# Sherry V - Journal of my New Adventure



## SherryV (Dec 16, 2016)

So I'm going to jump in.... I've been a member for less than a month but I'm enjoying reading about your journeys to where you are today and about all your animals. I've decided I have a lot more to learn but time is on my side.

I'm married to my husband Dennis for 25 years. We have one son who is 22 years old. We live in a small rural community on one acre of land. The location of our home is ideal for commuting to several towns/cities (by Maine standards) for work. 

My journey is starting with maybe a mid-life crisis  not really sure what to call it. I would like a less stress life so I started evaluating what makes me happy and what doesn't. I knew my biggest issue was my current job. It's hard to leave a company when you've been there 11 years (lots of vacation and great benefits) not to mention starting somewhere else.... well this was answered last spring with a lay off announcement. I call it a blessing in disguise; four month notice that my last day would be 10/31. I could have applied within the company but they were offering a great severance package so I decided to work out the notice and collect the severance and hopefully find a new job with a smaller company.

I've been wanting a more self sufficient life style; grow my own food, some goats for milk and soap making; chickens for eggs and meat. Maybe bees (never thought of that until I was researching). Nothing too big just three of us in the family. I've researched lots about homesteading and living off the grid (not sure I want to go that extreme yet, need my internet for sure). That's where I happened on BYH website, while researching goats. What a great group of people and caring for one another. My homesteading idea now seems do able and not just a crazy idea (family and friends reactions). I realize homesteading isn't everyone's thing so not sure why people seem judgmental about it.

I've talked to DH about it and he wasn't on board at first but now that he sees how much it means to me he is ready to jump on board. My son is all for it. He loves farming and animals (worked on a dairy farm in high school and helped a local farmer with growing garlic). 

I guess I'm ready to jump in now with more planning; just found a new job that I will start on Monday. This is a relief; job hunting is a part-time job in itself. We have started a list of cosmetic updates we need to do to our current home to get it ready for the market this spring. We also look online for properties but can't put the cart before the horse. Need to sell one to purchase another. Hopefully we find more land, less house is okay. I want simple. 

I've enjoyed reading@Latestarters journey however it did stress me out too... time will tell if we have as many issues as he did with selling and buying. I hope to get to learn about more about everyone on BYH and hope you are ready for "dumb" questions from someone who knows nothing about goats. 

Well, I'll end here for now. 

Thanks for reading/listening.
Sherry


----------



## Bruce (Dec 16, 2016)

Nice start! One thing you might consider is selling what you have when you are ready, especially if it is a seller's market and renting if you haven't found the replacement yet. No better buyer than one who has the down payment money and doesn't have to play the domino game - purchase contract contingent on getting a sale contract and that buyer has the same contingency, etc.


----------



## Hens and Roos (Dec 16, 2016)

Welcome , glad you joined us.  Enjoyed reading your introduction!


----------



## SherryV (Dec 16, 2016)

Bruce said:


> Nice start! One thing you might consider is selling what you have when you are ready, especially if it is a seller's market and renting if you haven't found the replacement yet. No better buyer than one who has the down payment money and doesn't have to play the domino game - purchase contract contingent on getting a sale contract and that buyer has the same contingency, etc.



Yes, Bruce, that is our plan.  Put our home on the market in the spring then live in our camper for the summer and look for a new property.  We will need to pay for storage for all our "stuff".  Hopefully by fall we will have a new place, if not we can rent for the winter and continue looking.


----------



## Bruce (Dec 16, 2016)

Woot! Even better! Nearly free housing. And since you will be paying to store your stuff, you'll likely be more critical of what things you REALLY use and want to keep rather than just having a moving company pack it all up and dump it at the new place.


----------



## Latestarter (Dec 16, 2016)

Well hello there! Glad to see you made it! GREAT start! looking forward to following along on your journey!


----------



## Goat Whisperer (Dec 16, 2016)

Welcome!


----------



## CntryBoy777 (Dec 16, 2016)

Glad ya have decided to take that 'First Step'....it is always the hardest, but then they get easier as ya get things moving...having a 'Plan and Direction' is certainly a 'Plus' and it will be interesting to keep up with your 'Adventure'...


----------



## TAH (Dec 16, 2016)

Nice introduction!!


----------



## norseofcourse (Dec 17, 2016)

Welcome to journaling!  I loved reading your story and look forward to how things go with your plans.  Sorry about losing the job, but congrats on the new one!



SherryV said:


> I would like a less stress life so I started evaluating what makes me happy and what doesn't.


Well, not sure it's less stress - have you read some of the 'when will my goat give birth' threads?   
http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/first-time-momma.34884/

But you trade one type of stress for another.  It's hard to describe, but if it's meant to be, it's usually easier stress.  And the rewards that come along with it fill your heart - watching a newborn lamb or kid take its first steps, looking out at your own land, hearing your sheep or goats call to you when they see you, harvesting food you've grown yourself.

No questions are dumb, and you never stop learning.  Good luck!


----------



## Latestarter (Dec 17, 2016)

You folks up in New England be careful... I looked at the Northeast radar/satellite and it looks like you folks are in for quite the winter storm! Wishing you all well through it!


----------



## NH homesteader (Dec 17, 2016)

Yes it's coming  down pretty hard right now.


----------



## frustratedearthmother (Dec 17, 2016)

Hang in there ya'll!


----------



## TAH (Dec 17, 2016)

32 and sunny!


----------



## SherryV (Dec 18, 2016)

Latestarter said:


> You folks up in New England be careful... I looked at the Northeast radar/satellite and it looks like you folks are in for quite the winter storm! Wishing you all well through it!



Yes, we had 7 inches on snow on Saturday and then rain Sunday, was slippery for awhile but I stayed home putting up the tree and puttering around the house.  Pellet stove was a humming.  Sun came out just before sunset.


----------



## NH homesteader (Dec 18, 2016)

And now it's all turning to ice! We had 45 degrees today,  now it's supposed to get down in the single digits.  I was kind of enjoying the warmth myself!


----------



## SherryV (Dec 18, 2016)

NH homesteader said:


> And now it's all turning to ice! We had 45 degrees today,  now it's supposed to get down in the single digits.  I was kind of enjoying the warmth myself!



Yes, going to be a deep freeze again. Roads will be icy in the AM.  Yes, the warm temps today were just a tease.


----------



## Bruce (Dec 18, 2016)

Yep, got out the sand barrel and spread some on the big, ice covered stone outside the front door to the porch. DD1 and DD2 went to the movies. As expected, I watched some tire spinning trying to get up on the road. It isn't paved so no salt. They managed to get there and back. I was getting worried they had run into the ditch when they weren't home by 6:30 since the movie was 2 hours long and started at 4. It is only 15 minutes to town. Turns out DD2 wasn't paying enough attention, the movie started at 4:30, they got home at 6:45.


----------



## SherryV (Dec 18, 2016)

Bruce said:


> Yep, got out the sand barrel and spread some on the big, ice covered stone outside the front door to the porch. DD1 and DD2 went to the movies. As expected, I watched some tire spinning trying to get up on the road. It isn't paved so no salt. They managed to get there and back. I was getting worried they had run into the ditch when they weren't home by 6:30 since the movie was 2 hours long and started at 4. It is only 15 minutes to town. Turns out DD2 wasn't paying enough attention, the movie started at 4:30, they got home at 6:45.



Glad your DD's made it home safe. 

My husband went to the town sand pile and got a tote of sand.  My son spread some on the driveway after the rain stopped.  He did a clean up last night of all the snow before the rain.  This morning with the rain and warm temps all the snow came off our metal roof and it was a bear to snow blow.  So wet....  Then my son did our deck out back but the snow hadn't come off the roof there, an hour later it all came down on the clean deck.  Still there...  will freeze overnight but I was so grateful for him clearing the snow.  Should be able to walk across the top of the snow tomorrow if the temps drop like they say it will.  As a kid I loved this, fast sledding...


----------



## Devonviolet (Dec 25, 2016)

Welcome (and Merry Christmas) @SherryV,, from the great state of Texas. So nice to have you join us here on BYH.

Your story sounds similar to ours, only we have quite a few years on you, and we moved half way cross country, to be closer to DD.

We are fortunate to be about 40 minutes from @Latestarter, @tressa27884, and about an hour from @Baymule.

You've come to the right place for help with your journey. We have oodles of friendly, helpful members to guide you.


----------



## SherryV (Jan 2, 2017)

I've been busy with life, new job, Christmas, 18 inches of new snow and then a visit to my sister in NH. New job is going great, so happy to be working for a small local office. Enjoyed seeing my sister and her family and celebrating the new year with them.  I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season.  Happy New Year !!!  I now need to catch up on what I've missed.  

I do have a few goat questions (I currently have none but they are in my future).  For the shelter, do they need their own stall or do they prefer to be together.  I plan on only having does 2 to start.  Do you heat their barn in the winter?  How much feed does one goat eat per day?  Looking at other herders posts, it looks like they eat hay and supplemented with alfalfa.  Is the alfalfa mixed with the hay?  

I warned you I may have some silly questions but I have not raised goats before.  I trying get an idea of the cost of feed so I can come up with a budget.  I'm more worried about the winter months up here when there is a lack of hay.  I found this bit of information "Goats need up to 2 pounds of chaffhaye per 100 pounds of body weight when you feed it as an alternative to hay. The nutritional value of one 50-pound bag of chaffhaye is equivalent to an 85- to 100-pound bale of good-quality hay." on another website.  Do any of you use chaffhaye?

Another question, how many acres do you have fenced off for your goats?  Our neighbor seems to rotate his goats between 2 fields of about an acre each.  Any thoughts??


----------



## NH homesteader (Jan 2, 2017)

Ah lots of questions! Haha so,  goats like to live together. If you have bucks for breeding  most keep them separate from their does except when they want them to breed. 

I do not use Chaffhaye at this point but I am looking into it to supplement due to the drought and hay shortage this year.  I use grass hay and have yet to find anyone who sells alfalfa here. I use alfalfa pellets (was using Green Mountain Organics but my wallet is only so deep so am going to price out Blue Seal). If fed Chaffhaye,  goats still do need hay as the long fibers help their rumens function properly. 

Are you looking at full size, mini or dwarf breeds? Are you going to milk? 

I do not use supplemental heat.  It can make them sick going back and forth between heat and outside.  They just need a draft free shelter.


----------



## CntryBoy777 (Jan 2, 2017)

A lot will depend on your intentions for the goats....breeding, milking, for meat, or just to have some. As far as feed goes they will eat as much as ya give them, but that wouldn't be wise because a goat will eat itself sick, even death, so the purpose of your intentions will determine the need of the animal. It is wise to have hay available free choice and I am unfamiliar with the chaffhaye. I am sure others will be of more help to ya, just wanted ya to get to thinking.


----------



## SherryV (Jan 2, 2017)

NH homesteader said:


> Are you looking at full size, mini or dwarf breeds? Are you going to milk?





CntryBoy777 said:


> A lot will depend on your intentions for the goats....breeding, milking, for meat, or just to have some.



Well, I didn't know this.  I'm looking at nigerian dwarf goats for milk production.  Yes, I would eventually like to breed them so I can get milk..  .  

See I have a lot to learn.....  

Thank you NH for the barn answers.  I thought they would need to be together but I wasn't sure on heating.  Happy to hear I won't need to provide heat for them, heating my house is enough $$.


----------



## CntryBoy777 (Jan 2, 2017)

Not to worry Sherry, I was standing in those shoes just 18-20mnths ago, and still have a bunch to Learn. That is why I am only a little bit of help... I have learned some of the questions to ask, but it is learning the Answers that can be difficult.... and we don't have dairy goats so that is well beyond me at this point, and being from Ms I certainly don't know what hay or feed is available in Me. I just try to assist others as best I can and if it is serious and nobody else has chimed in I will draw others attention to it so they can help. It never hurts to admit one's limitations.


----------



## NH homesteader (Jan 2, 2017)

No kidding! It costs a fortune to live in the north east this time of year!

Nigerians are smaller but give a lot  less milk.  It's delicious milk though, well  I think so anyway!


----------



## Goat Whisperer (Jan 3, 2017)

SherryV said:


> I do have a few goat questions (I currently have none but they are in my future). For the shelter, do they need their own stall or do they prefer to be together. I plan on only having does 2 to start. Do you heat their barn in the winter? How much feed does one goat eat per day? Looking at other herders posts, it looks like they eat hay and supplemented with alfalfa. Is the alfalfa mixed with the hay?
> 
> I warned you I may have some silly questions but I have not raised goats before. I trying get an idea of the cost of feed so I can come up with a budget. I'm more worried about the winter months up here when there is a lack of hay. I found this bit of information "Goats need up to 2 pounds of chaffhaye per 100 pounds of body weight when you feed it as an alternative to hay. The nutritional value of one 50-pound bag of chaffhaye is equivalent to an 85- to 100-pound bale of good-quality hay." on another website. Do any of you use chaffhaye?


All of our does live in the same shelter. We don't individually stall goats, I'm not a huge fan of it unless there is a particular need to do so. It would be a good idea to have a few stall available for kidding or separating at feeding time if needed. 

They don't need a heated barn. Having constant supplemental heat all winter can cause all kinds of health issues for your goats. As long as they are out of the elements/wind and the barn doesn't have big drafts, the goats will be fine. Just use more bedding during the coldest times. The goats will snuggle to keep warmer if needed. The only time we use extra heat is when a goat is ill, or we have newborns. 

We have used Chaffhaye and it is nice.
But, with two goats I don't know that is would be worth is, especially during summer. Here, we must use the bag within 5 days. Not a huge issue as we have a lot of goats and went through 20+ lbs daily. We used it as a supplement- hay and feed were fed to the goats as well. 

We did have an incident with the Chaffhaye… we must have gotten a bad lot, we had several goats get nasty bacterial infections that needed to be treated with a long course of antibiotics. It was a new batch IOW it hadn't been sitting for months. 
Our friends got some from that same batch and had some very sick goats- same issues we had. It was obviously the Chaffhaye. 
The Chaffhaye looked and smelled fine… 

If you are only wanting to feed Chaffhaye you will need to feed more than two pounds. Many read that and end up with small, skinny goats.  I think it's a good product- but it is NOT a "fix all". You should still give some feed and hay along with it.


----------



## SherryV (Jan 7, 2017)

@Goat Whisperer ... Thank you for the information on Chaffhaye.  Now that it is winter in the Northeast, a lot of questions have been popping up  as I think about going out in the cold snowy yard and tending to goats.  Since I never had any before I was wondering how to supplement their diet in the winter.  I know there are sometimes hay shortages in the winter.  Good to know the shelf life of Chaffhaye and the side effects of a bad bag. 

Thank you to everyone with your awesome advise and insight!!!


----------



## Calendula (Jan 8, 2017)

Good luck with the (eventual) goats!  I second everyone's opinion here. I feel like once upon a time, when I was looking at ND goat breeders, I stumbled across a dairy in Maine (I think that's where you said you are from in the beginning...?) that I really liked, but being in Michigan makes that not possible.

We also have everyone together. I separate out does that are due to give birth, but have the stalls set up so they can still see others. Although that's a bit far out there.
We have our own hay but last year when we had some disgusting hay, we supplemented with alfalfa pellets and deeper into winter, grain. This year I am doing fodder which seems to be working quite well.


----------



## SherryV (Jan 20, 2017)

Calendula said:


> Good luck with the (eventual) goats!  I second everyone's opinion here. I feel like once upon a time, when I was looking at ND goat breeders, I stumbled across a dairy in Maine (I think that's where you said you are from in the beginning...?) that I really liked, but being in Michigan makes that not possible.
> 
> We also have everyone together. I separate out does that are due to give birth, but have the stalls set up so they can still see others. Although that's a bit far out there.
> We have our own hay but last year when we had some disgusting hay, we supplemented with alfalfa pellets and deeper into winter, grain. This year I am doing fodder which seems to be working quite well.




Thank you Calendula for your winter supplement suggestions.  I will be looking into some farms in Maine later in the spring and hope to visit before jumping in.  We have so much to do before this becomes a reality for us.


----------

