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Lynza
Jun 1, 2000

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea."
- Robert A. Heinlein
Ok - so if we built something more like a lean-to, so they could get out of the rain, that would work alright? I was thinking we'd need something entirely enclosed, like a shed or barn, but maybe we don't. And that would be awesome, because my husband complains a lot when he has to build stuff.

We have about a full acre we can use for goat forage - it's hardly flat and it's covered in weeds and blackberries, so there would be ample stuff for them to eat, too.

We have a friend in Washington (also a goon) whose kids raise goats for 4H. I believe they're Nubians - I guess if they work well in Washington, they'd be fine in Oregon in terms of doing OK with the wet. So - if we put something like gravel down a foot or so in their shelter for drainage, that should work. And add some warmer stuff for them to bed down in for winter.

Captain Foxy - if you're interested, I'd be happy to get you in contact with my friend in Vancouver if you want.

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Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



Lynza posted:

Ok - so if we built something more like a lean-to, so they could get out of the rain, that would work alright? I was thinking we'd need something entirely enclosed, like a shed or barn, but maybe we don't. And that would be awesome, because my husband complains a lot when he has to build stuff.

We have about a full acre we can use for goat forage - it's hardly flat and it's covered in weeds and blackberries, so there would be ample stuff for them to eat, too.

Yeah, the only time I think it's necessary to have a fully enclosed shed with doors and everything is if you have a problem with predators at night that a fence isn't stopping or if you're lambing/kidding in the middle of winter. As long as they can get out of the wind and rain they should be fine.

For goats the amount of acreage isn't as important as the amount of forage growing there. One acre of thick foliage and brush is better than 5 acres of golf lawn for instance. Just be prepared for them to mow down everything a lot faster than you expect and have hay ready for winter early. Nothing sucks more than realizing you're out of hay in February and begging and pleading to spend $9 a bale for whatever junk people have left.

I've got to do goat maintenance today (and Heathgoat needs a rod of shame installed) so maybe I'll try to get some photos or video of that so people know what all goes into keep the goats running. Next week I've got to start thinking about weaning the boys before they start knocking up all the adults. I can't believe my babies are turning 3 months already!

Meles meles
Oct 4, 2010
Oh my, I haven't looked here in a while. The Jacobs all still look so dainty, our Dorsets have turned into massive LAMB TANKS already. My work colleague bought her fancy camera in a while ago and we took some nice photos so here's a photo dump!



Kane, our British Alpine billy goat with his goofy half horns.



Billy & Bonny. We have to de-horn our goats because of RULES (Health & safety, insurance and what have you... not our choice) so Bonny has been dehorned since she'll be staying at the farm. Billy will be moving elsewhere at some point and we left it too late to treat him so he has a fine set of horns growing. All the other breeds of livestock we keep are naturally polled, so it's just a goat issue :(











"awwwwwwww yeah"



Bonus Daisy, no calves for a while :(

piscesbobbie
Apr 5, 2012

Friend to all creatures great and small
I really enjoy the photo dumps! Thank you for sharing!

milward
Nov 5, 2009

Now that I caught up with the thread I just want to thank everyone that post :3: pictures.

Baby animals really is the best way to remove stress at work.

So thank you all :tipshat:

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



Meles meles posted:

Oh my, I haven't looked here in a while. The Jacobs all still look so dainty, our Dorsets have turned into massive LAMB TANKS already. My work colleague bought her fancy camera in a while ago and we took some nice photos so here's a photo dump!

Isn't the difference between the little primitive sheep and the big production sheep amazing? I am regularly astounded by how beefy the romeldale lambs are.

Goliath is at least 60 lbs. I need a bigger scale but they're so expensive :qq:


Sherman is closer to 50 but is all muscle. You could use him as a table too.


He has decided that because the mooselings love me that I must be cool. He likes to come over and chew my pants and get face rubs and nose kisses.


He's got scurs developing. I'd prefer either real horns or totally polled but they are what they are.


As promised, have some goat maintenance pictures. Adults needed hoof trims and delousing, babies needed their last CDT booster, coccidia prevention, and Heathgoat needed his rod of shame attached. Everyone got FAMACHA scored to see if I needed to worm or do fecals. Here's my equipment:


Godammit goat get out of the way.


Alright, here's my equipment:


Dido's hooves grow really long in the toe. The person I got her from didn't trim her hooves enough so she walks more on her heels than evenly on the whole hoof so I have to keep on top of it or she'll end up with slipper foot.


Gross. No hoof scald or rot, just overgrown and dirty.


Much better. I got the inside walls a bit better with a hoof knife after I took this photo.


Their faces were getting too shaggy so they got a haircut too. Here's before.


And after.


Heath keeps getting his head stuck in the fencing and then wailing and wailing until I come remove him. It's getting ridiculous and he damages the base of his horns sometimes so it was time for the rod of shame.


He is the biggest baby and whined the whole time. Here his is in my mom's lap so you have an idea of how giant he has become. He's around 50lbs now and will be 3 months old in 5 days.


Guess how long his hat lasted :argh: I'm using duct tape next time.

Hellacopter
Feb 25, 2011
Heath has the most magnificent curls, he's so handsome. :swoon: I'll choose to remember him like that instead of as a horrible pee monster.

McDragon
Sep 11, 2007

Visited a farm yesterday, got to stroke some goats. Thought they'd be bristly, but they were so soft. :swoon:

They were really nice and friendly too. One kept sticking her head through the gate for ear scritches. :3: Not sure what sort they were, but they were short and lumpy and adorable.

Lynza
Jun 1, 2000

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea."
- Robert A. Heinlein
Our local county fair is coming up in a couple of weeks. I'm stupid over how excited I am to go see all the goats. :swoon:



I mean, yeah, the sheep are cool, but the goats always seem to have more personality, to me. Last year I spent an hour squatting down by a particularly friendly goat, just petting her and telling her how awesome she was.

RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

I'm working on a series of paintings with a circus sideshow theme, and thanks to this thread one of the freaks is a goat boy. Haven't thought of a good name for him yet, though...

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



Lynza posted:

Our local county fair is coming up in a couple of weeks. I'm stupid over how excited I am to go see all the goats. :swoon:



I mean, yeah, the sheep are cool, but the goats always seem to have more personality, to me. Last year I spent an hour squatting down by a particularly friendly goat, just petting her and telling her how awesome she was.

Pictures are needed of any and all goat/sheep/livestock events! I love seeing all the different breeds.

Goats are like hurf durf-y labs and mostly love everyone and enjoy a good neck scratch. Sheep are more like the primitive breeds of dog where if they don't know you and you don't have something for them they don't really give a poo poo about you. The more sheep I meet the more I feel like its not that they don't have a lot of personality, that their personality more subtle and it takes some quiet reflection to really appreciate.


RazorBunny posted:

I'm working on a series of paintings with a circus sideshow theme, and thanks to this thread one of the freaks is a goat boy. Haven't thought of a good name for him yet, though...

I wanna see that goat boy when you're done. I find circus attractions fascinating :allears:

RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

Instant Jellyfish posted:

I wanna see that goat boy when you're done. I find circus attractions fascinating :allears:

He's not done, but here's the progress so far:


Hopefully it's not too "weird otherkin" - he's just what I pictured in my head when I was trying to think of freak show acts. There's also a miscellaneous jar of weird specimens and a strongman's leotard. I think I'm going to try and sell them as a triptych.

He still needs a name, though :)

Pardalis
Dec 26, 2008

The Amazing Dreadheaded Chameleon Keeper
Crossposting some of my two day old Coturnix quail chicks from the Backyard Chickens thread.

The first few out were goldens.


Hatching is hard work! Babby quail must rest before fluffing up to maximum cuteness.


I got a lot of Goldens this round and a few different types of Tuxedos.


They are about the size of a nickel at hatch but grow rapidly. They also like sleeping in piles.

Lynza
Jun 1, 2000

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea."
- Robert A. Heinlein
Pardalis, we have to meet up sometime! We can discuss our various dinosauruses.

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



A bear was spotted about half a mile down the road from me so I've been busy scrambling to make sure my fences are solid and charged. A small black bear isn't going to take on a full grown sheep, especially my horned sheep who know no fear, but better safe than sorry.

I've also weaned most of the boys and started halter training them. There was a lot of sad wailing for a few days but they're almost all over it by now. Heathgoat and Angela are still a bit full of woe. Part of HeaferTeefer's problem is probably the new hat.


I'm already working on what to try when he inevitably gets this off. Some day his horns will be too big to get stuck in the fence!


Bracken thinks he's lord of the babby sheeps.


Goliath is almost as big as Major.


He's almost as big as Moose too. She's there babysitting with Jewel because her boys are too young to wean yet.


The lady we got the romeldales from thinks Goliath is amazing because he has rare "swiss markings", which I think are the white goggles? I don't know why that's special but I think he's pretty nifty myself.


You racists :argh:


Little Clementine is about 20-25 lbs now.


She's awfully cute and as sweet as can be.


Sherman has decided people are awesome and face rubs are awesome and everything is awesome.


Oh come on Windsor I'm try to take pictures here.


You can see how concerned the white goats are at suddenly being minus one kid.

McDragon
Sep 11, 2007

They're all still very lovely critters. :3: Also that hat rules, he looks like a space alien.

Hope that bear doesn't cause you any trouble though.

Anoia
Dec 31, 2003

"Sooner or later, every curse is a prayer."
Next step: multiple tennis balls? The cone they come packaged in? They're all so drat cute, in any case.

four lean hounds
Feb 16, 2012
How do you halter train? Just slap the halter on and let them gnash their teeth until they're used to it, and then teach them to walk on leads?

I love that a bear is no big thing. How would they fare against other predators, like a wolf? Do these more primitive sheep breeds have more "fight" in them, or do they still largely depend on you for predator protection?

Deely boppers :3:

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



four lean hounds posted:

How do you halter train? Just slap the halter on and let them gnash their teeth until they're used to it, and then teach them to walk on leads?

I love that a bear is no big thing. How would they fare against other predators, like a wolf? Do these more primitive sheep breeds have more "fight" in them, or do they still largely depend on you for predator protection?

Deely boppers :3:

I'm taking some video of halter training so I'll have a compilation together eventually. I wrangle a sheep, strap on a halter, then attach it to a post until they stop bucking and flailing and start grazing. Then they get a handful of grain, I take off the halter and set them loose for the day. They next day, as long as they aren't still bucking broncos, I start putting pressure on the halter and releasing the pressure and rewarding with grain whenever they take the smallest step forward. When they're taking a few steps they get grain and are turned loose. When they have walking to release pressure down I work on walking away from piles of grain. If they take a step away from the grain they get to go back to the grain and eat some. When they'll follow me with no pressure away from the grain they get turned loose to go eat the grain.

If they can't even handle me being near them I'll work on that for a few days using social pressure and release. When they're haltered I'll move into their space just enough that they become slightly uncomfortable. As soon as they stop trying to scoot away and drop their heads to graze I move away. Eventually they learn that if they stay still and drop their heads I'll give them space eventually, even if I'm all up in their business at that moment. The jacob rams learn that me holding their horns is ok too and they can be lead that way if needed.

The sheep would totally be a buffet to wolves, coyotes, bobcats, pumas, or stray dogs. The jacobs would fight back but they're tiny and it would be easy for a group of predators to single one out and kill it. Luckily for me a few years before I moved here there was a huge rabies outbreak and all coyotes and stray dog packs died either from rabies or were wiped out to prevent the spread of the disease. I'm not super concerned about the bear because black bears are not big predators. One is a lot more likely to wander into my feral apple orchard and stuff itself than to go after my sheep or goats, especially since my creatures are behind woven wire and electric fencing. Plus at the first sign a bear is worrying any of my neighbor's cattle its going to be quietly shot and buried and never spoken of again.

I will be on higher alert during lambing next year though because if a bear is going to go after any sheep it will be a newborn right after coming out of hibernation. Another reason I'm glad I lamb in the barn and not in the pasture!

Tasty_Crayon
Jul 29, 2006
Same story, different version.

Meles meles posted:




Bonus Daisy, no calves for a while :(

What is Daisy? She is goooorgeous.

Meles meles
Oct 4, 2010

Tasty_Crayon posted:

What is Daisy? She is goooorgeous.

She is a British White. It's been super dry here for the past few weeks so she's still looking shockingly clean. I'm sure that'll all change at the first site of rain and mud.

piscesbobbie
Apr 5, 2012

Friend to all creatures great and small
Came across this ADORABLE video on YOUTUBE. http://youtu.be/_DUsuASjDis I think I want me some goats and/or sheep!

'Somebody make them stop, they are so soft.' LOVE IT!

piscesbobbie fucked around with this message at 01:17 on Jul 24, 2013

Serella
Apr 24, 2008

Is that what you're posting?

piscesbobbie posted:

Came across this ADORABLE video on YOUTUBE. http://youtu.be/_DUsuASjDis I think I want me some goats and/or sheep!

'Somebody make them stop, they are so soft.' LOVE IT!

That was a motherfucking delight to watch. All those babby goats just wanting to climb on her. :allears:

GabrielAisling
Dec 21, 2011

The finest of all dances.

piscesbobbie posted:

Came across this ADORABLE video on YOUTUBE. http://youtu.be/_DUsuASjDis I think I want me some goats and/or sheep!

'Somebody make them stop, they are so soft.' LOVE IT!

That makes me so homesick. We didn't have any baby goats for a while because the herd got sick and the ones that survived we thought were sterile. :smith: But we had a couple of babies this spring, so it looks like they're back on the upswing. My only regret is missing the first week after they were born. They're always so adorably tiny that first week it's almost unreal.

Pucklynn
Sep 8, 2010

chop chop chop
So, I spent a few days on my parents' farm recently where they raise alpacas. I got to help clean out the fields, check for parasites, and bottle-feed the baby. It was all really interesting and fun, but my true passion is sheep, so I was wondering if you could talk about similar activities on the sheep farm, specifically types of parasites you have to look for in sheep, whether or not you run your own fecal samples (we did, and it's fascinating!), field maintenance, and the general minutiae of keeping a farm going.

I was going to offer up pictures of the baby alpaca but they seem to have disappeared. :C

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



Pucklynn posted:

So, I spent a few days on my parents' farm recently where they raise alpacas. I got to help clean out the fields, check for parasites, and bottle-feed the baby. It was all really interesting and fun, but my true passion is sheep, so I was wondering if you could talk about similar activities on the sheep farm, specifically types of parasites you have to look for in sheep, whether or not you run your own fecal samples (we did, and it's fascinating!), field maintenance, and the general minutiae of keeping a farm going.

I was going to offer up pictures of the baby alpaca but they seem to have disappeared. :C

Sure! I've helped out at alpaca farms too and it is quite a bit different but I'm not sure if that's because alpacas actually need all the special stuff or if alpaca people just tend to be sensitive furmommy types (no offense to your alpaca owning parents that's just what I've seen in my area).

Alpacas around here get ivomec+ injected on a monthly basis to prevent meningeal worm, their hooves get sprayed down with something to kill hoof lice during shearing, and then they have fecals done and get wormed if they look off at all or just get wormed regularly without checking just to be safe. The ivomec injections tend to cause abscesses in at least one farm I've visited and those need to be drained regularly too.

For the sheep I don't worry as much about meningeal because it really isn't common around here. The goats are constantly battling biting lice (they're commonly known as angora lice they're so prevalent on angora goats) so they get frontline spray monthly and their stall has to be dusted with sevin or python dust regularly. Sheep can get biting or sucking lice, ticks, and sheep keds (a type of wingless fly that looks like a tick). I haven't had a problem with any of these so far but I do use fly spray if they have any wounds or look like they're really being bothered by flies. I use the FAMACHA scoring method as a quick check for parasite load regularly and if any are looking pale or if they have sloppy dog poos I run a fecal. FAMACHA only indicates barberpole worm load so I don't rely on that completely but its a good tool. I do fecals myself usually but if there's any I'm not sure about or if its a new animal to my farm I send it out for a more thorough check. They mostly only need worming after lambing or during the summer when its wet, hot and they're eating grass right down to the ground.

Alpacas all poop in one giant poo pile that needs clearing, sheep just drop it where ever and don't even seem to know its happening. I'll clean up giant piles around gates and water and shelters but other than that I just leave it to fertilize the pasture. I use the deep bedding method in my stalls and pens so daily (when they're in pens, they're all on pasture right now) I clean out big piles of poo and especially gross bedding and put a bit more straw to cover it. Then twice I year I do a deep clean and remove all that bedding, powerwash everything and lime the floor. This year we rented an awesome skid loader which is like a mini bulldozer and managed to get it all done in 2 days but otherwise it takes a solid month of work to clean out the whole barn.

The pastures are a whole 'nother creature that needs just as much care as the hoofstock. It needs mowed regularly because the sheep don't take down the whole field evenly, they pick and choose. So I have giant tall sawgrass and reeds that are shading out the nice grasses that the animals actually want to eat unless I cut them down every month or so. This would be so much easier if I had a real tractor with a brushhog attachment but instead I putter around in my little riding mower and it takes forever and my neighbors laugh at me. In the spring I walk the pasture and reseed any bare patches with orchard grass and clover. This year I'm doing a soil analysis to be sure that it's still healthy and will keep produce good food for the creatures.

Daily farm things is mostly removing stupid animals from fencing (Heathgoat:argh:), making sure all the fence is secure still, watching the flock for any signs of illness, cleaning and filling water troughs and buckets, tidying up pens and distributing face rubs, snuggles and snacks. Big maintenance days happen once a season or so and those involve hoof trimming, butt shaving if needed, a more thorough body check and condition scoring. In the winter I add feeding grain and hay to the list of daily chores but in general its not a ton of work on a day to day basis.

This weekend my parents are out and we're working on rebuilding my main sheep pen to be more flexibly divided for easier breeding and lambing. If I haven't gone into a rage and set the whole thing on fire I'll post about that and this year's breeding plans when we're done.

Sorry that became a crazy novel! Since I've been a bad OP and abandoned my thread for so long have some video. It's taken with my 3ds so its not great but you can see the sheeps in motion so that's something at least.

Primrose and Juniper. This is how moms say "no more nursing". By stepping on the lamb's head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4FS57UwAjE

Sherman learning about halters. Major is helping.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaAihSm9cGY

piscesbobbie
Apr 5, 2012

Friend to all creatures great and small
LOVED those videos. Thank you for sharing! They are so sad, yet so funny! Poor babies, growing up is hard work!

Pucklynn
Sep 8, 2010

chop chop chop
That was great, thank you! I'm planning on trying to volunteer at a sheep farm at some point (if they'll have me) so I can get some hands-on experience, but until then I have to live vicariously through this thread and the internet. I'd love to hear more about your breeding plans and also any more generic sperging you want to do. I'm reading Understanding Animal Breeding so I can follow breeding discussions better-- right now they're kind of incomprehensible.

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



Sheep farms, especially smaller fiber focused farms, generally love having people out to help or even just to visit and talk sheep. I know I've had a number of new farmers out and before I started I visited a ton of farms and it was a very welcoming environment. Everyone just wants to share what they know. A ton of people just pick up random sheep at auction and don't know how to care for them and it ends badly so I think everyone appreciates when someone tries to do research first.

I was trying to think of what other spergy rants I had in me and then I saw someone post on a livestock forum about how all rams "go mean" by the time they're 3 and I guess that's it.

There are a lot of misunderstandings about rams. Sure there are naturally mean and dangerous rams out there, but their place is in a freezer not in a breeding group. Nasty rams tend to have nasty lambs and there are too many good rams in the world to waste time and risk injury for one that's going to try to kill you in the field every time you're out there.

I think a lot of rams that get written off as "mean" are just being kept and handled inappropriately. Too many people think its fine to house a ram by himself all year until breeding time when you would never ever do that to a ewe. Rams are just as social and really need buddies and healthy social interaction or they go nuts from boredom and loneliness. Some people are afraid of housing rams together or keeping them with castrated friends because they play rough and get into squabbles and it can look pretty scary, but that is what they are built to do. I have 3 (and a half) adult rams, 5 ram lambs, and 3 wethers and they all live together just fine after proper introductions. Its just like a frat house though. A lot of destruction, gross smells, play violence, and homoeroticism.

Even if you provide them an appropriate group you still have to teach them how to interact with people from a young age. You can't treat them like a cuddly stuffed toy as a lamb then expect them to know they can't play that way when they're 200 lbs. Even teeny baby rams aren't allowed to rub their faces on me or play butt me or treat me like a fellow crazy lamb. When they get bigger they get halter trained and if they're being turds to me they get to walk around on lead for a while which is boring and sucks and it makes them think twice about being jerks. Serious infractions that could result in injury get them tossed on the ground immediately or they get a face full of giant freckledog. It only ever seems to need to happen once and that come to Jesus moment gets any ideas right out of their heads.

The most important thing is to just never underestimate your rams. Even the tiniest, cutest little ram can snap your leg so easily. You should never, ever turn your back on them or be unaware of what they are doing. If you need to work in their pasture or pen during breeding season bring backup or move them out first. If you're feeding grain (which they don't need the vast majority of time) do it from outside the fence. If you need to do medical work on one ram move him to a safe location away from the group. I've had rams that think me holding one of their buddies to worm them is the best time to take them down a peg and once it nearly broke my arm. Don't go interact with the boys after dealing with ewes in heat or right after handling a birth. Don't pat a ram's face or wrestle with it for fun because you do not want to be on the receiving end of ram games. Don't encourage rams to come charging over to you for treats because sometimes they go from "yay running!" to "yay butting!" in a flash.

Just treat them with respect and be aware of their power and its really not hard to have a group of sweet, gentle rams. Or at least rams you don't have to worry about killing you for giggles. If every ram you get turns out mean its because you either pick mean rams or you make mean rams and you should probably just stick with ewes or get a cormo which you could probably not pay to hurt you with all the grain and ladies in the world.

Ply magazine is going to publish some pictures of my Jacobs so here's some older pics of my big boys that I dug up for them.

Twofer is everyone's favorite


Hermes. His horns are even bigger now. He's an impressive dude.


Thing 2 and his weird extra horn.


Dennis before he broke the tips off his horns.


Big Al the love puddle. He might accidentally step on your foot but I have never seen him try to get rough with anyone or anything.


BFFs :3:

RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

I bet the others like the boys with the big splayed-out horns because they can use them to scratch the itchy stuff they can't reach :3:

Also, I know a lot of people in this thread are fiber fans, and I wanted to post a link to a Facebook post about a stolen skein. Someone grabbed the "handspun, 50/50 silk and merino, from a hand-painted rainbow roving, and weighs approximately 6 ounces" skein at the Montgomery County (MD) ag fair and the owners would very much like it back. Just thought I'd help with the signal boost.

Lynza
Jun 1, 2000

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea."
- Robert A. Heinlein

RazorBunny posted:

I bet the others like the boys with the big splayed-out horns because they can use them to scratch the itchy stuff they can't reach :3:

Also, I know a lot of people in this thread are fiber fans, and I wanted to post a link to a Facebook post about a stolen skein. Someone grabbed the "handspun, 50/50 silk and merino, from a hand-painted rainbow roving, and weighs approximately 6 ounces" skein at the Montgomery County (MD) ag fair and the owners would very much like it back. Just thought I'd help with the signal boost.

What kind of total bastard steals YARN ffs? Good lord. I hope they get it back. It blows my mind that people steal from crafters.

Pucklynn
Sep 8, 2010

chop chop chop
Good, your boys are adorable. I'll keep in mind what you said about interacting with rams-- we have a big problem with male alpacas getting rough when they grow up because the babies are so drat cute, so I definitely understand that.

Which issue of Ply will you be featured in? I'll have to see about grabbing a copy.

Enelrahc
Jun 17, 2007

This was posted a few days ago by our livestock dept. I think this cow is so pretty :3:



No drat clue how they got her into the stocks.

RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

Enelrahc posted:

No drat clue how they got her into the stocks.

Glad I scrolled down, because I was just going to post and ask this!

four lean hounds
Feb 16, 2012
^ Maybe they asked her a tough question so she'd tilt her head to one side as she walked forward?

Hermes is GORGEOUS. :swoon:

Please never stop sharing stories about your livestocks and your Majors, and thanks to everyone else who has jumped in with pictures.

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



If the cow is anything like my sheep they are very aware of where their horns are and are surprisingly good at maneuvering them around. Mine can turn them just so to get into things, the trick is remembering how to turn them to get back out.

I was going to post pictures of my barn construction project but have some animals raiding my apple trees instead.

Electra














You can go ahead and be jealous of her neckbeard.






Major is a big fan of apples.


Dog teeth apparently work better on apples than goat teeth.


I don't think that's going to work there Win.


Al stole it.


I swear none of the choked.


Iph is a full sized dumb goat now.




Dido was the only one that realized that she could bite off chunks, still didn't do it well.


Tootsie looked kind of like a rabid mule.


Little goats just ate apple leaves and tried to climb the tree.


I'm not sure which issue exactly the spotty folk will be in but I'll let you know. They're supposed to send me a copy along with my check :neckbeard:

RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

Just out of curiosity, are there any sheep breeds that are good for both fiber and meat? My middle sister is currently pricing out land, and she wants to raise sheep for wool but also wants to eat them now and again. I'm sure she'll do more research as the actual land purchase gets closer, but she was curious when I mentioned the livestock thread to see if anyone had advice. Would she be better off keeping two breeds?

Serella
Apr 24, 2008

Is that what you're posting?

Instant Jellyfish posted:

I was going to post pictures of my barn construction project but have some animals raiding my apple trees instead.

Every time you post new sheep pics, I end up making dumb noises at my screen -- like right now it's the kind of noises I imagine the sheep are making as they eat their apples. BLAAAAAAGH NOMNAAAAAUGH. It's been the highlight of my evening.

Instant Jellyfish
Jul 3, 2007

Actually not a fish.



Short answer: One breed should be fine, the vast majority of sheep are used for meat and wool.

Long answer: It depends on what sort of wool she wants and how much meat she needs. Some of the fine wools aren't very tasty and some of the big meat sheep have coarse wool that's better for felting or itchy heavy outerwear but in general you can find a sheep that can do anything you need it to do. If wool is the primary focus and she doesn't need giant meaty lambs like crazy something like the shetland, icelandic, or jacob bred for fine wool would be good. If she wants a jack of all trades thats beefy with maybe less fine but still excellent wool something like a leicester, corriedale, or babydoll southdown would be good. If she really wants a marketable lamb and just likes felting or spinning for fun something like a texel, tunis, or finnsheep cross.

In general she can just pick a sheep she likes and eat it too. Shepherds rarely want single purpose sheep.

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RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

I'll let her know :) I think she mostly wants them for wool, and will probably just end up eating her excess ram lambs and the occasional troublemaker.

Our aunt has promised her a couple of baby goats once they get set up, but they're myotonics (and minis) so they'll mostly just be pasture candy unless she decides to eat them - they're not much good for milk, and they certainly aren't fiber goats.

And she said I can pick out some chickens to keep with her birds and they will be mine :neckbeard: and I can take lots of allergy medicine and drive out there and cuddle them.

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