Recent content by ajmrzf

Thank you for the response. That photo - YIKES! I'd like to avoid that if at all possible. My pole shed does have a small leak that I'm not going to be able to fix this year, so I had been planning to put a tarp over the bales, too. I thought I might stack them (just 2 layers total), but maybe...

I'm a hay newb, and I didn't realize how easy it is for hay to catch fire. I had 1/2 a round bale left over this spring. I covered it with a tarp as we were expecting rain and I wanted it to last a little bit longer. We also had to leave for 2 days. In that amount of time, my LGD chewed a hole...

Thank you both for the replies. I always like reading about the experiences of other people. Lots to think about! Thanks!

I have 10 sheep/goats on a 3ish acre field. We also have children, poultry, pet dogs, and cats. We have 20 total acres, and in the summer, we rotate the goats outside of the pasture in the woods. I bought a GP/Anatolian shepherd mix off Craigslist when she was about 6 mo old (she was a chicken...

Whew! That is quite the process. It's amazing what animals can do to help the process along. I've just discovered my sheep eat poison ivy like they're goats. Time to put them to work!

Nice that you have that option though! We just have the one pasture, plus a few rough silvopasture-y-ish areas to rotate them on. If I don't force them out to the back of the field with netted fences, they just stick to the front and mow it like a lawn. Meanwhile, lush forage goes to waste in...

That happened here, too actually. I started with poultry netting, and they would go under it. Then sheep netting. They jumped over it or through it. Now we're onto the tallest goat netting. So far so good. Now mine only challenge the fence when they get startled or if they think the food within...

Thank you. I'll add those terms to my search. I'm working toward a 2-4 day rotation, just not there yet. I have another netted fence on the way to at least get me to every other day. All in good time. It has taken 3 tries to find the fencing that my sheep won't challenge, so I'm slowly...

Thanks. I've tried a rubber mallet, and it makes the chore take much longer than stepping (or stomping) them in the ground.

Hello! I've searched posts on work boots, and I'll be looking into the various recommendations made on other threads. I wanted to see if any of you who use the electric netting/step-in posts (such as those offered by Premier 1) have found a boot that will hold up to daily fence rotation. I...

Thank you for the info! That's very helpful. If we got that property, I have a feeling a neighbor or 2 would be happy to look in on them 1 or 2 days a week in exchange for yummy farm goods on occasion. I would be OK with not bonding strongly with the sheep out there. I think it would be rams and...

^this. Ours will get food off the floor that's up for grabs because we've told them "OK" enough that they know it's ok to do, but there's never any fighting. We have 2 indoor shepherd mixes, and we introduced a livestock guardian dog this past year. The new dog tried resource guarding at first...

Thank you for the reply. There are definitely plenty of things to consider. Lambing season would be a time we'd be out there more. It's one of the more pleasant times of the year, so we'd be out there more anyway. I've talked to several sheep farmers here who don't even buy hay. I bought some...

Wow! My sheep come up to sniff it because it sounds like their snacks hitting the pan, but they all turn their noses up and go back to grass. My dog also doesn't like to share, so that helps. 😆

Great question! I heard about Pet Lodge dog feeders on Greg Judy's YT channel. They hold 25 lbs of food. He puts them in a cage that only the dogs can get into (apparently his sheep will eat dog food. Mine have not shown interest in that, but I'd still cage it to keep other smart creatures from...