Raising goats and stuff

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cowadle

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moving on to chickens.. Like I've said before.....I have focused on self sufficiency for a while. I keep a flock of 10-20 laying hens most of the time and 'renew' the flock every other year to keep egg laying maximized. I keep 1 or 2 roosters so I'll have fertilized eggs. That way I can use my small incubators to perpetuate in case I can't get chicks otherwise. I am testing right now and have 21 eggs in the incubator but I have hedged my bet by ordering a specific breed of chick I wanted to be delivered in about 3 weeks. Chickens are great garbage disposals
have you candled the eggs?
 

HillsideDesolate

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moving on to chickens.. Like I've said before.....I have focused on self sufficiency for a while. I keep a flock of 10-20 laying hens most of the time and 'renew' the flock every other year to keep egg laying maximized. I keep 1 or 2 roosters so I'll have fertilized eggs. That way I can use my small incubators to perpetuate in case I can't get chicks otherwise. I am testing right now and have 21 eggs in the incubator but I have hedged my bet by ordering a specific breed of chick I wanted to be delivered in about 3 weeks. Chickens are great garbage disposals
I had a similar set up but threw a few sillies in the mix to hatch eggs, let them hatch a few chicks a year to keep numbers even and hens fresh.
 

tynyphil

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have you candled the eggs?
Today is the 7th day in the incubator. Supposedly thats the last day you should do that I attempted to do so this morning without much success. I will take another look tonight once I have more darkness but I don’t suppose it makes much difference. They will either hatch or they won’t. I have 2 small incubators going. One cost me about $400 several years ago and another I paid $60 for recently. They operate differently as far as controls. Curious which will do a higher percentage.
 

Istandalone

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Reviving this thread with a question. What are the best goats for weed brush remediation? Have about 65 acres that is partially overrun with blackberries. I know about fencing first (LOL). East of stillwater.
 

OK Corgi Rancher

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Reviving this thread with a question. What are the best goats for weed brush remediation? Have about 65 acres that is partially overrun with blackberries. I know about fencing first (LOL). East of stillwater.

I don't know the exact answer, but... I have 4 Nigerian Dwarf goats and it doesn't take them long to eat most everything on an acre. They seem to start with the tasty stuff and move on to the rest of it after the good stuff is gone. They do a really good job of clearing up property.
 

Perplexed

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Reviving this thread with a question. What are the best goats for weed brush remediation? Have about 65 acres that is partially overrun with blackberries. I know about fencing first (LOL). East of stillwater.

I’ve spoken with a goat herder who makes a living renting out his herd for vegetation control; most of his goats are the Kiko breed.
 

SoonerP226

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From what my brother has said, goats don’t hold a candle to pigs for clearing land. He had grass, underbrush, and three little trees in the area he used for a sty, and when the pigs were done, there was nothing left but mud. Even the trees were gone.

I think his goats are some kind of Nubian, and they like trees, but when he feeds them hay, they won’t eat it off the ground. If they drag it out of the feeder, they won’t eat it until he puts it back in the feeder. And he can’t leave a round bale in with them without it being in a hay ring because they’ll get on top of it and poop on it, then none of the other animals will eat it.

Goats are just weird…
 

Weston.cain

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We bought 30 arces and built a house a couple years ago. I still haven't talked myself into livestock even though I want to get started with chickens 🤣

On the bright side, farmer from down the road comes and cuts the hay every year so it's a nice little 1k check annually.
 

OK Corgi Rancher

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From what my brother has said, goats don’t hold a candle to pigs for clearing land. He had grass, underbrush, and three little trees in the area he used for a sty, and when the pigs were done, there was nothing left but mud. Even the trees were gone.

I think his goats are some kind of Nubian, and they like trees, but when he feeds them hay, they won’t eat it off the ground. If they drag it out of the feeder, they won’t eat it until he puts it back in the feeder. And he can’t leave a round bale in with them without it being in a hay ring because they’ll get on top of it and poop on it, then none of the other animals will eat it.

Goats are just weird…

Yep... I think that's what makes them so entertaining. And they do waste a tremendous amount of hay. I rigged up a decent feeder in their pen and it's helped with the waste...but hasn't eliminated it.

I've never had pigs but we've kicked around the idea of a little pot belly or two.

Our animals are just pets. I really enjoy having them around even though they're a monumental pain in the butt.

I've never had livestock before moving here but I can't imagine a better way to start than goats. They're very low maintenance and inexpensive to care for.
 

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