About
G.A Livestock Assistance
Who are we?
Village Girl meets Cow Boy
We originally met when I, Zoe, decided to put in place a mad idea of owning sheep. I immediately ran into issues when one of the 3 Wiltshire Horn sheep me and my mum had purchased came off the trailer lame. Cue desperate phone calls to the farm shepherd. Some bloke called Gary that my brother, Adam, worked with.
He showed up and spent the entire time not so politely moaning that we had bought horned sheep, paid too much and he didn't like them.
Well, somehow, after a few years of awkward interactions, wrangling escaped cows and supplying me with hay, he asked me out for dinner and as they say, the rest is history.
Our Story
Building a Future
Our Story
What About Now?
We both work full time, and our livestock passion grows along side.
Gary is head stockman on a mixed farm with a 60 head suckler herd and 120 store cattle and 300 acres of arable. His career started off at the age of 15 when he started rearing calves with his old friend Bob Blatch. From there he has gone from strength to strength and was head hunted into his current placement.
Whilst managing all of the farms cattle, we are also growing our own suckler herd, lead by Pedigree Simmental bull Hemingford Pink Panther, bred by Rachel and James Griffin. He has a mixture of cows to keep him occupied, including Simmentals, Limousins, Herefords and Blues.
We also run some store cattle, some of which go into our own meat business, Mill Cottage Meats.
​​​
​​​​​
​
My farming lifestyle really only started when I met Gary. I've always loved animals, but have never really found my click in life, until now. After leaving school I dabbled in grooming and stable work until I took on a job as a veterinary assistant/yard manager at my local mixed vet practice. I sort of fell into my rhythm there and very quickly discovered how much I love helping animals and seeing them thrive. Whilst it was a job I adored, it wasn't meant to be forever.
I set up a small flock of breeding sheep in 2020 and absolutely loved my first real taste of lambing. Lots of ups and some terrible lows (including 2 caesareans in 24 hours!) but there is simply nothing better than bringing new life into the world. Ive also done my first calvings, driven tractors and achieved my Blue Seal in shearing!
​
​
The last few years have truly been a whirlwind. After only a few short months together we embarked on our first season calving, followed very closely by buying some breeding sheep, then a few more, then just a couple extra! An all of this during a global pandemic. The icing on the cake was purchasing 6 Mule ewes scanned in lamb with quadruplets! Then before we knew it we were silage making, harvesting, lambing and back round to calving!
There truly is never a dull moment and were constantly getting one step closer to our ultimate goal - our own farm.
More sheep, more cows, another team member! In 2022 we were joined by our mini shepherdess, Olivia! What an experience lambing with a 6 week old baby was - to be honest I wouldn't recommend it! But hey, we crack on regardless!
Now 2 years old, she is a bright, determined, if not stubborn girl who adores her lambs and calves. She is a great entertainer at shows and sales too!
​
The sheep flock continues to grow, standing at around 130 ewes as of summer 2025.
The cattle numbers re increasing again slowly, with the addition of Hemmingford Pink Panther, our new Simmental Bull, along with 6 pedigree simmental heifers. Apparently were pedigree simmental breeders now!
Who Else?
Other VIP's
We all know there's people behind the scenes who beaver away, but those people can have 4 legs right?
They keep us sane and drive us round the bend in equal measure, but they make it all worth while.
