Wealden Times | WT170 | April 2016 | Garden supplement inside

WT Garden Supplement
Managing your menagerie
It’s important to do your research, before filling your garden with
four-legged or feathered friends, says Jennifer Stuart-Smith
If you have a large garden or a paddock,
it can be tempting – and sometimes
helpful – to keep animals. What
animals you decide to keep depends on
many factors including how much space
you have, how much you are at home, and
what purpose you want them to serve – if
they are to be more than simply decorative.
Hens are not only appealing to watch,
as they peck and scratch around
in the dirt, but they can also
be prolific layers. Modern
hybrids tend to be the best
in terms of quantity of
eggs, while fancy and rare
breeds tend to lay fewer
eggs and slow up during
the winter. You can keep
hens in a moveable ‘ark’ or
run, as they love fresh grass
each day, in a more permanent
run with electric fencing or free range.
Striking a balance between freedom and
safety is a challenge as the more free
range they are, the more easily they can
be picked off by Mr Fox. Chickens need
regular feeding and clean water as well as
a nice clean nesting and perching area.
Geese As well as being good at keeping
your grass down they are also popular as
security, as they make a racket at the sight
of strangers. Unlike chickens, who will put
themselves to bed, geese need to be ushered
into their sleeping quarters. They will need
adequate sleeping space – about 2sqft per
adult bird – and protection from damp and
draughts as well as grain and pellets daily.
As with all poultry, they need grit so they
TOP TIP
HENS: Clip the long,
outer feathers of one wing,
not both, to prevent chickens
flying out of an open run
Sheila Hume, Poultry
Enthusiast
can mill the food in the gizzard/crop. Fresh
water is essential for drinking, although
they don’t need a pond – a plastic tub or
child’s sand-pit filled with water is enough.
Beware: big geese do big droppings.
Pigs have become popular thanks to the
likes of TV chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh
Fearnley-Whittingstall. Pigs will wreck
whatever ground you put them on (they
are a ‘natural rotavator’) – although
this might be just what you
want if you are planning
vegetable cultivation once
the pigs have moved on.
There are many breeds,
with different traits;
some more docile, some
who are a little less keen
on rooting and foraging.
What you are rearing them
for is also important. Do you
want lean bacon, fat belly pork or merely
a pet? Whatever pigs you choose, you’ll
need decent pig-proof fencing that can’t be
pushed down.
Sheep are another natural lawnmower,
with less dramatic droppings than geese!
On the downside, they cost more to buy
initially, and will require more care, such as
annual shearing, worming
(as geese do too) and
hoof-trimming. If
reared from lambs,
sheep can be tame
and friendly or,
as adults, can be
trained to follow
a bucket. As with
TOP TIP
PIGS: Pigs love to
forage for roots, fresh green
vegetation, grubs and insects –
so move their pen regularly
Ian Jones, Hartley Coffee
House and Farm
Shop
pigs, you need
to make sure
your fencing is
secure, though sheep
tend to clamber and jump out. Sheep may
need extra feed in winter or if you decide
to breed from them. Sheep are rarely in
danger from foxes, although young, weak
lambs are vulnerable.
Goats will eat anything and everything.
They are also escape artists and will climb
trees and bushes to get their next nibble.
Do not rush to get goats, without doing
your research. They can be tame and
affectionate – and if you keep a female for
breeding, you will have goat’s milk ‘on tap’,
though you need to be a dedicated milker.
Goats need space, with somewhere to
browse, exercise, climb, investigate, explore
and play. They do not tolerate wet weather
so need a shelter which they can retreat
into. Billy goats can be smelly and all goats
can be noisy – neither of which will endear
you to your neighbours. You have
been warned!
Remember.
TOP TIP
GOATS: A goat-specific
mineral lick is a good idea,
preferably a large one if you
have several goats. A Rockies
Red 10kg is ideal
Charity Farm
Countrystore
If you want to keep livestock
(excluding horses and donkeys) you
will need to register your land with
the Rural Payments Agency, who
will issue you with an Agricultural
Holding Number (CPH). Even
one goat needs a CPH, but you
only need to register poultry if
you’re keeping more than 50
hens, and this doesn’t apply to
ducks and geese.
23 www.wealdentimes.co.uk
WT170Book.indb 23 22/03/2016 12:50