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Is Heath failing at the ladies again?
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Dec 16, 2014 17:54
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Chicken Doodle posted:Is Heath failing at the ladies again? I have no idea because he can not seem to keep chalk on his harness for some reason. Also he's a terrible goon and doesn't care if the does are receptive or not and just endlessly sneaks up and pounces on them so I can't go by when he's interested in them to see if they've been bred. If I'm feeling ambitious I'll run pregnancy tests next month but otherwise it will just be a surprise!
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Dec 16, 2014 19:01
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Dumb non-sheep-owning question, what does it mean if the male lost his chalk? That's not a euphemism for anything, is it?
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Dec 16, 2014 21:39
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Male sheep draw chalk murals for female sheep before mating. Whoever has the nicest, brightest mural gets to breed. Since Heath is dumb and lost his chalk before he could draw his mural, he wasn't able to woo the ladysheep.
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Dec 16, 2014 22:01
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Astrofig posted:Dumb non-sheep-owning question, what does it mean if the male lost his chalk? That's not a euphemism for anything, is it? I probably should have explained that. My male goats and sheep wear a harness with a piece of chalk attached to it during breeding season. You can buy them online but I just have a dog harness with a piece of sidewalk chalk ziptied to it. When the male mounts the female he gets chalk all over her butt and I know she has been bred and can mark the date down on my calendar and calculate when to look for babies. Since Heath keeps losing his the does he are with don't get marked and I don't know when or if he has bred them. The sheep were much more cooperative. 
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Dec 16, 2014 23:10
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Blue butts.  Looking forward to the spring babies. And, glad to hear about the kittens!
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Dec 17, 2014 17:56
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Where's Win going?
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Dec 17, 2014 23:03
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It seems like a lot of readers of the thread want to get a farm of their own someday. I do too. I love sheep, and I really want to raise yaks and water buffalo one day. So, IJ and anyone else who wants to answer: What was it like taking the leap into farm ownership? Did you have to make a business plan and all that? When did you know the time was right to become a farmer? I'm really interested in all the boring minutiae if anyone wants to share.
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Dec 18, 2014 05:33
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pigeon, the mother of the litter ij found in her barn, is settled in and doing well. my dog might never recover, though.
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Dec 18, 2014 17:30
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I praise the baby Jesus every time I think of how my ancestors could have chosen cows instead of potatoes.
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Dec 20, 2014 04:53
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Yo, imma blob posted:It seems like a lot of readers of the thread want to get a farm of their own someday. I personally only have a hobby farm, so can only speak about the business side of ranching from a distance. We got into farm ownership because my wife had fairly extensive livestock experience growing up in 4h, and was interested in producing our own food. We both work from home, and were in a position where we were looking to buy a house anyway, so we decided we would go for it and get some property with some acreage and a barn. We got a nice lot in a nice location, and started looking into local dairy goat farmers, mostly via internet research and talking to people on Backyard Herds. Thankfully, Indiana has a whole fuckload of goat farms, so we had no trouble finding a couple of breeders whom would sell to us. One of them was super friendly and befriended us, and helped us a bit, but we mostly did everything on our own. It's been less hard then I expected, but there have definitely been some low points to compliment the high points. Anyway, there are lots of things to think about when you're starting a farm. What's your livestock experience like? What land is available? Is it agriculturally zoned? Is the house acceptable? Is there any shelter on it? Is there any fencing? Can you afford to put in fencing? How many animals can you pasture? Where will you store hay/feed? Where will you store tools? Where will you put sheering/milking stations (if any)? Where will you store a tractor? Do you need a tractor? Can you afford one? Does it flood? Do you have neighbors? Are there fields nearby that get sprayed, and if so are you cool with that? How are you going to get water out to the barn? What happens during winter (especially with the water situation)? What are your other time commitments? Do you have a significant other that can help, and how do they feel about such a lifestyle decision? Do you have enough money to get started? Are there any farmers that have livestock near you? Are there any vets nearby you? Where are the feed store/supply stores near you? Are you cool with dealing with rural type people? How are you going to manage your males? Are you going to do live cover, or artificial insemination? And so on. In general, livestock's main needs are food, shelter, containment, and maintenance. Different animals have different needs. Our goats, for instance, are pathetically easy to contain, and are kept in place by a few jury-rigged cattle panels and some electric netting. Water buffalo, on other other hand, would require a bit more. Moreover, the larger the herds, the more prepared you have to be. Haystack fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Dec 21, 2014 |
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Dec 21, 2014 02:01
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Look. Look at this baby goat.   His name is Horace and he's gonna be the boyfriend to my pygmy goat girls at Celestial Farms. I asked his breeder to try and get him acclimated to humans before he's weaned, and this is why she goes and does.
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Dec 21, 2014 02:45
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Suspect Bucket posted:Look. Look at this baby goat. OHMYGOD Horace is adorable! Thanks for the pix Suspect Bucket! Goat pictures always make me smile 
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Dec 21, 2014 07:30
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INSTANT JELLYFISH! I don't know how this video showed up on my list to watch but it is HILARIOUS. I was wondering, do Heath and Sexy Rex make these type of sounds also? They are a different goat breed than your boys but jeez, that is the funniest sound! http://youtu.be/H4Lz4-Tswdc Happy Holidays to you and your family and critters!
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Dec 25, 2014 02:56
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Yo, imma blob posted:It seems like a lot of readers of the thread want to get a farm of their own someday. I keep forgetting to respond to this, sorry! My family spent a ton of time preparing and writing an extensive business plan. My dad is a banker so a lot of excel sheets were involved. We also visited a ton of other farms and helped out. Small farmers love sharing what they do and also getting free extra labor. You can read tons of books and articles and watch tv shows about farming (and should!) but its just not the same as getting in there and doing the work. Then at some point you just have to dive in. You won't be prepared and you will freak out every time your animals sneeze or fart or whatever and you call the vet out a lot that first year but you learn a lot and make it through and it gets easier. Really though, find a farmer and ask if you can help out sometime. Also water buffalo are terrible assholes but yaks are ok. piscesbobbie posted:INSTANT JELLYFISH! I don't know how this video showed up on my list to watch but it is HILARIOUS. I was wondering, do Heath and Sexy Rex make these type of sounds also? They are a different goat breed than your boys but jeez, that is the funniest sound! http://youtu.be/H4Lz4-Tswdc They do a lot of sneezing, snorting, and blubbering which I guess impresses the ladies. They don't make as weird of noises as a lot of bucks but they're still goats. Also they're crusty as hell right now and its really gross. Happy holidays and a fantastic new year to all of you! 
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Dec 27, 2014 18:26
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Appropriate that it's gonna be the year of the sheep.
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Dec 27, 2014 23:08
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A bit of sad news for the beginning of the year and the end of this iteration of this thread. I left my parents in charge of the farm for a couple of days while I stayed at their house in the city and saw some old friends who were in town. As happens sometimes there was a freak accident and Dennis passed away. He was in the barn with the goat boys and they busted out to molest the little girly goats while Dennis tried to go through a some fencing to impress the ewes. He must have gotten caught and twisted wrong trying to get out and broke his neck. I checked out the area where my parents said they found him and I have no idea how he got stuck and there's no sign of a struggle so it must have just been a sudden weird accident. Heath also got stuck but he knows the drill by now and just sat there until someone saved him. Dennis was the best ram and loved by everyone, human and sheep alike. He's visited a church and been published in a magazine and at shows people ask for his wool specifically. He got in between fights in the boy's pasture and made sure everyone got along and knew that we don't hurt each other here. I'll miss his calm and regal presence out in the fields but I'm glad we'll have a few last Dennis lambs and I get to see his sons and daughters carry on his best traits.  He would have been 6 this year, which is about when rams burn out. They take risks and get into stupid situations and most just don't last into old age but at least they do what they love.
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Jan 3, 2015 16:10
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Oh no. I'm so sorry. 
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Jan 3, 2015 16:20
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Dang, sorry for your loss Instant Jellyfish 
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Jan 3, 2015 16:31
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I was going to need a new jacob ram this year anyway so I contacted someone who has a half sister of Dennis and asked them to keep me in mind if she has any ram lambs they think will be breeding quality. This is Ilene, who looks very much like a lady Dennis to me:  and her baby daddy for this year, Sir Cedric:  and her ram lambs from last year:   I'm really hoping it will work out. Otherwise I'm going to look into who is traveling to the region for the national conference in July.
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Jan 3, 2015 20:01
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I'm so sorry. He sounded like a complete sweetheart. I hope that your next ram is just as awesome.
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Jan 4, 2015 07:32
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Please make sure to post a link to your next thread, if there is one!
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Jan 5, 2015 21:35
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I'm very, very sorry to hear about Dennis. I hope his spirit lives on in his cute babies. I can't wait to see what joy comes to the farm this spring! Looking forward to the new thread, Jellyfish!
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Jan 6, 2015 02:01
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I need some goat ID help. This is Alice. She was found wandering on the west side of Jax, so she was afopted by Celestial Farms, where I work. Anyone have any idea what she is, besides some mutant Boer cross? She's crazy fluffy and soft on her body, maybe some kind of fiber goat? http://youtu.be/qNpXtfBRHBA Suspect Bucket fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Jan 7, 2015 |
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Jan 7, 2015 17:13
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How old is she? Her coat does have some curl to it like an angora but I've also just seen some super fluffy boers/boer mutts.
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Jan 7, 2015 21:17
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Instant Jellyfish posted:How old is she? Her coat does have some curl to it like an angora but I've also just seen some super fluffy boers/boer mutts. We figure about a year, maybe? No idea. We have had her 2 months, trying to put weight on her.
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Jan 7, 2015 23:08
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Have you checked her teeth? Pygmy mixes sometimes get pretty poofy if she's a tiny yearly or older beyond just being malnourished.
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Jan 7, 2015 23:31
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I didn't know goats had baby teeth like we do!
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Jan 8, 2015 02:25
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Suspect Bucket posted:I need some goat ID help. My sources (my daughter and my wife) say Boer Kiko or Boer Kiko Nubian. Boer Angoras usually have a wider hip than Alice does and you're more likely to find Kikos than Angoras in Florida due to humidity and worms.
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Jan 8, 2015 03:01
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Pile of Kittens posted:I didn't know goats had baby teeth like we do! I'm pretty sure all mammals do. Otherwise they couldn't wean until they had room for adult sized teeth.
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Jan 8, 2015 11:21
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Her teeth peg her at about a year and a half I think, still pretty gappy with the two front teeth coming in. I could be wrong though, im not too familliar with guessing age via teeth. Never had so many mystery goats before. Veronica and I disagree on the Kiko guess, she's really not hippy or angular enough. She's also wormy as hell, we have to keep her in dewormer pretty darn frequently, even in this cold florida winter. Part of why were having such a time getting her weight up. If she does have Kiko blood, she got none of the benefits. Here, have a video. It's Red and her baby Wolf on a much warmer three mornings ago. http://youtu.be/_kzcP8qEZ4A Suspect Bucket fucked around with this message at 16:19 on Jan 8, 2015 |
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Jan 8, 2015 16:15
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They don't just continuously grow larger and larger ones like sharks?
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Jan 11, 2015 09:17
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So what's going on at the farm?
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Feb 21, 2015 14:42
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Snow, snow and more snow. Everyone has been snowed in to the barn for about a month now and we're all real sick of it. I'll probably make a new thread in a week or two because we're only about a month away from BABIES! Most of the sheep I bred are getting wider and wider but I ran blood tests on the goats and only 2 of the 5 are pregnant. Ginger and Angela both should kid around March 25th and the other ones are getting tossed back in with Heath in early April to try for Sept kids. The good news is everyone I tested came back negative for CAE, so Iph didn't spread it during/after kidding and pulling Taffy saved her from contracting it.  The other good news is that Dennis' half sister Ilene did me a solid and had a ram lamb. This is Unzicker Isadore who, if he grows up nicely, will come be my jacob herdsire.  He only has 2 horns, which is fine by me, and I love his little knee patches
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Feb 21, 2015 18:32
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He looks like a Dalmation. I love it!
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Feb 21, 2015 19:31
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Ohhh I love his face! Can't wait for baby time.
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Feb 21, 2015 20:35
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I know she's not a baby, per se, but I figured this belongs here. Anyways, I've shown rabbits since the year 2000, and have almost always stuck to one breed (Tans), with the exception of a Thrianta I had once and a small Cinnamon project that was stymied by bad luck, drama, and the fact that our well ran dry last year. Earlier this month, I picked up the start of a new project: Satin Angoras. Here is my first angora, who I have named Usagi.  E: Hi my cat is norris! Blue Wher fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Feb 22, 2015 |
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Feb 22, 2015 00:24
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Yay fluffbuns! Tans are gorgeous too so feel free to post them. I think my mom is planning on breeding our angoras soon so hopefully we'll have some little dust bunnies as well as lambs and kids this year. Here's Pink Lady (the buns have an apple theme) my PEW doe getting a bit of a trim a couple weeks ago. 
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Feb 22, 2015 01:02
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Hi, Hawaii! Hi, bunnies! What does PEW stand for?
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Feb 22, 2015 01:41
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my cat is norris posted:Hi, Hawaii! Hi, bunnies! Pink-eyed (or Red-eyed) white.
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Feb 22, 2015 01:55
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