Hello from Western NSW Australia

by kjac014 9th February 2015, 3:42 am

Hi all,
We live in a small town of about 600 people in western NSW in Australia. We only move here 3 years ago out of the big city and beaches of Sydney.
We have 100 acres (mainly weeds) and breed alpacas and minature goats as well as having horses, chickens dog & cats.
Looking forward to learning lots from you all Very Happy

by Chilli-head 9th February 2015, 8:28 am

Hello and welcome. Would I be right in thinking you are the person with alpacas in their profile picture who "liked" the Facebook page recently ?

I don't keep any animals, but as well as vegetable gardening for my family, my business (the day job) is agricultural machinery related, and some of our equipment ends up in Australia and USA/Canada. So 100 acres sounds like a pretty good plot to me by European standards though I know Australian scales are much bigger than ours !

Look forward to hearing more about what you do. Do you use alpaca wool yourself ? My BIL has a friend who keeps them and I've bought wool from them in the past (my mother knits) - it is quite special.

by kjac014 9th February 2015, 9:36 am

Hi yes I was probably the one on Facebook. I didn't have a great internet connection at the time to jump here but glad I have now.
We sell the fleece from alpacas and I spin and knit myself as well. It is lovely and they are a lot easier to manage than sheep
Your right by Australian standard 100acres is a bit more than a hobby farm by not much more. For me as a single Mum with 3 kids its more than big enough - for now anyway
thanks for having me happydance

by Ploshkin 9th February 2015, 1:37 pm

Welcome kjac from a fellow livestock keeper. We have a small farm (46 acres) & also rent another 100 acres. We mainly keep beef cattle and sheep but also have pigs, chickens & bees (dogs & cats too of course). I'm a knitter but can't get excited by spinning. I have knitted our own fleece which was spun for me but mostly our wool is too coarse as we keep hardy mountain breeds.
You must have your work cut out with all that + 3 kids.

by Dandelion 9th February 2015, 5:26 pm

Hi kjac - glad you made it!
There was an item on the BBC last night, on Countryfile, about trimming the teeth of alpacas with an angle grinder! It didn't seem to bother them. Maybe you're farming on grittier soil and don't need to do this.

by Jaded Green 9th February 2015, 8:04 pm

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Hello from Western NSW Australia

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