Hi there everyone,

I'm keen to have a smallholding on our lot in Southern Alberta. It has always been a dream of mine to have some chickens, ducks a goat or two & a couple of alpacas (small relation of the llamah) & maybe some more if Hubby will let me

I would be really interested to hear from anyone about experiences of running a smallholding & any advice they can offer ie. wildlife etc.

This wont be for a few years yet, we've got to get out there yet & then build a house, but with the wait ahead i've no excuse for not being able to research the idea

Thanks in advance, Arris

If this idea comes up - we'll have to come up from Lethbridge as I have never seen a Alpaca.

Gaynor
x

Here's a couple of pics of alpacas. No prob Gaynor, Lethbridge is only 30 minutes from Fort Macleod

Arris

Hi Arris

I know have to drive thru it to get from Calgary to Lethbridge.

The Alpacas are lovely - would love to see them up close - we'll make a date to see them lol

Gaynor

Just a word of caution. We have rancher friends in Pincher Creek who had to give up on sheep raising as they lost too many to the grizzlies, cougars and wolves. ( too bad you won't be coming to Nova Scotia. Smallholdings are quite cheap to buy, and no predator problems!!)

At Fort McLeod, those predators won't be a problem. The major predators would be coyotes and perhaps owls (after chickens).

Thanks for that, it's good to know. We have a dobermann who may deter the coyotes.

I took onboard what Third Time Lucky said as Pincher Creek is about 30 minutes away from Fort Macleod.

My Cousin who lives in Fort Macleod said that a young black bear was caught in Fort Macleod a year or so ago - but that was the first time he had know that happen in the 25 years he has lived there, it is thought that the bear's mother may have been killed & the youngster got 'lost'. I understand there was a happy ending.

I did what you are thinking of doing just outside of Winfield, Alberta. I bought a quarter section of land (160 acres) and raised the following just for fun: Rainbow Trout (in 2 ponds, one of which was 5.5 acres in size), Russian wild boar, bison, merriams turkeys and pheasants. Predators can be a problem - mainly coyotes. The last time I checked, in Alberta you could shoot any predator on sight if it was on your property - where the discharge of a firearm is legal (i.e. away from urban areas).

Regarding the wildlife you will see, it depends on your location in the province. At Ft. McLeod, you would see coyotes, deer (probably both whitetail and mule deer). In forested areas, you might also see elk, bears, and moose. At Winfield, I saw beaver, moose, black bears, coyotes, owls, mice, hawks, great blue herons, beaver, musk rats, osprey, deer (both whitetail and mule) on my land.

Here are a few photos of what was my land and animals:

The turkeys and bison were easy to raise, the pheasants were somewhat more difficult, and the Russian wild boar were nice at first but became a pain. It was nice to go out fishing on my own lake for rainbow trout and not need a license.


A few more photos:

That's funny because I also had a doberman (do we think alike), but I didn't let him run on my land - I left him in Red Deer where I had a home.

Pincher Creek is about 36 minutes from Ft. MacLeod according to MapSource, and it is further from the mountains/forested areas where predators like bears or cougars would be found, coyotes however are just about everywhere.

Cheers Ocean,

Thanks for showing us. You certainly had a variety of livestock, what were the boar & bison like to keep?

It is something I have always wanted to do - purely as a hobby & for fun.
There's no way we could do this in the UK, land is just so expensive (what's left to buy that is).

Cheers also for the information on the wild life we are likely to encounter

Wow, great pictures, how many bison did you have on your land?

Hey, you had a dobie too! They are such wonderful pets - loyal, friendly, comical & of course very good guards when need be.

Do you think having a dog will help act as a deterant to coyotes - we plan to get another 2 dobermanns once we have moved out as Dexter will be getting on in years

I wouldn't raise the boar again, because they like to get under the fencing - even though I had the best fencing in Alberta - and they have trouble when the temperatures go below about -18C. Below -30C they are in serious trouble whereas it can go down to -40C and the bison can take it as long as they have feed. Both boar and the bison didn't have to be provided with water in the winter because they would just eat the snow, although having a small creek running through the property would be beneficial because the bison will kick a hole through the ice to get at the water. This however is a potential problem at Ft. MacLeod because you might not have the snow cover that I had at Winfield.... so you might have to provide water - summer and winter.

Bison are native to the Ft. MacLeod area and Merriam's turkey were introduced... so they can take the severe cold of winter.... yes, the Merriam's turkeys can take the cold better than the boar!

http://www.gf.state.az.us/h_f/game_turkey.shtml

The turkeys were easy to raise and were delicious, but you have to have the right fencing for them.... owls can attack from the top and decapitate them! ... so the pen has to be fenced from the top too..... and coyotes love to eat turkeys.

I had an area of about 50 acres - with special fencing - for the bison and wild boar. I ended up with about 70 boar and 11 bison.

Yeah, my dobie was too friendly - really loved kids..... but dobies have trouble with the cold temperatures (because of their short coats) during the winter and need to be inside much of the time. German Shepards - among other breeds with long fur - are better for Alberta. As long as they are highly territorial, a dog will dissuade coyotes to some degree.... but coyotes like to attack at night when the dog is not around, so there is no substitute for the right fencing... they are very smart (much smarter than any dog) and can be persistant.

There is a magazine , called The Mother Earth News Magazine , it has articles
on homesteading,raising livestock ,building environmentally friendly houses etc.
The website is www.motherearthnews.com The magazine comes out
every 2 months. Our libraries do have them and perhaps you could find
them in your local libraries.
Yoong