Goatgurl - life goes on at someday farm

goatgurl

Herd Master
Joined
May 22, 2014
Messages
2,048
Reaction score
3,977
Points
343
Location
Arklahoma
thought I would catch youall up just a little on whats been happening around the farm for the past while. first you may seen in the thread 'old school' that Katie and marco presented with a litter of the cutest maremma puppies I've ever had to pleasure to raise (of course the are the only litter of maremmas I've ever raised) but they are doll babies. going to be hard to let them go when the time comes. Katie is a great mom and marco is a little confused about what all the fuss is about.
finally got the bacon bit to the butcher shop last week, boy was I glad to see him go. you talk about a pain in the a**, he was. forever tumping out water buckets, flipping feed pans upside down and screaming bloody murder when it was feeding time. little things but he was driving me nuts. told str#1 that it was going to be a long time before I raised another butcher hog. i'm just pigged out and the very next day someone had an ad on CL for AG hogs. I've wanted to try them for a long time but no, just no, now isn't the right time. dang it
had a hen come out from under one of the storage buildings with 16 baby chicks about 10 days ago, seriously its freezing cold and she has a wad of chicks to keep warm. locked her and the babies in a small pen with a tarp over the top and the west (the weather) side of the pen and a crate full of hay for them to snuggle in and so far she has kept them all going strong. I really didn't need more chickens but I've got them anyway.
my friend that hunts on my property brought me 14 squirrels, cleaned dressed and rinsed. all I had to do was give them another washing and cook them. mess of fried squirrel for the sisters and I. large pot of squirrel dumplings and still have 7 in the freezer. yumm
found out to late that my ram seems to be shooting blanks so had to go find someone else for the job. @Baymule you will be shocked to know that I ended up with a white dorper. nice looking guy and i'm willing to try the cross to see if dorpers do indeed put more meat on the carcass. if I don't like it we can always eat him.
have a dozen turkey eggs under a sitting hen and another hen that wants sit so i'm going tomorrow to get a another dozen. will it work? who knows but as mama use to say "time will tell". I've never raised turkeys before but first time for everything.
pictures of course for your viewing pleasure. the new ram, the new chicks and my birthday chicken. isn't he the cutest thing. when you tip him he rocks for about 5 minutes. love him
IMG_1730 (2).JPG IMG_1729 (2).JPG IMG_1658.JPG IMG_1754 (2).JPG
 

Mike CHS

Herd Master
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
10,407
Reaction score
37,366
Points
793
Location
Southern Middle TN
The Dorper cross will get bigger and we can't tell any difference in the taste with the full Katahdins. The only thing I don't like is the lack of shedding but most did pretty well. We have grown our last turkeys. The two we had ate more than the other 10 hens they stayed with but we will be eating the male on Thanksgiving Day.

That ram has some good looks.
 

Southern by choice

Herd Master
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
13,336
Reaction score
14,682
Points
613
Location
North Carolina
Love the rooster!

What kind of sheep are those? They are pretty!
@Goat Whisperer doesn't like sheep very much mostly because they always look so dirty (not hairsheep) but she even likes yours! LOL They are so fluffy and clean!

I love chicks, always have. I miss raising poultry, just goats take over everything or I'd still have 250 chickens.
The pups look awesome! So very happy for you. :hugs

Turkeys- don't get me started. I love them as poults, and the females are usually ok but the daggone Toms. UGH.
Turkey poults are born to find ways to die. Seriously. But they are so cute and follow you around like puppies. I love their sounds too.
The poults are not as hardy as chicks. We raised heritage breeds and had great success but they really can be stupid.
 

goatgurl

Herd Master
Joined
May 22, 2014
Messages
2,048
Reaction score
3,977
Points
343
Location
Arklahoma
@MikeCHS the gentleman I bought him from said that most dorpers don't shed out nicely until they are 2 years or older and all his older ewes and rams were slick as a whistle so we shall see. his name is cotton and he has a nice attitude so far. if I don't like the cross then i'll go back to the kathadins totally but my friend that I normally get a ram from had sold all of his better ones and I hated not having lambs this year, i'm hoping that late lambs are better than no lambs.
and @Southern by choice the turkeys, honestly this weren't my idea at all. my friend has a rather large flock of the bronze and keeps giving me eggs because str#1 has setting hens and he said he had never had much luck with an incubator sooo if the dang things hatch i'll figure out what to do from there i do not see myself with a giant pen of turkeys tho
 

Mike CHS

Herd Master
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
10,407
Reaction score
37,366
Points
793
Location
Southern Middle TN
I can't tell the difference in the way the cross tastes vs full Katahdin but our cross sheep have more size to them.

I think part of shedding issue on ours is the little wimps must think they are goats and never got rained on for the 1st 6 months of their lives. I started soaking them with a hose when it was warm while I had them in the working area and that has helped.
 

Baymule

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 22, 2010
Messages
33,091
Reaction score
98,649
Points
873
Location
East Texas
I pluck my sheep, that dead hair bothers me. Doesn't seem to bother them, but I don't like it. I am going to get a Katahdin ram in a few months.

I like your rocking rooster. I want one of those 6' tall colorful metal roosters so bad!
 
Top