Cattle on your Smallholding

There were 7 of us for the cattle course, with a strong contingent from N Devon, who had relied on sat nav to get to Pam's and therefore were sent on the scenic route, via the Dartmouth ferry.

Once we had all assembled, Pam started off by introducing us to the various breeds of cattle and their relative merits, - did we detect rather more than a strong bias towards Dexters? Subjects then ranged from soil analysis and feeding, bovine TB, slaughtering, welfare and medication and of course, keeping up with the dreaded paperwork. No one had any cattle yet, although one member was due to take ownership the following day and discovered that registration with the BCMS was an urgent priority! We struggled with herd numbers, holding numbers, passports, ear tags, and movement books, keen to do everything properly and not incur the wrath of Defra inspectors.

Following lunch, we moved onto the real thing - seeing the cattle, which led to more discussion on feeding and herd management. The two steers had been bought in and had not been dehorned, and they spent some time sizing us all up - thoughts of Spanish bullrings were not far from our minds. The cows and calves were more docile, and looked very well, although they didn't seem to appreciate the panoramic sea views. Finally, we inspected the cattle crush and discussed alternative ways of handling stock if funds didn't stretch to a new crush.

All in all, it was a very informative day, with lots of discussion and our thanks go to Pam for having us all - and if you have Dexters, you don't need such a big freezer!