Overkill on feed?

Alexz7272

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@Sheepshape Not being rude! It is definitely not ideal but as @Latestarter I am in a semi-desert state. Green does NOT exist here, haha! They are also definitely on a more 'feedlot' situation currently. Eventually they will have about 2 acres at least dedicated to them, but we are in the middle of a legal battle against the disgruntled previous owners who did not pass on the water rights as they were suppose to. (its a long story) :somad But without water rights there is no way I could make it in anyway a decent pasture. Water is just SOOOO expensive here and I also live in the Peoples Republic of Boulder (the county not the city thank goodness) and they are some nasty words I will not share. :\

Thank you!
 

misfitmorgan

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@misfitmorgan Can I ask what brand of sheep minerals you use? My guys/girls are hit and miss about liking what I use.
Also, super happy someone else keeps their goats and sheep together! I know it can be more difficult in some ways but for me it is actually easier. Since they have bonded somewhat too, I dont know how well they would do being separated. (But will likely play around with it at one point) THANK YOU!!

I will have to look when i get home we got it from the local to us feed mill....approx $22 for 50# bag. I think Babs recommended sweetlix but i couldnt find it locally. On a side note sweetlix i did find online was all for goat AND sheep...so no added copper. It actually says right on sweetlix website it is for co-mingled goat/sheep on pasture. Anyhow i will look when i get home and let you know...the mineral we have smells similar to molasses but doesnt taste like it reminds me a bit of nutri-drench smell-wise.

As far as keeping goats ans sheep together a lot of people do...it is quite common practice where i live and all over parts of the world.
 

NH homesteader

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Same here. It amazed me to hear someone can't do something because water is too expensive. I am being cautious with my water use because our state has had no rain this summer so wells are drying up everywhere and mine isn't that deep.
 

Latestarter

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I only live maybe 25 miles from Alex. Out here along the eastern edge of the rockies (not just Colorado!) and other dry areas out west, there have been "water wars" over water rights. Water is as precious as gold really. Every drop of water that exists or passes through the state is "owned" by someone. Local town governments try to buy up old water rights to secure a source of water for their residents. The water from the Colorado river is "owned" by those downstream in Nevada and mostly California. The rights were granted way back when the Colorado's flow was much greater than it is now. As a result, they are pulling more water from the river than is coming down the river and the water level in Lake Mead is dropping by I believe like 5 feet per year. I don't "own" the rain that falls on my property. It is owned by someone else after it drains down into some water course and flows to them. Up until a short time ago it was illegal for me to have a rain barrel to collect the rain coming off my roof! It is still illegal for me to do anything to the land that would impede the natural flow of water, like an earthen berm to hold water back. That's considered stealing. Yeah, it's that bad out here. You need permission to put in any kind of well. Even a shallow ground water well for irrigation. That ground water is owned by someone. Water out here is the single most litigated item in history.

About ten years ago I think it was, there was such a water shortage out here that they had to stop many farmers along the Platte river watershed from pumping water to irrigate their crops. If they hadn't, they would have sucked the aquifer completely dry. Many farmers lost everything because of that. The thought was if they slowed the taking down, the aquifer would replenish. I guess they forgot to mention that that would take hundreds or thousands of years to happen.

And you know what? The building boom out here is back to rolling, and more and more people keep moving in... which is why I'm moving out. When the govt owns all the water, they decide who gets it and who doesn't.
 

misfitmorgan

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Well thats crazy....people here would riot if they tried to pull that. Water rights is not even a thing you can sell or buy here. Only thing here is mineral rights but since limestone isnt to valuable anymore no one really cares about that.

We have shallow or deep wells depending on the purpose. It will never change here not in my lifetime, the water table is to high for people to worry about it you can dig 8ft and find water.
 

Latestarter

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There are oil and gasoline and natural gas pipelines all across this country. I've often wondered why they can't put water pipelines in as well. Running from the Mississippi basin west, and when the Mississippi floods, pump some of that water west to collection areas/reservoirs and solve a couple of problems at once. Course it might cause even more... like who would own THAT water? And what would it cost to lease the right of way for the pipeline, etc.
 

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