NH Homesteader's journal

[NH Homesteader]

Round bales are here! Dude has a dog with him so I'm currently listening to my dogs lose their minds while DH unloads them. Unloads= pushes off the truck, yay for not having a tractor.

Won over the more shy of the two new does with apple slices today. The other one, the more dominant sister, is giving my Nigie a run for her money as herd queen. Lilly is not happy with the new arrivals, she alternates between asserting her status and standing alone, with a serious grump face on. It's kind of hilarious actually.

One dude emailed me asking if I still had my Nigie, I replied and he fell off the face of the earth. Seriously people. And zero responses about the pig yet. Grrr it makes me glad I didn't have any intention of raising livestock to make money selling animals. Cause it wouldn't happen!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Nice to have the round bales on hand. I don't know why some people think it's ok to bring their dogs to another person's house. I guess it's ok if they leave them in the vehicle - but I've had people who thought it was ok to bring their dogs so they can run around on the farm? NOT! Especially because I'm gonna put a bullet in his head if he goes after one of my animals. (see, I am crabby with no sleep, lol)

Hope the guy who was interested in your Nigie climbs back on the face of the earth and really wants a good Nigie, lol. (and can provide a nice home too).

Maybe you can offer a "farm special" of one goat and one pig?!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Well the guy who dropped the bales off is an old horse guy that has known DH since DH was in diapers. He works for the cattle farmers we bought the hay from and delivered it to us for free as a favor for DH. So, he gets a pass lol. Otherwise his dog would not have been running around my yard!

DH is out in the woods hoping for a nice buck to meander by.

Farm special sounds good, lol.

 

[Mini Horses]

Sorry to reply late but, computer issues and all patience is gone!

YES, I feed my goats grain while pregnant! Even if every other day. Having raised the mini horses & goats for so many years, I know the issues of nutrition. Not all hay is awesome and even with awesome hay, they have nutrition needs that a concentrate can provide. Lucky you to have so few to feed!!!

If I have great hay and stout goats -- with dairy breeds they are generally thinner -- I use less feeds. Often I use a heavy concentrate, smaller amounts, like Purina Enrich. High copper, high proteins, excellent other vit/min. You will see stronger babes & better milk. If you consider that losing a kid can cost over $100+, you can see the value! If nutrients are low, the doe will deplete herself to feed to kids...may lose the do Just not worth it for me.

As to all else --- good luck!!!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Thanks! I guess I'd better ask her why she said no grain during pregnancy, since I had never heard that before. I have heard that not having enough calcium is a very bad thing on pregnancy (just like humans), so seems like grain would be a good thing.... I'll have to let you all know her reasoning, for curiosity's sake!

No deer, bummer. DH is going to take DD in the woods and teach her how to look for tracks, etc while I am at my appt in the morning. She's psyched!

 

[tortoise]

In sheep we worry about overconditioning (being fat) as a cause for a difficult birth. But we have more problems with underconditioning. We start feed grain in the last month of gestation. Earlier if they're not maintaining condition.

 

[sumi]

Back to the deer for a minute, friend came over yesterday evening and we got onto the topic of food in our conversations. He asked if I'd like some deer meat. Needless to say the answer was YES! Please!

Ireland has a deer hunting season, right now, but I don't know the details, since I don't hunt myself. I know pheasant hunting is very popular here and even met a guy that raises pheasants to release into the wild to stock them up for the hunters.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Yeah I didn't know if it was something more than overconditioning. I figured that was one possibility. My Nigie is eternally overconditioned lol!

I wish someone would give me some venison! That's awesome! It would save a lot of hassle, and a lot of DH's time sitting in the woods (when he has a bunch of other things he should be doing... )

 

[treerooted]

I did some mapping of a hunt camp once for a co-working of mine and I jokingly said he could pay me in venison. Well he did! He gave me some sausages as thanks. Unfortunately my husband accidentally unplugged our freezer and we had to throw it out before I got a chance to try any!

 

[NH Homesteader]

That is a tragedy! Serious bummer to lose meat like that. I check my freezer fairly frequently for no reason other than being neurotic. I usually have 6 months to a year's worth of meat in there at any given time.