rachels.haven's Journal

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Lol!! Yes! We ARE enablers on here and I love it!! So far, my goat dreams ARE coming true! If it comes down to it...I’d be willing to get rid of a pig to keep my little guy. But I’m not sure if that will convince him? The pot belly is really no work at all, and eats barely a thing. She’s sooo easy! BUT..I , like you...do all the work! He does bring me water right now, as our water tank handle is frozen...it’s plastic, and he doesn’t want to risk ruining it with a hair dryer. So, he carries water.And he’s been helping me milk Busty...which has been quite a chore! I have to return the milk machine...we were being cheap and didn’t get a good one. It’s junk.

Anyways...you’ll have 14 goats! That’s great! I have 9 now, and I think that’s a good number..because, I have an awful lot of other animals too. If I had to get rid of everything tomorrow..I’d keep the goats for sure. Fence breeding? Oh geez!! This is going to be very tricky!! So...would you suggest keeping both boys as bucks because Willy would be too rough on Walter if he were a wether? Oh, I just hate that smell! Ugh. Willy loves to crawl on my head....I don’t think he’s going to want to stop being so affectionate with me...which is great...but that smelll...ugh!! But, our last buck was too rough and a bit mean to me...I couldn’t handle him. I don’t want Willy to get that way...so I’m handling him as much as possible. I actually hold the triplets as they nurse off Busty in the milk stand, so they’re a bit like bottle babies?

The heating pad for ducklings is better than a heat lamp? Huh? My barn is definitely not as warm as yours, but I don’t get them this early. I’m not getting them this year...or at least I don’t think I am.... I had 43 ...it was great until mating season...then it was awful. My ratios were terrible though. But, I just sold them to make room for the mini pigs that we are starting to breed. The pigs are a a lot less work!! Much less mess!!

ill be picking your brain in a few weeks when I have to wean the kids....not looking forward to it...

 

[Jesusfreak101]

My thought if you want a buck buddy look for another buck that you like then buy him and sale your extra

 

[rachels.haven]

Uh...my ducks are in the house. I think my husband still loves me by week 3.

I bought these ducks knowing that most will probably be male. STRAIGHT RUN means mostly male, right? The girls will stay, the extra boys will be a part of us always. I really hope we get one or two ducks out of this batch. I bought sexed ducklings earlier from McMurray. Those two drakes will be our breeder boys. The rest of that batch of 14 were girls. Hopefully the boys won't be too rough with 6+ girls to split their attention between. You want the ducks to COMPETE for the drakes' attention, and not get it every time, based on my past experiences. And ducks are waaaay sloppy. Their purpose here is insect and slug control. If the pekins don't do that job I'll try muscovy again, but THOSE gorgeous birds reproduce out of control just as a fact of life and DH asked me to hold off as we were over-run every year until I got them all processed. They also eat a ton including the bark off fruit trees. Hopefully pekins will be better.

If you love Willy like that and want him to stay that way with you he should be a wether. He will be nicer that way. He will mature and "buck-i-fy" when rut comes. If he's a nigerian he may not completely come out of that after rut. And my nigerian bucks like to bite if you let them. If you want a pet, go the wether route for him (for you). Someone who has kept bucks with wethers should know better if he'll be okay and how okay. I've only observed, and not kept any myself and my bucks are all rough on each other and personally I am glad they are all intact. They're all equally rude. Willy will probably be okay enough with his lot in life, bucked up by the other buck or not. It will probably be less stressful to lose the buck parts and he will definitely live longer as a wether. The only draw back will be that his buck buddy will make him stink too. (I think Jason at Coghill farm on youtube keeps a buck and a wether together and Tip and Top both look great, Tips not traumatized. All my goat friends ate or sell off their wethers...or don't wether at all because their stock is enviable, something I hope to achieve).

If you want genetic variation available for your herd you should rehome/sell the sweet dear and find a healthy herd with traits you like and get yourself a second buck. You may not need that at this point. It's up to you.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

Honestly, I didn’t want another buck at all, then these two were born!! Well, this is kind of what I was thinking. Busty is a big goat, she has some planer goat in her. So most ND are smaller. Perhaps we use Walter as the buck, since he’s a bit smaller. And not near as attached. He’s kind of shy. Maybe he would create better, smaller ND goats? I would love if Willy could stay just the way he is!! He’s my snuggle bunny!!

 

[rachels.haven]

You should do a thread on this and see what BYH thinks, especially as they grow. It could be fun.

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

You should do a thread on this and see what BYH thinks, especially as they grow. It could be fun.

You mean separate from my journal? Ok....can’t hurt...thanks!

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

My thought if you want a buck buddy look for another buck that you like then buy him and sale your extra

I think you’re right. Ugh.

 

[Baymule]

I’m thinking of keeping a wether for my ram Ringo. I just took a ewe out of his pen as she is due in a month. I have a pretty Black wether that I sure wished was a ewe. Maybe he’ll get a name besides Dinner. LOL

 

[Bruce]

I think Ringo deserves a buddy! After all, he only works a few days a year. He needs a social life.

 

[rachels.haven]

14 days. Getting ready for D's #2 birthday and enjoying unseasonably warm weather. We're happy.
Meanwhile people 25 miles from here are being warned to not let their children or pets outside unsupervised.

Coyote Warning Issued After 4 Surround Woman, Dog, Southborough Police Say

Police in Southborough, Massachusetts, issued a coyote warning Monday after aggressive coyote behavior was reported to them. A woman who lives on Asaree Drive reported that she and her dog, an 85-pound Shepherd mix, were surrounded by four coyotes on Sunday night while the two were in their...

www.nbcboston.com

Looks like the reality of someone getting bit or killed might be coming sooner than I thought. It makes me sad. And people still have the gall to bemoan coyote habitat under the police's official warning when clearly coyotes are doing great, becoming more numerous, bigger, more aggressive, and spreading. They thrive in populated areas where they are not controlled. And in Mass in general with so many laws protecting them. They make their bed by protecting hybrid eastern coyotes, they have to lie in it, I guess? Too bad other people have to lie in it too. Oh well. I hope their "healthy coyotes" don't eat too well any time too soon.