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The Country Smallholder Magazine - June 2025

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In this issue

Find out about the Oxford Sandy and Black Pig Sometimes known as ‘the plum pudding pig’, it’s ideal for smallholders. Vet advice on disease prevention Every day actions you can do on your smallholding to limit spread of infection from within and outside. Keeping your garden growing in dry weather Techniques to hold in water and make watering more worthwhile. Controlling you bee swarms Learn how and why they do this to plan ahead to stop them.

Which rare breeds have made gains and which need your help?

Rare Breeds Survival Trust Chief Executive Christopher Price looks closely at the latest RBST Watchlist

4 mins

The place of heavy horses in today's farming

Heavy horses have once again returned to the fields at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in sessions to show students the sustainability benefits of using horses rather than agricultural machinery.

3 mins

Mourning amongst goats

Matt Huggins says close bonding in goats does mean that companions are missed

2 mins

Turning the pages of anew book on camelid care

Liz Wright finds out what the book offers and catches up with the vet who wrote it

3 mins

40 Years and Counting!

Established in 1985, the Oxford Sandy and Black Pig Society is now celebrating 40 years of conserving the breed. Linda Aldous explains why this pig is so special

5 mins

The Off-grid outbuilding

Hugh & Fiona Osborne are working to make their Lincolnshire smallholding as self-reliant as possible and have taken the plunge to make their outbuildings and firewood processing tools solar powered.

6 mins

Develop a smallholding health plan

Catriona Benson BVM&S, MRCVS highlights what you can do to protect from disease

5 mins

Friend of nature or foe of growing food - opinion is divided

Last year was a bad year for slugs, but should we like them or loathe them? Micahel Wale investigates

5 mins

Escape to the woods - How to own your dream woodland in the UK

Our regular column about the opportunities for smallholders

3 mins

Beat the heat

Cara Wheeldon meets an experienced bantam owner who shares her advice on how to keep your bantams happy, hydrated and healthy this summer

5 mins

Controlling external parasites of poultry

Victoria Roberts BVSc MRCVS says what to look for and how to control them So where do they come from? Wild birds mainly which is why its so important to keep feeders and drinkers away from wild birds.

2 mins

Poultry Keeping in the 21st Century

Grant Brereton ponders on the future of pure breeds and poultry shows...

9 mins

How to have a mixed breed flock when breeding chickens

If you would like to breed chickens but would like to keep other breeds for eggs AND keep them all in the same place, there is a way. Fiona and Hugh Osborne explain how.

6 mins

What links a hen charity and dinosaurs?

Meet the new BHWT patron, Professor Ben Garrod to get the answer

5 mins

From newly hatched to four months, what your chicks need

Sarah Kearney BSc (Hons), PGCert, Head of Equine and Smallholder Nutrition at Allen & Page looks at those vital early weeks of a chicken's life

3 mins

What a changing climate can mean to all our chickens

Paul Donovan investigates the effects of weather patterns and events from commercial to smallholding and garden poultry

8 mins

How to control swarms

Claire Waring looks at the principles and practice of swarm control

5 mins

Read all Stories from The Country Smallholder

The Country Smallholder Magazine Description:

Publisher: Kelsey-Media

Category: Animals-and-Pets

Language: English

Frequency: Monthly

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.