me&thegals
A Major Squash & Pumpkin Lover
Man, I LOVE dried blueberries. I use them in granola, biscotti and homemade chocolates-yum 
Your granola sounds wonderful.
Your granola sounds wonderful.
Even a little bit self sufficient feels good.
- Thread starter the simple life
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just chiming in here guys, Great thread..... good reading... 
Makes ya hungry
with the cheese, Bruschetta, bread & blue berry goodies Oh my 
Simple life I will have to try some of those wonderful recipes
picked some blue berries last week and froze the biggest part of them.... again good reading
Beekissed
Mountain Sage
And another oldie but goody! Good recipes and links for sharing!
enjoy the ride
Sufficient Life
I have to insert a defense of goats- now I admit I have overwieght goats but they have never tried to escape- in fact, if I want them somewhere new, I have to go with them and wait til they are comfortable- then run out the gate and shut them in. They have a deep desire never to go anywhere they have not been previously. I had a terrible time when I first got them- all they would do is eat and sleep within 10 feet of the hay bunker til I figured out about shutting them out.
They pretty much don't jump anything- they will climb up a stump if it's got something growing on it to eat but only so high.
As for getting them penned at night, they know food is there and will run me over to get in for the night.
So what you need is couch potato goats. Or goats with the shape of a potato- either way.
I think the little ones are the trickiest- aort of the shetland ponies of the goat world.
They pretty much don't jump anything- they will climb up a stump if it's got something growing on it to eat but only so high.
As for getting them penned at night, they know food is there and will run me over to get in for the night.
So what you need is couch potato goats. Or goats with the shape of a potato- either way.
I think the little ones are the trickiest- aort of the shetland ponies of the goat world.
FarmerChick
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LOL mine are the opposite. They have large pastures separated by gates for rotation etc. They can't wait to hit new pastures.
I opened a new one and when I went out to the gate all 50 followed, practically killed me to get thru, ran to the farthest corners of the fence and wood and ate their way back...LOL...I barely could get them off the new pasture at feed time..LOL
Mine climb to the highest heights on anything they can.
Mine aren't shy or skittish. They are a MOB! HA HA
Wierd how some are homebodies to the barn and others are adventurerers....LOL
Having so many I have no overweight goats. But they always look heavy cause they are always pregnant..LOL
Goats are great animals. But they can be a pain big time. Alot of mine, even when in a 15 acre pasture, must stick their heads thru the fence to eat on the other side....some get the horns stuck. So I put PVC pipe duct taped to the horns to stop that goat from getting stuck. I hate having to go 1/2 way across the world to pull a goat out of the fence..HA HA
I opened a new one and when I went out to the gate all 50 followed, practically killed me to get thru, ran to the farthest corners of the fence and wood and ate their way back...LOL...I barely could get them off the new pasture at feed time..LOL
Mine climb to the highest heights on anything they can.
Mine aren't shy or skittish. They are a MOB! HA HA
Wierd how some are homebodies to the barn and others are adventurerers....LOL
Having so many I have no overweight goats. But they always look heavy cause they are always pregnant..LOL
Goats are great animals. But they can be a pain big time. Alot of mine, even when in a 15 acre pasture, must stick their heads thru the fence to eat on the other side....some get the horns stuck. So I put PVC pipe duct taped to the horns to stop that goat from getting stuck. I hate having to go 1/2 way across the world to pull a goat out of the fence..HA HA
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the simple life
Yard Farmer
I am thinking of a couple of those mini nubians. I believe its a cross between the standard nubians and the nigerian dwarf goats.
I like their look and function as well as their size as it would be about all I could handle in my size area.
I just don't know anyone that has any of these and I am concerned about them trying to escape. I do have a fenced in yard.
I also worry about how much damage they do.
If you have any info on these I would appreciate it, as all of the breeders I have talked to tell me of course they are just wonderful little creatures. Perfect angels.
I like their look and function as well as their size as it would be about all I could handle in my size area.
I just don't know anyone that has any of these and I am concerned about them trying to escape. I do have a fenced in yard.
I also worry about how much damage they do.
If you have any info on these I would appreciate it, as all of the breeders I have talked to tell me of course they are just wonderful little creatures. Perfect angels.
FarmerChick
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simple life
fenced in yard? Like your BACKyard?
they are super destructive. Will eat all your trees and bark, plants, flowers, etc. before they even touch a blade of grass. I know, I let about 20 into my backyard cause I always let my horse in, and WOW, they jumped into the middle of the lilac bush and ate the thing from center to outside...LOL...they climbed on the porch, tried to climb up the pool ladder to investigate, etc. etc.
So definitely not a critter for a real backyard unless you don't mind.
They definitely need a pasture type situation if you don't want a mess..LOL
I had mine in an electric fence....more geared at horses so the strandes were not tight enough. they went right thru cause I didn't have a killer charge on it......but regular good square wire fencing keeps mine in now...but honestly if there is a glitch, anything, they find it and get out. My big buck would just stand on the fence, squish it down and climb out...LOL...until I put 3 strands barbed wire across the top and it stopped that..LOL
AND THEY are great animals to have if you take a few steps to give them the right environment....so perfect angels, no, but great critter!
fenced in yard? Like your BACKyard?
they are super destructive. Will eat all your trees and bark, plants, flowers, etc. before they even touch a blade of grass. I know, I let about 20 into my backyard cause I always let my horse in, and WOW, they jumped into the middle of the lilac bush and ate the thing from center to outside...LOL...they climbed on the porch, tried to climb up the pool ladder to investigate, etc. etc.
So definitely not a critter for a real backyard unless you don't mind.
They definitely need a pasture type situation if you don't want a mess..LOL
I had mine in an electric fence....more geared at horses so the strandes were not tight enough. they went right thru cause I didn't have a killer charge on it......but regular good square wire fencing keeps mine in now...but honestly if there is a glitch, anything, they find it and get out. My big buck would just stand on the fence, squish it down and climb out...LOL...until I put 3 strands barbed wire across the top and it stopped that..LOL
AND THEY are great animals to have if you take a few steps to give them the right environment....so perfect angels, no, but great critter!
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the simple life
Yard Farmer
Thanks that is so the information I am looking for.
Even though I give my chickens the run of the yard I do not want to have some goats destroy it. I guess it would be okay to let them out of the pen to play with them if you were right there to watch them and then put them back, but you could not let them loose to destroy things.
I have put ALOT of work into my yard and garden so I wouldn't want it ruined.
How big of a pen would you say they need for when they do need to be penned? Like I said I can let them out to run around and get some exercise when I can be with them at the time, but other than that they would have to be penned.
Do you know anything about the mini nubians?
Even though I give my chickens the run of the yard I do not want to have some goats destroy it. I guess it would be okay to let them out of the pen to play with them if you were right there to watch them and then put them back, but you could not let them loose to destroy things.
I have put ALOT of work into my yard and garden so I wouldn't want it ruined.
How big of a pen would you say they need for when they do need to be penned? Like I said I can let them out to run around and get some exercise when I can be with them at the time, but other than that they would have to be penned.
Do you know anything about the mini nubians?
FarmerChick
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no sorry don't know about mini nubians but I can say, mini or not they are all goats...HA HA....just like a minature horse acts like a Belgian horse..HA HA
I have seen people put 2 minis in a dog kennel pen type thing with big dog houses as their shelter. Like 10 x 10 or so.
They are pasture animals ya know. And if you let them out to play....believe me, they don't "really" play....they will run into the first yummy flower bed they see and you will be pulling them out by their tails..HA HA---they have a goal in life, eat!
You should have seen me pulling and knocking about 20 goats off my prized lilac bush. I went insane and couldn't budge them til they ate most of it and trampled it flat. It is still out there in horrible condition, all broken up and sad, but I haven't gotten rid of it yet..LOL
I have seen people put 2 minis in a dog kennel pen type thing with big dog houses as their shelter. Like 10 x 10 or so.
They are pasture animals ya know. And if you let them out to play....believe me, they don't "really" play....they will run into the first yummy flower bed they see and you will be pulling them out by their tails..HA HA---they have a goal in life, eat!
You should have seen me pulling and knocking about 20 goats off my prized lilac bush. I went insane and couldn't budge them til they ate most of it and trampled it flat. It is still out there in horrible condition, all broken up and sad, but I haven't gotten rid of it yet..LOL
punkin
Don't Quote Me
I love reading about everyone's ideas of self sufficientcy, no matter how small the scale. I wish ya'll lived closer so we could do a canning day, or baking day or whatever day. No one I know is really interested in it.
I was at my Bible study group this morning, and of course at any meeting ya gotta have food.
One lady brought muffins and another some sausage pinwheels. I think I ate 4 of the pinwheels; they were good. But, anyway, someone asked if the muffins were homemade. She replied, "It's my four step method. 1. Open the box, 2. Mix, 3. Bake 4. Eat. I brought them from my home, didn't I?" The pinwheels were made with crescent rolls. Don't get me wrong, I love these ladies dearly. None of them work outside the home, so I know they have time to bake and make from scratch.
Sometimes, I just really feel like the oddball.
I was at my Bible study group this morning, and of course at any meeting ya gotta have food.
One lady brought muffins and another some sausage pinwheels. I think I ate 4 of the pinwheels; they were good. But, anyway, someone asked if the muffins were homemade. She replied, "It's my four step method. 1. Open the box, 2. Mix, 3. Bake 4. Eat. I brought them from my home, didn't I?" The pinwheels were made with crescent rolls. Don't get me wrong, I love these ladies dearly. None of them work outside the home, so I know they have time to bake and make from scratch. Sometimes, I just really feel like the oddball.
