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I'm so sorry... I've lost 5, in the last 10 months. Losing them is so hard on the human heart, so it's no surprise that it would be just as hard on the surviving critters' hearts. Hugs to all of you, and I hope your sweet girl finds another buddy, soon.

No doubt! I've not done hogs, but have done poultry, steer, and a variety of game animals, so fully respect the labor that goes into it. 🙂

Yup. It's infuriating, in many ways, but I do get it. So, we've been settling for doing our poultry and (hunted) deer, ourselves, and letting our local Mennonite processor do our hogs and beef.

Yup. Makes absolutely NO sense to me, and leaves me utterly infuriated, considering you can buy pickled pigs feet, at the grocery stores. The reason lungs are illegal to sell is that because *most* cattle are raised in factory farms, where they're breathing in feces, urine, and Lord only knows...

Most Most cattle farmers don't do their own butchering. They either take them in for processing, or have someone come do it. What that means for you, as the consumer, is that you need to deal with the processor and the state and local laws they must follow, in order to stay in business. I...

Yup. And their legs are better on my dinner table, than the reverse!

Just like a dog and it's food bowl, or a cat and the can opener, any animal accustomed to seeing you with whatever vessel (bucket, bowl, scoop...) you carry their chow to them in will typically follow that vessel anywhere - including if you toss it up into whatever vehicle you need to load them...

Just for the record, all my goats have horns. We have heavy predator pressure, and I won't leave them defenseless. My goats have never intentionally hurt me, and only occasional small bruises, from them and/or me accidentally trying to change the laws of physics. Be gentle with them, and never...

My bucks are babies. I mean, they're grown - but, they're sweet, loving, and as gentle as my does. In fact, they're often gentler than my does! They all follow me around like puppies, come when called, and call to me, if I go out, and don't pay attention to them, lol. I have Nigoras - they're a...

@soarwitheagles Thank you! I appreciate your honesty, and the health stuff is truly my biggest concern. I'm looking for a local beekeeper, with whom to do exactly that. If it proves too much for either of us, we would then back out before making the commitment. Neither of us could, in good...

Thank you! Well, for being in the USA, I'd normally say we were in a relatively mild area, in Central MO. But, after the near 2weeks -20°F we just had, in February, I'm not so sure of the 'mild', anymore, lol. Normally, our worst is about -5°F, and rarely stays there for more than a day or...

[back story]Just had my 57th birthday, and hubs will be 53, this month. He's had heart attacks (has stents & no problems in about 8yrs), a not-great back and an iffy knee. I have asthma, allergies, lupus (remission), fibro, arthritis, bad knees & shoulders. Sounds like a rough combo, but we're...

I'm hoping! We are still in our first year, so I'm not sure, yet - but they've held up really well, through these first 3 seasons, and going strong.

30gallon cooler. Larger volume, and insulated, on the sides. It will still freeze, eventually, of course. But, it takes longer, especially if you add a good amount of very hot water.

Some of my livestock, I really do want to love me, or at least trust me and be happy to see me. It doesn't just make being outside with them more fun, it also give me a better chance to check them for health issues and, where needed, groom or harvest from them. So, we divide our herds/flocks...

Smoked. We like them lots of ways, but my favorite, by far, is in the smoker. Confit is probably 2nd, for us.

The dogs that killed our girls were a pair of large, mixed breed dogs, whose owner just let them roam free. Apparently, she'd been told a few times, before we even moved in, that if she didn't keep them at home, someday those dogs were just not going to come home. We saw them around a lot, and...

Do take care, if you absolutely must scruff them. Their skin is very thin and easily torn. That's both painful, and poses the risk of infection. Many people think that because a doe picks up her kits to move them, this way, it's OK for them to do, throughout the rabbits'life. Not so. For one...

Neighborhood dogs wiped out half of our chickens, last year. So, they get my top rank. BUT! We've also had to kill rat snakes - one of which was in the nest boxes, with 4 eggs, lumped in its middle! - and we've gone out, in the middle of the night, several times, to ward off (call that 'kill 'em...

Oh, yeh, the chickens & ducks! Lol! Their feed is free-access. I do bump up their black fly larvae, when they can't free-range - by about double. Their free-ranging ability is incredible, and the difference in their eggs is insane, it they don't get to do that. It's the only way I've really...