The non-USDA approved thread of animal husbandry...tell us your ideas!

[trestlecreek]

Ahh, sorry to hear she was in bad shape when you got her, that girl could still use a lot of weight. Just takes time, food and a lot of TLC....

 

[Beekissed]

Fortunately, she is no longer my project! We've gotten tons of calls on her since I put in the ad, but the first caller took her and was very happy to have found her.

The farmer~ where she was taken to be bred~couldn't believe it was the same cow! She had turned a whole different color and she was in such great shape compared to when he saw her last that he was amazed. He was also very amazed that she could look that good in so short a time.

Just imagine what I could have done with her on this regimen if I had had her longer......

 

[trestlecreek]

Yes, it can take a good 3-6 months for an animal in that condition to make a turn around. The color wouldn't have bothered me so much as getting a normal weight on her,..poor girl!!

 

[freemotion]

Is it my computer or are her ears GLOWING in that second picture?

 

[reinbeau]

This thread seems to apply to many animals, it seems misplaced in the Everything Else Sheep section - I'm going to move it to a more prominent place.....

ETA wow, there really isn't a good place to put this! I'll have to ponder that a bit. Great thread, keep on keepin' on!

 

[ksalvagno]

What about adding an "organic" or "natural" heading in the general herd section?

 

[ducks4you]

THIS is what makes these four sites so great!! I've joined all four forums AFTER reading "Hobby Farms" for several years. I have learned S O M U C H "common knowledge" about livestock and farming because of so much information sharing, as is on this very thread.

Excuse my contribution because I have never owned any pigs, but there was a recent article in HF (July/August 2009) about the endangered Large Black Hogs. They are good producers, docile and suited to pasture raising. People in the city have no clue that his is possible with a pig.

Also, I keep my horses outside as many days as possible throughout the year, on pasture. I grain for training, more than for any other reason, since my horses watch for me to come to feed them. It has helped make them very easy to catch.

 

[freemotion]

Thanks, I hope to get a couple of pigs next year, personal economy permitting! Pastured, of course. I hope to use them to plow my gardens, too, since I wised up and am creating veggie gardens (fenced) within my pasture areas, so the animals can help me without me having to transport them to the garden morning and night until their job is completed. Just open the gate.

By the way, the health and productivity of my pasture has gone WAY up since free-ranging the chickens in it. They create bare spots with their scratching, but mostly in the areas where grass is not growing....where there used to be heavy weeds, and where the fallen leaves and grass matted down and created dead spots. It is surprising and amazing. A startling difference, especially this year, because I have a couple of new very bold chickens who lead the rest farther afield!

 

[Beekissed]

THIS is what makes these four sites so great!! I've joined all four forums AFTER reading "Hobby Farms" for several years. I have learned S O M U C H "common knowledge" about livestock and farming because of so much information sharing, as is on this very thread.

Excuse my contribution because I have never owned any pigs, but there was a recent article in HF (July/August 2009) about the endangered Large Black Hogs. They are good producers, docile and suited to pasture raising. People in the city have no clue that his is possible with a pig.

Also, I keep my horses outside as many days as possible throughout the year, on pasture. I grain for training, more than for any other reason, since my horses watch for me to come to feed them. It has helped make them very easy to catch.

D4Y, you are correct about the Large Blacks. My sister has a breeding pair and they actually do graze...right along with her sheep. Good and gentle breed, good mothers, easy birthing, easy to gain weight.

My sis has finally realized that her de-wormer(Ivermect) is costing her a butt load of money and hasn't really netted the results she had wanted, wasn't easy to put on her sheep's backs due to the wool factor, and she wanted to start using alternative methods for achieving good herd health.

She finally called and asked how to spell Shaklees!

No use having all those heritage breeds who have been naturally selective in creating parasite resistance if you are going to get them dependent upon chemicals once more.

She has Highland cattle and Large Blacks. She hasn't yet went towards heritage breeds on sheep but I look for her to do so, once she sees how easy these St. Croix crosses are to raise.

 

[ducks4you]

... The modernization of the family farm was not intended by our government to drive them out of business, sadly though thats exactly what it has done over these 50+ years since its implementation...

Not to stay on the subject of pigs, but I was reading a recent issue of Champaign Co.Farm Bureau's publication and one article told us that in the state of Illinois we had about 7K hogs in the state raised by around 2,000 farmers, and today, one year later, the same number of animals raised by about 350 farmers. They are barely able to make their ends meet. THIS is not RIGHT!!

The government is not going to police itself. I think we need new blood in government to ensure that our food does not end up coming from only BIG corporations. WE know that WE can't abuse or neglect our backyard livestock, else the local government will take them. Any stress, abuse or neglect of meat animals is almost always coming from large operations.