Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Miss Lydia]

There are 2 black chicks, 1 yellow & 1 orange & black. 1 black chick and the yellow chick have fuzzy legs. 1 of them is an EE chick, but I don't know which one. There are 4 possible fathers. 1)Blue Cochin. 2) Salmon Faverole. 3) EE & 4) RIR/EE.

I put Momma & chicks in the Brooder so they could have constant access to the FF.

So sweet. Congrats!

 

[Miss Lydia]

1 teaspoon of vinegar to 1 cup of milk will work as a replacement for butter milk. let it sit about 5 min before using.

 

[Kassaundra]

Did you know that you have to bend over double to milk those miniature dairy cows unless you build a substantial platform on which they can be trained to stand upon while you are milking them? Milking a standard cow can be strain enough on the back but to milk a very short cow is even more. It sounds cute and like they would be less work and worry but then you also have to find a short and tiny bull with which to breed them so that they can have calves and stay freshened.

Twice the expense, twice the trouble...all to get a smaller cow. Why not just get a goat?

B/c you don't have to worry about your trees w/ a cow like you do a goat, and cows don't tend to be nearly as eager to breach a fence as goats, and copious amounts of poop for the garden. (that is why I would consider the mini cow vs goat.)

 

[Pozees]

B/c you don't have to worry about your trees w/ a cow like you do a goat, and cows don't tend to be nearly as eager to breach a fence as goats, and copious amounts of poop for the garden. (that is why I would consider the mini cow vs goat.)

Trees, cars, the neighbors' trees and cars ... and yet, goats have a lot to recommend them - they will eat a lot of the weeds and harder grasses you can't get a cow to give a sideways glance at. The fence thing - I never found a fence they couldn't and wouldn't climb or push through, unless it was electric. I loved them (had mostly cashmeres and a few nigerian dwarfs) for the improvements they brought to our property, and hated that I could not keep them in a fence. Never tried to milk them.

I always thought a mini cow sounded ideal, myself, and yes I imagine a milking stand for a cow would have to be a lot sturdier than one for a goat. Never considered sheep - the only ones I've had any exposure to were noisy and smelly, and this is from the perspective of a person who doesn't even notice chicken and goat odor (except a billy, ugh), and does not mind the smell of horse and cow manure, in fact horse manure makes me nostalgic. I don't have the time and resources right now to add any kind of large animal so it's only a future issue for me, but it never hurts to have discussion and learning so I can think through what I might want some day down the road.

 

[smyers32]

Actually, you can milk either a cow or goat once a day instead of two. They produce by supply and demand, if they don't have the demand the supply will go down as well.

Ahhh, that's very good to know! I wish that farmer would let me 'borrow' a mini jersey!!! I'd love to do a trial run!

 

[Beekissed]

B/c you don't have to worry about your trees w/ a cow like you do a goat, and cows don't tend to be nearly as eager to breach a fence as goats, and copious amounts of poop for the garden. (that is why I would consider the mini cow vs goat.)

What kind of cows do you run?

Cows will push down a fence rather than go over or under it, they will bend an entire sapling fruit tree over in an attempt to scratch in that spot that you just can't get, they will browse all the tender buds, tiny fruit and anything else they can reach in an orchard and those copious amounts of poop are a trial if you have small acreage. Sprinkles of goaty and sheepy love is dry and easily dispersed into the grass but cow love is ginormous, stinky, wet at times and cannot be ignored, can be a real treat to mow over and is only fine if it is contained to one area...like training them to poop on the compost pile or something. Never happens.

 

[smyers32]

What kind of cows do you run?

Cows will push down a fence rather than go over or under it, they will bend an entire sapling fruit tree over in an attempt to scratch in that spot that you just can't get, they will browse all the tender buds, tiny fruit and anything else they can reach in an orchard and those copious amounts of poop are a trial if you have small acreage. Sprinkles of goaty and sheepy love is dry and easily dispersed into the grass but cow love is ginormous, stinky, wet at times and cannot be ignored, can be a real treat to mow over and is only fine if it is contained to one area...like training them to poop on the compost pile or something. Never happens.

Yeah, that is my other major qualm with the cow, even mini cow poop is still cow poop. I don't think there's a goat on earth that would stay in my fence, but the sheep always stayed in just fine. Sheep and goats will eat around the horse potty areas where the horses won't touch and the horses don't mind the sheep poo. Sheep and goats poo naturally spreads and their pointy little feet aerate the ground a bit. My mom always loved how the horse/sheep combo was a perfect harmony for the pastures.

 

[Kassaundra]

Trees, cars, the neighbors' trees and cars ... and yet, goats have a lot to recommend them - they will eat a lot of the weeds and harder grasses you can't get a cow to give a sideways glance at. The fence thing - I never found a fence they couldn't and wouldn't climb or push through, unless it was electric. I loved them (had mostly cashmeres and a few nigerian dwarfs) for the improvements they brought to our property, and hated that I could not keep them in a fence. Never tried to milk them.

I always thought a mini cow sounded ideal, myself, and yes I imagine a milking stand for a cow would have to be a lot sturdier than one for a goat. Never considered sheep - the only ones I've had any exposure to were noisy and smelly, and this is from the perspective of a person who doesn't even notice chicken and goat odor (except a billy, ugh), and does not mind the smell of horse and cow manure, in fact horse manure makes me nostalgic. I don't have the time and resources right now to add any kind of large animal so it's only a future issue for me, but it never hurts to have discussion and learning so I can think through what I might want some day down the road.

We had goats when I was a teen, and milked twice a day everyday. We had electric fencing and even that didn't keep them in. We had 15 acres of mostly wooded so goats were better at foraging then a cow, but even w/ the 15 acres of all the trees and shrub a goat could possibly want they would still break out and eat the cultivated fruit trees. They are smart and interactive and lovable animals though.

Oh and yes I forgot the billy smell is another reason to chose the small cow. Not to mention the meanness of the billy.

My experience w/ sheep was also not a pleasant one. Our goats were awesome easy to handle, but the sheep not so much!!!! Never occured to me to milk a sheep, didn't even know there were "milk sheep" available, if I were ever to consider a sheep it would have to be a hair one not wool.

I too am not in a position for any of these animals now, it is all I have room for w/ the chickens. If ever the planets line up just right and I am ever in a position for country life again I will research what is available and doable for the conditions then.

 

[Kassaundra]

What kind of cows do you run?

Cows will push down a fence rather than go over or under it, they will bend an entire sapling fruit tree over in an attempt to scratch in that spot that you just can't get, they will browse all the tender buds, tiny fruit and anything else they can reach in an orchard and those copious amounts of poop are a trial if you have small acreage. Sprinkles of goaty and sheepy love is dry and easily dispersed into the grass but cow love is ginormous, stinky, wet at times and cannot be ignored, can be a real treat to mow over and is only fine if it is contained to one area...like training them to poop on the compost pile or something. Never happens.

I couldn't begin to tell you what kind of cow(s) we had, it was when I was a teen, we always had a milker and grew our own male for meat, and never had an escape through the fence w/ the cows not once, but couldn't keep the goats in to save our souls.

 

[Beekissed]

Yeah...I wouldn't have a goat if someone gave me one. Seriously. My sisters used to keep goats and the only breed I'd even consider are Boers and only if I could run them with my hair sheep. Goats are the thugs and miscreants of the livestock world....bah!

And they stink more than any animal should ever stink...they stink more than pigs!