Another dozen

[farmerjan]

Glad the surgery went well... sorry about the back... it must be the shock from you not getting out to work at your "retirement" job slowdowns

 

[kenny thomas]

Glad the surgery went well... sorry about the back... it must be the shock from you not getting out to work at your "retirement" job slowdowns

Actually ask the surgeon if i could haul cattle by next Monday. He said do anything you can handle but i doubt you can handle it. He knows me pretty good. He said that i might need therapy and i told him i had to work too much to take time off for therapy.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

Actually ask the surgeon if i could haul cattle by next Monday. He said do anything you can handle but i doubt you can handle it. He knows me pretty good. He said that i might need therapy and i told him i had to work too much to take time off for therapy.

Don't poo poo therapy, it can be amazing help.

 

[kenny thomas]

Don't poo poo therapy, it can be amazing help.

Maybe so, in the past i haven't done well until after i finish the therapy.

 

[farmerjan]

Therapy taught me a few ways to get things working better, different methods to stretch etc... but doing "normal stuff" is good... Glad I did therapy, got more out of doing stuff on my own and pushing a bit once I was healed.

 

[Hereford2]

what do you have for fencing to keep goats in the pasture? We have good barbed wire and some e fence. if they are trained to return to a barn at night for grain do they tend to stay in the pasture if they have enough brush and weeds to eat?

5 strands Poly wire for the babies. Or if you already have Barbed wire, stagger 3 strands of poly wire with the barbed wire, the barbed wire acts as a ground.

 

[Hereford2]

I thought of doing the same thing. getting the goats to return to their shed at night would work for us, we have coyotes, an occasional wolf and black bears. what type of grain and what amount do you feed them each night. any other tips you can offer a newbie to goat raising?

As long as they have brush to eat they will stay in. Go by the Jules on an electric fence charger, I use the cyclops charger 5 Jules is ideal,. I use Pelleted Goat feed, a quarter pound per grown goat is plenty to keep them coming in at night,. Also get a mineral that's made for goats . I use Meat Maker Goat mineral. Also with rotational grazing every 30 or so days I only worm them twice a year. I have Boer Kiko cross goats. Because they're worth taking to the sale barn. Unlike some of the mini breeds. Also they're easier to keep in than the small breeds just because they're bigger. And they're less likely to duck under the fence.

 

[kenny thomas]

As long as they have brush to eat they will stay in. Go by the Jules on an electric fence charger, I use the cyclops charger 5 Jules is ideal,. I use Pelleted Goat feed, a quarter pound per grown goat is plenty to keep them coming in at night,. Also get a mineral that's made for goats . I use Meat Maker Goat mineral. Also with rotational grazing every 30 or so days I only worm them twice a year. I have Boer Kiko cross goats. Because they're worth taking to the sale barn. Unlike some of the mini breeds. Also they're easier to keep in than the small breeds just because they're bigger. And they're less likely to duck under the fence.

Great advice from someone that has goats.

 

[lynnmcmahan]

Don't poo poo therapy, it can be amazing help.

Yes to that.

 

[DNelson]

As long as they have brush to eat they will stay in. Go by the Jules on an electric fence charger, I use the cyclops charger 5 Jules is ideal,. I use Pelleted Goat feed, a quarter pound per grown goat is plenty to keep them coming in at night,. Also get a mineral that's made for goats . I use Meat Maker Goat mineral. Also with rotational grazing every 30 or so days I only worm them twice a year. I have Boer Kiko cross goats. Because they're worth taking to the sale barn. Unlike some of the mini breeds. Also they're easier to keep in than the small breeds just because they're bigger. And they're less likely to duck under the fence.

thanks

 

[snakegap1]

Our daughter's teacher brought the Ag students to our place after a rain (it was closer to town) and he showed how the footprints of the cattle had water stored in them, like little reservoirs. It was very interesting.
Sheep are hard on pastures because they have upper and lower teeth (like horses) so they can eat right to the dirt (like horses). They do take management, as you stated. We had a sheep/cattle rancher friend who ran in huge pastures in arid range country in WY. You couldn't tell where the sheep had been because he was of the mind that he raised GRASS. He was a great stockman. The sheepmen around him...their sheep grazed into the dirt.
Cows, of course, only have bottom teeth in front, so I think that is why they are easier on pastures.

Sheep and goat only have teeth on the bottom as well. Horses are the hardest on pasture.

 

[faster horses]

Sheep and goat only have teeth on the bottom as well. Horses are the hardest on pasture.

I stand corrected. Thank you.

 

[Hpacres440p]

Sheep and goat only have teeth on the bottom as well. Horses are the hardest on pasture.

Sheep and goats just have skinnier lips than cows and can get closer to the dirt with those split lips than cows with their fat lips and tongues

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

The great naturalist John Muir refered to sheep as hoofed locusts.

I was nearly killed by sheep when I was a toddler. At my aunt and uncle's place in west Texas I followed a mama hen with chicks through the corrals and into the barn. She went under an interior fence next to a wall so I followed. I heard a thundering noise, looked up and a solid wall of sheep was running down that isle (driven in by the ranch hands). I froze. Then a pair of strong hands grabbed me under the arms and lifted me up to the top of the fence. It was Trig, a black man who worked for them.

They raised cattle too and had a gentle old horse. Trig would put me up in the saddle and lead him around, the first horse I ever rode.

 

[collegeboundgal]

would a Great Pyrenees dog work?

As @DNelson suggested, a great Pyrenees would work, but be sure and get it from a reputable breeder specifically taylored to guard dogs. Additionally, keeping a donkey with the sheep works as well.

I actually do have a pyrenees/mix (another LGD breed) that I purchased just for this reason. He was exactly what I was looking for as he was not bonded to people (extremely leery of people, more so males) and was a true "livestock guardian dog". Paid a pretty penny for him to as he was past the puppy stage, fixed, and had all shots. Yeah, he is our beloved family dog now and comes into the house during storms because he is terrified of thunder. We do need to get another pup to train up but I am just not a fan of puppies and the learning curve.