Townie learning to be a little bit country...

Hi there,

The husband and I bought 8.7 acres on the southern edge of Hamilton early last year and in September 2013 we moved the house we had been living in to the site. The past year has been a big one - as well as being cut in half to be relocated, the house has been extended in places and is still mostly a construction zone. Outside, we have had fences to fix, fert to spread and trees to trim. We have also welcomed 10 Angus beefies and 12 hatchlings - they are still too young to know how many boys/girls etc - but hoping for some eggs later in the year, and are babysitting some bee hives. Currently reading up about orchard ideas in time for 2015 planting.

So much great info on the forum, its a great read - thanks!

Well you sound as excited as we were and still are. Always lots of jobs to do, you think you can tick them off and all will be good, and golly gosh, there's more gets added. I look forward to hearing how many chooks you have in a years time. ; )

All the best.

Welcome! I'm on the western side of Hamilton

Have fun with all your plotting and planning, it is a lot of fun seeing all your ideas slowly come to fruition.

What a big job to take on AKB. That's litterally "moving house" There's some very nice land all around Hamilton. All the best with your new adventure.

I'm only a recent addition to the country lifestyle, so I may be a little of the mark, but 10 beefies sound like a lot for 8 acres, I would have thought that 5 would be pushing it.

Did you mean 8 hectares ?

Kernels, you beat me to it. 10 is too many unless you have lots of free grazing. If I were starting again on 7 effective acres I would be running 4 calves and 4 yearling, sell the yearlings as they get up to weight at about 24 months.

kernels;498529 wrote: I'm only a recent addition to the country lifestyle, so I may be a little of the mark, but 10 beefies sound like a lot for 8 acres, I would have thought that 5 would be pushing it.

Did you mean 8 hectares ?

Depends on the size/age of the beefies, amongst other things.
We wintered 2 white face yearlings on 0.42 ha (just over an acre) with very strict grazing management, some urea and some bought-in feed. I wouldn't try to carry them thru next winter as 2 year olds though.

Cigar;498803 wrote: Depends on the size/age of the beefies, amongst other things.
We wintered 2 white face yearlings on 0.42 ha (just over an acre) with very strict grazing management, some urea and some bought-in feed. I wouldn't try to carry them thru next winter as 2 year olds though.

Yeah, I've just had a couple of 1.5 year old beefies on my place (3 acres of grazing) for the last month or so because my neighbour ran out of grass. They eat an amazing amount, I think it would be a real struggle with anything more than 1 beast per acre.

akb;498436 wrote: Hi there,

12 hatchlings - they are still too young to know how many boys/girls etc - but hoping for some eggs later in the year,
So much great info on the forum, its a great read - thanks!

Welcome, hatchlings are great fun aren't they?! I am assuming they are chickens, in which case you can expect eggs next year rather than later this year. About 26 weeks old is the usual I think....

Thanks for the welcome everyone. Definitely not at a loss for jobs to do, that's for sure. Yep, I did mean acres - the beefies are mostly yearlings and we have managed over the winter with bought in hay but will de-stock the bigger ones as soon as possible.

Some areas in the Waikato can grow a heap of grass if managed well. I know people who have 2.5acres and have 2 yearling beefies and a calf still being fed milk. They have the paddocks divided up with tape into 2 segments and have the cows on a 5 day rotation so 10 days in each paddock, 4 paddocks, plus another small paddock which does them about 4-5 days. They always get to make enough hay to get through winter. I saw the paddocks yesterday and they have a heap of grass in front of them.

Whereas I know of 3 acres with 5 mini horses and 2 alpacas and the grass is short and only enough to get by with for winter with a bit of hay.

So it comes down to location and management.