Coronavirus, Covid 19 Discussion and How It Has Affected Your Daily Life Chat Thread

[ShrekDawg]

They have ones on meat goats and dairy goats.

I might have one of those ones too but I don’t think I ever actually bought it haha I wanna get the dairy one though and/or the sheep one.

 

[drumstick diva]

Our gov. has proclaimed May 1st. anyone out of their house MUST be wearing a mask. Heck I still have a "Long Ranger" eye mask from a million Halloweens ago. Wonder if I can wear that.
Don't know if police will shoot to kill or just arrest folks.

 

[Shadrach]

Spain is easing it's lockdown measures this week. I can see this going horribly wrong.
The supposed lockdown was piecemeal; many people making absolutely zero adjustment to their normal behaviour. Of course the politicians are looking to their popularity counts and the staggering economic cost. The simple fact is for most of them the crisis is something that is happening to others, unless they've managed to catch the virus which a number have here. I don't think many will be feeling much in the way of financial pressure, unless you count watching their share portfolios crash. Not many will be feeling the pressure of confinement either; there is a world of difference between being cooped up in a city flat with a couple of children and living in a large house in the country with a few acres of land and minimal financial constraints.
What seems to be forgotten is if the theory that one person who got infected from a bat has managed to spread the virus to it's current extent, then what are the chances of a devastating second wave when there are now millions of carriers of the virus?
Call me a pessimist, but I just can't see this supposedly gradual reopening of society working.
It will be interesting to see when the body count is more reliable whether Sweden's approach, or New Zealand's approach (the two reliably documented extremes) was the least damaging option. The countries with the highest infection rates and the most deaths dithered around not really properly adopting one approach or the other.
I'm planning on keeping a mask on and carrying my bottle of 96% alcohol and rag for the foreseeable future if I have to mix with people.
I don't suppose any of you with sewing skills have made any masks for chickens have you?

 

[drumstick diva]

Shad hope we all survive this- somehow

 

[hispoptart]

Colorado, is easing their restrictions today. I think it's nuts with the amount of new cases we still have everyday. We also have the 2nd highest death toll in the west. I have to go to work as I have been, But I will continue to self isolate. Most data shows we should not be considering opening back up until the last week of May. I knew our Governor was stupid, but this takes the cake.

 

[Molpet]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/24/strokes-coronavirus-young-patients/

 

[Shadrach]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-52399815

 

[TwoShepherds]

Goats-
The first thing to think about is what type of goats you want. Milk? Meat? Pets? Cute?
Ok, they are all cute but specific breeds excel at different things and there are differences in their care. And small goats are as good, if not better, escape artists than large goats. That said proper fence is not hard and will save you a mountain of worries and headaches.
Same for pigs. I did not actually have hogs, but was constantly helping a friend with hers. She did not have a good fence and hers got out all the time. Same with her goats too.

The site has changed some since I was there last, but I would imagine this place could keep you busy reading info for months-
https://fiascofarm.com/goats/index.htm

Lots of good information for goat newbies. Geared more towards dairy goats and dairy breeds, but many of the things carry over to meat goats and the smaller breeds too.
Some people swear by having a strand or two of hotwire inside field fence for goats because goats do respect electric, but I had 5' field fence on my farm and never once did any of my goats get out.... over, under, or through my fence. Not ever.
And field fencing is not hard to put up. I installed nearly all my fence with my own hands and my truck (to add light tension to stretch the fence) and later with my tractor.
If cost is a consideration, goats will respect electric fence and a 4 or 5 strand hot wire fence will keep in most goats and usually pigs too.
I did not add any electric fence until years later to keep my horse from pushing on it, and even then it was only one strand at the top.

Depending on where you are on the country parasites will big something you will want to read up on and at least have a basic plan to start with.

Diseases too. It's easy to not know what you are doing when you go out to buy your first goats, fall in love with a cute face, and end up bringing home a goat with devastating disease. Read up on those so you can learn what to look for and what to stay away from.
Most responsible breeders will be very up front about how they manage their goats and should be able to mentor you on what to expect in your area of the country.

But really...the big thing to figure out first is ...meat, milk, or both?
All goats are cute, and be warned...they are like cookies...you can never have just one!

Thanks so much! This is incrediably helpful and thoughtful of you to take the time to post. I'm definintely not in a hurry to rush into anything. We are still researching breeds and trying to decide on what I want to do. Most likely we will go with meat goats or a dual-purpose breed if we can find something like that. Probably I cannot commit to milking. I only work on Fridays and Saturdays, so weekdays wouldn't be a problem, but not sure I could commit to milking twice a day after 12-13 hour shifts--if I could get away with doing it once a day for a few days a week, maybe. Also not sure if we could consume or store that quanity of milk.

Fencing will definitely be our biggest hurdle. Cost is more of a concern than it might ordinarily be. I think our jobs both secure at the moment, but with the economy insecure, I don't want to be over confident. I'm kind of contemplating building a permenant field fence or corral by the barn, maybe electrified, in addition to a temporary electric netting in the field that I could rotate perodically to give them more room for browsing and variety. I've read horror stories about electric netting, but I think if I train the goats/pigs to it first and primarily use it on the days I'm home to watch...they should probaby be ok?

Thank you again for the great advice. We are definintely still in the early planning stages! I certainly won't act until I have a clearer picture of what will work for us.

 

[TwoShepherds]

The Storey's series of books on farm animals are great!

Thanks! That's a great idea. I checked out the one about chickens from our local library once and thought it was really helpful. Kind of wish I owned it. I will look up some others. I didn't know it was a series!

 

[TwoShepherds]

Have you been on Backyard Herds, BYC’s sister site?? There’s a lot of knowledgeable people there that may be able to help. Of course, there’s knowledgeable people here too, but it’s a little bit more geared towards those kinds of animals. are you planning on getting them for milk or just pets/brush clearing or? ND are so cute.

Thanks! I've spent a little time on Backyard Herds, but I don't have an account there yet. Found them when I was searching for information about small cattle breeds (Dexters). They seem really helpful. I love the idea of dairy goats, but not sure if I could commit to milking twice/day with my work schedule. We are contemplating meat goats...would like to produce more of our own food. Possibly, knowing me, they would be primarily pets? Brush and weed control would be a definite bonus!!!