Aggieterpkatie- The Daily Bleating-LOTS of pics 4/17

[DonnaBelle]

I'm pretty happy this morning. We've had a run of really good weather and we've gotten a lot of "big" chores done. I say we, most of the stuff is pretty heavy lifting and DH does the most of it. Thank goodness we have that young couple that live here on the ranch. He is a godsend, will work from daylight to dark if we let him. He is so strong and has is super smart and can figure out about anything. We usually only need him one day a week and if he wasn't here we'd be sunk for sure. He was working on one of his outside jobs last week and brought me home a big bag of pears from a tree where he was working. They were delicious, even the goats got some.

We moved the chicken yard, part of it's now in the garden, the chickens are busy digging out the bugs and grasshoppers. It's now 3 sections (each 140' long). We finally figured out that l/2 inch PVC pipe makes great extra supports for the fence.

One of the horses has like a rash on one side of his neck. I made up some of that super salve you guys posted the recipe for and put it on him yesterday. I think it's fly bites. We have had the worst fly season in memory. All that rain in the spring bred them, and the heat kept them going. I hate flies.

I found an interesting facebook page was created for people trying to get hay. It's called the Hay Connection and people from all over the US post if they need hay or are selling it. Even if you don't need hay, it's interesting to read.

DonnaBelle

 

[aggieterpkatie]

That Hay Connection site sounds interesting, DonnaBelle.


My hen, Wanda, who hatched out all the chicks is such a dummy somtimes! My sister said she's like the Octomom- she loves having the babies but isn't quite sure how to care for them all! Wanda tends to forget she needs to keep ALL the babies warm. The other evening I heard loud peeping, so I went out to see what was the matter. Wanda was in the coop with half her chicks, and the other half was scattered all around the yard. A couple under the coop, one under the woodpile, and one in the sheep pen. So I had to catch them with my chicken catching net (a fishing net). The last one ran into the hedgerow and would not come out, so I got Wanda from the coop and took her out to the woods. Once they reunited I scooped the chick up with the net and put them all in the coop. Good grief. Then she'll do stupid stuff like sit on a pallet. Um, Wanda, the chicks can't get under you if there are cracks between boards in the pallet. And last night she was up in the nest box with 2 chicks and the rest of the chicks were running around all . Shoot, I just forgot to put the perches for the nest boxes down (they fold up to prevent chickens from getting in there). Now I dont' know WHERE they're gonna lay today.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Ok, so I need to make some animal decisions. I need to downsize a little bit and sell/eat/something some of the animals. Feed bills are too high and time is limited. Here's what I have:

2 rabbit bucks: one is a very large Silver Fox/American Chinchilla cross. I've put him on CL before with no responses. Should I try again or just put him in the freezer? He has a bad 'tude which makes the freezer argument a bit stronger. The other is my new rabbit who is pretty small and probably not worth eating at this point. I've had him on CL for about a week with no response.

Turkeys: I currently have 5 turkeys, a Royal Palm pair, 2 buff toms, and a slate/buff hen. They're eating a lot. Feed is almost $12 per 50 lbs and they're costing me a lot. I had dreams of keeping 2 breeding pairs, but I just dont' think it's going to work out. I have to come up with winter housing, and the suckers eat so darn much. I could eat them all, or I could sell 4 of them and eat one. They're much bonier than I'm used to (they're heritage breeds). I'm thinking about calling the local poultry processor and asking if she'll barter in exchange for processing them, since I just don't feel like processing any animals right now. I just don't want to take up my time, which is pretty limited right now. I'm also limited on freezer space, but I could probably can a good bit of turkey meat.

Wether: I have a 6 month old Oberhasli wether that I just cannot sell, as in, nobody wants him. I could take him to auction, but I feel so bad doing that because the local auction isn't the greatest. I could eat him, but he's not meaty at all. I don't see the point in giving him away, when I could just eat him. Is there enough meat on a 6 month old dairy wether to justify eating? Now I can see why some dairy people humanely euthanize of newborn bucks. (does that sound harsh?)

Chickens: I've been thinking about downsizing, but I'm not sure yet.

I don't know what I want to do. I needed a sounding board, so I figured I'd get y'alls input.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

And I would really like to do meat rabbits, because we liked raising our own broilers but it was too much work (I had to do all the work). I figured rabbits would be a good substitute. Well, maybe instead of raising meat rabbits I should just buy young rabbits at the auction and raise them up? That way I could have zero rabbits through the winter? I really have no clue what I want to do. I need a plan, and not just "oh, that sounds good today."

 

[ksalvagno]

I have to admit that I just had pet rabbits but felt they took a lot of care and feed. I would be putting the rabbits in the freezer if I were you. I think your idea of getting rabbits at auction and raise them up to butcher before winter is a good idea. I would also just put all the turkeys in the freezer or can or donate a turkey to something. If you want turkeys again, then I would just go with the broad breasted ones that you grow to put in the freezer.

As far as the wether, I would put him in the freezer too. We put an adult Nigerian Dwarf in the freezer and just had ground meat done. We only got 17 pounds but it was $60 at the processor with some meat or $200 at the vet for euthanizing with nothing. For us the $60 was worth it to have peace of mind that he would never be neglected or abused and that it was quick. I refuse to take anything to auction. I would rather put it in the freezer. I don't want my animals abused or neglected.

I actually didn't mind doing the broilers since it was only 9 weeks. But I only did 10. Maybe if you did them in smaller batches but multiple times? We do take ours to a processor. We just aren't in the position to have the time to do all that processing of animals.

 

[SuburbanFarmChic]

Dairy boys just don't chunk out until closer to a year in my experience. But by then you will have fed him for that much longer. Really it's best to butcher them right when weaned since up to that point it's all free food from their point of view.


I would consider putting the turkeys on CL or the like. Somebody else may want them as breeders and you can possibly get more for them as such than as meat. If not then look at processing them.


We just hit reset on our chickens last month and I AGONIZED about it until I posted them and the day after they were gone I could not have been more relieved. We will have zero chickens through the Winter and I'll start again in Spring. Go for it, I doubt you'll regret it. I cut chickens down in stages. First I kept everything that was interesting and ditched the reds/mutts/etc. Then I sold off the remaining heritage breeds, Marans/Doms/etc. I do still have my rooster but I can deal with just one pretty easily.

And the pigs are all now gone which is a HUGE relief.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Ok, so I think it's a good plan to put the rabbit(s) in the freezer. I may wait a little while on the little one to see if he grows (or maybe he is just a mini rabbit).

I'll call the processor and see how much he'd charge to do the goat. I know it was really cheap for our lamb...like $45. It would probably be worth it to just go ahead and have him processed. Do people ever tan goat hides? Obs are so pretty and I wonder if there would be a market for his hide?

The turkeys I'm still not sure about. I need to make a few phone calls and see what it would cost to pay someone to process them. Honestly, I feel almost guilty paying people to process them when I'm able to do it, I just don't *want* to do it because it's too time consuming. But hey, better to pay someone to do it than drive yourself crazy with too many irons in the fire, right?

 

[Ms. Research]

Ok, so I think it's a good plan to put the rabbit(s) in the freezer. I may wait a little while on the little one to see if he grows (or maybe he is just a mini rabbit).

I'll call the processor and see how much he'd charge to do the goat. I know it was really cheap for our lamb...like $45. It would probably be worth it to just go ahead and have him processed. Do people ever tan goat hides? Obs are so pretty and I wonder if there would be a market for his hide?

The turkeys I'm still not sure about. I need to make a few phone calls and see what it would cost to pay someone to process them. Honestly, I feel almost guilty paying people to process them when I'm able to do it, I just don't *want* to do it because it's too time consuming. But hey, better to pay someone to do it than drive yourself crazy with too many irons in the fire, right?

X2

 

[Roll farms]

I doubt anyone would buy a single goat hide. I know people who send in big batches of them when they get a bunch of goats slaughtered.

I started to suggest you could tan it yourself....but then remembered the point is to simplify your life, not add to it.

 

[daisychick]

I too am trying to slim things down around my place. I had 5 turkeys that I planned on breeding. I took them to a local poultry swap and sold them right away, that was 1 thing slimmed down. If we had a local processor I would of taken them in for the freezer. I am seeing tons of rabbits for sale on CL, I would say if you can process them and put them in the freezer go for it. It is amazing how much less feed I am going through by getting rid of the turkeys. Every little bit helps.