Am I being too sensitive?

I have a pretty pony unicorn with pink sparkly hooves, a long flowing mane and tail, she is white and changes colors in the sunshine. Thinking about trading her in for a unicorn with wings so we can fly over the rainbow together!

I thought flying Unicorns were extinct

I heard they actually found some deep in the Enchanted Forest!

i so refuse to get sucked into the colored cartoon references and am going to pretend i so dont get the reference and that i dont like them

I heard that when unicorns pass gas it comes out in rainbow bubbles...

preeettttyyyyy...


p.s.-Sorry Dage, I wasn't thinking. No more icky talk here.

Green Acres Farm said:

I did NOT mean knock them out!

What I was trying to ask was if pressing on the jugular vein ( with your finger) would make them pass out with minimal discomfort. (Maybe while they ate)

The reason I even thought of that was because when I was watching a video on how to draw blood from a goat, they mentioned not to press on the vein too long because it can cause them to pass out which I thought might be a good thing if you are going to slaughter them... Maybe not...

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I worked at a University and I drew blood from all manner of animals for research purposes. All animals ( including you and me ) have a jugular vein and artery on both sides of the neck so pressing on one of the veins will have miniscule to no effect on the animal passing out. However, any .animal could possibly go into shock from being handled since that is a defence mechanism to not struggle so the end is easier . I would surmise that the person that mentioned this type of factoid isn't well informed but passed on what he/she has heard.

Heel low:

Dage said:

We have like wayyy too many wethers...like 5 and more on the way am sure! So we are selling them off to make room for new kids and does! YAY! We were told by a friend that a friend of HIS wants to buy several wethers. That´s great!
But he came by yesterday with another friend of the first friend while we were having our well pump fixed. They stood around and watched a bit then began wandering about. Investigated the hand dug well my son´s are currently working on (its at about 15ft currently)...what´s this for? No water...blah blah blah. The man I assumed never was introduced as the friend who´s interested in buying wethers. He really enjoyed looking at and studying my big Saanen buck and my big plump and very fluffy chickens (which he offered to buy for eating)...but very briefly did he state he was interested in buying the wethers. When my son offered to show him the wethers. He said nothing. And shortly thereafter left. He DID however make mention to wanting to put the goats on a cross for grilling... That just did it for me!

Maybe I´m being oversensitive but to think of my goats being split and splayed is NOT something I care to imagine! The cross should never have been used. Not with Yahshua(Jesus) and not with anyone...not even a goat! I do realize that the goat would by that time already be butchered and dead. However this just slapped and hit me the wrong way! I need some feedback!
BTW! I am vegetarian!

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I am a meat eater...very much so. My mother tho, is a vegetarian, so I can be balanced by understanding different strokes for dif folks.

I know exactly what you mean by having too many males and then pondering what to do with them. I think the best that set us free was to process the extras for our own consumption. It is a tough love and happy meat answer but we eat meat so that is a reasonable solution to have. Not likely a doable solution for you though. That just means you are going to work harder at this to find a good resolution.

The other side of the equation is if you have too many boys (stop and think about Canary breeders...they are opposite and WANT more males for singers...tee hee)...it is that decision to STOP breeding because you cannot control the male vs female outcome. I have some birds that are 15 years of age...ducks and geese live a long time. I don't breed any more geese right now because we have enough for now--we are full. I have never processed our own geese but I do have four ganders that I should put in our freezer. Not like I am clicking my heels together thinking..."Oh goody, can't wait to process something I may or may not like eating and we have FOUR of them...gees eh!"

Now even I have had oversensitive reactions to some visitors. Long, long time ago...a nice lady who was a nurse wanted some of our Call Ducks. So we made arrangements and her husband and her came to see the ducks I had on offer. We do some biosecure protocols here so we did the whole sterilize their footwear and no entry to the actual pens thingy. Hmmm...her spouse was a real piece of work...

He was eating an apple with a pocket knife, slicing off pieces and when we got to the duck barn he actually walked up to one of the nesting duck hens and told his wife, "Here, you can pick some of these ones!" when I had had a conversation with both of them that the ducks in the pen over here...were the ones for sale, never mentioning anything about this particular mother on her nest of eggs...good gack...make yourself at home, eh...like you own the joint...

Next he starts telling me about all the male calves he castrates and began waving this knife around...telling me how he used THAT knife to take their manhood away...etc. etc. etc. You can visualize me staring at this waving around knife, flashing in the sunlight, and getting some pretty gory and gristly visions of the whole process he is describing...him delighting in the drama he was obviously unleashing. I could not stop thinking about blood residue on that knife and him munching away on those tainted apple slices...I know, I know, getting drawn up in the sensitivity of the matter, but you know, we care about our critters and we are weak at times...like we take off that hard shell of a crab and let our innards hang out for the stomping. I can be tough as nails in most situations but I can melt into a blubbering ijit when it comes to the critters...

Needless to say, I rather quickly showed them the front gate and made short work of the VISIT being over...and done--no ducks for sale!

So, no, you are not necessarily oversensitive in some of the feedback you received on your one "visitor" there. Often we don't quite imagine how horrible things can stray and hey...your wethers are yours to sell to whomever YOU wanna. Personally, after a few more visitations like the one with the guy and his penknife & that apple...and I would have had enough of any visitations.

If your guts tell you something is not quite right...there is so much information that we can't quite put our fingers on that say "NO>>>not this one!" I say, go with your guts.

One of the best days for us was when we came to the realization that half of the progeny we choose to produce will be males if we are lucky and the other half, females and I stepped up and decided I would process the extra males for our families consumption. Some go as far as naming them pork chop and lamb chop, etc. and deal with it solemnly and somber like. Give them a good life, enjoy them and know that some lives will end unnaturally to feed us which I believe makes you appreciate that something lost its life so you could eat meat...respect for the seriousness of it. There is that saying, "Have LIVEstock, gonna have DEADstock," which is more meant for accidents that happen to all of us with critters...but when you become self-crippled because you have too many males (who fight and end up miserable and it just spirals out of control from there)...we have to take that bull by the horns and deal with it as best we are able...OR as my Hero says, "don't breed any more until they begin to pass away from old age." When there is extra room at the inn, then breed more because you have space.

I think you are being responsible and stepping up to your commitment to the wethers...now to find that match made in heaven where you are comfortable with whomever they will be going to.
Sure is cute to make more and having babies is tons of fun...we all love fun!

So I guess in order to suit yourself and deserve the fun...the extra males have to be dealt with in a fashion you as a caring, loving person may come to terms with. We get to step up and be responsible, the tough love thingy to make sure these males are treated decently. I know I have witnessed persons trying at auction to sell crates full of scrawny egg layer males and not one bid put on them...who wants birds not even good for soup stock making...in some cases, meat is the lowest of the lowest use of domestic farm animals in that if you can't even use them to make food...someone shoulda thought about that result before they tried to shirk the responsibility of creating them in the first place. The onus lands squarely on our shoulders for what to do with extra males. You, thankfully have people that WANT these males for a purpose...that in itself is a good thing but now you have to work a little bit harder and make sure YOU like the situation so you can accept their fate being the best you were able to find. That's admirable.

If someone gives you the heebees right off, don't let your wethers go with them. You'll KNOW when and who is the right person and by far and large, I would prefer to feel good about being responsible...not turned off with something not quite right. Usually there is something VERY wrong when we feel off about a situation.

Hugs...

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

Latestarter said:

Nice that someone came along and slapped us upside the head... DUH! Well deserved! Thanks @Kusanar and Sorry @Dage

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Hey, I didn't slap you, just gently pushed you a bit. Lol

We found two buyers who want the lot of them thank goodness! First who gets there gets em. We have one doe we have given up on being able to produce...her first and only kid was a stillborn. It was as if she should have carried two kids as there was a second but empty sac. I have tried various things for awhile with no success. Vitamins as per the vet every two weeks instead of 1x a month. Selenium, and iodine...
What happened exactly!?! Does anyone understand this better than me??? I want to help her but really am just ready to send her out with the wethers as NOTHING has worked! Its been about 1.5 yrs since the birth....what gives?