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Instant Jellyfish posted:
Seconded. The feed store is a fantastic resource, as they usually know who's got what at the very least, and usually some kind of contact information. Do you have any preference towards what kind of animal you want to try to keep?
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Mar 18, 2014 16:45
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The pasture is about two acres of grass/scrub, and another half acre separately fenced in that is very rich grass. I forgot to mention that we had a horse at the same time as the goat, thus the split. As for what I'd like to get... I'd like to do pigs eventually, but I don't have the setup for them at the moment. A cow seem like more of a long term investment since they take two years, but I wouldn't be opposed to one if they're really the best way to go. I'm concerned that if we get a single cow it will be lonely and try to bust out to hang out on the porch like our goat did before we got the horse. All that currently resides in the barn is a half dozen chickens and a cat. Goats or sheep are probably a more realistic option a this time, but I'm a bit concerned with the goats breaking out... and I've never been around or known anyone with sheep, so I don't really know what to expect. So... I have no idea what I want to get. Eventually I'd like to have a bit of everything, but the quit my job and be a farmer phase that I'm planning isn't feasible for another year or two. And the feed store. Doh. I don't know how I didn't think of that, as that's where we got our goats the first time around. Thank you!
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Mar 18, 2014 17:50
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Are you interested in milking at all? It's a decent chunk of commitment, just fair warning. Twice a day every day for maximum milk production and efficiency. But very rewarding. Fresh milk owns bones.
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Mar 18, 2014 18:46
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I'd like to have a milking animal eventually, but not right now. I with one goat we had so much milk that we were giving away cheese and fudge to anyone who would take it.
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Mar 18, 2014 19:31
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Goats would love the scrubland and primitive sheep like my jacobs or some of the hair sheep breeds alternate happily between brush and pasture. Maybe some hair sheep like blackbellies or kats would work for you along with some mixed meat goats? That way you don't have to worry about shearing if you don't have any use for wool. I don't really know anything about cows, sorry! What kind of fence do you have now? Goats can be rough on fencing but a few well placed hot wires can help that. Sheep are a bit more respectful of fencing, but mine will squeeze under fences if they're too high.
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Mar 18, 2014 19:55
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Arven posted:The pasture is about two acres of grass/scrub, and another half acre separately fenced in that is very rich grass. I forgot to mention that we had a horse at the same time as the goat, thus the split. As for what I'd like to get... I think 2 1/2 acres would be hard pressed to support a cow. Pigs would be pretty easy, if you got them young and butchered them young. Before they get too big, hog panel (16 feet long by 3 feet high welded wire panels) supported by t-posts is more than enough to keep them contained. That way they don't get unmanageably big or aggressive, and you're only feeding them up to the point where their weight gain per amount fed starts to plateau. Downside: no bacon. Upside: sooo many kinds of sausage. I think goats are tougher than (non-heritage) sheep  and would be better for getting (back) into livestock. If your fences aren't quite up to snuff, you could pen them in cattle panel (16X4) enclosures and let them out into less secure areas to graze/clear under your observation. So long as they don't get bored/run out of food, they'll probably stay put. If you're not experienced, I'd say you've got a 80% chance of something going wrong (big or small) with an auction buy and a 60% chance when buying from craigslist. Auctions are like SA. You've got to lurk before you buy/post. As Instant Jellyfish pointed out, Facebook sale groups and feedstores are good sources of information. If you're near Oklahoma/Arkansas/Kansas, send me a PM and I'll pass it on to my daughter and she'll find what you want and tell you what you need to know. If you're not nearby, I could point you to her FB page and she'll tell you what you need to know.
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Mar 18, 2014 23:00
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joat mon posted:I think 2 1/2 acres would be hard pressed to support a cow. Depending on your location, 2.5 acres would easily support 2 cows. As long as it's a standard field with grass, you should figure 1 acre per cow/calf combo. Now you'll have to feed hay in the winter and it's best to separate those acres into smaller plots and do rotational grazing. Check with your local Ag office and see how many lbs of weight an acre in your locality will support. Also, make sure to improve your acreage by planting field grasses that do well in your area and getting rid of the weeds.
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Mar 19, 2014 00:33
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Don't forget there are miniature cattle breeds, both dairy and beef. They take up a lot less space and need less pasture, although they of course produce less as a result of being smaller.
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Mar 19, 2014 02:56
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RazorBunny posted:Don't forget there are miniature cattle breeds, both dairy and beef. They take up a lot less space and need less pasture, although they of course produce less as a result of being smaller. Yes, Dexters all the way! Great utility breed that's good for milk and meat.
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Mar 19, 2014 03:23
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joat mon posted:If you're not experienced, I'd say you've got a 80% chance of something going wrong (big or small) with an auction buy and a 60% chance when buying from craigslist. Auctions are like SA. You've got to lurk before you buy/post. As Instant Jellyfish pointed out, Facebook sale groups and feedstores are good sources of information. If you're near Oklahoma/Arkansas/Kansas, send me a PM and I'll pass it on to my daughter and she'll find what you want and tell you what you need to know. If you're not nearby, I could point you to her FB page and she'll tell you what you need to know. I appreciate it, but I'm in western PA and don't have facebook. I think it's ultimately going to come down to whats available in my area, but I'm heavily leaning toward a goat/sheep combo at this point. I'm familiar with goats, so I agree it would be best to get back into livestock with what I already know. One question, though- I've been told (by people advising me against sheep) that you need a lot of land for sheep, as they will eat grass down to the root. Is this true? I always assumed this was only true if you had a huge amount of sheep, not a few.
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Mar 19, 2014 14:57
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My neighbor said that when I moved in but my pasture still looks fine. It really depends on the number and the type. The more commercial breeds do spend all day grazing right down to the ground, but this hasn't been a problem with my sheep. Rotating them would really help as well as getting sheep that like to browse. In western PA you're likely to find a lot of boers and boer mixes (check hooves before you get them and really feel them over for CL lumps!) for goats and katahdins and mixes for sheep. At least that's what I see for sale right over the border from me.
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Mar 19, 2014 15:04
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Goats are crafty little fuckers, but I love them, and they do love scrub. They keep our pasture pretty well cleared and keep the vermin count relatively low. And they're all lovable idiots who frolic and trip over themselves and chase each other for no reason. Like dogs, but with less bowel control.
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Mar 20, 2014 06:38
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Apparently one of my aunt's pregnant goats tried to worm her way out of the warm, well-lit maternity pen through the wire. Her head and front legs fit through, but her big pregnant belly got stuck. My aunt heard screaming and came out to find that she had to rescue this:
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Mar 26, 2014 01:22
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RazorBunny posted:Apparently one of my aunt's pregnant goats tried to worm her way out of the warm, well-lit maternity pen through the wire. Her head and front legs fit through, but her big pregnant belly got stuck. My aunt heard screaming and came out to find that she had to rescue this: awwww, look at that face. Glad your aunt was able to intervene! The awful things that can happen to goats when they mix it up with a fence make me shudder.
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Mar 26, 2014 03:16
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Just a heads up so you aren't wondering where 2014's lambing thread is. I've had 2 ewes abort in the last 24 hours and I'm doing everything I can but there's a chance there won't be any lambs this year. It's a really awful situation so maybe go watch chickam and don't think about it too much. The good news is that it seems like the ewes are doing alright.
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Mar 30, 2014 18:04
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Oh no! I'm so sorry, Instant Jellyfish.  Are you holding up okay?
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Mar 30, 2014 18:51
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Pulling dead lambs was not how I wanted to spend my Saturday night but I'm hanging in there. I just got home from vacation Thursday night so I'm glad this didn't happen when my mom was watching them. I just have to convince her that she didn't do anything wrong that caused it, poo poo just happens sometimes.
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Mar 30, 2014 19:53
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That's really awful, I'm so sorry! Do you have any idea why it might have happened, or does this just happen sometimes?
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Mar 30, 2014 19:57
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I'm guessing its a bacterial or viral infection (and that's how I'm treating it right now) but I'm having pathology done at the state lab this week so hopefully I'll get some answers.
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Mar 30, 2014 20:03
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aww dog gone it Instant Jellyfish. So sorry for your losses.  Hugs to you and your family.
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Mar 30, 2014 20:25
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Oh no, Instant Jellyfish, I'm so sorry. That just totally sucks.
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Mar 31, 2014 02:02
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It was Jewel's turn to abort today but while I was pulling out her dead lamb this thing popped out and started yelling at me. He's 6 days early and can't stand and is still on very thin ice but I can work with this. Dead I can't do anything about, premature and weak can be dealt with. Think good thoughts for this guy, he's a little fighter.  
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Mar 31, 2014 21:26
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I mainly lurk this thread but I wanted to send some happy thoughts and good luck wishes to the little one and to you Instant Jellyfish as well, of course.
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Mar 31, 2014 21:30
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Oh my god, he's so tiny. Hang in there tiny guy, you got this!
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Mar 31, 2014 21:32
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Tiny and yelling is better news 
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Mar 31, 2014 21:37
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Can we call him Samson? For some reason it seems like the appropriate name. Operating entirely on intuition here, though. I'm really glad he's fighting.
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Mar 31, 2014 22:05
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Aaaa, good luck, little guy, I believe in you. 
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Mar 31, 2014 22:11
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That sucks Instant Jellyfish Our lambs aren't due for a few weeks yet, we were late putting them to Ram, but last week we had our first goat kids of the year. It's my first time actually being at work whilst stuff was happening (and not having other important work to do for once) so that was pretty awesome. The two mums are Masie, the black one and Brit, the brown one - they're all British Alpine goats (Britney has a bit of Toggenburg in her, hence the brown!) In the end we had Masie had one girl - Melanie, and Britney a boy and a girl, Barry and Bree. We recently acquired some more goats - two Toggenburg ladies, I can't wait to see what their kids are like but that's a while away yet.     Being born is hard work.   
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Mar 31, 2014 23:04
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Go tiny guy go! Sending positive thoughts to you and all the critters.
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Mar 31, 2014 23:51
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Meles meles posted:That sucks Instant Jellyfish I needed babby goat pictures today  Little dude is still hanging in there and super angry that his legs are not cooperating. I think because he's so premature its just going to take a while for him to build up enough strength and coordination. Have a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEAKyTwILBY
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Apr 1, 2014 00:13
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Hang in there, little angry man!!
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Apr 1, 2014 00:18
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Instant Jellyfish posted:It was Jewel's turn to abort today but while I was pulling out her dead lamb this thing popped out and started yelling at me. He's 6 days early and can't stand and is still on very thin ice but I can work with this. Dead I can't do anything about, premature and weak can be dealt with. For sure sending good thoughts! So adorable!
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Apr 1, 2014 00:22
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Little man is the best news! We're all cheering for him! <3
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Apr 1, 2014 00:39
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My elderly cat's name is Little Man. I highly recommend this name. I hope the little dude is OK!
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Apr 1, 2014 02:00
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Instant Jellyfish posted:
(So adorably mad hnnnng)
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Apr 1, 2014 04:18
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Babby sheep is still trucking along. He's able to stand for short periods of time and I saw him nursing briefly this morning His fontanel is open and his hooves are all gummy and he's generally teeny but the vet said he looked good for his age and to just keep doing what I'm doing. The vet took blood samples and a dead lamb from my pile and is rushing it to the state lab so hopefully we get some answers. He said about 40% of the time all the testing just comes back inconclusive but the fact that I had a whole fetus and placental tissue, the exact date in gestation that she aborted and a thorough history in addition to a maternal blood sample should help things. It probably won't get back in time for the last ewe's due dates but at least I'll know for next year. The vet also gave me some blood tubes so I can have pregnancy tests done on the goats so we'll finally know what the hell is going on with Iph.
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Apr 1, 2014 15:46
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Sorry to hear about your critter problems Jellyfish. Thinking good thoughts for the little dude. I love that his tongue pokes out when he baas in the video.
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Apr 1, 2014 15:54
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Tiny man is less mad at his legs now that they are more or less under his control. Aw yeah being upright  Well, for a little while at least.  He weighs 3 lbs 5 oz right now, which I think is right around what Clem weighed when she was born.
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Apr 1, 2014 17:29
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Instant Jellyfish posted:Tiny man is less mad at his legs now that they are more or less under his control. Oh my goodness those spots on his back
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Apr 1, 2014 17:49
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You keep on trucking little man!
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Apr 1, 2014 17:52
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