Hatching Eggs / Paypal CHAT Thread

[kraftyladies]

Dear Spring,

Please come quickly. I cannot wait much longer for my new Orp eggs and Sussex eggs.

Thank you!
Tim

 

[9gerianMile]

Madamwlf/kraftyladies- This is my Highland cow, Barbie Because ya know, she's blonde... She's awesome. I milk her in the field, no stanchion required, just bring her some grain sometimes.



Pysankigirl- Yes, you can spin their down (like dogs, they get a fuzzy undercoat for winter and blow it in the spring) You comb it out and leave the tough guard hairs that you see in the pics. The down is a lot like Cashmere with a short staple length, and the guard hair is commonly used for rope, tent, rug, and other tough, non-clothing products. They will grow their skirts to the ground, but mine break off the bottoms in the pond we have for them when it's warm in the summer. I don't mind, I'd rather they be comfy!

Sahwithchicks-
Those yaks are amazing. ~ Thank you! I love them
What's your upkeep routine on them? ~ Well other than combing out their down in the Spring, I will feed them Timothy/Alfalfa pressed cubes for treats sometimes to keep them friendly. They eat about 2 sm. square bales/day with 6 yaks + a Highland cow. OR what's easier, is just giving them a large round bale every 12 days or so. That's what we do in winter.
Or the food cost, or time? ~ I think in 2 years we have spent about 3,000 on feed, and we bought them all young so we would get longevity from the starter herd since cows drop calves into their mid TWENTIES. However, it made for a slow start for us in the calving dept! We know our oldest two girls are now bred, and the younger ones are in progress. I spend about 20 minutes a day out there watching them to make sure no one is acting 'off' and to monitor breeding behavior, check the water, etc. Not nearly as much time as I spend on my rabbits! LOL
Space- their pen for winter is about an acre, and we just hay them right now. We have 10.6 acres, with about 7 of that being useful for livestock. We have found that we can feed a little more than 2 yaks with what our Scotty eats daily. If she wasn't so awesome, I'd sell her. We don't have the property properly fenced, we're working on that for next year. We use 47" STEEL *Woven* (NOT welded) wire field fence, and a barbed bumper and topper. Otherwise they will push out the fence bottom to get to grass on the other side (because it's always greener, ya know). Ten acres of brush =/= ten acres of grass. You have to be the judge of your land and how much livestock it can support. You may need to bring in scrub goats/sheep first to clear weeds and such then seed, but you could do many (6+) yaks on 10 acres and not supplement with hay. Just depends on your foliage. They do browse, so mine eat pine needles, hawthorne, berry bush leaves, etc. They're really awesome. Barbie is a browser, too. You could have a milk cow on 2 acres and supplement a little..
Husband - yeah, best to have him on-board

Crazypetlady- I'll have calves in Spring I'll send you pics

 

[cluckitall]

http://www.troyswap.com/pages/swap_spaces.html

I thought we could have a potluck lunch, and all bring something to share.

That's a great idea I am so in! Sent you a pm.

 

[tdhenson86]

9gerianmile,

Those are some amazing bovine you have there!!! I just love Highlands!

 

[9gerianMile]

9gerianmile,

Those are some amazing bovine you have there!!! I just love Highlands!

Thanks You're correct, by the way- they're all bovidae. The yaks are Bos grunniens (Bos mutus are the wild yaks of Asia) and the Scotty is a variety of Bos taurus I would love her even more if she ate like a yak instead of a highland... then I could get 2 weeks out of a bale

 

[pysankigirl]

Quote:
I wonder how many chicken eggs you would have to trade for one of those!!!!

 

[Sahwithchicks]

Thank you for the through response. I guess if we really got to working on cleaning our woods, we would be able to use more land for animals. Our property has never been cleaned out, a it was kind of a get away/vacation property when we lived down in Fort Myers Fl. We just couldn't deal with the life down there so we took quite a pay cut to enjoy life more I am going to start looking for a goat now hahaha.
Do you have any shelter for them, lean to or such? Just thinking start up cost. I was looking into meat cows a little while ago, and around here you put about 2 grand into them without any problems occurring, but start up was relatively low as long as you had pasture for them to rotate through.

 

[Dahlisgrams]

PP sent to CPL.. and that makes seven!!

 

[caj1985]

I just dropped off Basque eggs at the PO for caj1985. This is my first time shipping eggs and I am SO nervous about them getting there safely lol!

I'm excited! I have eggs from you and Jim Heinz both that are supposed to be here Friday. I'm going to add them to my first attempt at hatching Bob White Quail.

 

[caj1985]

I think at this time of year Tim should be addressing that as "Dear Santa, I have been a very good boy this year. Please send Spring."