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This thread reminds me why I love spiders.  Poor goats.
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Sep 4, 2013 21:48
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 15:14 |
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We've never had flies this bad and up until the last couple of weeks they hadn't been too bad this year. All the mild, super wet weather is catching up to us. The grass is growing like crazy but the flies are nuts and everyone's hooves are falling apart due to the constant dampness. I've got 3 animals with limps and my hoof trimmers have up and vanished of course. I forgot I was doing color genetics but I recieved my shiny new copy of The Coat of Many Colors so I can explain the romeldales a little better. If you remember the cormo sheep are either white from the agouti gene (e+/e+ Awt/Awt) or black from the extension gene (Ed/Ed A?/A?). The romeldales don't just have the agouti white available to them, they have 7 different agouti alleles present in the population that often show incomplete dominance in weird ways. Instead of one allele totally blocking the effects of the other often times some characteristics of both alleles can be seen in the animal. Sherman is white and has to be carrying color from his daddy but there's no way of knowing what color. His dad is listed as AlbfAbl on his pedigree which means he is a light badgerface/blue. Here's a picture of him as a lamb I dug up.  He's hanging here because they wanted a clean picture for a book on colors  He's a CVM so he has to be badgerface as that's the characteristic that makes a romeldale a CVM and the breeder decided that he had a lot more white than a regular badgerface so she is saying that he's a light badgerface. Light badgerfaces just have more white than regular badgerfaces. It's hard to make that call in breeds with both badgerface and light badgerface but she has more experience than me so whatever she says. That takes care of the Albf part. The Abl is saying that he is blue. The blue pattern has the angry eyebrows like the badgerface patter but has a mostly white face except for the muzzle. Blue patterned sheep usually have a dark neck, legs and belly. I'm not sure where the breeder is seeing blue on this sheep but maybe she knows he comes from blue patterned sheep so he has to have it and its just being covered up because badgerface is dominant to blue. Sherman could carry either of those two alleles in addition to the Awt he got from his mom and we won't know unless he has a colored lamb born next spring. Goliath on the other hand has markings we can figure out. He is a CVM like his dad and Sherman's dad which means he is Ab, badgerface or Albf light badgerface. Badgerface sheep are basically "half and half" sheep with a white top half and a black (or moorit) bottom half with the addition of angry eyebrows. They're always just so disappointed in you.  When I sent pictures to the breeder she remarked that he had swiss markings and that it was special. Swiss markings are like a white moustache that goes from under the nose, across the eyes and up to the outer edges and inner corner of the ear plus a white "neck kercheif". When he was a wee little man he did have some white frosting in those areas and he does have a lot more white than a regular badgerface but I'm still not convinced that he's not just a light badgerface as that seems way more common than swiss markings. I'm going to assume he's light badgerface to cover those markings so he could be Albf/Albf (straight up light badger) or Albf/Asm (light badger with swiss markings)  This is Goliath's daddy as a fat little baby.  When I dug up his pedigree info it says he's AlbfAbl too. Again I'm not really seeing the blue and he looks just like Goliath so I'm not sure how he fancy swiss markings and his dad doesn't. Maybe the white frosting isn't as clear under his nose?  The problem with the agouti alleles in sheep is they combine into weird different patterns and its really subjective unless you have the whole pedigree with pictures of every individual from every angle. The sheep color genetics book I'm reading is having every variation be a different agouti allele but I wouldn't be surprised if there was actually far fewer alleles and many more modifiers that change how those alleles look. It seems like a lot of the research into these color genes is just done by farmers who want a certain color of wool and not scientists who have a more thorough understanding of genetics so things get a bit muddled and confusing.
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Sep 5, 2013 00:28
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I took pictures of Heath in his contraceptive skirt and forgot to share them. I'm honestly shocked that its actually staying on. I think he's just used to me attaching things to him by now. 
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Sep 5, 2013 21:41
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Is that made out of a large dog harness and a tarp?
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Sep 5, 2013 21:54
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How does it work?
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Sep 5, 2013 21:58
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weavernaut posted:How does it work? My guess he just ends up hitting the tarp when he tries to mount anything.
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Sep 5, 2013 22:00
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Engineer Lenk posted:Is that made out of a large dog harness and a tarp? You are correct. There are some zip ties too for that extra farm flair. weavernaut posted:How does it work? Anoia is right. In theory when he goes to mount a female his penis will get blocked by the tarp. Will it work? Who knows. But I figure its worth a shot for the entertainment value alone. The ram pasture has become Bonerville since yesterday so I think I got them moved and Heath's skirt on just in time.
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Sep 5, 2013 22:12
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This is probably an odd question but do deer often end up in your pastures? Do the sheep/goats react to them with fear or just ignore them?
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Sep 6, 2013 00:15
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Pyrotoad posted:This is probably an odd question but do deer often end up in your pastures? Do the sheep/goats react to them with fear or just ignore them? There are quite a few deer around but I've never seen the creatures notice them or care except when the dog goes charging past at warp speed to escort them out of the pasture. You do have to be careful because deer can transmit meningeal worm to sheep and goats. The worm doesn't seem to hurt the deer at all but if it gets into small ruminants or camelids it goes into the nervous system and can cause all sorts of neurologic problems and even death.
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Sep 6, 2013 15:01
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Instant Jellyfish posted:You are correct. There are some zip ties too for that extra farm flair. I wanna see video of this! Pretty please, for the entertainment value alone, you know! hee hee hee  oh and for the science!
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Sep 6, 2013 20:50
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I was helping out at an alpaca farm yesterday as part of Yarn Discovery Tour and after my shift I wandered around to take pictures of some of their babies. They're really big on breeding and showing so they seem to have babies all year 'round. Someone asked me why they kept the pompoms on top instead of shearing them clean and frankly I think they just like the look.  Pretty mama ear hair.  This mama wouldn't even look at me. Too busy grazing.  The milk mustache.  THE MILK MUSTACHE  Dewey is a Good Dog and protects her alpacas.  The fawn one was so unimpressed with some other visitors and their infant.  Their legs don't even make sense to me.  "What's going on?"  "Seriously what are you doing?"  This one was a suri alpaca instead of a huacaya like the rest of them.  Looks like a smile, ears say otherwise.  Brutal 'paca baby battle.   Straggler coming to see what everyone is up to.  Some (non-baby) goats were very sad that the fence was too small to let hands in to pet them. Life is so unfair to goats.   The chickens seem to know one of the visitors was afraid of chickens and mobbed her. Those terrible fluffy dinos.  You can see the malice in their eyes. 
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Sep 9, 2013 14:43
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Sep 11, 2013 02:50
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Awwww. This thread is the best. It's impossible to be sad with adorable fluffy baby things being all cute.
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Sep 11, 2013 03:15
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Look at that tail go Really wanna pet a lamb right now
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Sep 11, 2013 04:05
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Oh my gosh, sheep wag their tails?
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Sep 11, 2013 11:19
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I love alpacas. 
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Sep 11, 2013 15:20
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Alpacas are so absurd looking. 
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Sep 12, 2013 01:54
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 You weren't kidding, Skizzles. Cottonball heads and Ugg boots.
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Sep 12, 2013 23:19
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 Nobody told me they were such good climbers.
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Sep 13, 2013 01:39
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RazorBunny posted:
Ha, Tallahassee. It figures.
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Sep 13, 2013 03:26
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So he got 24 goats to give it a try at goat husbandry?
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Sep 13, 2013 03:30
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Jeez, with that many goats they can just stack up until they get however high they want.
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Sep 13, 2013 05:47
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I grew up on a farm and we never had more than a dozen goats between two experienced handlers and my little sister as an assistant.
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Sep 13, 2013 07:11
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That's just funny. I would eventually like my own little mini goat dairy. I'm thinking, maybe 3 goats. And that seems like it could get hilariously out of hand really easily. (Mini dairy, not mini goats!) And I grew up doing ranch work. I had a pet goat. I have experience! I could totally see 3 goats running amok and causing more havoc and chaos than a single woman can easily fix. What those people thought they were going to do with 2 dozen. Lol. Wow. Haji fucked around with this message at 08:50 on Sep 13, 2013 |
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Sep 13, 2013 08:47
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RazorBunny posted:
Sometimes when you jump in with both feet you break your legs. Also who the hell doesn't know that goats are chaos beings and will get into/onto everything they come across? Crazy goat people do tend to acquire goats over time (they call it G.A.S., goat acquisition syndrome). There's that one moonspotted doeling you want but you go to the farm and bring home 3 doelings and a buck because they just had such great bloodlines/lots of milking stars/MOONSPOTS! and you just couldn't resist. Also, Buzzfeed remains the worst and two of these aren't even goats. 
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Sep 13, 2013 15:09
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This reminds me of that video that went around like crazy a couple years back, with the foxes playing on a trampoline. I wonder if goats would like a trampoline. Welp, maybe we'll find out once we get our goats! Probably won't be until next year. Gotta pay off the chicken palace first.
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Sep 13, 2013 16:27
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Lynza posted:This reminds me of that video that went around like crazy a couple years back, with the foxes playing on a trampoline. Someone posted this one on my facebook wall a while back. 
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Sep 13, 2013 18:03
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kinmik posted:
This almost does not look real! Except for the shearing marks WOW! Thanks for sharing the photo.
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Sep 15, 2013 16:00
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Instant Jellyfish posted:
Hmm, is it #11 and #19? Playing spot-the-sheep is fun.
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Sep 15, 2013 21:43
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Pile of Kittens posted:Hmm, is it #11 and #19? Playing spot-the-sheep is fun. Both of those are Lamanchas, which are super weird looking because they have no ears but are goats.    Lamanchas are clowns and get into trouble even more than regular goats. Also when scrapie ear tag regulations came out Lamanchas really confused both breeders and officials because there wasn't really any place to stick a tag in them. Answer 1 and 12 look for the tail that hangs down instead of sticking up
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Sep 15, 2013 22:19
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Instant Jellyfish posted:Lamanchas are clowns and get into trouble even more than regular goats. Also when scrapie ear tag regulations came out Lamanchas really confused both breeders and officials because there wasn't really any place to stick a tag in them.
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Sep 15, 2013 22:53
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Enelrahc posted:I always feel bad that they get their butthole tattooed instead of the inside of the ear like a normal goat. Poor butthole.  Fias Co Farm - How to tattoo your goat I can't believe I went looking for pictures of tattooed goat buttholes. Cats are an optional ingredient to tattoo your goat.
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Sep 15, 2013 23:38
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daggerdragon posted:
Man, I haven't seen something like that since I looked up how to cure a prolapsed chicken butt.
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Sep 16, 2013 06:09
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Instant Jellyfish posted:
So, is being a crazy goat person a thing? One time my mom ordered a mug off of Cafe Press and by mistake they sent her one that said "I'm one goat shy of being the crazy goat lady". It was hilarious, we were WTFing like mad and it has become a family joke ( they told her to keep the mug and also sent what she actually ordered. It seemed like the most random thing, but I guess crazy goat ladies do exist!
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Sep 16, 2013 16:46
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SchrodingersFish posted:So, is being a crazy goat person a thing? One time my mom ordered a mug off of Cafe Press and by mistake they sent her one that said "I'm one goat shy of being the crazy goat lady". It was hilarious, we were WTFing like mad and it has become a family joke ( they told her to keep the mug and also sent what she actually ordered. It seemed like the most random thing, but I guess crazy goat ladies do exist! Oh definitely, and crazy alpaca ladies are pretty common. I haven't come across any crazy sheep people yet. One of my neighbors who raises goats won't leave her property to run to the store unless someone is there to watch her goats. She is one of the least crazy goat people I know. The lady we got our first 3 angora goats from was super duper crazy. She bred cats before moving to goats so she might just be a crazy lady and also have animals. She bottle fed every kid born on her farm, even if they were with their mom and nursing well on their own, just because she really wanted all the goats to see her as a mommy. That lead to crazy rear end bucks who thought people were goats they could push around and play with like goats. She also has over 30 cats. I also know several people who induce labor in every single doe they have and remove the kid before the doe ever sees it. They then let the doe clean them (the person, not the kid) off so the doe bonds with them better. Now, there are some legitimate reasons to remove kids without letting them get cleaned off or nurse from their moms. CAE prevention is big in goat dairies and requires the kids only drink heat treated colostrum and milk and lots of people sell kids as bottle babies to families and find it easier to get them to take the bottle right away rather than let them bond with their mom then yank and sell them. That's all well and good. These people just wanted both the doe and the kids to bond with them more than each other. Crazy goat ladies also tend to go on and on about how livestock vets don't understand goats and how you should just tell the vet what meds you need and treat them yourself. Or get an experienced goat person to give you the meds to treat the goats and bypass the vet$$$$ all together. They use lots of weird off label stuff but all seem to be super concerned about over vaccination.
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Sep 16, 2013 18:46
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I get at least one call per week from some of these people because we are listed under "veterinary supplies" in the phone book. So, on top of being people who still use the phone book, they are the types that call up looking for various drugs and vaccinations to administer on their own to "avoid the veterinary scams" and various conspiracies. Generally they grill me for a while about why I don't sell that type of stuff and why I only sell to veterinarians and it's an entertaining call but every once in a while its down right scary. It's almost always goats or cats.
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Sep 24, 2013 23:54
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655321 posted:I get at least one call per week from some of these people because we are listed under "veterinary supplies" in the phone book. So, on top of being people who still use the phone book, they are the types that call up looking for various drugs and vaccinations to administer on their own to "avoid the veterinary scams" and various conspiracies. Generally they grill me for a while about why I don't sell that type of stuff and why I only sell to veterinarians and it's an entertaining call but every once in a while its down right scary. It's almost always goats or cats. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has encountered the crazy goat ladies. I swear there must be like a goat toxoplasmosis or something that turns people into psychos. Now that I'm done with wedding stuff and shearing I can start getting ready for breeding season. Alister died unexpectedly while I was out of town for my brother's wedding so one of his sons will be used to breed with Page this year and next year we'll look for a registered white ram to replace him. Not that any ram could ever replace such a sweet handsome guy, but things happen on farms and you just have to keep going. We'll also probably sell the romeldale boys and get an unrelated ram next year. I've got way too many boys and need to condense things after this breeding season. In a week or so I'll start "flushing" the ladies, which just means increasing their food intake to get them to release more eggs when they cycle so I'll have more multiple births. This spring I had twins from every animal I flushed while everyone who was bred elsewhere had singles so I feel like it has to help. The creatures sure like it. Then November 7th is going to be the day I divide the flock into breeding groups and take off Heath's contraceptive skirt and hope for the best. I'm thinking I might actually give CIDRs a try to sync up estrus of the 3 ewes that will be the only ones being bred to their particular rams. That way I only have to keep them in pairs for a week instead of over a month. Trying to keep 4 rams and a buck goat separate in my tiny 100 year old barn is going to be nuts so I'm willing to try anything to keep chaos to a minimum. Unrelated but I was taking registration photos and I thought I was going crazy. I could have sworn that Goliath had pale fawn cheeks but there he was with these dark brown muttonchops going on. I looked back through my photos of him and sure enough just a few weeks ago his face was almost totally pale fawn. I can't wait to see what he looks like as a yearling.  Let me leave you with some naked goats.      
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Sep 26, 2013 19:48
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Is that Iphi? Because I think I'm starting to be able to pick out Iphi from the other white goats based on her dumb expression. It's adorable. Sorry about Alister! It always sucks to lose one, even if they are "just farm animals." I'm always a mess when we have a goat die, especially if it was preventable, like our idiot neighbors letting their vicious dog run loose and kill two goats and rip out the throat of a third, forcing my sister to put it down and killing her dream of being a veterinarian. We did take them to civil court and were paid for the goats their dog killed, but it really didn't make anyone feel better.
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Sep 27, 2013 00:32
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For once that wasn't Iph being an idiot. Purple collar is Pearl, teal collar is Opal. I have a lot of trouble telling them apart so they had to wear collars for a while. Iph was busy being a wild creature.  The hardest part about losing one of the animals is trying to not be terribly guilty about it, at least for me. I usually run through a whole list of "if only"s and beat myself up, but really there wasn't anything I could have done. He looked a little off the day before I left so I gave him a thorough inspection, some extra food, moved him to a quiet pasture with the goats and wormed him but I couldn't miss my only sibling's wedding for a sheep that wasn't 100%. The farm sitter found him dead the day after I left. Thankfully he's been a farmer forever and brought over his machinery and buried Al for me and was completely unphased by it. I was so grateful that I didn't have to come home to a rotting 200 lb sheep to drag out to the woods myself. The farm sitter even used it as a life lesson for his little grandson. If I was going to have to lose a sheep that was the best way to do it.
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Sep 27, 2013 00:40
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All the white goats are a little  , aren't they? And I'm glad something good came of Al's death, at least. He was a beautiful sheep, and cormo is the best wool. I have a little pile mixed with some silk that someone sent me about a year ago, and I haven't even bothered spinning it. I just pet it.
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Sep 27, 2013 00:44
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