Changing goals and speed

Latestarter

Novice; "Practicing" Animal Husbandry
Golden Herd Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2014
Messages
11,384
Reaction score
17,483
Points
623
Location
NE Texas
Glad you got some moisture. Sorry it was in the form of ice. Too bad about loosing the piglets... That's a financial loss as well. You could have sold them vice raise them.

Goat gas! :lol::gig Mine burp and fart up a storm while they eat their pellets. I have to agree, it's pretty rank. Maybe worse than buck stink? Luckily, I milk outside and the girl I milked this past season didn't really have a gas problem. My fat goat, April, on the other hand... gaseous could be her middle name! If she moves faster than a walk, she gets to jiggling and the fumes are rampant.
 

Mike CHS

Herd Master
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
10,693
Reaction score
39,045
Points
793
Location
Southern Middle TN
The more I read about goat habits, the less I'm likely to get any. :)

Sheep have gas and you can constantly hear them letting go in the catch pen but you never smell anything.
 

CntryBoy777

Herd Master
Joined
Sep 14, 2016
Messages
8,088
Reaction score
18,454
Points
603
Location
Wstrn Cent Florida
The air being foul to smell, it sure means that the fermentation chamber is working okay and there's nothing to be concerned with.....as far as digestion goes....and if they didn't touch that release valve every know and then....it might not be a good outcome....next time ya smell it...just tell yourself that ya done good and they are good....it only smells a little while....just don't sit and milk with a "Tail Wind" and the breeze will disipate the smell before it reaches the nostril...and don't hold your mouth open either.....:)
 

Baymule

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 22, 2010
Messages
36,237
Reaction score
113,079
Points
893
Location
East Texas
That is too bad about the piglets. They sure were cute. I don't want to breed pigs either. I like to raise them up to slaughter, that's it. Stock the freezer. Pigs are great to raise because there is a large rate of return for what you feed them.
 

AClark

Loving the herd life
Joined
Aug 5, 2016
Messages
891
Reaction score
1,673
Points
193
Location
SW Oklahoma
Bay, that was the intent with these two, feed out and to slaughter. Then she dropped piglets. From my calculation she was bred just prior to us getting them. They are headed for the processor as soon as I can get them in now. I didn't want to raise them either, but when she started looking like she was pregnant I held off on processing. I processed some wild hogs and found babies when I gutted them and it makes me sad, even though they are a nuisance.
The pigs broke out after all the rain and we chased them for over an hour. I caught the girl by her back leg and dragged her, but there was no catching the male. Ended up roping him, and roping a pig is not easy, they have no neck or hocks that give a good catch. I got it over his front legs and around his withers after DH cornered him, and it was a rodeo. Both of my hands are rope burned and I slid on a piece of plastic in the mud and road rashed my knee really good. It's comical now, but at the time I suggested a Glock to rectify the situation. I can't believe how strong they are, he was able to drag me and run my rope through my hands, even with me set back and heeled in. You can see in my driveway where my feet slid, after I got my hands burned I wrapped the rope up my forearm for leverage.

Late, I'm milking in my barn, so there is no escape from the foul odors emanating from her. I will milk outside when the weather warms up and we're out of the pouring rain season. That's something I noticed here, we'll go through a drought for months and then suddenly, it will play "catch up" on the rain all within a week. It's a swamp right now with ankle deep mud in the low places, but it's starting to dry out a bit. They are calling for more rain tomorrow so I may as well get on tilling the garden while that area isn't too bad.
Burps aren't any better either, they are pretty noxious. I guess that just means they are well fed and their rumens are working well. I got them some calf manna for the thinner looking does (mostly Clara and Swiss Miss "Missy"). They really love that stuff, and it's a good thing a little goes a long ways because man that stuff is expensive.

I swear you can't make some of this craziness up. I guess it wouldn't be our farm if something insane didn't happen at least once a week.
 

Latestarter

Novice; "Practicing" Animal Husbandry
Golden Herd Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2014
Messages
11,384
Reaction score
17,483
Points
623
Location
NE Texas
wow... now roping a pig... THAT takes some REAL talent! :ep Even more so to hold on while being dragged around the homestead. :th and you with a not so new elbow/arm... Glad the damage to you wasn't worse. Hope the rope burns, scrapes and such heal up quick. Sorry it worked out the way it did with the sow being pregnant and the piglets and all. I say all that while sitting here eating sausage gravy and biscuits :drool Hope you can get your garden prepped before the next deluge. We're supposed to get more tomorrow and Wednesday then sun again for a few. Plan to get started on that hay feeder today as I went and got the 2x4 no climb fencing from Bay yesterday. Gotta run to the bank and pick up a couple of newer pallets to use. I think I'm going to look for an old 20" bike and put an axle and the wheels from the bike on one end for ease of movement. Just lift one end and roll it. We'll see how that goes.
 
Top