A NOTE TO FOLKS...
We have been overwhelmed with people wishing to book some much deserved and needed time away during 2024. Whilst we are incredibly flattered, as most of this has come from word of mouth, after filling up very quickly our families farm sitting diary, is currently FULL for the time being (this of course as life has a habit of, can and most likely will change).
Being a family, not a contracting firm, we simply cannot be in two places at once, nor do we have a receptionist. We are sure most in the farming world will appreciate this!
Having spent many hours, in good faith attempting to reply to everyone's emails and messages, we apologise if we have missed anyone off our list, this has in no way been intentional and we wish you all the best in finding suitable and trust worthy cover for your precious acres.
In future we hope we can help.
Best wishes - Martin and Kate
…the travelling farm sitters make it easy!
Are you looking for a reliable and experienced farm sitter?.... Perhaps we can help you out!
We’re not just farm sitters, we are experienced from our own livestock – part of our family, plus we have our own comfortable accommodation!… we do not need to access your private home + are self sufficient all year round… simply provide us with secure parking, water tap + waste water disposal point and let us take care of + spend time with your beloved animals, whilst keeping your set up ticking over…. if there are any jobs or projects you need a hand with – let us know we are happy to help if we can!
We understand the complexities of leaving a farm or small holding, even for one day or a weekend, let alone for a week or more! Plus, we appreciate first hand how hard it is to find someone experienced + reliable, that you feel trusted to keep everyone and everything just so.
We’ve taken our dog and daughters cat with us into our next chapter – adventuring in our vans. We still have a pony too, after 24years together there was no way we were parting ways!… Milly is now very happily retired on a friends yard, munching grass with her companions.
We deeply miss the field animals in our life daily – we’re always seeking them out making new friends along the way, wherever we are in the world…. we’ve had nearly a 4yr break from the daily work involved in the daily care of livestock & we reckon it’s time for us to bring a little of this back into our lives, mix things up a bit – taking our new rig to some farms & making some new friends!
For us this is a really exciting prospect + we get to help you out too… we’d love the opportunity to give some of you hard working people a break by farm sitting for you!
We are experienced…
Kate has been around horses, dogs and cats all her life, been on farms helping out here and there from the age of 14 and became a Veterinary Nurse, training at 17.
Martin has been around the countryside and dogs all his life, building our own fencing, stabling, shelters & being an engineer has kept our quads, trucks and work vehicles going strong.
In the last 38 years, together we have gained experience across many aspects of farming:
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Animals – alpacas, highland cows, sheep, lambs, chickens, ducks, horses (from youngsters to veterans), goats, alpaca breeding and unpacking (alpaca birthing), breeding through to hatching and raising chickens
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Arable – paddock management, spraying, fertilising, mowing
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Yard work – fencing, farm maintenance, workshop skills
Our kiddos are animal lovers, grown up on a farm and happy to get their hands dirty. They’re farm safety savvy and now 14 and 16yrs old.
Together we have a very patient, kind and caring approach to animals, with great respect.
We have owned and bred our own herd of 13 alpacas with in house studs.
With 7 horses and ponies at our most, we have taken pride in raising our horses ourselves from yearlings right through to the experienced, level headed, friendly horses they grow into… we have also re-homed ex-racehorses in need with us.
Our family farm also consisted of fun pygmy goats, these guys were great, always raised a smile and were purely pets.
At any one time we had over 1,000 chickens – mostly rare breed bantams, from incubated eggs right through to breeding stock…. all free range in the largest and most enriched environment we could provide!
If you have a few questions feel free to get in touch…
..click below to see our frequently asked questions!
Interested in having a break or need us to farm sit for you?...
Reach out by sending an email to:
vanjourney@outlook.co.uk