Sorry I've been so slow getting round to talking about fencing. This afternoon has been quite physically tough, mainly because weather. So, most of the fences on the croft were erected in May 2013; the rest were done in 2015, and the 2015 fences are mostly OK. So what's wrong with the 2013 fences? Well, principally, the fenceposts we used were not durable, and a lot of them have rotted through at ground level. But that's only part of it. >>>

Right, next job this afternoon is to see if I can lure Gorgon,Ginn and Goblin down into the bottom park, leaving just Ghost in the middle park with the shed

Wish me luck! Don't be sad, 'cause two out of three ain't bad

The final key feature of the shed is the handling system, which is what those weird black curved gates you've been seeing are about. Obviously a handling system is no use without a crush. Luckily I was able to get a good second-hand one. This is a "yearling crush", which is the right size to handle Dexters. I built a leanto roof over the crush, for working in wet weather.

The full history of the cattle shed build is here. I'll be posting some pictures from this album over the course of the day and discussing them, but if you're interested, here's how it was done. >>>

photos.app.goo.gl/fpfFrTDQHH3CW9… You'll notice that the big difference between the shed as designed and the shed as built is the steel frame. And the reason for that is some very generous friends gave me the frame. >>>

I'm going to end cattle day by talking a bit about Goblin. Goblin was orphaned at four months old, when he was not really ready to be weaned. I did my best to take care of him through his first winter, but he took a major setback and is really small. >>> He's now a year and a half, and he still has his testicles. A decision needs to be made about that very soon – really, this week. He's pure Dexter, but I can't breed from him because he's too closely related to my other animals. >>>

My male cattle end up as beef. I'm going to discuss this in this thread, and there will be explicit pictures. If you're not comfortable with that, don't read this thread. >>> My cattle live on the back side of the hill, where it's quiet and there's very little disturbance. They're born here, they live here. They've never been in a road vehicle in their lives. Putting a beast into a trailer and driving two hours is stressful for them. >>>

Having introduced you to the cattle, it's time to talk about the problems of keeping cattle, the things I've been getting wrong, and how that has become a problem. I'll also introduce you more particularly to some of the cattle. >>> Back to the start: I bought cattle to do conservation grazing of wild flower meadows. That needs a fairly low stocking density. Because of a series of things I've messed up, I now have a much higher density than I ever meant to. >>>

It's time to tweet a bit about how a smallholding lifestyle works economically. I am not whining here, I chose this lifestyle, and I don't regret the choice. But it needs to be said that this isn't easy. >>> I'm a single person, so I don't need nearly as much income as a family. But even for a single person it's pretty hard to make a reliable living off ten acres of even the very best land, and this windy hilltop isn't the very best. >>>

So to introduce myself properly I’m an entomologist/ecologist interested in the biodiversity around pasture grazing livestock both above & below ground but especially in the dung. A farmers daughter & wife I graze 100 acres based around my research, run an education centre & more To put no finer point on it there is a high chance of a lot of dung being on this account this week. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s something we just can’t get away from & if you have livestock it’s time to get down on your knees & discover a whole new world in that poo