meat rabbits

[Luminos]

Stop acting the goat Luminos - you know that's Dusty's job!!

Only Holy Goats, I believe

 

[mbc]

I'm staggered you lot keep getting stuck in a rut ! You should rein in in, stop having a roe and seeing the red mist, have a fallow period and stop muntjacking around.

 

[Luminos]

So what you're really saying, mbc, is we're getting stag-nant

 

[mbc]

So what you're really saying, mbc, is we're getting stag-nant

especially you, you should buck up ant ler n your lesson.

 

[mbc]

So what you're really saying, mbc, is we're getting stag-nant

I'd already got "stag" in, somehow, you musk sika redemption.

 

[Luminos]

Deer oh deer, it has nothing to do with GOATS

 

[hedgerow pete]

Remember - he'll have to register with Defra for a holding number

all ready done that, herd and holding numbers and poultry flock registerd.
he has managed to fine a gaot supplier and we have finally found a seed supplier for the choosen crops, what we are still struggling to find a fencing contractor or farmer with a post knocker and rabbits and a couple of the duck and chicken specific breedss he wants.

i belive they went off to wales for the day to the small holder show, but as i said the down side to that is in the uk small holders only really do animals and not crops so he is struggling a bit with second hand machinery,

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Deer oh deer, it has nothing to do with GOATS

sounding a bit gruff there - getting fed up of this argument?

 

[Teemore]

Pete, sometimes it is worth looking in one or more of the classic tractor magazines for second hand kit. They tend to have older, smaller machines and equipment that would be better suited to a smallholder. The alternative is to source a copy of "Farm Trader" and go through the small adds to try and find what you want. OFtern, secondhand machinery dealers will have bits and pieces that they do not advertise as they are outdated but these might just be what you and your mate are after so it can be worthwhile phoning around to see wha t is sitting in the back of someone'e yard....

 

[Ziggymole]

We'll be doing some fencing in the next couple of weeks, about 100 metres of it, we haven't got the "right kit" either but hope we can manage the old fashioned way.

So we have a long steel bar on which we've ground a chisel on one end and a point on the other. This is our main digging tool and if needed we have a narrow spade for the big straining posts + a sledge hammer for gentle tapping! We looked at a post driver but it was really heavy (yeah I know it's supposed to be) and wouldn't have fitted the big straining posts anyway. We also looked at a post auger thingy but we want the holes smaller than a post so when the posts go in they're tight - apparently now is a good time for fencing as the posts go in easier in damp ground. (Yeah right )

Good luck - spare us a thought too!
Ziggy

 

[Beauhawk]

We'll be doing some fencing in the next couple of weeks, about 100 metres of it, we haven't got the "right kit" either but hope we can manage the old fashioned way.

So we have a long steel bar on which we've ground a chisel on one end and a point on the other. This is our main digging tool and if needed we have a narrow spade for the big straining posts + a sledge hammer for gentle tapping! We looked at a post driver but it was really heavy (yeah I know it's supposed to be) and wouldn't have fitted the big straining posts anyway. We also looked at a post auger thingy but we want the holes smaller than a post so when the posts go in they're tight - apparently now is a good time for fencing as the posts go in easier in damp ground. (Yeah right )

Good luck - spare us a thought too!
Ziggy

That will be fun. You also need a spirit level and a line. Peg the line out from start to finish if you can and use it to keep the posts in a nice uniform line.

IMHO the straining posts will be really solid even if you dig an oversized hole and then back fill. Tamping it as you go. It is easier than trying to bully a straining post into a smaller hole - less damage also..

 

[Luminos]

sounding a bit gruff there - getting fed up of this argument?

Haha, no, hence the pun on "deer oh deer"

 

[pargyle]

We'll be doing some fencing in the next couple of weeks, about 100 metres of it, we haven't got the "right kit" either but hope we can manage the old fashioned way.

So we have a long steel bar on which we've ground a chisel on one end and a point on the other. This is our main digging tool and if needed we have a narrow spade for the big straining posts + a sledge hammer for gentle tapping! We looked at a post driver but it was really heavy (yeah I know it's supposed to be) and wouldn't have fitted the big straining posts anyway. We also looked at a post auger thingy but we want the holes smaller than a post so when the posts go in they're tight - apparently now is a good time for fencing as the posts go in easier in damp ground. (Yeah right )

Good luck - spare us a thought too!
Ziggy

You really should invest in a fence hole spade ... it just makes life so much easier when you are digging narrow holes - your bar will break the soil up but getting it out of the hole is a lot easier with the right kit.

There's one on ebay at present (you would need to make a couple of handles) for £9.50 ... they're about £25 with handles.

See:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FENCING-P...s_Equipment&hash=item19dc618cbe#ht_571wt_1402

 

[Luminos]

Or get an auger which is driven by the PTO on the tractor. You just sit while it does all the digging
Do still have to plant the posts, admittedly

 

[hedgerow pete]

aparently he has looked into second hand equipment in the uk and found alot of it is cheap enough to buy but he does not have the skill base to repair or rebuild it as alot of it is very worn or un looked after.

when we were speaking a few weeks ago about it, he likes the idea of a holiday to italy or europe some where with a 14 ton lorry and buying it over there, italy has a great history of very small agrucultrual machinary equipment and its still being produced today.

he likes the idea of employing someone to buy at a very large auction site he has found and driving over to collect it and bring it back. since he is a numbers man by trade he is at the moment working out the duties envolved and ways to minamize them before investing his money.

like i said earlier, i am just a friend helping someone else out. ho except for all the bee hives of mine that will get shifted over there , lol

 

[hedgerow pete]

small fence posts and short fences are ok by hand, we are looking at 5KM in total 34 straining posts and 12 gates plus posts, and i ant doing that, no matter how much of a mate his is!!!!!!!!!!!!

straining posts i personally favour the old fashioned telegraph posts, foot down foot up, rock solid when there in tight and snug

 

[pargyle]

small fence posts and short fences are ok by hand, we are looking at 5KM in total 34 straining posts and 12 gates plus posts, and i ant doing that, no matter how much of a mate his is!!!!!!!!!!!!

straining posts i personally favour the old fashioned telegraph posts, foot down foot up, rock solid when there in tight and snug

That will be a motorised post auger then - either one from the PTO on a tractor or one of those with a motor on top !! Not a spade job. ....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-52cc-...werTools_SM&hash=item4ac439b54a#ht_243wt_1340

For about £160 (new) on fleabay ... If it only lasted for the job it would have paid for itself ! Alternatively .... hire one from one of the hire companies - about £40 a day.

 

[Luminos]

That will be a motorised post auger then - either one from the PTO on a tractor or one of those with a motor on top !! Not a spade job. ....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-52cc-...werTools_SM&hash=item4ac439b54a#ht_243wt_1340

For about £160 (new) on fleabay ... If it only lasted for the job it would have paid for itself ! Alternatively .... hire one from one of the hire companies - about £40 a day.

...like the one in post #74?

 

[pargyle]

...like the one in post #74?

Er ... yes and NO .... the one in the link is NOT a PTO tractor driven one ?

 

[Little John]

can anyone suggest a rabbit breeder selling meat rabbits, whilst still alive, lol

i have been asked to locate a breeding trio

When I 'early retired' myself back in 1990 and duly bought a 5 acre smallholding (like you do ...) I considered rabbit-farming as one means of creating a modest income. So - I duly enlisted on a week-long Min of Ag course at the local Agri College: which covered breeding, rearing (including experimental colony systems), marketing techniques and finance.

Amongst our group of mostly wide-eyed townies there were two blokes with weatherbeaten faces who were quite obviously farmers - and who were non too pleased that the financial aspects of rabbit farming were scheduled for the very last day - and pressed to have this subject moved forward.

So - on the second day instead, we were given a run-down of equipment amortization, feed costs, anticipated market pricing and so on ... and by lunchtime, the two farmers had left - for they had heard quite enough.

If you lived in France AND had a cheap enough source of fodder, then it could become a successful venture - but in Britain it's known as the 18-month industry - which refers to the length of time it takes for someone to exhaust their redundancy payments on this non-viable enterprise.

If memory serves, the Min of Ag course cost £150 - or it may have been £300 - I can't remember now (it WAS nearly 25 years ago !) - but it was the best money I've ever spent ... precisely because I wasn't lured into rabbit-farming.

LJ

Oh - and to answer the OP request for info: do NOT buy your breeding stock from Hyl*n* Rabbits, as they will sell you whatever meat rabbits they happen to have handy, at an inflated price - they are well known for engaging in this dubious practice.