promiseacres
Herd Master
Coffee is on.
Icey outside. Made an cinnamon sugar apple cake . You guys can share.
Icey outside. Made an cinnamon sugar apple cake . You guys can share.
Coffee anyone ?
- Thread starter Sourland
- Start date
Xerocles
Loving the herd life
Advice needed. Put this in my rabbit thread also, but maybe seen here quicker. Red had her kits. Zero fur pulled. No hay in nest box. She ripped a piece of cardboard to cover them. Its 59f @7:30. Do I add hay or leave alone? I didn't even count them yet.
Duckfarmerpa1
Herd Master
Add hay...you can touch baby bunnies..but be careful, sometimes moms are protective at first. Just put them in the nest box, and put her cardboard on top...at least..this what I would do...perhaps someone on here will tell you different..im not an expert, but I’ve lost new kits, so I’m just giving you my experience...I would add hay and get them off the wire grate.
Duckfarmerpa1
Herd Master
Good morning everyone...it’s Sunday so that means my son,Ben comes! Then Mass. Have to make a pie to take to Sunday dinner with friends...and of course, chores..but, I love that!! The renovation to the coop looks great! We have two doors now!! Sooo excited!! And, I got my 2nd blue egg yesterday..so, clearly our new EE pullet is laying!! And the normal egg count is up, so probably another pullet has started too!! Yes! We’re in the money..
Got to go check on the new pullets we bought yesterday..have a great day everyone!!
Got to go check on the new pullets we bought yesterday..have a great day everyone!!Mini Horses
Herd Master
The storm front is upon us. Heavy, heavy winds last night. I am happy to say at my farm, rains have been light to moderate so far. Looks like it will change soon...I do expect more late day. We seem to be within a band of less intensity at the moment. I'm sure ok with that!!
@Duckfarmerpa1 yep--you have to learn some auction tendencies. First in -- the bidders are getting geared up; last in, many are gone. The birds take the edge off as they are smaller commitments. AND....listen. Sometimes they bring a cage of bunnies and say "your money times 3" You are buying the cage full, bid on 1 animal and pay X3, for all three in the cage. And don't raise your hand to wave at a friend -- You become a bid! LOL We try to have fun & teach on here.
Feeder calves are way past weaning, by generally a few hundred pounds. YES cows will eat a LOT of forage. A LOT. Heavy graze is needed. Read FarmerJans comments on cattle. She raises meat & dairy.
It was fun!! I enjoy going. Romeo, is a fullblood Saanen with great genetics and yeah, a looker & a lover. Obviously friendly! The auctioneer even mentioned his antics when he entered the ring....he had been in the back beforehand. Probably got a goat kiss!
@Duckfarmerpa1 yep--you have to learn some auction tendencies. First in -- the bidders are getting geared up; last in, many are gone. The birds take the edge off as they are smaller commitments. AND....listen. Sometimes they bring a cage of bunnies and say "your money times 3" You are buying the cage full, bid on 1 animal and pay X3, for all three in the cage. And don't raise your hand to wave at a friend -- You become a bid! LOL We try to have fun & teach on here.
Feeder calves are way past weaning, by generally a few hundred pounds. YES cows will eat a LOT of forage. A LOT. Heavy graze is needed. Read FarmerJans comments on cattle. She raises meat & dairy.
It was fun!! I enjoy going. Romeo, is a fullblood Saanen with great genetics and yeah, a looker & a lover. Obviously friendly! The auctioneer even mentioned his antics when he entered the ring....he had been in the back beforehand. Probably got a goat kiss!
Baymule
Herd Master
We ourselves are up high and dry, but have to cross several creeks to get to town. So when we have flash floods, we are ok, just can't go anywhere for a little while. Most people here don't build in low places. My sister lives in Conroe, close to Houston Texas, near the San Jancinto river. In hurricane Harvey they got 7 feet of water in their house, the water even washed the brick walls away. When the water went down, you could see all the way through her house. I would shag a$$ out of there, but she won't move. She has contractors on speed dial, this wasn't her first rodeo and she kicks in high gear before the water even goes down. Not me!
Baymule
Herd Master
@Mini Horses I am glad that you not only got a good price for Romeo, but that he got a good home too. And you got a contact for moon spotted Boers! I love moon spots.
Jesusfreak101
Herd Master
okay if this keeps up i might go crazy....my morning schedule is put the window with this girl she wants to eat and snuggle for hours in the morning. i need to either get up even earlier which seem daunting but not sure what option b is because she just hungry, needs a change or is having a hard time falling asleep.
farmerjan
Herd Master
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@Mini Horses ; great on the buck, I know that you feel better that he is going somewhere for breeding purposes even though you knew well that slaughter was an option when you took him. Hopefully you mentioned his escape tendencies so they could be a little prepared.... and that he will be occupied enough to not get into too much trouble until they fall so in love with him that they will also put up with it for a few years !!!!!
Glad that he did good price wise also.
Going to the auction was always my "social life" in some ways too. I thoroughly enjoyed it and made a point to go even when I did not plan on nor needed to buy anything. I actually worked for over a year at the one sale barn because I liked the interaction and you get a few good ins on stuff too. Very little in chickens or ducks or turkeys or rabbits here at the sale barns. Sheep and goats very popular at the place I used to work up in Harrisonburg and the best place to sell as far as prices go. There are too many cattle at the sales for them to get into small animals much although you will occasionally see some. Saturday is the best place for that as there are more "weekend farmers" and more people are off work.
This particular sale barn does a once a month "bred cow sale" and a once a month "dairy cow sale" since it is in more dairy country than we are here further south. There are still alot of mennonite farmers up there ( about an hour north of me in Rockingham county) but the dairy sale has been getting smaller due to so many selling out. They also have a "graded" feeder sale once a month on a Saturday. Your cattle are graded as they are weighed and those that make the grade will be sold conmingled in a group. They bring a little more that way and that is where we sell our "colored cattle" that are good. Black is basically what sells here at the closer sale barn and other colors get discounted even if they are good cattle.
You are right about the first and last parts. With the cattle it is a bit different as they are sold according to size/weight..... Baby calves are mostly sold first although the one sale will sell sheep and goats, then go into steers. They will sell baby calves while the steers are being sold because there are buyers that just go for the baby calves. They are sold out in the "barn part" where the calves are penned.
But for the most part it is baby calves, then any "head cows" , cows that are bred, cows with calves, then the steers. Then they usually sell heifers, then the cull/pound cows then any cull/slaughter bulls. Sometimes they will announce that they are having a "cow sale" which normally is someone selling out or cutting down or something.....Here it is often on tuesday night because their tuesday sale is much smaller than friday. Sales are usually at 6 or 6:30 p.m.. Sometimes they will have a small group of cows or even a few breeder bulls at the friday sale and they get a bit of advertisement ahead of time so it will draw more people.
There are certain buyers that are at every sale. They buy for other people and go to sales several days a week. That is their job. They pay what they are "alloted" by the companies/people that they are buying for. They might pay a little less for some and a little more for others, but they know that they have to buy within the range that these companies allow. They can look at cattle in 10 seconds make a decision and buy and know what they are going to give for those animals in the ring. Most buy for a couple different people, and know that these not so great cattle will work for this person, and that these real good cattle will go to that person, and that the dairy cross cattle will only be accepted by this other person. It is big business.
Glad that he did good price wise also.
Going to the auction was always my "social life" in some ways too. I thoroughly enjoyed it and made a point to go even when I did not plan on nor needed to buy anything. I actually worked for over a year at the one sale barn because I liked the interaction and you get a few good ins on stuff too. Very little in chickens or ducks or turkeys or rabbits here at the sale barns. Sheep and goats very popular at the place I used to work up in Harrisonburg and the best place to sell as far as prices go. There are too many cattle at the sales for them to get into small animals much although you will occasionally see some. Saturday is the best place for that as there are more "weekend farmers" and more people are off work.
This particular sale barn does a once a month "bred cow sale" and a once a month "dairy cow sale" since it is in more dairy country than we are here further south. There are still alot of mennonite farmers up there ( about an hour north of me in Rockingham county) but the dairy sale has been getting smaller due to so many selling out. They also have a "graded" feeder sale once a month on a Saturday. Your cattle are graded as they are weighed and those that make the grade will be sold conmingled in a group. They bring a little more that way and that is where we sell our "colored cattle" that are good. Black is basically what sells here at the closer sale barn and other colors get discounted even if they are good cattle.
You are right about the first and last parts. With the cattle it is a bit different as they are sold according to size/weight..... Baby calves are mostly sold first although the one sale will sell sheep and goats, then go into steers. They will sell baby calves while the steers are being sold because there are buyers that just go for the baby calves. They are sold out in the "barn part" where the calves are penned.
But for the most part it is baby calves, then any "head cows" , cows that are bred, cows with calves, then the steers. Then they usually sell heifers, then the cull/pound cows then any cull/slaughter bulls. Sometimes they will announce that they are having a "cow sale" which normally is someone selling out or cutting down or something.....Here it is often on tuesday night because their tuesday sale is much smaller than friday. Sales are usually at 6 or 6:30 p.m.. Sometimes they will have a small group of cows or even a few breeder bulls at the friday sale and they get a bit of advertisement ahead of time so it will draw more people.
There are certain buyers that are at every sale. They buy for other people and go to sales several days a week. That is their job. They pay what they are "alloted" by the companies/people that they are buying for. They might pay a little less for some and a little more for others, but they know that they have to buy within the range that these companies allow. They can look at cattle in 10 seconds make a decision and buy and know what they are going to give for those animals in the ring. Most buy for a couple different people, and know that these not so great cattle will work for this person, and that these real good cattle will go to that person, and that the dairy cross cattle will only be accepted by this other person. It is big business.
Duckfarmerpa1
Herd Master
I did notice at both auctions how they put up a box of many small birds. But the auctioneer is talking so fast we couldn’t tell if you were bidding on on one..or all...it was like, he would switch back and forth if the animals were good enough... that’s how I accidentally bought bantams chickens last month..I wanted the other chickens..but I didn’t know i was bidd on the ones in the middle...
then..we went with the big stuff..it seemed as if they would switch between by the pound price and just...here’s $375 a head...or $5 for this calf..I suppose we just have to go a lot more to understand. The first auc this giant up boar who had been castrated only two weeks ago..and stunk..went for $15...this past one...giant ugly boar went for $0.65 lb..even that is a great deal but...it must’ve been because they wanted to breed him?
we have that farmer friend that wants to go with us..but, he’s kind of a know it all...and talks too much. We love him dearly, but we want to experience it ourselves...or at least...form our own judgments. Plus..if he rides along, there’s no room for what we buy!!
