good, are hardy, they lamb without help and are small and easy to handle.
Flock 1 are all Ouessant (Ushant in English - which is a French island in The Channel) sheep, we got them with the idea that they will keep the grass down in the orchard (when such a thing properly exists) as they are small and easily handled and are less keen on eating trees than some other breeds. They are also good eaters, although small - but that is fine when there are just two of you. There is a ram and 6 ewes in this flock and of course lambs for some of the year. The ram - Tyson - is a lovely friendly guy who only gets a bit butty in the silly season (Oct and Nov, while they are mating). We find them great as they taste good, are hardy, they lamb without help and are small and easy to handle.
Tyson Danna Canna Tyree Iona Jura 2014 baby
Flock 2 are of mixed breeds, all of which are bigger than the Ouessant. We started this flock kind by accident when someone gave us some of them along with some Ouessants they were getting rid of (she had health problems). We bought Harris as a bigger ram than Tyson who came with these sheep.
Harris is a Scottish Blackface sheep (Harris because Harris tweed is made from Blackface wool). He is quite a gentle chap and is bullied by Mrs Jacob. He got caught in the electric fence not long after we got him and it was touch and go whether he survived. Doug's careful nursing pulled him through. Sugar water seemed to give him the strength to keep going. We hope his swimmers are unaffected by repeated electric shocks!
Mrs Jacob is a two horned jacob. On the whole we would not get a jacob again as she has goat like escape skills and is a cunning thing who is fixated on escape. However she is great because she is the only one of our sheep to have twins
Mrs Suffolk is a Suffolk cross - we are not sure what she is crossed with.
Miss Suffolk is Mrs Suffolk and Tyson's daughter from 2012/
Little Miss Suffolk is Mrs Suffolk and Tyson's daughter from 2013/
Cows
Our cows are Highland Cattle, you wouldn't think you would find these in France, but there are actually a reasonable number. I guess they are good in mountainous areas as they can cope with winter outside. Probably not so good in warmer parts of France.
We got them because we wanted something that would eat a bigger variety of stuff than the sheep and horses - who are mainly interested in the grass. We were not keen on goats given the problems people seem to have keeping them fenced. Little did we know how hard it would be to keep a young highland cow in. We are hoping (as the 'cow man' we got them from alleges) that they will get better at staying put as they get older.
Hainoa is quite mad.
Islay is younger and seems quite mad too, but less mad than Hainoa at that age.
Chickens
If you have a smallholding you have to have chickens! We started off with Gasconnes who have not impressed us. We bought five, and now, 18 months later there are only two left as the others have just dropped dead. Perhaps our fault, but we wormed them, we fed them proper pellets and there never seems to have been much wrong with them beforehand. They have also been rubbish layers all through the summer 2013 which should have been their best year (while young) we only got one or two eggs a day. There was a very brief period (possibly a week) where we got 4 a day. One of the dead ones went broody a few times and raised some chicks which was good. We wonder if they were inbred or something as many people have more success with them. We then hatched some Copper Marans. They got off to a better start with laying although they have tailed off a bit now, but it is winter. I read they are meant to be a breed that lays in winter more than many. We have eaten some of the cockerels and although they have strange narrow breasts they are very tasty.
