Is having a small holding as idyllic in real life???

[henmama]

I have been pondering with the idea of building an eco house, getting some goats and chickens. We are luck that my in laws have a piece of land beside their house that we could build on.

I live in a village at the moment with me and my husband, no kids. I have a cat and chickens. I would love more animals... as a therapist to maybe even run animal assisted therapy sessions.

Are these all pie in the sky ideas or has anyone else chased a crazy dream? If you do live on a small holding is it all its cracked up to be?

It depends if you are relying on it for an income or just running it in the background as a hobby... more of a big garden with some pet s on the side..

I grew up on a small holding - chickens, goats, lambs/pigs/calves (to be slaughtered for meat and fed on the excess milk), grew fruit and veg, bartered skills for pheasants/pigeons and hay and foraged food as well.
My parents both worked FT, so what this meant that dad got up at 5am to milk then by 6am my mum would be cooling/ filtering the milk and everyone needed to be fed and watered by 8am (inc the greenhouses in the summer). In the evening there was more to do and after evening milking the separator would go on and cream turned into butter, put cheese or yogurt on and so on.
Milking is a twice a day, every day thing and it is incredibly difficult to get someone else to fill in.
Have chickens, grow veg, but don't have livestock unless you are committed to being at home at 7am and 7pm every single day, and learning to look after them. Remember if you want milk they will need to be in kid every 2 years then you have to deliver kids, sort out twin issues, and then deal with the boys. Its really a tough life

It's completely idyllic if you are rich and don't mind that animals can get ill, die, or get killed.

My upbringing was similar to @CMOTDibbler. Milling is a tie. My mum's body is worn out from chopping wood, milking, carrying heavy things. She worked at home while dad worked full time in an office.

It ties you down so that you can’t go away without finding someone to look after it all

My friend finally achieved the smallholding of her dreams. About six months in she texted me: 'Shit! Shit! My life is nothing but shitty shit everywhere!'

Definitely get some goats though. They are so friendly and entertaining and quite low maintenance if you only have a few.

😂

It’s probably idyllic as a hobby if you have unlimited money and plenty of spare time. It’s anything other than idyllic if it’s alongside a full time job to support it, it’s mid winter, freezing cold, dark and you have to do everything in the dark by torchlight.
We farmed for the first 25 years of our marriage so I know exactly what it’s like 😵‍💫

Yep! That sums it up 😀

I have chickens.

Love my chickens, daft buggers.

They are bloddy expensive which is in no way mitigated by the return of fresh eggs.

Cannot imagine how anyone makes a living with chickens.

So as pp said - great for fun and hobbies. Rubbish to live by

I have an equestrian smallholding so easier to run than one where you are trying to raise your own food. It's still expensive and time consuming in terms of field management and fencing. There is always something to do and never at a time convenient to you. Things are easier when the weather is with you and the weather is never with you. I find it bizarre that people who hire cleaners for their home think it is wonderfully romantic to do mind-numbingly dull and physically hard manual labour like rebuilding dry stone walls, liming a field by hand or spreading a muck heap one wheel barrow at a time. Having said all that, I wouldn't change it - my ponies and I are far happier and healthier with them being at home, being allowed to live naturally. and I would never give this place up. I also keep four ponies for less than the price of one at full livery and I don't have to fight to get them turned out or fed! But I wouldn't try growing veg or raising livestock - too much time and effort for too little return, it is easier and cheaper to buy food.

Oh, and you do become pre-occupied with shit. Cleaning it up, composting it, disposing or spreading it, it was the bane of my existence. Until dung beetles moved in - I nearly wept with joy as I watched them devour piles of dung in the field in days! Yes, this is what I have been reduced to.

We've got one. Our lives consist of fixing fencing, replacing fencing, too much grass, not enough grass, taps freezing in winter so having to cart water round. Mud, animals getting sick and killing themselves in new ways. It's lovely and terrible simultaneously. You get to be very accepting of death in animals. As the vet says 'where there's livestock there's dead stock'

@orangeflags that was one of my dads favourite sayings too. And the bigger the animal, the more of an issue it is to get rid of the body as well.
And fencing. Someone is always trying to get out or get into a particular area and some animals are incredibly inventive on their tactics on fence breaking/ gate opening/ electric fence avoidance. And they will escape to eat a neighbours prize roses, into the feed shed to stuff themselves and get bloat, or to offer themselves up to the fox.

Does any of the above answer your question OP?

It's bloody hard work and tying. I loved it for a while .... I am so happy to not have it now

I've friends who have a small holding. They cannot go on holiday together - chickens, cattle and a riding horse make it hard to find someone even to do an overnight. When both had flu they still had to get out (though luckily one is usually recovering when the other is going down with a lergy). Form filling. Cost of feed - especially in a scorched grass summer or when deer have removed half the year's growth despite deer fencing. Dealing with death. Dealing with births. Vet's bills. Fencing. TB testing. They manage but are now in their early and mid seventies so it's not getting any easier. They do love it but it's certainly not an idyll - and when one of them dies it will be impossible.

@CMOTDibbler yes we always tell the horses not to die in very wet weather please as the van can't get down to the far fields to winch them up. It's a very undignified process

Yes it definitely is, it's great to hear so many peoples experiences. I would be doing it as a hobby not to make a living. I feel that as a person who has no DIY skills and can just about manage to afford to feed the chickens and cat, its not looking like the best option.
Sure, I'll keep it as one of my many pipe dreams!

Same as PP, have an equestrian small holding. Seem to spend all my time picking up shit, doing fencing, creosoting or chopping down weeds than actually enjoying my horses 🤣. But wouldn't change it for the world. It is very tying though. I can't go out for a whole day because need to get back to lock the chickens away, especially in winter when it gets dark early. It's hard to go on holiday and find someone I trust to look after the whole operation. If something can go wrong with animals it usually will whilst you're away 😂

Haven’t done it myself but it looks like constant work, every day. That may not be a problem for some.

Would echo what everyone else is saying - you get unnaturally preoccupied with shit, it's cold and wet in the winter, dry, sweaty and dusty in the summer (well, it is here in Portugal) and you have to deal with death on a regular basis. It's stressful, exhausting, infuriating and you'll never break even, never mind make money.

And yet...it's magical. I've got 5 horses, 6 dogs, 2 cats, 2 goats, several chickens and a rooster, plus will be getting a couple of piglets in September, and I couldn't imagine life without them. I used to do horse assisted education/therapy training pre-pandemic and loved it. We have a steady stream of volunteers (over 200 in the last 12 years!) so we can get away occasionally and they help with the day to day chores.

Steepest learning curve ever but so rewarding.

Well, there’s this
https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/tell-me-about-goats.829656/

and this in classics (deservedly so)
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mumsnet_classics/4578634-why-do-sheep-need-so-much-help

That Horse & Hound thread is brilliant, although I do wonder if my saddle-fitter is on it!