Recent content by lilipansy

You need a 10x magnification mic. This is what I have and it works great: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B009JROROU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I use little butter containers to collect the fecals (free), a tea strainer ($1.50 at Walmart), and old spoon (free), a shot...

What causes UC is mineral imbalance. Too much phosphorus in relation to calcium creates calcification in the urine. In feed your ratio should be 2 1/2 to 1 on calcium to phosphorus. If you know what your calcium levels are (in the water plus the feed), just make sure your feed has the...

I'm not sure how much garlic would impact the flavor of the meat (although it would be nice). I've heard that it does impact the flavor of the milk from someone who would graze goats on wild ramp on season. Garlicky goat cheese... yum!

He actually is THE sweetest sheep. He's very tame and loves scratches on his nose and ears. I didn't train him to be this way, he just naturally has a great disposition. He thanks you for the big hug and smoochy kisses. :love

Resilience in animals is good (ie. they do well regardless of the high count). The problem lies in all the eggs they shed, affecting the rest of your herd. I cull those. Here's another thought. Make sure you understand what is causing the high count on your sheep. Is it the season? Is it...

Aloha Baymule, Have you actually tested the efficacy of using Garlic Barrier? I'm always skeptical of things like that. We've been very fortunate with our herd given the wet season we've had last year. We don't have a lot of choice here when it comes to breeds because this is an island and...

Aloha TOR, Yes, selecting and developing a resistant line would be the ultimate goal and I intend to do that with (FEC) testing tools we are so blessed to have learned and applied to our herd. We are currently working on bringing our numbers up and will cull heavily and only keep the best. I...

Good breeding stock is worth more obviously. Again, it depends on your area and what the market will bear.

I see questions about this topic ALL the time and everyone has an opinion. Some of the opinions given are scary to me especially because there are so many new people reading this stuff. Here's what I've learned that have worked well for me. Proper parasite management entails (a) understanding...

Figure out what your area is supporting in terms of pricing. Contact local breeders and find out what their prices are for comparable aged animals and look up listings on CL. Here in Hawaii wean offs sell for $125 and go to $150 as the animal gets older and bigger. 3 months old is 1 month out...

I didn't pay attention to the teeth. I can ask my friend if you'd like. After a couple of days hanging the carcass was dried and there was no blood so the bandsaw didn't seem affected. A quick (couple of days) hanging stretches the muscles until rigor mortis is gone. I've heard someone say...

A small table saw my friend has. It's so quick and easy we may have to look into getting one ourselves. After that we may need a walk in so we could age our meat. :)

Thank you everyone! We feel so blessed to be able to provide our animals with a great life and greatly appreciate their sacrifice. We butchered him with a friend who has a table saw so it was really quick and easy. We cut most of the meat into steaks and chops. I was just so impressed with...

So proud of what we grow. 95 lbs at 8 months old, 100% grass fed, great marbling, hardly any fat cover. To be able to feed our family and the community with such healthy meat makes my heart sing.

We are about to order the flip table once we figure out where to store it. Here's a review of it: