Changing goals and speed

[AClark]

Really? I love duck eggs, they are the best for baking. I definitely wouldn't turn down free eggs either!
You know the market for duck eggs works better with the Asian folks. I'm told they use them in some kind of holiday meals or something. Sorry I can't be more specific, I can't remember which Asians used them, I want to say it was Vietnamese.

 

[Baymule]

Will you use a needle or clamp type to tattoo your goats? Do you tattoo them in the ear like rabbits? A long time ago, I raised show rabbits and I used both the needle and clamp type.

 

[AClark]

Clamp type in the ear, I read that LaMancha's (the ones with the weird little ears) get tattooed in the tail webbing. I already have a clamp type, just need new ink and I'm good to go.

 

[babsbag]

I just did a one eat tattoo on 30 goats last week before the TB testing. I didn't do my herd tattoo, we only need an official identification one for my herd in case one showed up positive for TB. It was a lot of fun doing 30 goats by myself...I did them on the milk stand and now I have 5 or 6 that don't want to come in and get milked. Are they really elephants that never forget?

I have used Ivermectin when worming for barber pole but since they don't like my dry pastures I never have that problem and haven't had to treat for those in years. I chose Valbazen specifically because I saw tape worm segments and Ivermectin won't work on those.

Good deal with the eggs. When I worked at a school I had customers, now I have one. I am hoping that when I start selling milk I will pick up some egg customers too.

 

[Bruce]

DH decided to make a sign at work that we had eggs for sale. I expected maybe a dozen or two would get picked up, DH hadn't even posted the sign up yet but was talking to a co-worker and then he texts me at 5 PM and tells me "I need 5 dozen eggs tomorrow". Wait, what? I had my baking day yesterday and used up a dozen already...
I ended up with 2 eggs left, good thing I don't need any. Then when he gets home he says "I think we need more chickens" - music to my ears! He's finally seeing what I was suggesting all along. The chickens almost paid for their feed this month in 1 day.

Maybe it's because I found DH a Dewalt miter saw the other day. Someone was giving it away because they were moving, and while it's a really old one, it came iwth it's own table and all we had to do was pick it up. I tested it out and it works great!

Great deal on the miter saw! Mine is a Makita sliding compound, 25 years old. Still works fine. Wouldn't mind one of the newer ones with the light that shows where the cut will be though

Will DH's workmates wait 6 months for those eggs?

 

[AClark]

Lol Bruce, I get 7-10 eggs a day right now. I just told him they need to put in orders ahead of time so I know how many to save back. We are looking at buying some already mature pullets locally, along with some chicks. I have 12 hens that are grown now. I also have 3 of their babies I hatched out a couple of weeks ago, two black copper maran x buff orpingtons and a buff orpington x white leghorn.

babs, yeah Ivermectin is great for most except tape worms. Not sure what Valbazen is, but I'll look it up later. Panacur gets tape worms I know but I've only ever used it on dogs.
It's cold here today, that front got us. I have some outside work to do and I'm not looking forward to it at all.

 

[AClark]

Six dozen eggs out the door and I'm tapped out at the moment! DH got pecked big time by one of our easter egger hens (she's a barred rock ameracana? cross? Stripes like a barred rock but she's gray and has feathery cheeks and lays the biggest rose colored eggs!) and then she followed him up to the back door, loudly complaining at him, while he's cussing her the whole way. She drew blood. He doesn't usually gather eggs, so they aren't really used to him. I told him that one and the buff orp. that is like half and half colored aren't very nice!
I'll have probably half a dozen more by the time I feed tonight though.
I could up my price if I wanted to buy organic feed, but I don't and I'm a bit cheaper than most places here. I'm still in the red but I'm projecting being in the black within a couple of months. Not bad really!

 

[Bruce]

Yeah, organic feed price is 2X the non organic here. One would really have to focus on the super layer breeds to have any hope of making that back. There is a reason the cheap eggs from cage farms come from only a couple of breeds. No interesting colors, boring inside those cartons

The only time my girls get fussy is if they are broody, guess I'm lucky. I've read of many people who have to be careful when collecting. Of course it is rare that I am taking eggs out from under a hen. I go out whenever and collect what I see. At roost time, any that may have been under a hen when I was out earlier are easily picked up.

 

[Baymule]

I buy Texas Naturals non GMO layer pellets for my girls. It is $26.95 per 50 pound bag-terrible price. I charge $4 a dozen and can sell more than the girls produce. People around here want the grass fed meat and non GMO and they are willing to pay for it.

 

[AClark]

What a day.
Went out to feed this morning and hmmm, I'm a horse short! Of course I feared the worst, that she was down in the field and colicked. Nope, she walked over a piece of fence in the back and was over in the neighbors hay farm. So, catch the horse and realize the fence is so bent out of shape it isn't worth putting back up (cattle panels). Run to the store for new cattle panels, DH hangs out so the horses don't get out.
Come home, put the fence all back up, pound some new posts and get it all wired up. DH had trimmed trees (and trimmed 2 of them all the way to the ground since they were dead) so we dragged all of that into a big pile.
Moved the rabbits into a more secure pen, put hinges on the chicken coop door...just endless chores today and I still didn't get some of them done. i still need to clean the barn out and do some repairs on the goat shelter.

I am sooooo tired.

Oh and for your entertainment, I give you a goat in the bathtub! My friend gave me this 400 lb cast iron tub for a feeder, it's awesome now that I washed the mud out!