High Desert Cowboy- How far is it up north?

[Ridgetop]

Like all pigs, they do root.

I am not overly fond of pork although DH and family like pork chips. I stew pork chunks in green salsa and like that. The kids used to raise Poland Spot hogs for a couple years they raised them on corn soured in goat milk - they marbled and were tender. We never won grand champion at the fair because they did not approach the desired leanness, but we had buyers for our hogs. After we stopped raising them, we didn't buy much pork except ham and bacon until I bought a Berkshire pig several years ago supposedly raised on goat milk, corn and pasture and it was still too lean.

I am considering getting a weaner pig and letting it root the garden when the veggies are finished. Then it can go for pork. It should turn up the roots and leave the soil ready to plow for the spring garden. The drawback is that we don't have any dairy goats anymore for the goat milk. We used 5 gallon buckets, poured in about 5-6 lbs. of rolled corn, and filled the bucket with goat milk. Let it stand overnight for the morning feed and all day for the night feed. No goat milk, no pork I guess. DH can use a tiller on the tractor. LOL

 

[Mini Horses]

Sometimes we must choose our monster. Some things I could raise & won't/don't for reasons that benefit me. . BUY a pasture hog, take directly to process.

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

My ram went in with my ewes during the first full week in November, so I was expecting lambs to start hitting the ground next week. Tuesday as I was running to grab some hay before work I noticed my oldest ewe, Heart, standing by the fence with a little white creature. Nearby was another little white form on the ground. Sadly the one on the ground was a stillborn. But her little ewe lamb is doing well. She did scare me yesterday though. I looked out the window and saw her lying on the ground motionless. Ran outside and she had laid down next to the fence while mom was grazing and gotten her leg stuck under the fence. Pulled it out and she jumped up and ran over to her mom for a snack. My youngest decided she got to name her. So we have Ruby.
My oldest daughter is now old enough to do 4H and wanted to show an animal in the fair this summer. Sheep? No we have those. A pig? No daddy knows about pigs it would’ve been too easy. She wants to show a goat! We don’t have experience with goats. We had Alfalfa, and he was more of a dog than a goat. And we had Darla for a couple of months, but I sent her down the road. So we get to learn all about goats, with her goat coming next week.

 

[Baymule]

Adventure! She wants to learn something new!

 

[farmerjan]

Time to fortify and "goat proof" fences....

 

[Mini Horses]

they jump, climb, fly, magically transport themselves. . HOT WIRE. Your best friend.

They're really smart, loveable and personable.

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

Let me tell you the tale of Darla the Ninja Goat. February of last year I’m buying two show ewes from a lady who is going through a divorce and has to downsize. As money is changing hands she asks if I would possibly be interested in taking her last little Nigerian doe who might be pregnant. $100. My son got all excited “Yeah dad buy her, she’ll be mine and I can sell the babies to pay you back and make some money!” I’ve done stupider things for less money, so I handed over the bills and she got loaded into the trailer. My wife figured she could be Alfalfa’s little girlfriend and he might like another goat around, so we named her Darla.
Within a few months it became clear that not only was Darla not pregnant, but somewhere in her genealogy she shared a common ancestor with Houdini. Nothing could contain her! It became a regular occurrence at our house to have to run outside and corral Darla back into the pen. We tried different pens. We fortified every nook and cranny. And yet she still kept getting free. One day I’m discussing the issue with my friend and he remarks that he has a goat pen that his goats never escape from and he’s looking to grow his herd. Take her, she’s yours. And the texts and calls start coming in. “Darla is loose”. “Can’t figure it out, but she was over in the vegetable garden when we got home.” “She was munching on hay in the barn.” “Is this a goat or a ghost who can go through walls.” Then one day his dad tells us “I found out how she gets out, and if I hadn’t seen it I wouldn’t believe it!” She was wall jumping off of the shed and over the gate! Nothing is stopping her, she’s got to go! So I’m sitting in church the next Sunday and I hear someone new to the area talking about his wife’s goats. The Lord provides! I ask him if he’d be interested in a beautiful Nigerian doe that is just the sweetest….but she is good at getting loose. No charge and I’ll bring her to you. He said sure they love Nigerians and I brought Darla to live with their herd of about 25. Fast forward one month and his mom/next door neighbor hired me to do some work around their place, fix fence, rebuild the animal shelter, chute train her highland cows, etc. I pull up and we start looking at what needs to be done and I glance over towards the goat herd next door, wondering if I would be able to tell Darla apart from the rest. And there was one little doe, escaped and coming down the lane towards us where apparently the grass was greener as this poor woman sighs “That’s the second time today!”

 

[Mini Horses]

Oh, goats are soooo "magical"

 

[Baymule]

And THATS why I have sheep!

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

Ruby is now a week old and doing well. I had my daughter help me band her tail. Now we’re starting to work on our pen for the goat. They got weaned Saturday and we’ll pick it up this week. Stopped at the feed store for dog food and somehow wound up with 6 chicks? Not sure how that happened.