Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS => FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE => Topic started by: Violacea on July 03, 2005, 03:23:52 pm

Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Violacea on July 03, 2005, 03:23:52 pm
Our doe had her kids last night!  We had our heart set on girls, but wouldn't you know it, she had not 1, but 2 boys.   :roll:   Anyways, they're sooo cute!  First came Aaron weighing 5.75 lbs:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Lomah-Farm/Aaron.jpg)

Closely followed by Moses, at hefty 6.5 lbs:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Lomah-Farm/Moses.jpg)

Aaron was first to his feet, but Moses beat him to nursing by about 2 hours.  Both are doing well, and mama is fine too.  :D

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Lomah-Farm/6-2-05.jpg)

Our next doe is due on the 10th . . . can't wait, still hoping for some girls.
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: JP on July 03, 2005, 03:45:13 pm
Violacea,
they sure are cute, what is your purpose in having them? Just like them, they keep the weeds down ? Just curious, thnx.
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Violacea on July 03, 2005, 03:51:44 pm
We keep goats for their milk.  :D  We really enjoy them and are thinking about branching out into meat goats as well. There seams to be a good market for them in our area.
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on July 03, 2005, 05:42:59 pm
We castrate are buck kids and train them for drafting.
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: amymcg on July 03, 2005, 06:00:34 pm
you have goat carts?
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Violacea on July 04, 2005, 01:31:17 am
Quote from: Horns Pure Honey
We castrate are buck kids and train them for drafting.


We thought about that, but because we're tight on $$ we can't have extra mouths to feed.  But they are pure bread with champions in their lines and will be registered, so as bucks they'll bring in a better price then does would (at least that's how it is in our area).
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on July 04, 2005, 02:16:17 am
Does are always higher here. :D yes, I have goat carts, lol
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on July 04, 2005, 09:30:45 am
Aren't they CUTE!! Love the names too. :)

I sure wish I could get my butt in gear and get some goats. It's really rediculous that we don't have our fence up..... or even started on. I saw a kiko buck in the local paper for sale this week. Only $100 too. My husband is wanting me to give up the idea of goats since I've built myself up to having 5 different breeds of chickens - Barred Rocks, White Rocks, Partridge Rocks, Dark Cornish, and Salmon Faverolles.

More chicks coming this week, and ordering more this week to come the week after. That'll be it for the year. All doing great, and none have died. Although I wouldn't be too heart broken if an untimely death came to a couple of the Partridge rock roosters. I've been trying to sell a couple and having no luck. They're just terrorizing the poor hens at this point. The hens stay on the roosts almost all day now, with generally 2 roosters circling underneath like sharks waiting for one to come down or fall off. I'm thinking of making a "bad boy" pen for 2 or 3 of the roosters that are grown up to help the hens out.

What's a good ratio for hens to roosters anyway? I was planning on having 2 roosters per 12 to 20 hens. I have 4 in there right now, with 22 hens - both the partridge rock hens and the white rock hens. So after some of the babies in another pen grow up, I'll divide it up and get all the breeds just right.

At that point it'll be 16 partridge hens (with 2 roosters?), 12 white rock hens (with 1 or 2 roosters?), 6 barred rock hens (with 1 rooster), 6 salmon faverolle hens (with 1 rooster), 3 dark cornish hens (with 1 rooster).  At this point I have 4 partridge rock roosters, 2 dark cornish roosters, 5 salmon faverolle roosters, and 1-3 barred rock roosters. Some are still babies. I hate to just give away these beautiful roosters, but I may have to. I have way too many. Would a rooster only pen help? That way I could just keep them in case I need them or find a buyer.

Thinking out loud.....
Beth :)
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Violacea on July 04, 2005, 01:37:29 pm
Yeah, they say 1 rooster for every 10 hens.  I'm thinking about putting in a rooster pen only myself.  The young ones are ok, but our older ones are starting to go after my little brothers.  Can't get rid of them because I need them for breeding.  I'm just waiting till we have some extra $$ before I get started.


Around here, a well bread doe will sell for about $150 - $350, and a well bread buck will go for about $250 - $500.


We had our first disbudding experience today, Moses had his done, but Aaron wasn't ready yet.  It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
 
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Lomah-Farm/Moses6-4-05.jpg)

And they had their first outing today.   :D

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Lomah-Farm/6-4-05.jpg)
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on July 06, 2005, 08:05:00 pm
1 rooster to ever 18-20 hens, lol, sorry :wink:
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Phoenix on July 06, 2005, 10:53:18 pm
We always waited for 3 - 7 days before debudding.  It always looked cruel but actually the iron cauterizes the nerve endings and the kid is in virtually no pain.  I learned three things over the years, never wait longer than 7 days to debud your bucks, make sure your iron was hot and make sure to look for a copper ring when your done.
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on July 06, 2005, 11:16:31 pm
I can't get over how cute those babies are. I sure envy you. :) As you know, I'd love to have a couple milking goats, and it's BEEN part of my plan. My husband though feels that I should give up on the milk goat idea. Most because he feels with 4 or 5 breeds of chickens I'll have enough work to do. That milking twice a day would end up just being too much. He's probably right, so I'll give in and give up the milk goat idea without a fight. I could have my way..... us wives can be good about that. :) LOL

I do still plan to fence in the 1/2 acre around the barn. I definately want that area for the chickens to free range occationally, and it turns out I'll have a couple geese that need fence protection. A baby goose got half it's foot bit off 2 days ago by a turtle - so it'll need lifetime protection. She's 2 months old, and I have a month old male that I'll pair her with in the fenced pasture (he's healthy).

So.... to get to my point :) ..... I adore the goats, but will switch gears a bit by my husband's request. But since I'll have a small fenced area ANYWAY, I'll find some little critter to put in there. Maybe a mini horse or donkey. I know for sure I can get a mini horse around here for less than a goat anyway. And my husband won't have to worry about me getting "stressed" by the extra work of milking goats.

Enjoy those babies! (As I know you will.)

Beth
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: TAH on July 07, 2005, 08:47:04 pm
You could get a minature cow and then you wouldn't have to smell the goats or drink the goat milk  :wink:

I have some cows and I have been milking once a day for about two years now and haven't had a problem. You could probably do the same thing with the goat. When I had goats I only milked a couple of times and that was more than enough.
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: latebee on July 08, 2005, 12:00:05 am
I grew up on a dairy farm and loved it! The downfall of having to milk them is that it must be done EVERY DAY at least two times a day or the cows develop disease which leads to infection. If you are able to make that kind of commitment and forgo ALL of your vacations-- be it a one day or one  weekend, by all means go for it-you might have a ball! TAH  I think you are very lucky, or perhaps the miniatures are genetically different, and you can get by milking once a day without any mastitis problems. From my experience with the holstein and jersey breeds,once a day milkings would be catastrophic.
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: TAH on July 08, 2005, 01:23:04 am
I don't have any minatures now. I have brown swiss and holstien. I haven't had a bit of mastitis since I started the once a day. I start out putting the cow in a seperate pen with her calf at night and then after weaning the calf I just milk once a day. The cows don't seem to mind at all. I don't get as much milk as milking twice a day but it has been a lot better overall. It is even better if you get lazy or don't need the milk while the calf isn't weaned and you can just let the cow in instead of milking.
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on July 08, 2005, 11:49:54 am
It is the twice a day milking that has my husband worried as to how much time I have. He's even worried about the work of once a day milking. At this point I do stay sorta busy at feeding time - twice a day check-in for the chickens. But over all I have alot of feeding to do - 2 feeding stations for dogs, 2 feeding stations for cats, and 4 to 7 feeding areas for the chickens (depending on how many brooders I have filled). That's alot of waterers to fill, and food bowls. For the most part, all the animals get fresh water daily, and I don't have running water to the barn yet. That gets to be a long walk for filling waterers. Two of my dogs in a pen are the only ones that have an automatic waterer.

I talked with my husband about the mini horse idea. He gave me a huge NO. :) He says that the only way I could have a mini horse is if I could teach it to bark and guard the chickens. LOL Basiclly the little horse would have to have a "purpose". The dogs guard the place, the cats eat mice, the chickens give eggs, but a mini horse would be just a pet.

I am a naughty & stubborn wife though...... :) and will continue to "work" him until I find the critter I can have. Meat goats? A cow? A llama? And in the end, I'll either get my way, or willingly give up. It's a good thing he loves me so much though, otherwise I might drive him crazy. LOL

Beth
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on July 12, 2005, 03:05:25 pm
Milking dosnt take that long. Goats milk taste the same as cows milk. And last of all you can milk once a day as long as you use a good mastitis spray after every milking. :)
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: TAH on July 12, 2005, 08:09:25 pm
If your cows milk taste the same as goat milk then I think you may have something seriously wrong with your cow.  :)

I never use mastitis spray at all. If you have balanced minerals and good feed the number of milkings is jsut a matter of getting the cow used to it. Many dairy farms around here milk three times a day.
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Horns Pure Honey on July 13, 2005, 01:42:46 am
Goats milk taste the same as cows milk as long as no buck is around or your goat dosnt eat any strong things such as wild onions. I use mastitise spray as an "insurance". Rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it. :)
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: TAH on July 14, 2005, 01:16:29 am
When we had goats we didn't have a buck or feed anything besides hay and the milk did not taste like cow milk. It smelled different and had a different consistancy. I have smelled goats milk that has been offered to me since and it is still the same. Now horse milk is better than cows milk...

I wouldn't use mastits spray all the time becase it contains either a strong antiseptic or antibiotics or both. Continous use can get you resistant bacteria and fungus problems. My cousin used to milk cows in a large dairy. He had a fungus infection under on of his fingernails that the doctors could not get rid of. About a year after he stopped milking the infection went away on it's own.
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Violacea on July 14, 2005, 03:34:12 am
I don't really care if it's goat milk or cow milk, just so long as it's raw.   :D

Our second doe, had her kids Tuesday morning, and guess what?!  WE GOT A GIRL!!!!!   Just one, but hey! you can't have everything.  

Ruth came first at 6 lbs.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Lomah-Farm/Slideshow/slide5.jpg)

Followed by Levi who was a heavy 7.5 lbs.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Lomah-Farm/Slideshow/Levi7-12-05.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v211/Lomah-Farm/Slideshow/LeviRuth.jpg)
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Miss Chick-a-BEE on July 14, 2005, 09:36:15 am
Out of the four, I think I like Moses coloring the best. Ruth is a close second. I bet she'll be very pretty with those light ears. Very interesting. And very pretty little babies.

Beth
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Violacea on July 14, 2005, 01:22:15 pm
Ruth's picture doesn't do her justice, she really is much cuter, but of the boys I think I agree, Moses is the cuties.  The hard part is, we're going to keep one buck but not the other two, so now we have to pick one.  Things are leaning toward Moses, but we want to wait a little while so we can get a better insight on what Levi's temperament will be.
Title: Guess what?!
Post by: Joseph Clemens on July 14, 2005, 02:37:54 pm
oops
Title: Salmon Faverolles
Post by: Joseph Clemens on July 14, 2005, 02:56:34 pm
I just love Salmon Faverolles. My favorite breed of chicken.