Why Join Our BackYardHerds Community - Hey You Lurkers!

[Dpenning]

I just wanted to say- Welcome!!!!

I live in Alaska and have just a dog right now am going to get back into goats this summer!

Thanks! We have been up to Alaska at least 3 times. Love it up there! Spent a week on Kodiak island, inside passage cruise, a week in Ketchikan. Come July and August in Texas we're looking for anywhere NORTH to go on vacation.

 

[TAH]

Thanks! We have been up to Alaska at least 3 times. Love it up there! Spent a week on Kodiak island, inside passage cruise, a week in Ketchikan. Come July and August in Texas we're looking for anywhere NORTH to go on vacation.

Yeah, I live in seward!

Cool!

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYH from NE Texas. I can identify with the need for cool come summer. being over east of you I have humidity to contend with also... Anyway, we have some great cow/cattle folk here and there's a good bit of info available in the threads. Browse around and make yourself at home.

 

[Petsheepnotfood]

Joined because I need help! Started with 2 unwanted bottle babies 7 yrs ago. Always got help from local herders but they are all at a loss with my new problem.

Always browsed here to get answers and just general info, better than most books for those valuable tidbits!

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYH Petsheep. Hope you don't take offense that some of us like to eat sheep. We have some really great sheeple here and normally when someone asks for help, someone comes along straight away. Please continue to browse cause as you say, there's a wealth of info and experience in the threads. Make yourself at home and post away as the mood occurs. Please consider putting at least your general location in your profile as that often has a bearing on advice/help. You know, climate/hot/cold/wet/dry/altitude/attitude/etc...

 

[Petsheepnotfood]

Thanks! No offense, I'm a meat eater, I just have trouble eating the meat that I know.

 

[Girlies' Mum]

I joined because I wanted to be able to ask and share with like minded people! I live in the middle of commercial sheep farming country and (as some of you lovely sheeple know now!) I have 4 pet sheep.

Kind of lonely when the farmers have a totally different attitude. My neighbour farmer was a great help to start with, but as I learned more about sheep, I realised his knowledge and aims were simply not what I was always looking for. I have learnt a lot from helping on the farm during lambing (though heartbreaking sometimes) but I started to realise that what holds for 2000 sheep doesn't always hold for 4 much loved pets. (Great experience though, have seen so many lambings and complications.)

I was given a great book called The Sheep Book by Tim Tyne by my family a few years ago which made me realise that smallholders do have different priorities and care levels to the big farms and that that our herds really are special. Now, happily, I have made friends with a few people who do have very small herds and love them dearly, but BYH have so many more people who had only a few sheep etc.

I lurked for about a year (as a member) because I just felt so overwhelmed by all the different sheep I had never heard of and problems you have in North America compared to the UK like needing LGDs. Now I have started to join in though, I really like my new "family" and their patience, experience and support with my asking questions I think they can answer better than anyone in the UK - and they can!
Also there are people who were even newer to sheep than I am on BYH and there was a fantastic spirit of "no question is too stupid" which made me think I might be OK joining in and trying to help. You are all so friendly!!

I hope that I will be able to help with others who are in the situations I have been through over some years now, or who feel they have little support when new to sheep. I'm certainly not so experienced as many of you sheeple, but I did have to make my way a bit on my own and have learnt a lot from experience.

Looking forward to helping and learning more!! WIN WIN!! as Devonviolet said recently on another thread. Pictures of the new puppy coming soon!

 

[Devonviolet]

Wow, @Girlies' Mum, thanks for letting is know your background. That really helps. All that birthing experience should come in really handy some day, and will allow you to be the voice of experience when birthing questions come up.

Having moved to our little slice of heaven, here in East Texas, in early 2015, we were starting from scratch. I am so grateful, for the great people that I have met here on BYH. Their help has been invaluable. All of our goats have come from BYh members.

FYI, if you mention someone, and want them to know, if you put an @ in front of their name, they will get an alert that you mentioned them so they can check out your comment. i.e. @Girlies' Mum. Now chemo check out the upper right corner of the page. Click on Alert and it will tell you I mentioned you in this thread.

I look forward to seeing photos of your sheep and new puppy.

 

[Baymule]

I also lurked before joining. We lived on a city lot, I had dreams of small livestock, but nowhere to put them. I didn't think I had anything to contribute, but I was welcomed so warmly and made friends. When I finally realized my dreams and bought my sheep, I had been a member here for FIVE years! I've had my ups and downs, I've had happiness and sorrow, and there is nowhere like BYH, no matter what is happening in your livestock life. The people here are the best.

I was given a free Great Pyrenees because she killed chickens. This was while we still lived in town on that tiny lot, but we took her anyway. So I put the cart before the horse, did it all backwards and had my challenges along the way. BYH'ers understand. BHY'ers have been there, done that and they are happy to pitch in with advice and encouragement.

Most of all, Why BYH? Because I am not alone. There are others out there that are like me. There are others that step in poop and don't gross out. There are others that rate wealth in hay bales, grassy fields, a good fence, lumber, metal roofing, gates, and all the accoutrements of truly fine living. There are others out there that eat what they raise and don't think I am weird for doing so. There are others that think nothing of dealing with the weather elements to care for their animals.

This is the best place on the entire internet. People from all walks of life, from different countries, all are welcomed here and added to the family.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

I joined because i had a goat in crisis, it was late in the evening and i found this site....within a very short amout of time , people were comming to my rescue. They were texting other members for information and to get me help. This site is named Back Yard Herds...to me its BACK YARD HEROES. .. the help i received along with the compassion gives me a feeling of community, friendship and a place to find any information that i need on any aspect of animal care, farm practice and a wealth of more useful information. The journals are interesting, some are funny, and some are sad....makes me realize. ..on BYH. im never alone on this journey of country living and loving....ahhhh, it's wonderful to find a comunity of people with the same outlook...independence from the mainstream of life...