Bee~ Journal of then...

[2dream]

You do have a lot going on. Thanks for letting me know that the geese are just on the back burner. I really wanted geese or ducks this year but I also wanted goats. DH says NO to it all. Not that I normally listen to him. LOL I usually just do what I want anyway. But he was right. Shhhhh lets don't tell him that part of it.

Kryptonite - Thats what is sapping all our strength. It can't possibly be all the work.

 

[Beekissed]

You do have a lot going on. Thanks for letting me know that the geese are just on the back burner. I really wanted geese or ducks this year but I also wanted goats. DH says NO to it all. Not that I normally listen to him. LOL I usually just do what I want anyway. But he was right. Shhhhh lets don't tell him that part of it.

Kryptonite - Thats what is sapping all our strength. It can't possibly be all the work.

Well, I do keep getting my hair trimmed.......

2Dream, I've also put my honeybee project on hold, even though that is the one I really wanted this year along with the sheep. But every time I think I've found a lead on some local bees, it falls through and the folks aren't selling. I take that as God is trying to tell me something...so I wait. And I take a cow that I had no plans for instead....isn't that wild? But I have learned to follow God's plan when its this obvious!

I've even decreased my sheep project to one lonely sheep to go along with Blossom and her calf. The grass won't support 2 sheep and 2 cows until fall, I don't believe. And, come spring, can I wean off all the lambs, the cow and calf and ewes on this grass? I don't think so.....so I knocked down my dream a little and will be perfectly satisfied with a milk cow and calf and a pretty little hair sheep.

They will be soooooo spoiled!!! Not the calf, of course, as I don't want to become attached. He will be given an unattractive name and will be treated kindly but will not be bonded with, if it can be helped.

 

[Farmfresh]

If you leave the calf on the cow you might be able to milk only one time per day.

Also a question.... I thought you had to have at least two sheep, because they won't thrive alone? Where did you find lone sheep info?


Your goose thing is like my turkey thing ... the hatchery always wants such a big order!

Maybe next year you can order a full goose order and then re-sell some of the goslings. Surely there is someone else that would like just a few geese!


2dream - Your secret is safe with ME.

I have no idea what crazy schemes I would be mixed up in right now if it weren't for my hubby. He is a great moderator of my weirdness and over enthusiasm ... but don't tell him I said that either!

 

[Beekissed]

FF, I don't know about the thriving thingy, but I expect that would be the case if the sheep was in a field alone, for sure! Since she will have Blossom, calf and her own lambs for a good part of the year each year, I'm hoping that is enough company to keep her happy. Then she and Blossom can go through the winter months together....sort of like racehorses and their companion animals!

Plus, she will have The Shepherdess!!! And the dogs, especially Jake, who is constantly trying to play with the cows next door....and sometimes they play right back with him through the fence! Its always funny to see dog and cow pouncing and leaping and coming back for more!

Not to mention Katie-chicken, who will probably be under her feet all the time because she is a true Pendleton Countian and is nosey as the day is long.

If she gets lonely with all that going on, I don't think another sheeper will help her either!

 

[Blackbird]

What if the calf is a girl..?

If I had known that someone wanted goose eggs
One incubater is full of goose eggs; the other turkey eggs.
And we have three geese sitting on atleast 40 eggs if not more, they never hatch them because they eat them when they get too many under them.

 

[Beekissed]

I wouldn't have had a way to hatch them, Amos...but next spring I may be sending you or Aly a check for some eggs to place under a broody! My sis offered to hatch some for me or even give me her geese.....but I think I'll pass!

If its a girl, she is still getting processed. Now...I hope to do AI this year with Jersey semen in the hopes of getting a heifer. Anyone interested in a half-registered Jersey heifer out of ol' Blossom??
The bull will be registered, but can't remember his high-falootin' details right now.

If I have a little Jersey heifer next year, I will try to sell her, if a bull, he will be processed. I don't really want a replacement heifer right now, as Blossom still has many good years ahead of her.

Here's a fact I didn't know.....did you guys know that twin calves that are fraternal will result in a heifer that is sterile 90% of the time? The bull will be fine, but the heifer has a strong chance of being sterile. Identical twins do not have this problem.

I didn't know that........

 

[Blackbird]

Wow, never knew that.. very interesting..

Sounds like you'll be having some nummy meat to enjoy then! I bet it wouldn't be too terribly hard to find buyers if you have extras.

I was just thinking.. the great thing about cow manure, or shall I say cow pies.. if you need something to burn, well, there ya go Can't really do that very well with goat manure.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't know....those goat pellets would be great fuel if they were nice and dry!

I'm going to feed in one place this winter and try to keep it well-bedded, ala Salatin style, so that all that manure will be ready to put on my gardens and around my apple trees in the spring and summer. I've got a sheep pen ready for feeding the sheep, but unfortunately its too small for cows, so I will be extending my shed to make a shelter and run-in over the feeding bin for this purpose.

Amos, I may make a few cow bricks and see how they burn!

 

[2dream]

Bee- you may talk "NO SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH". But you make me tired just reading all the things you already do, plan to do and need to do. Whew..... How do you do it all and still find time to work and do all the research you do. Do you ever sleep?

 

[Farmfresh]

Yep - I knew it about the fraternal twins! ... but only because I have a friend who had a calf like that.

It also makes me wonder if that fact is disclosed when heifers are run through the auction. If not it would be real easy to waste your money on a replacement heifer.