Animals-and-pets
The Country Smallholder
Dry cured farmhouse bacon, cut thickly, is food that puts top restaurants to shame & it's easy for smallholders to make at home
Hugh and Fiona have been curing & smoking their own bacon for years. It’s something to try with great caution, because after tasting it, they couldn’t go back to shop bought bacon!
7 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
Best beginner breeds
Ready to start your flock this year? From personality to practicality, here's a list of the best bantam breeds for beginners researched by Cara Wheeldon
3 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
How to look after your bees
Claire Waring's step by step guide to a colony inspection which depends on the weather, this time of year
6 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
Let the hen do the work of rearing chicks
As the breeding season approaches, Grant Brereton makes a case for hatching the natural way with broody hens...
8 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
Heading for the hills: City girl who became a proud farmer ...
Talking to Cora Cooper, the latest person to be interviewed for Farmstrong’s podcast Blether Together, is the gift that keeps giving.
5 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
Impaction Colic - what, why and how to avoid
Anna Harrison BScHons BVScHons CertWel MscIAWEL MRCVS and Honorary Vet to Donkey Breed Society, explains
5 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
How to help keep your livestock free from infectious diseases
Catriona Benson says there are many ways to help protect your animals
3 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
Flocking together brings benefits
This month, regular columnist Paul Donovan looks at the benefits of keeping chickens with other animals.
8 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
Which is best for you, an incubator or a broody hen?
Breeding and hatching chickens is very rewarding. You could use an incubator and brooder plate, or go down the route of using a broody hen, but which is best for you? Fiona & Hugh Osborne guide you through the choices.
6 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
Birthday to celebrate
How the humble hen rose to being the UK'S fourth most popular pet
5 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
Poultry Genetics - is it for me?
Like many people, I always wondered how the genes in poultry were inherited.
2 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
Sheep Dairying-when sheep are triple purpose livestock
Helen Babbs visits a farm to find out how it's done
5 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
Why the study of deer poo in North Wales could shed light on the future of woodland conservation
A team from Bangor University conducted a study amid a growing concern that increasing deer populations are negatively impacting the health and regeneration of UK woodlands.
2 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
Chicken secrets
Owning chickens comes with more surprises than you might expect. From daring escapes to bedtime demands, these feathered friends are full of quirks. Cara Wheeldon shares the lessons learned from years of poultry keeping
2 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
The ever versatile native breed pig can also help your land
Rare Breeds Survival Trust Chief Executive Christopher Price looks at how native pig breeds can act as 'ecosystem engineers' on a farm or holding without becoming 'architects of destruction'
4 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
Alpaca know how at a glance
Doug Steen of Teesdale Alpacas explains why he devised the Alpaca Infographic and how
3 min |
April 2025
The Country Smallholder
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 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
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 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
All About Grafting - an historic form of propagation
Lee Senior explains the top technique for gaining increased vigour, disease resistance, yield and speed
6 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
Time to get seed sowing
Kings Seeds give a guide to a flourishing veg patch that starts in spring
2 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
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 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
Getting Your Bees!
Claire Waring looks at how you can obtain your first colony and become a beekeeper.
6 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
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 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
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 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
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 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
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 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
Some signs of life!
Helen Moffat of the RSPB looks for changes from winter to spring
2 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
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 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
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 min |
Spring 2025
The Country Smallholder
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 min |