Sustainable, natural, organic, herbal, etc, and goat husbandry

[big brown horse]

Care to explain how to run fecals with your microscope. Is it easy? You know, what to look for etc. I have a microscope that I let my kiddos use in my classroom. I think I will dig it out of storage.

(I know how to do it with horses...and to check how much sand they have ingested etc. I dont need a microscope for that.)

 

[miss_thenorth]

Free - Would kombucha be good for goats?

Sorry, I have not read all the posts, but had to comment on this one. I have a friend who is from Denmark. when i started making kombucha, i explained it to her, and she said "you drink that?" In Denmark, people make that and give it to their horses. She said it helps them digest their food and keep them healthy on the inside. so I assum it would be the same for any animal, yes? I realize goats are ruminants, but you gotta keep the gut flora healthy right?

 

[miss_thenorth]

How do you keep your goats out of the chicken feed? We are going to be fencing in our backyard to make it a barnyard, (mainly becasue I'm tired of the chickens and ducks pooping all over my cement patios and sidewalks.) So, this was my only concern, but since we are now getting sheep, I'm not as concerned since they don;t climb like goats do (or crawl through chicken doors like goats do), but it is still a concern of mine for when the sheep come.

 

[BDial]

A sugar solution is one I have used in the clinic and it is easy to make. Here are sites you might find useful. http://www.triquestboergoats.com/fecaltesting.htm
http://www.goatbiology.com/fecalsolution.html
http://www.microscope-microscope.org/applications/animals/fecal_analysis.htm

 

[freemotion]

BBH, there are detailed instructions on the Fias Co Farm site. I printed out the pictures of the worm eggs onto card stock and put them in page protectors and keep them with my microscope stuff. I used the float solution recipe on that site, too, as it is just Epsom salts, no scary chemicals. You have to make the solution ahead of time....it took me two days to get the solution saturated, as I was too stingy with the salt. Next time I will just dump the box in and then pour off the solution the next day.

I keep my goats out by feeding the poultry twice a day by scattering grain (once a day in the really nice weather when they can get most of what they need through free-ranging.) I only fill the hanging feeder in their coop in the dead of winter when the squirrels are sleeping. My feed consumption was cut in half or more when I started doing this. There is probably half a ton of feed buried in the neighborhood by those silly squirrels!

I had to keep making my coop's pop door smaller and smaller until my pygmies, apparently boneless, couldn't get in anymore. I will not be using the hanging feeder when the kids are born, so it won't be an issue then. I also will toss a pound or two of grain in the litter when I lock them in for the night, so it is there for them in the morning. Or if I have produce for them, I put something in the night before, after dark, so they will have something to eat until I get up and open the coop. I am not an early riser, since I have to have high energy late in the day for work, and am the type who will work hard from the moment I get up. Except for my frequent breaks here!!!

I am bottling up a batch of kombucha today, so I will make tonight's beet pulp with it, and will make a little extra for the chickens and turkeys. They do like it. I also put some in with today's bucket of barley that is in to soak, instead of whey or ACV. It smells good!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

our goats and chickens share a small barn but they have different doors and there is a solid interior wall between their sleeping areas. we strategically put a gate/fence so the goats cant get to the chicken door.

before we did this it was hellish. i once saw one of my minis make a flying leap - about 5 ft - from the top of a brooder over the half door into the hen's coop where their feed is. wow. i had to hand it to her, that was some leap!

now that their main quarters are completely separate we dont have any problems.

and the electric fence really made a difference too! the hens can get thru but the goaties cant.

mostly we feed the hens at nite anyway then its, you guessed it, get out there and free range cuz its free! for those chickies too.

one great thing about the goats - we made a cereal with the goat milk and crushed corn for the hens. they loved it and we noticed a good change in the eggs immediately. stronger shells and such

the only down side was one time we went out there and all the hens were laying under a shrub - no scratching or digging or foraging at all. we looked at each other and said 'well i guess we're feeding those hens too well!" it was like chicken club med - we told them to get up girls, this aint to summer camp!

 

[big brown horse]

A sugar solution is one I have used in the clinic and it is easy to make. Here are sites you might find useful. http://www.triquestboergoats.com/fecaltesting.htm
http://www.goatbiology.com/fecalsolution.html
http://www.microscope-microscope.org/applications/animals/fecal_analysis.htm

Thanks BDial!!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Here's some good info.
http://www.naturalark.com/natgoathealth.html

 

[freemotion]

Here's some good info.
http://www.naturalark.com/natgoathealth.html

Fantastic! I just read the article, "Why Natural?" and it says everything I believe. Can't wait to read the rest of it!

Hey, y'all have crazy nerd skilz!!!! Love it! THANK YOU!!!!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

As WZ says, Google Foo. Heeeeyah!
I nodded my way through the whole site, except when I was writing stuff down