We knew we wanted to keep our own livestock prior to moving to Farrantshayes in August 2016.
The big question was- what sort?! Having been warned not to try everything at once, we decided to do just that. We delight in the fact that this is a mixed farm, just like farms used to be.
We are blessed with multiple outbuildings at the farm as well as 25 acres of lovely flat Devon pasture, so we set about finding the breeds that suited us best.
SHEEP
We first came across Welsh Badger Faced sheep up in Wales on a ‘Sheep for Beginners’ course at Kate Humble’s rural skills school. Their distinctive black’ eyebrows’ did it for me, along with the fact that they were relatively small and easy to handle. Oh- and they had a reputation for tasting amazing. That last fact proved to be very true- the lamb and hogget is like nothing we have ever tasted before. We lambed for the first time in March 2019 and we are currently in the midst of lambing again. The 2023 lambs are Ryeland crosses, with the most incredible smokey brown fleeces. Soon we will be putting the ram in for our 2025 lambs.
CATTLE
Keeping cattle was our most ambitious plan and by far our greatest financial investment. After much deliberation we settled on Devon Ruby Reds, primarily due to the amazing beef they produce, their docile temperaments and the fact that they’re native to this area. In fact we have found evidence that this breed have been kept on the farm previously; farm sales particulars from the early 1900s list them for sale. It’s rather a nice thing that we’ve brought them back here. We calved for the first time in 2018 and Kenny, Kevin, Karma, Kingdom and Kilo (so big he arrived out of the side door, hence the name) proved to be joyful additions to the farm. Marsha, Mike and Meredith were safely born in Spring 2019. They live outside for most of the year, coming in only for a few months to save the ground. They are fed on hay grown on the farm and are not fed any 'hard feed' or soy products. This is seriously low intensity grazing!
PIGS
After breeding Hungarian Mangalitsa for several years we have now moved over to the British Lop, and run piglets on over the Summer for our own bacon, sausages and joints. We still have one Mangalitsa left though- our retired breeding sow Tilly- who is the Queen of Farrantshayes and quite simply one of my favourite animals ever.