Rural Retreats Magazine December 2015

R

Rural

etreats

DECEMBER 2015

ISSUE 4

sheepdogs:

great companions, reliable hard workers

how does your greenhouse grow?

time for tuning! essential equipment maintenance.

Welcome Winter has cracked his icy whip. While the first ice of the season sets in your water troughs all we can hope for is that it freezes enough for the ground to hold up under the weight of the tractor.

We all know how frustrating a bogged tractor can be!

We thank you for your continued support of the magazine and would also like to invite you to contact us if you have an experience you would like to share which you think would be helpful to others.

On behalf of the team at HQ we wish all our readers a festive end to 2015 and a prosperous 2016!

Happy Homesteading!

Contents Homesteading Essentials: 1. Homesteader’s Essential Survival Kit 2. Sheepdogs: Great Companions, Reliable Hard Workers 3. How Does Your Greenhouse Grow?

4. Winter Warmers: Good Health & Great Recipes 5. A Sappy Story: Pruning Orchard Trees 6. Time for Tuning! Essential Equipment Maintenance.

Farm Gate: 1. Herbal Remedies for Livestock 2. Nature’s Best.

3. Are You Ready for Goats?

4. Sniffing out the local Cheese 5. Rabbit Realities 8. Breeder’s Directory 6. Chilly Chooks 9. Classifieds 7. Tool of the Month 10. Marketplace Directory

Colophon: EDITOR: Tanya Bamber DIGITAL PRODUCTION MANAGER: Jason Bamber ADVERTISING: South West Publications REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Pauline Woehrle, Tamsin Cooper, Jason & Tanya Bamber.

PHOTOGRAPHY: South West Publications, Wikimedia Commons and Contributing Authors, unless otherwise indicated.

COVER IMAGE: Wikimedia Commons PUBLISHED BY: South West Publications, a subsidiary of Big Detail SARL, Chez Vignaud, 86460 Availles Limouzine, France. SIRET 753 167 667 00017.

LEGAL: All material may not be reproduced without the express permission of South West Publications, a subsidiary of Big Detail SARL. Please ensure you verify that the company you are dealing with is a registered trading company in France and or elsewhere around the world. Articles in this issue do not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine. Toute reproduction meme partielle du contenu est interdit sans l’accord ecrit du magazine.

FOR ALL EDITORIAL , ADVERTISING & SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES: Tanya Bamber editor@southwestpublications.com tel. +33 (0)6 4898 1126

JerseyOrganic Dairy.

Laitièrie Laitièrie et Crèmerie de Jersiaise

Fresh milk, butter, extra thick double cream, ice cream, and yoghurt available daily from our beautiful Jersey cows!

High welfare organic lamb, veal and beef meat packs available direct from the farm to you.

Chez Vignaud, 86460 Availles Limouzine, SW FRANCE. www.jerseylait.com info@jerseylait.com tel. +33 (0)6 4898 1126

Homesteader’s Survival Kit:

Every homestead needs a basic kit of essential – can’t – do – without items. Through our own personal experiences and those of other homesteaders and smallholders, we have compiled the following list of essentials: staple pullers wire cutters post hole diggers Pocket knife Baling Twine.……the farmer’s duct tape.

Ten Litre Buckets………for hauling water and feed.

100m Garden Hoses………you never know how far you’ll have to pump water.

Farm Truck……..1950’s or 2013, just a good one will do for hauling hay, lumber, livestock or kids. Our most reliable vehicle on the farm is a 1950’s Bedford Army Ambulance!

Tractor………again 1950’s will do just fine.

Wheelbarrow………to ease the load Scrap Piles………you will be amazed how much you can recycle a use for.

Pitch Fork Spade Shovel Towing chain or rope 2 good Chainsaws……. One will breakdown so you need a back up Good pair of leather work gloves and hat.

Mulching head for your strimmer Basic hay-making equipment for your tractor.

Please send us any suggestions for this list. We will publish it every issue.

Ruff Choice: Which farm dog is right for you?

By Jake Swearingen – Modern Farmer

Australian Kelpie

Looking for a new farmhand? Try man’s best friend. With over 10,000 years of agriculture experience, many canine companions are naturally hardwired for working with livestock.

Before you buy, consider three things: First, do you need a herding dog or a livestock guardian dog? The difference is in how each type of dog views livestock. Herding dogs see a flock of sheep as prey (though they won’t attack them), and will bunch and guide them. Guardian dogs, usually raised with livestock from a young age, will view them as part of their pack and therefore protect them at all costs. Most dogs excel at just one task or the other.

Herding dogs can stay near the family, while guardian dogs generally stay in the fields — though no working dog is meant to be kept in the home full-time.

Second, avoid the common mistake of trying to use a dog bred only for show or a pet as a working dog — show dogs have been bred for good looks but often lack the instincts and physique for farm life. Buy puppies with working-dog parents, or, failing that, make sure the breeder has successfully placed their dogs in working homes in the past.

Finally, be prepared to train them. “Old Scotsmen say a dog will need a year for every leg they have,” says Jeanne Joy Hartnagle, author of the livestock guidebook “Stockdog Savvy.” “The inborn instincts are in them,” says the author of “Livestock Guardians,” Jan Dohner, “but they need your training and positive reinforcement.” Dogs raised around veteran farm dogs will also benefit from seeing experienced dogs in action.

Border Collie Australian Cattle Dog

Australian Shepherd

How does your greenhouse grow?

Winter Gardening Greenhouse Plants One type of greenhouse is called a cool greenhouse and is the easiest to maintain because you don’t need to provide heat. It is protected from the elements and, with proper positioning, will absorb a great deal of the sun’s warmth on sunny days.

Cool weather plants are a great choice for winter gardening. Greenhouse temperatures that remain consistently below 50 degrees at night will still be warmer than the outside air, while offering you a wide range of plants to grow.

There are actually many vegetables and flowers that can grow in these cooler temperatures. Some of the more ideal choices for the best producing winter vegetable garden, as well as flowers, are in the table below.

Cool Greenhouse Plants Beets, Garlic, Broccoli, Kale, Brussels sprouts Luttuce, Cabbage, Parsley, Carrots, Radishes Cauliflower, Spinach, Celery, Swiss chard Cilantro, Turnips Benefits of Greenhouse Gardening For winter gardening, greenhouse gardening offers several benefits. First, it gives a gardener a great deal of satisfaction to enjoy digging in the earth and nurturing plants. This satisfaction is often missed during the typical

winter season.Another benefit is, of course, being able to raise plants for winter use. Even if it is just a hobby, it can truly be invigorating to walk into your greenhouse and gaze on brightly blooming flowers. What a contrast to the often dark and dreary days of winter!

Heating the Greenhouse If you do decide to heat your greenhouse, the germination mat is one kind of way to bring the temperatures you need to your greenhouse. There are as many ways of heating your greenhouse as there are greenhouses, and some of the new energy-conscious heating techniques (fuel is expensive!) are promising if not proven.

One fuel-avoiding, sustainable-friendly method is to build a trench down the center of your greenhouse and, after covering it with palettes or some cobbled walkway, make compost in it. This might be limited to a small hole in the center of a hobby-sized greenhouse. Even at that, the compost will help moderate temperatures in the greenhouse and you’ll always have a ready supply of garden gold. And the daytime temperatures in the greenhouse should encourage your compost to heat up.

Finally, a greenhouse is a great way to get a jump start on spring garden planning. Growing your own bedding plants from seed is not only enjoyable, but it may also offer you more variety than you can find at your local nursery.

Be Inspired...

Persian Lamb Tagine Prep Time: 25mins Cook Time: 1h 50min Servings: 8-10

Ingredients 2kg lamb neck fillets 5 tbsp mild olive oil or sunflower oil 3 medium onions, cut into thin wedges 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 4 tsp ground cumin 4 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp hot chilli powder 1 tsp ground turmeric large pinch of saffron 2 cinnamon sticks 2 lemons cut into thin wedges 300g ready-to-eat dried apricots 250g ready-to-eat dried pitted dates 100g shelled pistachios 2 tsp rosewater 25g cornflour small bunch coriander, leaves roughly chopped, cooked couscous or basmati rice, to serve

Method

1.

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Trim the lamb of any hard fat, cut into chunks and season all over. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish and brown the lamb in 3-4 batches over a high heat for 1-2 mins until lightly coloured. Add 1 tbsp more oil between each batch and transfer to a bowl each time a batch is browned.

times. Cover with a lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 1 hr.

3.

Carefully remove the dish from the oven and stir in the apricots, dates and half the pistachios, then cover once more and return to the oven. Cook for a further 30 mins or until the lamb is very tender.

4.

Transfer the dish to the hob and adjust the seasoning to taste. Mix the cornflour with the rosewater and Heat the remaining oil in the 3 tbsp cold water, then stir into the same dish over a medium heat and tagine. Cook over a medium heat for fry the onions for 5 mins or until 1-2 mins or until the sauce thickens. softened and lightly coloured. Stir (Thickening the sauce with cornflour in the garlic, cumin, coriander, chilli isn’t traditional but helps the tagine powder, turmeric, 1 tsp ground black to freeze more successfully.) When pepper and 1 tsp flaked sea salt. Cook ready to serve, roughly chop the for 1 min, stirring. Return the lamb to remaining nuts and sprinkle over the top. Garnish with coriander and serve the dish and add 1.5 litres of water, the saffron, cinnamon and lemons. with couscous or rice.

Bring to a simmer, stirring a few

2.

Buttery Winter Root Mash Prep Time: 50mins Cook Time: 40mins Servings: 10

Ingredients

650g parsnips, cut into even chunks 650g swedes, cut into same size chunks as the parsnips 142ml tub soured cream 1 rounded tbsp hot horseradish (English Provender is good) 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves butter, for greasing For the butter topping 50g butter 1 small onion, finely chopped 50g fresh white breadcrumbs (from about 4 slices) a small handful thyme leaves, plus extra for scattering 25g parmesan, coarsely grated

Method

1. In a large pan of boiling salted water,

cook the parsnips and swede, covered, for about 20 minutes until tender. Drain well, then mash them together using a masher or food processor until reasonably smooth but still with a bit of texture. Stir in the soured cream, horseradish and thyme and season with salt and pepper.

2. Spoon into a buttered shallow

ovenproof dish and put to one side.

3. Make the topping. Melt the butter

in a frying pan and cook the onion for 5-6 minutes, until gorgeously golden. Mix in the

breadcrumbs and stir to brown and crisp a little. Season with salt and pepper and add the thyme. Take the pan off the heat. Spoon the mixture casually over the top of the mash. Scatter over the parmesan. (Can be made ahead to this point and kept covered in the fridge for up to a day. Or can be frozen for up to a month.)

4. Bake with the turkey (190C/gas 5/ fan

170C) for 35-40 minutes if doing from cold, 25-30 minutes if not, or 11⠄2-13⠄4 hours from frozen (put foil on top, and remove it for the last 10 minutes) – until golden and crisp on top. Serve scattered with a few more thyme sprigs and leaves.

Guinea Fowl Tagine with Chickpeas, Squash & Apricots

Ingredients 3 tbsp olive oil 2 guinea fowl, jointed like a chicken 2 onions, roughly chopped 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1 butternut squash peeled, deseeded and cut into large chunks 1 tbsp ras-el-hanout 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander ¼ tsp ground ginger 1 large cinnamon stick small squeeze of clear honey large pinch of saffron, soaked in 1 tbsp boiling water juice 1 lemon 850ml chicken stock 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 200g dried apricots small bunch coriander couscous or rice, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large, shallow

flameproof casserole dish. Season the guinea fowl pieces and brown them – in batches, if necessary – then remove to a plate.

2. Fry the onions in the same dish until

3. Submerge the guinea fowl pieces in the

stock and add the apricots. Cover the dish and simmer everything very gently for 50 mins-1 hr, until the fowl and squash are both tender. Stir through the coriander and serve with couscous or rice.

softened, then add the garlic and squash, cooking for 1-2 mins. Tip in the spices and cook for a few mins before adding the honey, saffron and lemon juice. Pour in the chicken stock and the chickpeas.

Prep Time: 20mins Cook Time: 1hr 20mins Servings: 6

A Sappy Story: Pruning Orchard Trees

Apple and pear trees trained as free-standing bushes are best pruned every winter to ensure a good cycle of fruiting wood. Trees that are not pruned become less productive and congested with old branches. The aim is to create an open goblet shape with a framework of four to five main branches.

Getting Started Always use sharp secateurs, loppers and a pruning saw.

Start by removing crossing, rubbing, weak, dead, diseased, damaged and dying branches.

Then, shorten the previous year’s growth on each main branch (primary) by about one third to a bud facing in the required direction.

This will encourage the development of new branches and spurs and maintain a good shape.

Leave young laterals (side-shoots) unpruned so they can develop fruit buds in the second year.

Only remove the young laterals if they are crossing or if the growth is too crowded, i.e. growing closer than 10-15cm (4-6in) at the base.

Remove strong shoots (great than 15cm (6in) long) growing towards the centre of the tree.

On older trees, remove/thin out any spur systems that have become congested. Where thinning or removal is required, remove spurs on the underside of the branches, where the developing fruit will not receive enough light, and produces inferior fruit.

If a tip- or partial tip-bearer, cut back a proportion of older fruited branches to a strong younger shoot positioned closer to the to the main trunk/higher up the branch. This will reduce congestion and prevent branches becoming overlong.

If not regularly pruned for a while Open the centre of the tree by removing larger branches at point of origin with a sharp pruning saw. If several large branches need to be removed, spread the work over two or three winters as very hard pruning encourages even more vigorous regrowth.

Reduce the height and spread of any branches that have grown too large by cutting them back to a vigorous outward and upward facing lower side branch (making sure this lower branch is at least one-third of the diameter of the branch being removed).

Over vigorous and over sized trees If the tree is over vigorous, sending out an excessive amount of growth each year, consider

also carrying out some pruning in summer.

Summer pruning depletes the tree resources and will help reduce vigour.

Note: this is done it addition to winter pruning and so is a little different from the summer pruning that is carried out on restricted fruit trees such as cordons and espaliers.

Prune laterals (side shoots) longer than 30cm (1ft) to 15cm (6in) all over the tree to encourage fruit bud formation.

Spread the pruning between mid-August to mid-September, prune ripest wood first (branches that stopped growing and have formed terminal a bud) Do not tip prune all laterals, just the more vigorous ones.

Time for Tuning!

By Jason Bamber

As the autumn nears its end and winter looks like showing up any time

soon, it is time to begin thinking about maintenance and tuning. Everything that runs or moves and many things that don’t, will require some kind of maintaining or tuning.

Colder weather means thicker oils and chunky grease as well as less grip and slippery slopes.

We will cover some general tips on what to keep in mind for when the weather is less friendly. This is likely to be “old news” for the seasoned homesteader, but considering nobody ever told me and I found out the hard way…have a little read if you’re new to this sort of lifestyle.

Access:

What kinds of trails or roads do you have on your property that serve your buildings or fields, can they be used all year round? In many cases, a good solid base of gravel or stone makes for a great road or path, but does it have any leaf mulch or mud on it? If it does, and is little more than annoying dirt in warmer weather, think about how it will behave when it is frozen.

A thin and insignificant layer of mud can become a complete roadblock if slick and hard.

Now may be a good time to scrape this back or lay another coat of gravel on top of it.

Some accesses have sharp bends or slight slopes that all become a challenge to navigate when there is snow or ice in play. Think about moving bales or feed into the field or building before the access becomes unusable.

Equipment:

Oils are rated not only for varied uses but also varied environmental conditions. Oils that work well in summer are often too thick to circulate efficiently in winter, in some cases not at all. Grease may become hardened and chip off from areas where they used to stick, losing the benefits of what they were applied for can lead to wear or failure of equipment. A simple rule of thumb is get the jobs done that need the equipment and finish them before the weather makes it risky to do.

Some equipment, especially older tractors and machinery, just do not work well in frozen conditions. They are sealed less tightly against moisture intrusion and use technology that works well in fair conditions but not in adverse conditions. Some tractors with huge water sleeves in and around an engine are prone to freezing solid, and if not aware that the coolant has frozen, can lead to broken coolant pumps or stressed valves and diaphragms in the coolant tracts. That is if the old fella will even kick over.

Can you guess how many tractors use water in the wheel for ballast? Can you guess how many times this is forgotten about when it freezes? Have you ever tried to rumble down a road with a 100-300kg counter weight in your wheel? Do you think it will end well? Well, go try, make sure the roof of your cab is high enough to accommodate the ever increasing distance between your backside and the seat as you speed up….!

To cut many stories very short, I will simply add a final sentence.

An owners/user/service manual should not be used to autopsy a dead piece of equipment, it should be used to reference everything from preventative servicing to optimal operation.

It should tell you how,when,why, what you will need to keep the expensive tool you rely on, running.

The Farm Gate

In this ISSUE...

1. Herbal Remedies for Livestock 2. Nature’s Best.

3. Are You Ready for Goats?

4. Sniffing Out the Local Cheese 5. Rabbit Realities 6. Chilly Chooks 7. Tool of the month 8. Breeder’s Directory

Farm Gate Contributors...

Tamsin Cooper learned about goats by volunteering at the UK’s largest

goat sanctuary, Buttercups, in Maidstone, Kent. Then moving to Mayenne in north-west France, she and her partner set up their own dairy herd, laying flock and vegetable garden with the aim of self-sufficiency in food, studying farm animal behaviour and smallholding methods, while supporting themselves by working online and teaching English.

Pauline Woehrle is our French Dairy Consultant. After a master degree in sustainable agriculture and a childhood spent on her parents’ smallholding, Pauline is now an organic dairy farmer advisor in a consultancy. Alongside this job, she’s running “Ma ferme à la campagne”, a smallholder’s consultancy. She lives on her own little farm in Brittany with angora goats, chickens, a horse, a cat...and a partner!

Jason & Tanya Bamber own and operate a 22ha

micro dairy farm in the Vienne department of Poitou Charente and have extensive experience in operations management, supply chain management, product marketing, animal feed formulation, animal husbandry and natural animal health care.

Herbal Remedies for Livestock

By Dr. Lilia Grosso, reported by Tamsin Cooper

Scientists Investigate Use of Herbal Wormers Herbal remedies such as yarrow, wormwood, black cumin, pumpkin seed, onion combined with coconut, and fine-leaved fumitory show promising effects as wormers when studied by scientists. Meadow plants containing high tannin such as bird’s foot trefoil, chicory, sainfoin and sulla increase resistance to internal parasites. Adequate protein in the diet and a mineral lick have also be shown to promote the immune system.

Over the last ten years, scientists have been studying the performance of herbal remedies as wormers in sheep and goats. Dr Lilia Grosso of the University of Milan reviewed and compared these studies in 2014 before launching her own research.

Dr Grosso found that yarrow, wormwood and related species Artemisia brevifolia, black cumin, acajou, tobacco and ivy berries had all proven effective in eliminating roundworms or reducing egg count in sheep. Since ivy berries and tobacco are known to be poisonous to livestock, more research is required before trying this at home. Similarly, feed wormwood in moderation and seek professional advice on quantities. Garlic, ginger and the seeds of coriander, neem, pumpkin and butternut squash had also shown a positive effect. Coconut and dried onion had worked well together to eliminate both roundworms and tapeworms.

The star performer was fine-leaved fumitory, being as efficient as conventional medical products in one study in sheep. This plant acts against the two most common roundworms in ruminants as well as whipworm in dogs and pigs.

Results were less clear in goats: ironbark, chinaberry

and papaya seeds had shown promise, but pumpkin seeds gave conflicting results.

Together with colleagues from the university, Dr Grosso carried out two on-farm studies of the effects of ground pumpkin seeds and a commercially available product containing thistle, gentian, nettle and eucalyptus. The farm was short on pasture so worm burden was high.

Despite lack of success in reducing egg count, Dr Grosso noticed the treated goats were still healthy despite the high worm burden. Whereas faecal egg count is a clear measure of worm burden and a traditional method for measuring drug effectiveness, the fact that the treated goats remained in good shape suggests these plants may work by helping to stimulate the immune system, rather than significantly impacting parasite spread.

Accordingly, Dr Grosso urges a holistic approach to further investigations.

In her paper, Dr Grosso stresses the importance of good pasture management and rotation to minimize exposure to parasites. Keeping stock density low and putting young animals on fresh pastures will also reduce exposure. Repeated and frequent use of pharmaceutical wormers can lead to resistant parasites and damage the ecological balance of the pasture.

So it is important to find more natural alternatives.

This issue has given rise the recent scientific interest in herbal remedies and research is being actively encouraged in the scientific community.

We may not be able to do without our pharmaceutical products yet, but it’s good to know that studies are continuing and some natural remedies are producing positive results. In the meantime, we can try to strike a healthy balance by limiting stock numbers, rotating pastures, limiting drug use to necessity, growing beneficial plants and supplementing feed with some of these tried and tested health aids.

WORMWOOD

BLACK CUMIN

YARROW

Nature’s Best:

Caring for livestock with natural products

By Pauline Woehrle

If you are a hobby farmer you will know, just like me, how much you spend on vet fees every year.

There are a lot of natural products all around us which you can keep on hand in the farm’s medicine chest as part of your first response kit, and the super bonus : it’s cheap !

All the indications given in this article do not replace the need for a veterinary consultation. Always consult your vet before using natural products as treatments.

Clay

Clay is a multipurpose product. It’s a must have on your farm as it can be used all around the farm. Your ruminants have a little diarrhea due to new grass in the spring ? or your lamb or calf have had a little too much milk ? let them have 2 or three teaspoon per day of clay.

Clay is very powdery when dry but it’s able to swell a lot when mixed with water. When the clay is swollen it’s able to capture toxins or nitrogen. In the spring the grass is very rich in nitrogen which can irritate your animals’ digestive system and cause diarrhea. If you give clay to your animals as it swells it slows down digestion and absorbs nitrogen. It’s also very useful to help the bowels heal after a internal parasite infection or during a bout of acidosis (for ruminants). If your horse has ulcers it can be used to soothe it’s stomach.

Abscess Treatments: A solution of clay and water will help bring an abscess to a head much quicker. It can also be used to help heal scars. In this case, the clay must be used when the wound is fully healed and not applied to open sores.

There are many different types of clays however, the most popular is Bentonite. Named after the place where it was first discovered: Fort Benton in Wyoming. An even better clay for the use we want on the farm is the Montmorillonite from Montmorillon in the Vienne area

in France. You can find 25 kg bags for around 6 to 9€ per bag. It’s easy to get in agricultural stores and it’s called « Argile bentonitique » or it’s found under a commercial name like « smectagri© » Another interesting product you can always have on the farm for wounds is…

Honey

Honey is very useful and very practical. It contains a certain enzyme which is able to transform sugar and oxygen in hydrogen peroxide. This combined with a very low pH make honey a very good healing and disinfectant product for all sorts of cuts. You can apply it on burns and various cuts. Be careful though with horses as honey stimulates a lot the cells regeneration but horses are very keen on growing anarchic tissue so be careful of keloids if you use honey on your horse. Be careful with the weather and never apply honey on a wound during the flies season !

It’s also very rich in nutrients and energy so it’s very helpful when you’ve got a small calf or lamb not drinking very well or a bit weak. You can add two or three teaspoon of honey in the milk or in water. If you get calves, kids or lambs always use honey and not sugar as sugar can’t be digested by small ruminants. You can apply it on footrot wound or on udder cuts or wounds. It’s also a good way to heal your hands suffering from winter weather ! The most disinfectant is the thyme honey but plain honey is still very efficient. You can also use it to help your chickens through the winter by putting 2-3 teaspoons per day in the drinking water.

Cider vinegar

Cider vinegar (preferably organic) is very good to cleanse your animals’ livers. It’s both the tannins and the pH which enable the cider vinegar to enhance the liver’s activity. It’s very useful for poultry and you can regularly add 2-3 teaspoons per day to the drinking water. It will help your hens to maintain good health and it will slow any microbe development in the trough. It’s also very useful for ruminants soon after birth, as the ketosis phenomenon which is a natural one, is condition causing congestion in the liver. You can give 50mL per day for 5 days for a cow or 10 mL per day for goats or ewes. You can give it in the drinking water or mixed into the food.

Magnesium chloride

It’s quite a barbaric name for such a simple product. Extracted from drying sea water it’s mainly interesting because of it’s richness in magnesium. You can easily find it in organic stores under the name of « Nigari ».

On the farm you can use it to prepare you animals for birthing : 0.1g/live kg of animal, 3 weeks before calving or kidding or lambing ! It will prevent placenta witholding and help reduce the risk of milk fever.

It’s also very good for boosting your animals immune system during the winter : 0.1g/ live kg of animal during 3 to 5 days per month. Never use it continually or you’ll lose the efficiency. Be careful and never overdose it as it can accelerate the bowel movement.

Cod-liver oil

An old classic ! Very useful in the winter to bring vitamins A, D3 and E to your animals or for a weak one recovering from a disease. 3 teaspoons per day, one week per month during the winter. It can help you identify the females estrus cycles as it contains fatty acids used in the sexual hormonal system. If you want to boost your laying hens to lay more eggs you can add 3 spoons per week in their food. Be aware that in lactating animals, regularly giving cod liver oil (or other fat product) tend to diminish the fat content of milk. So it could be a bit more difficult to make cream or butter while feeding cod liver oil. You can have almost the same results with linseed oil.

Those five products are very easy to use and quite cheap. They’ll help you prevent diseases or help your animals get through it. Don’t hesitate telling us how you used them on your farm in the next issue !

If you would like more advice regarding livestock feed please don’t hesitate and send me a mail at: pauline@mafermealacampagne.fr

Smallholder courses & Friendly advice for smallholders in France Training courses

Sheep, goats, cattle, horses, hens & ducks Land management Smallholder’s natural pharmacy… …And many others For beginners and Advanced In group or for individual

Consultancy

Land management Rural properties evaluation French rural and farming legislation Horse’s ration Smallholders’ animal ration We help you find the right animals for your smallholding

Call Pauline  06 08 02 85 91  pauline@mafermealacampagne.fr

Based in Brittany and Centre Val de Loire. French and English spoken

Are You Ready for Goats?

By Tamsin Cooper

Goats are about to make an appearance in your life. It’s going to be a great experience and an interesting one too! You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble by having their accommodation prepared before they arrive and understanding just how these playful animals interact with their environment.

Firstly, these renowned explorers and escapologists are likely to try and crack all your security systems and go where they can spot their favourite foods, mainly trees and your roses.

Goats much prefer trees to grass as they evolved as bush browsers. They also like variety and want to sample many different plants. Tree trunks can be protected with chicken wire, but younger trees will need enclosures or fencing off.

We now know that tethering is not an option, as accidents can happen, and it leads to frustration, boredom and stress. You’ll need good stout fencing to keep them on your land but out of your garden and potager (remember many ornamental

plants, like laurel, are poisonous for goats).

Sturdy 2m chestnut or oak posts (piquets affûtés en chataignier ou chêne) are ideal. Goats will rub and butt them; they need to be strong and firmly driven in. Brace the corner posts with diagonal struts, but make sure these are not too high or goats will climb them and hop over. One metre high stock fencing (grillage moutons) with 10 or more horizonal wires (fils) can then be attached to posts roughly 2.5m apart. If you have small goats or think you may have kids, buy fencing which has smaller spacing between the lower wires: small animals can wiggle their way through and even make the holes bigger by pushing the wires aside.

By the same token, make sure there are not gaps under the fence – kids are renowned for squeezing under fencing – or between fences and gates or walls. You can run an extra top wire over the fencing if they are managing to jump or clamber over, or a line or tape of electric.

Electric netting can be used as a temporary measure or for rotating pastures – another essential practice to prevent an excess of internal parasites building up – but make sure the electric is always on, or they will explore it, nibbling through or getting caught in the netting.

As well as squeezing through tiny gaps, young goats will jump and climb onto anything vaguely horizontal, even the narrowest purchase. They continue to experiment and learn from each other as they grow. This is all a very healthy process of growing up and you can provide planks, logs, pallets and boxes for them to play with. However, keep anything you don’t want them to climb on out of the field and away from the borders. You wouldn’t want them to use your log pile as a convenient springboard out of their field, for example. Top rails on fencing can also help them lever or propel themselves out of the field. This descendant of the mountains can find tiny footholds on stone walls or run up them at speed.

Pallets (palettes) are incredibly useful for gates, walls and hayracks, but a young or agile goat can and will climb on top of them. I split them in half for use as gates and put lids on any hayracks; otherwise goats often climb in the hay, soiling it with worm eggs carried on their hooves.

Your field also needs a solid shelter to protect them from the rain and draughts. Several small shelters are better if there is antagonism between your herd members (there often is!); a subordinate can then escape if she is being bullied and doesn’t end up standing out in the rain. Shelters must still have ventilation; gaps above the walls under the roof work well. The roof and floor must slope slightly so rain and urine drain away. Earth floors will allow urine to soak away, but concrete bases need a gutter and outlet.

If the goats are hardy, a simple wooden shelter of posts, pallets and planks should suffice. The roof can be corrugated iron (tôle ondulé), but bear in mind that it can get hot in the summer sun under metal. Position the openings away from the prevailing wind and extend the roof over the opening to prevent the bedding inside from getting wet. Unless your goats are non-competitive and cuddle up together when they are resting, you will need plenty of room for them to get out of each other’s way and separate sleeping areas. Raised platforms (again pallets are good) with plenty of clean straw are ideal. Bedding must be kept dry, or discomfort and illness, including foot rot, can occur. Pallets allow urine to pass through and soak away into the ground and avoid dampness due to excessive rain. Make sure that pallets have minimal gaps and are well covered with straw to prevent feet slipping between the holes.

Your shelter might need two openings to avoid a goat getting trapped by an aggressor, and because goats are frightened of entering a dark, enclosed space. A goat may not go in if she can’t see a way out, and might end up standing out in the rain if a dominant goat is hogging the doorway. Alternatively, several small shelters grouped together allows shy animals to shelter in peace.

Similarly, you’ll need more hayracks than goats, so a subordinate goat does not lose out due to bullying. Alternatively, place partitions or individual head spaces along a long hayrack, so a dominant goat does not sideswipe her companion while feeding. A pallet can make a quick and easy hayrack, but you will get a lot of wastage when the goat pulls out the hay. The pulling action is a natural adaptation due to the goat being a bush browser. The best racks are troughs outside the pen with apertures on the goats’ side through which they can put their heads. Once their heads are inside, they cannot butt each other or drop the hay on the floor. Don’t forget to allow space for them to get their horns through the aperture:

a V-shape works best. The wonderful thing is you can make all these things yourself – dare I remind you what out of?

A dairy breed or a miniature will need more substantial housing, preferably a stone or wooden building with pens, so you can separate out milkers, new mothers and kids when necessary. If your goats are on affectionate terms, such as a mother and daughter or sisters, they can share a pen, but strangers should always be kept in their own pen until they have been accepted by the herd.

Partitions should allow visual contact with the herd, so … guess what is just ideal? You’ll need some good strong wooden posts as well (poteaux, poutres, bastaings). As young goats can climb up the partitions, you may need to put stock fence or netting (grillage) above. You can attach mineral lick and feed holders and water buckets to the partitions.

Milking stands are platforms with two uprights, one of which closes around the goat’s neck.

There is a feed bowl holder you can fill to keep her occupied. No need to tell you what you can make one out of! There are great ideas for designs on the Internet, including fiascofarm. com, which is also a good site for a lot of goat information.

Finally, get in a good stock of the right food: fresh, weedy hay from the latest June harvest, a mineral lick with copper (bloc minéral bovins/ caprins/équins), a supply of fresh, tepid water every day: a bucket hung up from a post or beam works fine. Keep hard feed (granulés) to a minimum (max 200g per day unless lactating) and make sure you introduce new feeds gradually. Get some health essentials, like hoof trimmers (ciseaux pour parer les onglons) and purple spray (bombe antiseptique), in advance and learn basic healthcare techniques.

Now you have the basics, you are ready to welcome your new farmyard friends. But don’t worry if your designs aren’t yet perfected, you can always patch in a temporary construct with a few pallets!

Sniffing out the local cheese...

unsuitable for crops or cattle. In northern areas where crops are grown or cattle grazed and in wine-making regions, land is more profitable, so many herds are confined to indoor systems.

The demand for goats’ cheese has increased dramatically in the last five years, due to

By Tamsin Cooper popularity in the UK and elsewhere, and this has led to intensification and an increase in herd size.

One of the wonderful things about living in France A small artisan farm cheesemaker may have 20 to 100 head, but a large dairy that supplies factories is sampling the wide range of delicious cheeses. may have 500 high-yield Alpines or Saanans.

France is internationally famous for its goats’ cheese, even as far as the United States, where it is I visited an artisan who supplies restaurants and supermarkets in the Mayenne. The young man highly regarded. had 80 friendly and healthy Alpine and Saanen As a goat owner, who has made a little cheese goats living in a barn. He cut them fresh grass myself, I am fascinated to know how the every day, which he grows on his 15 hectares of professionals go about it. So I took a little tour of local goat farms to see what I could learn. Surprised land. His goats are dehorned so they don’t injure each other when competing for feed. The does at some of the traditions and conventional live together in two large pens, but as they are systems, I am also delighted with the attitude and all sisters, aunts or mother/daughter, they get innovations of the organic sector (agriculture bio) on harmoniously. The farmer knows the value of and I would recommend organic artisan cheese gently handling his goats from a young age, so (fromage de chèvre artisanale bio) over any other they are not frightened of people and are easy to for flavour and for goat welfare. manage. He has a simple and efficient system for Goat farming is mainly practised in the south of milking at a 20 station parlour. Although healthy France, in mountainous areas, such as the Alpes, Massif Central, Cévennes and Pyrenees, but also in and friendly, I was concerned the animals were the west of France around Poitou-Charentes. In the overexcited at my arrival; they displayed a frenzied interest that I can only see as a reaction to mountains and around the Mediterranean basin, goats are still taken out to pasture by their herders boredom – they’re just sitting around all day in an unchanging environment. to make the most of sparse vegetation that is

Now it was summer holidays, and a teaching farm in Granville, Manche, was open for public viewing for the evening milking session. I joined the local children to watch the young couple explain the system. They had recently converted to organic farming, so they had stopped dehorning their goats, as it can lead to pain and in-growing horns if done incorrectly. Their goats also have access to pasture during the day. They familiarize their goats to strangers so they aren’t frightened by their audience. The young couple had hand-built their dairy themselves and their wooden racks and dairy system were inspiring. Finally, I was excited to find a local organic dairy near Domfront, Orne.

Graziella Crestot’s 20 goats have a fine wooden building and all-day access to pasture. She rotates the goats’ pasture using electrified netting. This means they do not overgraze any part of the field and they are eating pasture which is not contaminated with worms. This means they do not have to be routinely wormed with traditional

medication, which is known to increase the resistance of the parasites. A supplement of tansy extract helps to keep them worm-free.

It was notable how much calmer and generally healthy Graziella’s goats appeared! Organic farming under the AB system ensures that goats have access to pasture and a minimum amount of space. It also prohibits certain practices, such as dehorning, which may cause suffering. Herbal supplements are widely used, and can be bought online from comptoirdesplantes.com.

Graziella also practices natural motherhood, which means the kids stay with their mother for four months, after which they move to their own crèche for weaning. This helps the kids learn from their mothers about what to eat and how to behave in the herd. It also minimizes the stress of separation. Weaning kids in a group in a field next to their mothers is a practice which has had excellent results.

Valérie Corrège in the Lozère also practices natural motherhood and takes her goats out browsing in the mountains every day. A goatherd leads and a sheepdog guards the herd. The kids are separated overnight to allow milking in the morning and then they join their mothers for daytime rambling. Her system is also certified organic AB. Organic farming allows small, pasture-based farmers, like Valérie, to continue a method that is traditional in the mountains but can’t compete in price with the large intensive producers. However, it is still very hard to make money as a small-time producer with the expenses of a pasture-based system.

Supermarket prices of milk and cheese make it hard for small producers to charge a price that matches the time and expense of raising the animals and hand-making the cheese. Graziella confirmed how difficult it is make any money: she has to grow all her own food on her land and works hard to sell through markets and local shops. Apart from stock management costs, there’s the cost of dairy equipment which must meet minimum legal health and safety standards.

To ripen cheese, artisans need a speciallyequipped, humidity- and temperature-controlled room. Here they mature cheese for several weeks to make the traditional demi-sec, or for one to two months to make the strong-flavoured,

hard sec.

Despite the hard work and low profits, Graziella and Valérie are clearly passionate about their goats and their products. When a milker is too old to be bred, she is retired and rested rather than sent to the abattoir. Valérie advertises for sponsors to help pay for the feed and keep of the retirees. Her rare breed, Chèvre de MassifCentral, preserves healthy and hardy genes that often get bred out of high productions animals, but her yield is consequently lower. These farmers can only really survive by running an additional business to bring in extra income.

The proof of the cheeses is in the tasting: pasture definitely improves the flavour. With the intensification of production, it’s the animals and the small-time craftspeople that lose out. Don’t think for a moment that farm chickens, pigs and dairy animals have the kind of life we can give them on our smallholdings. AB and Label Rouge allow us to choose produce from farms that have higher standards of animal welfare. The consumer is the main driver of farming practices, and we can help by being prepared to pay more for a superior product.

So spare a thought for the goats on the farm next time you buy cheese. Or better still, buy direct from an organic artisan and help support their initiatives.

Rabbit Realities.

By Tamsin Cooper

You may have noticed how many people in France keep rabbits; together with chickens, they are one of the main residents of the home farm (la basse-cour). Rabbit meat is very flavoursome and very much appreciated by the French. Rabbits are famously prolific and provide a cheap source of healthy meat that a family can easily produce at home. There is a downside too: rabbits have been sadly misunderstood in traditional systems, but there are ways to give them a fulfilling life, meeting their needs as well as yours.

Farm rabbits (lapins fermiers) are large sized (gĂŠants), short-haired breeds, the most popular being the fauve de Bourgogne. Angoras are bred for their soft wool which can be combed out or trimmed during the moult.

Dwarfs (nains) and lionheads (tĂŞte de lion) are popular as pets.

The standard equipment for home-rearing in France is the concrete hutch (le clapier). It is easy to clean, allows easy handling and saves space. You can buy them secondhand; they are demountable into detachable pieces which you can reconstruct on a flat area in your yard in a sheltered and shaded spot.

Traditionally farm rabbits are kept in these all year round, one rabbit per box. You can find hutches that have removable partitions or communicating arches between boxes to allow your rabbit more space. Vets and welfare specialists have recognised the need for rabbits to be able to run several paces and stand up on their hind legs.

Removing the partitions can give your rabbits a little running space, but clapiers are not high enough for large farm rabbits to stand up. You need to devise a system including a run to keep your rabbit healthy. Wooden rabbit hutches and runs sold in pet shops are expensive, flimsy and too small; they are designed for dwarf pet rabbits. Your best option is to build your own run around a clapier or home-made shelter.

Wooden hutches are warmer in winter, but your rabbit will chew the wood. Concrete hutches are cool in the summer and you can insulate them with old carpet and plastic tarps in winter. Rabbits cope well with the cold but suffer in heat and sunshine. So make sure their hutch is not positioned in midday or afternoon sun during summer. They also need to be protected from wind and rain in winter. Runs will also need shading from summer sun and shelter from wind and rain.

A rabbit is a nervous animal which needs a safe place to hide when frightened. Any loud noise or sudden movement will cause her alarm. All hutches and runs need a dark, private area, hidden from view. Again, traditional clapiers fail to provide an area for rabbits to hide, but boarding up a door in a multibox system can provide that safe haven. The hiding area will also serve as a nest box for rearing rabbit kittens, so fill it with clean straw for comfort, protection and insulation.

After the age of 10-12 weeks, rabbits need to have their own private space. This is why they are normally kept in separate boxes. Uncastrated males mature and become aggressive with litter mates and can cause them injury.

Females become territorial at this age and will need their own private den, although they continue to enjoy living communually with their sisters outside the den.

Kittens need to stay with their mothers until they are weaned at about 6 weeks old. Then they can stay together until they start fighting or showing sexual activity at about 11 weeks. The males need to be housed singly, but the females can be kept together until sexual maturity at 5 or 6 months. You will notice their attitude changing as disputes start to break out. Then they need to have separate nest boxes which they will defend. Even when rabbits are separated, they are still a group-living animal and need to be able to see, smell and hear each other. A practical solution is to have hutches in runs with dividers so they can see and touch each other but not fight. Keep the male’s area well away from the female’s.

If you have enough land for a pasture, females can run together as long as they have their own private nests to come back to. Castrating males allows them to live together peacefully, and I would definitely recommend this for pets.

A pasture needs to be securely fenced with chicken wire dug down into the soil to prevent escape through tunnelling. Alternatively, electric netting can be used.

The pasture must also be secure from foxes or hunting dogs, unless you shut the rabbits away at night.

Another solution is moveable runs that can be moved around the pasture. Several runs can be placed side by side so the rabbits can communicate. These need to be moved daily. Unless the run has a wire floor, they need regular checking to make sure the rabbit is not burrowing out. They also need a hiding space or box or the rabbit will dig out of fear.

As well as exercise, runs are great for grazing. The staple food of the rabbit should be grass and hay: it’s the best for digestion and teeth maintenance.

Pelleted feed (granulés) can be used as a nutritional supplement. Carrots and dried bread should only be a treat, but green leafy vegetables, like cabbage and kale, are highly recommended. Dandelions and tree branches and leafs are also favourite foods.

Be careful to check which plants are poisonous; for example, oak branches and leaves should not be given.

Branches and puzzles, like treats in a cardboard package, are good for the moral as well as the teeth. If your rabbits don’t have access to the run, it is important to provide them with things to climb and explore.

Naturally, a rabbit does not like being picked up and is frightened of being handled. Handling from a young age will get them used to you and make them less afraid.

Rabbits you have bought may not be used to people, so be very gentle and slow with them, don’t look directly in the eye and imitate their nose twitching by moving your mouth rhythmically. Behaving like a rabbit helps your rabbit gain confidence in you. Once you have gained his trust, he will enjoy being groomed by you. If you buy Angoras, you will need to groom them weekly and trim them every 2 to 3 months to prevent matting and digestive problems due to blocked intestines.

Once you rabbit allows you to groom him, you can gently picking him up. Placing your hand over his ears and eyes can also sooth and prevent him running. Supporting the back legs helps to prevent kicking. Your last and final handling will be the most difficult, if you are farming for meat. Rabbit necks are tough and hard to break and I’d advise investing in specialized humane equipment.

The rabbit has a very sensitive and unusual nature and her own specific needs, and it is well worth spending the time to learn about these to build a rewarding partnership with your animals.

Our domestic layer is a tough bird and copes well with cold weather, as long as we provide adequate shelter, water and feed.

Adult chicken body temperatures vary depending on age, sex and breed, but average approximately 40–41 °C. Your hen is a hot little body wrapped up in a highly insulating layer of down and feathers. She can puff up her feathers to trap more still air, which improves the performance of her insulation. Huddling up with flock-mates further improves the effect. Having her own central heating system, all she needs from you is provision of a safe, dry, draught-free location to perch in peace.

Chickens often forage out in the damp and rain: their feathers give them a degree of protection when they are well-maintained by daily preening. However, moisture is poorly tolerated once it penetrates below the preen-oil or when temperatures are low. Below freezing, damp can cause frostbite on wattles and combs, and the best way to protect your birds is to provide rainproof, windproof shelters.

Shop-bought chicken coops (le poulailler) tend to be cramped and expensive. Enclosing poultry in small spaces causes temperatures to rise to uncomfortable levels. Chickens are more susceptible to heat than cold and will struggle in a hot, damp interior. Your best option is to use an outhouse

Chilly Chooks?

or part of your barn. A wooden shed is adequate, although you will have problems with red-mite in the summer and will need to spray ends of perches and cracks regularly with mite killer (un produit anti-poux).

Absolutely essential is a perch, as adult chickens feel safe and comfortable when sitting up high, holding on with their claws, nestling down over their feet and tucking their head in or under a wing. When the muscles relax, the toes automatically curl into a grasping position, and this keeps them perched as they sleep. The height of the perch above the ground depends on the breed.

If they are light and agile, two or three feet from the coop floor is ideal. All perches should be the same height: otherwise hens will compete to be queen of the castle! You should allow a perchlength which gives each bird 40cm space around her. This is important to avoid pecking and overheating due to proximity of neighbours. Removable flooring under the perches will allow you to easily remove droppings. Your flooring can be covered in sand, sawdust or straw, all of which make cleaning easier and provide insulation.

However, droppings contain moisture and must be removed daily, along with any other dampness, to ensure the environment remains dry.

Allow plenty of space for air movement around the birds to prevent stuffiness, and ensure there is ventilation above head height to allow circulation while avoiding draughts.

The roof should be sloped to facilitate run-off; any cracks will need fixing before winter to prevent moisture entering the coop and causing humid conditions. As long as there is sufficient ventilation, the roof can be insulated to help prevent loss of body-heat.

Ideally, the whole hen house will be raised on stilts to discourage rodents. Similarly, remove food overnight, since chickens won’t eat or drink during darkness and any food left out will encourage rats. Water should not be kept inside the coop: spillage will increase humidity, and sleeping chickens have no need to drink.

Dedicate a section of the housing to nest boxes and line them with straw for comfort. Again, make sure the boxes stay clean and dry. Hens often appreciate resting in a nest, even when they are not laying. Don’t be surprised if your hens decide to lay elsewhere, or go through phases of all competing for the same box. This is natural behaviour. Hens take their time to

select a soft, safe nest in a secluded spot and preferably above the ground. You can leave them boxes filled with straw in strategic locations at perch height.

Lighting is often recommended by commercial farms, but unnecessary for home production.

Laying will naturally drop off over winter; hens will sleep more and lay less. However, they need this rest and we have no need to push them to high yields. Artificial lighting can be disturbing for chickens, whose visual system is much more sensitive than ours.

It is important to poultry to be able to go outside foraging during daylight hours and have access to grass. To reduce the risk of predation, I recommend shutting chickens in a fox-proof coop at sunset and opening up when they are awake at daybreak. If your hens are penned, a pasture rotation system can ensure they have fresh land and grass at all times of year. A muddy pen will cause discomfort, misery and sickness.

On the other hand, there is nothing like the joy of a free-ranging flock enjoying natural foraging behaviour!

Hopefully your hens are sensible and have already gone through the moult in autumn.

However, they tend to moult at different times and some choose to do so during cold winter snaps. Many people are tempted to clothe their hens in woolly jackets, feeling they need to protect their naked fowl. In fact, this may cause irritation as the quills grow through and prevent your hen from using her natural system of fluffing up her remaining down. A better solution is to ensure she has access to a barn or shelter with straw to nest into; then she can keep out of the cold when she chooses to.

The first time your flock see snow, they may be a little shocked and unsure what to do.

Clear them a path so they can venture out: the exercise is important, even if there is little to forage. Their main problem in ice or snow will be lack of water: make sure they have unfrozen water at all times.

Even when freeranging, chickens need a supplement of grain. Whole wheat grains scattered on clean ground or a barn floor are very appreciated, as they prefer to scratch for their food, rather than eat from a feeder. When eating whole grains, chickens need grit to help them grind the grain in their crops. French retailers use the English word for this product.

It includes shell (des coquilles) which is also needed for eggshell production. Penned birds need a specially balanced pellet (des granulĂŠs pondeuse) to ensure they have all the nutrients

they need. In freezing weather, I give my freerange flock a supplement of granulĂŠs and some whole corn kernels (du maĂŻs entier). All these feeds can be bought at your local agricultural market and your local farmer may be able to supply you with the grain.

During cold and wet weather, an outdoor shelter or barn is appreciated to protect them from wind and rain during the day.

Here you can place a dustbath of dry earth or cold ash from the woodburner. Mix in some diatomaceous earth or louse powder to help protect against parasites. Dustbathing is an essential activity for chickens, as it removes stale preen oil, lice and mites. They also enjoy relaxing in this way.

Another parasite that may affect them even during winter is scaly leg (la gale de pattes), which can flourish and spread on long winter nights. Use a suitable product to spray the legs of any affected bird early in winter to prevent cross-infection or rub the legs vaseline to prevent the mite from getting in up under the scales. Vaseline can also be applied to comb and wattles in freezing weather to help combat frostbite.

Appropriate feed, water, shelter and environment are all a healthy flock need to keep them in form, and we homesteaders in France are in the enviable position to have the climate and facilities to provide this.

Tool of the Month Written by Jason Bamber

The Humble Axe. If ever there was a tool that suffered being pigeon holed, it is the tool that is used to split and cut wood. Given that we are transitioning to colder weather, that will be the main focus. Although, this is not to purposely exclude the use of axe-types for working other jobs.

What is commonly regarded as an axe usually refers to the category and not the sub-type, there are no fewer than 30 varieties.

Unless you intend to fell a tree, split the wood and make snow-shoes to climb Everest, you will likely need only one or two axes for general homesteading.

Firstly, we will cover the basics of the head, secondly the handle.

Heads:

If you want to cut down a tree or limb, the head to use is a narrow profile that is able to be sharpened into a fine edge.

This will result in more cutting of chips without thumping and crushing blows than if a fatter profile were to be used.

See the below images for a profile outline.

Pick a head that suits your abilities, by that I mean one that you can physically manage to wield and use. There is no point in buying a huge headed axe if its size prevents you from using it. Even if the weight will allow you to cut faster and deeper, you may not be able to maximize its potential and may even be unsafe using it. Conversely, a light head may make it easier to use but may leave you gasping in the time it takes to perform the desired job. You may even find that the tool will not even matter as you toil away for firewood that will never develop before the weather improves!

Look at seemingly silly options, those where the head has two cutting surfaces. The benefits are that you may be able to cut longer before the head needs sharpening, as well as having two differently sharpened edges on the same tool.

One face may be sharpened for a harder wood and the other for a softer wood, thus allowing you to get through the bark and outer layers with more ease and then flip over for the softer inner layers.

If your task is now the processing of logs into firewood, splitting is likely the end-goal.

Again, pick something you can lift and swing. How and why will be covered more in the handles section.

A fatter wedge shaped maul will allow you to split more wood without jamming than a thinner profile, you rend the wood apart along the grain instead of cutting. Not so fat that you are bouncing off the log or crushing the log, an edge is still required to start the action. A good splitter makes the job a lot easier, often requiring no more than the ability to lift it and land it in the desired location, the weight of it falling is enough to do the actual splitting.

Now if swinging a maul is not your thing, or not within your ability, or you just cannot aim worth a damn, there are some very good sliding splitters. These allow you to lift a weight and fling it down while the head remains where it was placed. This is also a fantastic option if you find yourself in a location where you cannot actually swing an axe without contacting a low roof or branch or onlooker.

Handles:

An axe head without a decent handle can still be used, but its use should be relegated to weighing down papers and not serious wood processing. The factors involved in creating an efficient tool rely a lot on getting the personal end matched with the business end, here are a few examples of both good and bad pairings; • Very stiff and rigid handle = bone-jarring vibration • Overly flexible handle = insufficient penetration and possibly hitting everything other than your point of aim • Too short = lack of force or unwieldy behavior on bounce-back • Too long = increase in apparent head weight and limiting factors in close proximity to obstacles • Long handle = increased apparent weight and penetration for lighter heads • Short handle = lightening a heavy head and increase manageability • Flexible = shock resistance • Stiff = increased “feel” of head strikes Material to use for a handle should be chosen carefully, a snapping shaft will send a head in many directions and any direction other than where you specified is not good.

Consider the material of the handle in relation to the environment you intend to use it in, if you have a very slick and smooth grain on the handle and your hands get wet while using it, it may be hard to hang onto. If you have a rough and deep grain, you may risk wearing out a pair of gloves or risk blisters. Refer to the image below on grain patterns too.

Associated material must include safety gear; Gloves, strong shoes and the best-you-can-afford eye wear!

For the people who just don’t get on well with head placement during a swing, try using an old tire placed around the log, it won’t help your aim a lot but will stop you having to chase the log around the yard after one glancing blow after another. A tire also helps prevent head and shaft damage during a mis-hit if the head glances off the log and drives into gravel or stony soil.

Some techniques of twisting the shaft upon impact with the log to aid the splitting force are used, but often the right tool will require less fancy handling to do the work.

Breeder’s Directory

If you would like to be included in our Breeder Directory please send us an email or give us a call. This service is free of charge and open to breeders from all over France.

Alpacas:

Normandy Alpacas Breeders of pure-bred Huacaya Alpacas. www.normandyalpacas.com

Goats:

Elevage d’animaux de ferme et compagnie en Bretagne France www.ecoferme.com

Europa alpacas Awardwinning Alpaca breeder. www.europaalpacas.com

Chevrettes de France www.chevrettes-de-france.com

Farrlacey Alpacas www.farrlacey.eu

Pigs:

Lypiatt Alpacas www.lypiattalpacas.com

Sheep:

Ouessant Groupement des Eleveurs du Mouton d’Ouessant 3 allée des sapins verts 44880 SAUTRON 02 98 78 70 23 brillet.abbe.gemo@gmail.com SB Ouessants http://ouessants.blogspot.fr/ Friends of the Ouessant Sheep www.mouton-ouessant.com Ecoferme Elevage d’animaux de ferme et compagnie en Bretagne France www.ecoferme.com Suffolk sheep Elevage Suffolk Certifie Stéphanie & Alexandre ROLLIN www.mouton-suffolk-rollin-alexandre-stephanie.fr Vendeen sheep Vendeen breed association france www.mouton-vendeen.fr Hampshire Down Sheep Sharon Robinson Fenby - Breeders of Purebred Hampshire Down Sheep Le Coin Perdu, Le Bouin Roussines 16310 Charente tel. 0545236427

The Perfect Pig Company www.theperfectpigcompany.com

Rabbits:

www.cuniculture.info An extensive website with everything you will need including listings of breeders in France.

Poultry:

Sharon Robinson Fenby - Breeders of Rare Breed Poultry Le Coin Perdu, Le Bouin Roussines 16310 Charente tel. 0545236427

Bees:

www.apiculture-france.com https://apiculteurs.info/liste An extensive list of bee breeders

Classifieds FARM GATE SALES Beef, Lamb, Veal and Christmas Poultry.

The beef comes in 14-16 kg boxes, you get a mix of steaks and slower cooking cuts 10,90 euro per kg, The lamb is a half or a whole, ready for the freezer at 12.50 euro per kg. Veal is in a 5-7kg box, and is 13,30 euro per kg. We have Turkeys, Geese, Ducks and Large Chickens Available to order, for collection 22,23,24 December.

All meat is to be collected from the farm.

We are EARL Les Fromentaux, 10 route de Vilenne, Celon.

J19 5 mins off the A20.

Tel: 02 54 25 34 73.

Email: jrmanning.12@btinternet.com.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS by Susan Keefe I have four children’s books out now, which are about pet and farm animals and their care, available in paperback and kindle formats.

I have another book which will be released this month “Toby’s Tails - The Christmas Kittens.” http://www.susan-keefe.com/book-reviewers-blog

Marketplace Directory Livestock Markets

LA FOIRE DES HEROLLES – the largest street market in France Les Herolles is in region 86 on the D123. It holds a market ever month on the 29th, unless the 29th falls on a Sunday then it is held the following Monday, and in February when there is no 29th it is held on the 28th instead.

The market is set out in three distinct areas: - a traditional French street market where you will find fresh produce from all over France, some of it direct from the producers themselves, plus clothes, tools, ironmongery, tyres, knives, tractors, and much more.

- poultry and small livestock market. It has two avenues of livestock – large producers selling professionally and usually in bulk although you can buy just one or two animals if you wish; the second is for smallholders selling surplus stock and some of these are at the market every month. Personally I prefer to buy from the smallholder as the livestock are usually in better condition.

- a livestock market found at the opposite end to the poultry market. Here you will find all four legged animals except cows.

There is a small car park adjoining the covered livestock area, and here pigs are sold there direct from the vehicles they arrive in. The livestock market does not start until 8:30 when a bell is rung and the chains are taken down to allow buyers in to make their trades. www.foire-des-herolles.fr

Next Issue...

A sneak peak at what’s inside the next issue:

• Frappachinos to Farmboots • Herbs for Profit!

• Registering a Smallholding in France: Essential guide.

and much, much, more...

Out March 2016!

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