A question I often get asked is:

"How long does it take you to sort all the animals out?"

This is a difficult question to answer and to be honest, I don’t actually know how to respond. I don’t have a set time limit and I have never timed myself doing certain chores.

I suppose I could liken it to cooking. Sometimes, you might feel like preparing a four course feast and at other times you might simply want a quick snack of beans on toast. For me, I’d take the feast anytime and I don’t just mean when dining. That’s because my smallholding is something that I absolutely love. It is not a ‘job’, it doesn’t earn me a living and it isn’t something I see as ‘getting sorted and out of the way’.

I will often go out in the morning and get waylaid as I’m going about my tasks and for this reason, what might take forty-five minutes can end up taking four to five hours! I am lucky that I am retired and therefore I have no set times or days where I have to be somewhere and so I have the absolute advantage of simply pleasing myself. Admittedly it wasn’t always like this and, when I did have a job to go to, it meant very early starts and late finishes. At the time it was hard work and, looking back, I can see that I did have a need to ‘get things done’ so I appreciate the special times I have with the animals now and I am grateful that I can take my time and enjoy their company.

Allison's Pygmy Goats

Flynn in a playful mood

Allison with her Valais sheep

If the animals are in a playful mood, which they often are, then, once the feeding and mucking out has been done, I will spend time with them. This is never ‘wasted’ time. This is ‘bonding’ time and it is absolutely essential if you want the animals to trust you.

Of course there is much more involved than simply feeding, mucking out and bonding. Tasks such as cleaning feed and water buckets, soaking hay - for the equines that are prone to laminitis - filling up water bowsers and buckets, cleaning equipment, checking for signs of ill health; these are all important aspects of caring for animals and all must be done on a daily basis.

So, when I am asked how long it takes me to sort all the animals out on a morning, I often answer ‘how long is a piece of string?’

Then, of course, it all has to be repeated in the evening!


You can find Allison on Instagram countryliving_writer or visit her website here