The Country Smallholder - Spring 2025

I denne utgaven

Visiting vet: What you need to know about storing and using colostrum for your lambs’ sake
Herbs all year round: A guide to growing your own aromatic bed.
Land – they don’t make it anymore: But has the high price damaged farming?

Nature's ecosystem engineers are quietly managing waterways

Michael Wale finds beavers in West London working for the Local Council!

5 mins

Share in the therapy sheep experience

The chance to win one of ten books in a series designed to empower young minds where 'Merlin finds his magic'

2 mins

Smallholding profile: Naturally Woodland

Helen Babbs meets a flock of Whiteface Woodland sheep with a thriving soap business

5 mins

The Scythe: Setting Up and Perfecting Your Mowing Technique

Andrea Gilpin focuses on the scythe and scythe technique

2 mins

Welcome to our feature on alpacas!

We've asked experts to share their knowledge with us on keeping alpacas, their handling and their fleeces.

3 mins

The year ahead for Alpaca Evolution

Looking forward to welcoming you to their farm for fun, learning and reflection

2 mins

Handing alpacas is simply successful

Victoria Barrett of SimplyAlpaca explains why understanding and working with natural behaviour makes sense and for easier training for camelids

2 mins

You've got a friend in me Bonding amongst goats

Matt Huggins looks at relationships in the herd

3 mins

Care needed with supplementary colostrum to avoid 'unintended consequences'

With many smallholders lambing season fast approaching, new on-farm research is highlighting the serious 'unintended consequences' of poor colostrum storage and equipment hygiene.

4 mins

Herbs for every day of the year

Lydia Watson suggests growing some beautiful herbs for adding flavour to your dishes as well as making your garden look pretty.

5 mins

View form a farmer's daughter and smallholder on inheritance and land

Farm and Smallholding valuations are coming under the spotlight as the UK's tax regime is reformed, but not all of us are keeping it in the family says Jane Brooks

6 mins

The springtime pecking order

Spring brings new life and fresh challenges to the coop. Cara Wheeldon discovers how to smoothly introduce new birds, curb bullying, and keep your flock happy and harmonious with help from expert advice.

6 mins

Bearded beauty

Charming, gentle, and undeniably unique, the Barbu d’Uccle is a bantam breed full of character. This month, Cara Wheeldon shines the spotlight on this captivating Belgian breed with insights from a dedicated poultry keeper

2 mins

Growing Nutritious Treats for Very Reasonable Prices

Wheat fodder is easily grown as a treat for chickens and significantly increases both the weight and nutritional value of the wheat from its grain form. Fiona and Hugh Osborne show you how

5 mins

Why it's vital that laying hens have a balanced diet

Sarah Kearney BSc (Hons), PGCert Head of Nutrition at Allen & Page Smallholder Range advises on feeding for egg and shell quality

2 mins

A Visit to Victoria Roberts BVSc MRCVS

Grant Brereton pays an old friend a visit and reflects on her seismic contribution to the poultry keeping hobby....

7 mins

The Hamburgh, an old British light breed from the North

Victoria Roberts BVSc MRCVS tells how Yorks and Lancs came together to produce an attractive breed and a useful layer

2 mins

Q&A with RBST Trustee John Reed

John Reed, former Chairman of the British Poultry Council, joined the Rare Breeds Survival Trust’s Board of Trustees at the end of 2024. Here he tells us more about his areas of expertise and his views on rare breeds survival action in 2025 and beyond.

2 mins

Do chickens dream? Surprising science says they do!

Paul Donovan uncovers the secrets of Avian Slumber.

9 mins

What uses are their for cockerels?

In this issue we want to touch on a subject that may ruffle a few feathers, but as a national charity helping 60,000 hens year in and year out we believe the topic merits some hard facts and an appeal for your support as readers of a popular poultry magazine.

5 mins

Top Tips for successful chick reaing

Tom McFly gives key points to get your hatchlings to strong, young birds

3 mins

All About Grafting - an historic form of propagation

Lee Senior explains the top technique for gaining increased vigour, disease resistance, yield and speed

6 mins

Time to get seed sowing

Kings Seeds give a guide to a flourishing veg patch that starts in spring

2 mins

Getting Your Bees!

Claire Waring looks at how you can obtain your first colony and become a beekeeper.

6 mins

Looking forward to spring

Henrietta Balcon cooks a warm dish for early spring's often chilly weather

3 mins

Some signs of life!

Helen Moffat of the RSPB looks for changes from winter to spring

2 mins

When spring has sprung

Agricultural journalist, smallholder and editor of Ford & Fordson Tractors Magazine Jane Brooks, joins us for her regular look at the world of agricultural machinery

4 mins

Keep the date of Sunday 8th June free for an Open Farm Sunday near you

But could you open your smallholding or farm and take part in this event that brings farmers and consumers together?

2 mins

A wheelbarrow is an essential tool on any smallholding, but what is the best choice for a smallholder?

Wheelbarrows come in all shapes, sizes (and price ranges too). After years of rusted tubs, flat tyres and strained muscles, Hugh and Fiona have distilled the right choice of wheelbarrow into five simple choices.

4 mins

Meet the Shire Horse Society

Be part of a passion for a horse with its roots in the past now finding its place in the modern world

3 mins

Les alle historiene fra The Country Smallholder

The Country Smallholder Magazine Description:

The Country Smallholder is aimed at the ever-increasing UK audience interested in living a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable way of life. From people already living on a smallholding, to allotment owners; from those with a couple of acres of land, to those aspiring to get more out of their garden or even window box. With 73% of UK residents claiming to want to live more sustainably post Covid, The Country Smallholder has something for everyone.

Every issue will carry; free vet advice; helpful practical features on all aspects of smallholding, from keeping chickens to crop rotation; information on poultry, pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, and alpacas; rural crafts; property; small tractors and machinery, as well as keeping readers up to date with all the latest news and innovations.