Paddock

The aim is to take an organic approach with a holistic view to the using of every part of the 10.5 acres.  The animals have an interdependency on each other as well as the gardens and orchard. This is a working farm, all the animals have a role to play in increasing sustainability and food production. The cattle walk among the fruit trees yet provide valuable fertiliser for them. The chickens are free range and to my disgust pick flowers of plants yet provide food from eggs and another source of fertiliser. The alpacas provide wool but importantly fertiliser 'gold' for the vegetables but if allowed, will eat the new growth of every tree.  The real skill in running a small farm is how you integrate everything you do. 

The animals are all pure bred, purchased originally from studs without any crossed DNA lines to create the best breeding stock. They are hand fed each day which keeps them calm and used to people around them. Rather than being just a dairy, beef, goat, fruit, flower or vegetable farm or even a petting zoo I keep a variety of animals so visitors can see and understand how farms work.

Black Angus - well technically miniature black angus - Lowlines, perfect cattle for small farms. The King of Amaphupho Farm is Wholy Moley the bull, at 500 kgs he might look scary but he is a lovely boy and enjoys a pat from everyone -  Breakfast With The Bull .  Make no mistake though if you go to McDonalds and have a black angus burger this is what you will be eating. There is always work keeping cattle as they do suffer from ticks and flies especially in spring and summer and they are bound to experience 3 day sickness in their life cycle. As lawn mowers, they work perfectly well. 

Minature Horses -  Along with small cattle I have small horses - no, no, not Shetland ponies, these are true small and miniature horses so they don't have 'small horse syndrome' that shetlands often do.  These horses are all correct in portion size and shape just smaller than what people are used to seeing on a race track. They are nice natured and don't mind a carrot and a brush and are easy to get along with - just ask Fatty the labrador - A horse and a dog - Best Friends.  Horses need their hoofs shaped every 6 to 8 weeks, think like cutting your fingernails which is a professionals job. Without their hoofs done, matched with their habit of being sever overeaters horses can get laminitis (the bones of the leg basically protrude through the hoof).  It's important, especially where I live and the grass that grows that horses can he put in a stall and feed amounts controlled to avoid obesity. Horses also rub them selves on gates, fences and trees so you have to be prepared for that, the darker the colour skin the more they will do it without treatment.  

Alpacas; These guys are fantastic for small farms and very protective of their 'herd' and have even been known to jump on snakes protecting their paddock. They are very intuitive and can sense people moods and you will often find them just standing and studying what people do. Alpacas are really easy to look after, they respect and it is said you can run 6 alpacas on the same area as just one sheep.  The alpacas are sheared each spring and their toe nails clipped, teeth filed if needed and a worming shot - that's it. The wool is said to be stronger than mohair, finer than cashmere, smoother than silk, softer than cotton, warmer than goose down and better-breathing than thermal knits.  The real benefit on a small farm like Amaphupho is their POO - it is fertiliser gold, better than almost any commercial fertiliser I've tried.

Olivia watching the Cricket on TV

Chickens  The free range flock (around 16) is constantly a work in progress to get the right mix of breeds to meet egg and meat demand.  A chicken starts laying around 22 weeks old, they will lay around 265 eggs a year and the 100 days they don't lay are mostly in winter where they will go off the lay for weeks.  generally chooks will lay for around 2 years and live for another 1 or 2 years after that meaning you have 'old boilers' not laying. The older chooks tend to be the leaders 'pecking order' and if they don't lay then the younger ones follow that lead. Backyard chooks are great BUT remember when they get old under and don't lay you have an issue to face. I have crossed several breeds to get the optimum laying and meat producing chickens but best you treat them as two separate issues. Breeding seems so much fun but a word of caution - half of your chickens hatched will be roosters, once mature the roosters will 'gang rape' your hens and rip their backs open. The aim is to have one rooster so if your hatching chickens then be prepared to deal with the issues of the hen/rooster mix.


Dogs - Mark Twain wrote - "If there are no dogs in heaven them I'm going where the dogs go".  Every farm needs a dog and we have 2 -  Wally and Fatty.  Wally is an Australian Shepherd that died twice before he turned one. Well he stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated firstly from paralysis ticks and the second time when he was run over by my own ute. During Wally's long recovery Fatty came along to keep him company. Fatty, well he is a lover not a fighter.


The farm has a massive dam on it where the geese, as the farm watch dogs live, and they guard the ducks. There are also over 23 species of wild birds living on the farm with parrots nesting in the trees and several types of wild ducks raising families each year.

Black Angus Calf