Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[greybeard]

I can't imagine how someone would use those little things to do a cow.

As I said, it will wear your arms out. The heated up wire is what causes the odor I spoke of. I figured you could gauge the size of the handles from the picture I posted atop my printer..
(I've also used that saw wire for other cutting jobs as well...like cutting off a piece of copper tubing I couldn't get to easy and even cutting some nails off I couldn't get my sawzall blade into. I hope never to have to use them for any OB work tho)

 

[CntryBoy777]

Sounds like ya are fairing fairly well despite the troubles Joe....ya got some much needed rain....pucked the right spot to saw, got the scurs taken care of....and have Mel on the mend.....hope the knee eases up for ya and ya can get some much needed rest. It won't be long before your visitors will arrive to give ya some assistance.....

 

[Baymule]

Joe if you have a place to store hay, you might want to stock up. NOW. We bought 30 round bales after our regular hay guy told us to go find some and to do it right away. It is dry with no relief in sight and there might not be another cutting. There are lots of square bales still for sale, but the price will get stupid once there is no more hay.

 

[Mike CHS]

Goats or sheep, I could do! Those are not "oversized" for me. Yep, often consider buying some for butcher. Don't want to buy at auction and possibly expose my healthy herd to issues. Have looked at a couple small farms or backyard "pet" owners just wanting to sell lambs & may still buy two JUST for feed out & butcher, only for self. Prices are a consideration. At least I am already fenced!!!

We know a bunch of small holders like ourselves and they expect some of their sales to be going to the freezer. You can't afford to have as many as we do and hang on to them with our relatively small acreage.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

@Latestarter
Calving OB handles are so much better. Our vet recommended this to us.
Definitely worth the extra $.

Here is a screenshot of an old post
Shows the handles

 

[Goat Whisperer]

 

[greybeard]

Joe if you have a place to store hay, you might want to stock up. NOW. We bought 30 round bales after our regular hay guy told us to go find some and to do it right away. It is dry with no relief in sight and there might not be another cutting. There are lots of square bales still for sale, but the price will get stupid once there is no more hay.

Folks are baling like mad around here, but it IS baling weather. Who knows what the next 30 days will bring..awful dry at my place, but up around Huntsville, Woodville, and New Waverly, they got a heck of a big rain a few days ago.


Pallets are free, tarps are cheap, hay won't be.....

 

[Mini Horses]

Don't tell the sellers what you plan to do with them.

Exactly what Bruce said! Some will wig out on you!!

We know a bunch of small holders like ourselves and they expect some of their sales to be going to the freezer. You can't afford to have as many as we do and hang on to them with our relatively small acreage.

Yes -- PET owners can be off limits for that reason...depends on whose pet it is.

Mostly you look for the "small farm" breeder, like you Mike, who isn't raising a PET, per say, but a friendly, healthy herd, that can be handled.

LS I'm glad you got the spur removed so "easily". That wire can sure do a job! Like GB says, other than animals. The OB handles are better but, you probably won't need them but once a year. Bet RJ is glad for removal.

So once Mel is healed you can get the crap washed off. Consider using wet wipes, after a good brushing to get most of the buildup out. You can get wipes that will help remove oils....back to the horse grooming section. I would suggest some warm water with Dawn & a hose but, I think you said Mel believes he's allergic to a water hose & bath. Maybe a bucket of that, no hose, would work. He's pretty big to argue with!

 

[greybeard]

I have both the wire handles and the OB handles (use them for the calf puller OB chains) and I prefer the wire handles like I posted and LS used. For a long job, those fit my big hands better, as the chain handles are tight on the width of my hands.

 

[Latestarter]

Well, you do have some big hands GB. I saw the pic of the handles you posted GB but didn't recognize they were sitting on a printer and didn't really "get" the size comparison. The sales literature just shows close ups of the handles, with nothing in the pic to judge size. I mean, they do what they're meant to do, but I have to figure out a better way to get the wire to stay put in the handle vice pulling through. That way I can concentrate on holding the handle instead of holding the wire to keep it from slipping.

On the hay front, I buy small square bales of alfalfa that are shipped in from Kansas or New Mexico, not local hay. The goats won't eat the local hay... they just pull it out of the feeder and drop it on the ground or ignore it completely.