Tara
Do you have any "profit making intention" with the Dorders, or you just enjoy having them?
Do you have any "profit making intention" with the Dorders, or you just enjoy having them?
Jest Another Day in Pear-A-Dice - Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm in Alberta
- Thread starter CanuckBock
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #2,642
Heel low:
Revenue Canada labels our Conservation Farm as a "hobby" because we have "no expectation of profit." I believe you have to make a certain amount of money now (at one time I thought it was like $30,000 per year
) to get what is deemed farm status here in Alberta. I have not overly investigated all the legislative changes for farming establishments because I would likely find that depressing.
If money was my god, I could put baby ducklings in a decorated basket at the next Easter time auction...some of those "baskets" sell for $300+ when bidders get in a war over one. Ethically and morally, I get sick inside thinking of how some justify doing that. Ethics & business do not mix...
http://www.taxplanningguide.ca/tax-planning-guide/section-1-businesses/farming-businesses/
A hobby is about having fun, having a business is about making a profit (or at least receiving monetary benefits).
We keep the sheep to mow the grass, but even there, with Rick having a rider mower, he could mow the property WAY quicker than the sheep will ever do that especially with me putting up electric netting and having to put it away every night so it does not get stolen.
Being a retired bean counter (a.k.a. accountant), in past posts I've talked about how it costs like $35 to grow a chicken (no $ value for MY labour either in this calculation) to point of lay or a meat bird here. I don't buy train cars loads of feed at a discount, I don't have meat birds that mature in 35 to 49 days, darkened barns and all that the factory farm setups entail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broiler
When the grocery store sells "chicken" (and we both know the term "chicken" is a loose term since it tastes more like tofu than chicken!) already cooked for $8...the concept of making a profit raising any sort of meat animals or bird seems distant.
We know we cannot compete with factory farms; mush meat, swill eggs...fatty lambs raised with the concept of cost being its over ruling lord and master!
http://goodshepherdpoultryranch.com/
A good marketing strategy is not to compete with mush meat factory farmed fowl but go for the GOLD...flog the goodness aspect, the heritage birds, the slow grown goodness, etc.
You and I both know nothing, nothing replaces the value we have for food we have grown ourselves, put by, cooked up, and put on our table. Taste, texture, the good we have done for the living creature (plant or animals) and our own families...knowing where your food comes from...all that jazz cannot be compared to mere dollar amounts.
Rick & I have Dorpers because we like sheep eating all the grass we have here in abundance during the summer time. Even the dogs we have love helping me with the ruminants. Sheep for us are very easy to keep now that we have all the fencing, buildings, equipment and know how. We have discussed at length that the sheep will likely be the last things to go, past maybe some wild birds like the Swans and Mandarins, few chickens and of course, I have to have dogs, Heeler (healer?) dogs to keep me company.
Eldad's sellers are in their 80's...this is not uncommon to be able to keep sheep in our older years. Having chores to do is one of the reasons humans live longer and better...I figure we have a purpose and don't rot from the inside out.
Revenue Canada's term "no expectation of profit" is where you have a hobby (the farm) where you do not have to make money doing it. I can buy that 4x8 sheet of puckboard and put them up in the barns because that is how "I" like to see a barn...tidy and clean, easy to maintain. At $130 a sheet (and more now!), how would one justify that expense? A farm in business is wiser to use cast off wooden pallets, free building materials to build a sheep barn or in some places, no barn at all, stand of trees in a fenced off pasture. Boss Man lived with two other rams in a stand of Poplars...now he wants access to HIS corral & barn. He's moved up in the world I guess--lucky him, money is no object.
Roll of hardware cloth at $100 for 50 feet...a right proper famer would just allow for losses of birds from predation rather than have zero predation like we have since 2007. There is no monetary value I would be able to put on losing even one of our birds to a predator because I could not justify the cost versus the $ value of the animals.
For us, that means we can afford to be what I say is kinder, animals and birds that don't cover their expenses and achieve a profit are just like any that do make a profit over their expense to keep. A profitable bottom line is irrelevant because our fun is worth more than just the value of money. Twenty geese we have do not justify the thousands of dollars we have in welded wire panels...never mind their runs and houses.
Now that said, if I had had four ram lambs instead of two ewes and a ram for lambs this year...I could have sold the extra two males, kept back the best 2 ram lambs because I am looking at the genetics and potential usefulness to others. Boss Man is not a common ram with top and bottom Australian genetics and the ewes are very diverse too.
It would be foolish to breed animals without considering what you would do with the offspring you don't keep for your own use. Grow out and eat any males not worthy of being breeding animals is one solution...choosing potentially good pedigree matches for breeding just means there could be a demand for your extras you don't want yourself AND get a better monetary return for the ones sold. Crap animals make more crap animals. An animal that was sold for decent dollars also usually gets treated better than an animal with lesser monetary value.
The Jacob sheep were for pure fun and conservation but they were no less in quality being registered and winning at Canada's 1st Jacob breed sheep show...now as I age, I wanted a breed I did not have to shear (more time for fun and I have wool...lots stored) and with the purpose of the Dorper breed to be for meat...always an outlet for lambs I don't want for breeding, keeping or eating ourselves.
The Dorper breed is in demand for proper commercially inspired enterprises...with the potential to get three lamb crops every three years...and with sheep going $1.50 to $1.73 right now (the graph on this pdf shows 2017 highest compared to years from 2014 onwards)...the fast growing meaty Dorper would be monetarily profitable, for those so inclined.
http://www.ablamb.ca/images/documents/marketline/2017/Marketline-17-sep7.pdf
Nobody could ever pay me mere money to do what I do here as my hobby...I do this as a labour of love. We keep pets with benefits...the birds provide meat and eggs that taste better than any you can buy. The sheep bring me immense pleasure planning out breedings, just standing watching them eat grass...I could wile away hours just looking at them. They give us poop in exchange for feed and bedding and we get to improve the growing ability of our very dirt.
The golden rule for a hobbiest is to know the costs of your fun hobby, and the benefits. We too cannot ignore the monetary cost of our hobby...because although money is the root of most evil, it is a necessity we have to cover so we may enjoy the happiness it creates. I am likely more mindful of the dollars spent on my hobby because I do not want it to end because I cannot afford to keep doing this.
Basic question...why do I have more rams than just Boss Man?
http://www.dorper.org/faq.htm
Boss Man is not related to six of my ewes. One ram can cover FIFTY ewes so why get more rams?
Because I could have grown the one ram lamb I had out and eaten him instead of find him a ram lamb partner (that can be bred to Boss Man's ewe lambs), why did I do this?
Basically I am NOT running A FARM...and for Èder's sake...he needs to be overjoyed we are NOT A FARM...
What I just did by buying another ram is waste a whole bunch of money now and in the future...what in tarnation do I need to have yet another ram (got 50 MORE ewes do I?) for. Got one ram I bred to two ewes...he's 48 ewes shy of his season's breeding potential and this up coming ram lamb can be used for another 25 more ewes.
Profitable? Hardly...I can't even justify the ownership of ONE ram and we have THREE now!
I am not looking for profits, but to play the gentile farmmerette! This said, I do know that if I did have to be serious about making money to continue playing...I could. It is very important to know we could make money if wanted...we just don't want to turn the hobby into a business. Lots of fun things get ruined when they have to be justified by a dollar amount. I am blessed in the simple fact I play, I have fun.
Because I am serious about my hobby...if we have five ram lambs next year, at least I have planned that there could be a potential market for those extra ram lambs and there is a demand for quality rams.
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
Revenue Canada labels our Conservation Farm as a "hobby" because we have "no expectation of profit." I believe you have to make a certain amount of money now (at one time I thought it was like $30,000 per year
) to get what is deemed farm status here in Alberta. I have not overly investigated all the legislative changes for farming establishments because I would likely find that depressing. If money was my god, I could put baby ducklings in a decorated basket at the next Easter time auction...some of those "baskets" sell for $300+ when bidders get in a war over one. Ethically and morally, I get sick inside thinking of how some justify doing that. Ethics & business do not mix...
http://www.taxplanningguide.ca/tax-planning-guide/section-1-businesses/farming-businesses/
A hobby is about having fun, having a business is about making a profit (or at least receiving monetary benefits).
We keep the sheep to mow the grass, but even there, with Rick having a rider mower, he could mow the property WAY quicker than the sheep will ever do that especially with me putting up electric netting and having to put it away every night so it does not get stolen.
Being a retired bean counter (a.k.a. accountant), in past posts I've talked about how it costs like $35 to grow a chicken (no $ value for MY labour either in this calculation) to point of lay or a meat bird here. I don't buy train cars loads of feed at a discount, I don't have meat birds that mature in 35 to 49 days, darkened barns and all that the factory farm setups entail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broiler
When the grocery store sells "chicken" (and we both know the term "chicken" is a loose term since it tastes more like tofu than chicken!) already cooked for $8...the concept of making a profit raising any sort of meat animals or bird seems distant.
We know we cannot compete with factory farms; mush meat, swill eggs...fatty lambs raised with the concept of cost being its over ruling lord and master!
http://goodshepherdpoultryranch.com/
A good marketing strategy is not to compete with mush meat factory farmed fowl but go for the GOLD...flog the goodness aspect, the heritage birds, the slow grown goodness, etc.
You and I both know nothing, nothing replaces the value we have for food we have grown ourselves, put by, cooked up, and put on our table. Taste, texture, the good we have done for the living creature (plant or animals) and our own families...knowing where your food comes from...all that jazz cannot be compared to mere dollar amounts.
Rick & I have Dorpers because we like sheep eating all the grass we have here in abundance during the summer time. Even the dogs we have love helping me with the ruminants. Sheep for us are very easy to keep now that we have all the fencing, buildings, equipment and know how. We have discussed at length that the sheep will likely be the last things to go, past maybe some wild birds like the Swans and Mandarins, few chickens and of course, I have to have dogs, Heeler (healer?) dogs to keep me company.
Eldad's sellers are in their 80's...this is not uncommon to be able to keep sheep in our older years. Having chores to do is one of the reasons humans live longer and better...I figure we have a purpose and don't rot from the inside out.
Revenue Canada's term "no expectation of profit" is where you have a hobby (the farm) where you do not have to make money doing it. I can buy that 4x8 sheet of puckboard and put them up in the barns because that is how "I" like to see a barn...tidy and clean, easy to maintain. At $130 a sheet (and more now!), how would one justify that expense? A farm in business is wiser to use cast off wooden pallets, free building materials to build a sheep barn or in some places, no barn at all, stand of trees in a fenced off pasture. Boss Man lived with two other rams in a stand of Poplars...now he wants access to HIS corral & barn. He's moved up in the world I guess--lucky him, money is no object.
Roll of hardware cloth at $100 for 50 feet...a right proper famer would just allow for losses of birds from predation rather than have zero predation like we have since 2007. There is no monetary value I would be able to put on losing even one of our birds to a predator because I could not justify the cost versus the $ value of the animals.
For us, that means we can afford to be what I say is kinder, animals and birds that don't cover their expenses and achieve a profit are just like any that do make a profit over their expense to keep. A profitable bottom line is irrelevant because our fun is worth more than just the value of money. Twenty geese we have do not justify the thousands of dollars we have in welded wire panels...never mind their runs and houses.
Now that said, if I had had four ram lambs instead of two ewes and a ram for lambs this year...I could have sold the extra two males, kept back the best 2 ram lambs because I am looking at the genetics and potential usefulness to others. Boss Man is not a common ram with top and bottom Australian genetics and the ewes are very diverse too.
It would be foolish to breed animals without considering what you would do with the offspring you don't keep for your own use. Grow out and eat any males not worthy of being breeding animals is one solution...choosing potentially good pedigree matches for breeding just means there could be a demand for your extras you don't want yourself AND get a better monetary return for the ones sold. Crap animals make more crap animals. An animal that was sold for decent dollars also usually gets treated better than an animal with lesser monetary value.
The Jacob sheep were for pure fun and conservation but they were no less in quality being registered and winning at Canada's 1st Jacob breed sheep show...now as I age, I wanted a breed I did not have to shear (more time for fun and I have wool...lots stored) and with the purpose of the Dorper breed to be for meat...always an outlet for lambs I don't want for breeding, keeping or eating ourselves.
The Dorper breed is in demand for proper commercially inspired enterprises...with the potential to get three lamb crops every three years...and with sheep going $1.50 to $1.73 right now (the graph on this pdf shows 2017 highest compared to years from 2014 onwards)...the fast growing meaty Dorper would be monetarily profitable, for those so inclined.
http://www.ablamb.ca/images/documents/marketline/2017/Marketline-17-sep7.pdf
Nobody could ever pay me mere money to do what I do here as my hobby...I do this as a labour of love. We keep pets with benefits...the birds provide meat and eggs that taste better than any you can buy. The sheep bring me immense pleasure planning out breedings, just standing watching them eat grass...I could wile away hours just looking at them. They give us poop in exchange for feed and bedding and we get to improve the growing ability of our very dirt.
The golden rule for a hobbiest is to know the costs of your fun hobby, and the benefits. We too cannot ignore the monetary cost of our hobby...because although money is the root of most evil, it is a necessity we have to cover so we may enjoy the happiness it creates. I am likely more mindful of the dollars spent on my hobby because I do not want it to end because I cannot afford to keep doing this.
Basic question...why do I have more rams than just Boss Man?
http://www.dorper.org/faq.htm
Boss Man is not related to six of my ewes. One ram can cover FIFTY ewes so why get more rams?
Because I could have grown the one ram lamb I had out and eaten him instead of find him a ram lamb partner (that can be bred to Boss Man's ewe lambs), why did I do this?
Basically I am NOT running A FARM...and for Èder's sake...he needs to be overjoyed we are NOT A FARM...
What I just did by buying another ram is waste a whole bunch of money now and in the future...what in tarnation do I need to have yet another ram (got 50 MORE ewes do I?) for. Got one ram I bred to two ewes...he's 48 ewes shy of his season's breeding potential and this up coming ram lamb can be used for another 25 more ewes.
Profitable? Hardly...I can't even justify the ownership of ONE ram and we have THREE now!
I am not looking for profits, but to play the gentile farmmerette! This said, I do know that if I did have to be serious about making money to continue playing...I could. It is very important to know we could make money if wanted...we just don't want to turn the hobby into a business. Lots of fun things get ruined when they have to be justified by a dollar amount. I am blessed in the simple fact I play, I have fun.
Because I am serious about my hobby...if we have five ram lambs next year, at least I have planned that there could be a potential market for those extra ram lambs and there is a demand for quality rams.
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
- Thread starter
- #2,643
Heel low:
Catch up time...
Or should I say ketchup time?
Been dropping by a nice diner...with the above sign inside...no crap it is a wonderful place for a decent nice meal!
Sep 3 - nice place for a burger and fries!
Sep 9 - more apples...
Quite delicious, I saved them for when Alexander visited...they have a Granny Smith type taste in pretty yellow red blushed expression.
Sep 10
Overjoyed to send Rick to work with fruit that includes TWO of our own home grown apples! Sweet...
Sep 14
So how long was I off from driving school bus...long enough some wasps built this next in my bus box where I keep the paper towel, blue juice (windshield wiper fluid), etc.
Yes, Girls...there is a huge nest in there so steer clear, eh!
After harvesting five plants, leaving the taters to grow until the cold weather kills them with frost.
Sep 14
Weather has been wet and cool. One driver said she was driving in a snow storm yesterday afternoon during the p.m. run. Leaves are beginning to turn and it will be the white season before we know it.
Ducklings are not little no more!
Rick has been doing projects like this one
He's ordering more metal and will do some more canopies in coloured metal.
...run outta picture file room...
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
Catch up time...
Or should I say ketchup time?
Been dropping by a nice diner...with the above sign inside...no crap it is a wonderful place for a decent nice meal!
Sep 3 - nice place for a burger and fries!
Sep 9 - more apples...
Sep 10
Overjoyed to send Rick to work with fruit that includes TWO of our own home grown apples! Sweet...
Sep 14
So how long was I off from driving school bus...long enough some wasps built this next in my bus box where I keep the paper towel, blue juice (windshield wiper fluid), etc.
Yes, Girls...there is a huge nest in there so steer clear, eh!
After harvesting five plants, leaving the taters to grow until the cold weather kills them with frost.
Sep 14
Weather has been wet and cool. One driver said she was driving in a snow storm yesterday afternoon during the p.m. run. Leaves are beginning to turn and it will be the white season before we know it.
Ducklings are not little no more!
Rick has been doing projects like this one
He's ordering more metal and will do some more canopies in coloured metal.
...run outta picture file room...
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
- Thread starter
- #2,644
Heel low:
Where was I...oh yeh...
Aug 31 - started to cover power
Was pretty hot out
Sep 1 - put gravel down first
Makes no sense to use higher priced limerock
Inspection crew on site
Load of gravel
Cover gravel with limerock
Hmm...wonder if I am doing this correctly??
Yup, must be...inspector cruised by and nothing was said
Waz this...only one inspector on duty??
Break in story line...no more room for picture files...
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
Where was I...oh yeh...
Aug 31 - started to cover power
Was pretty hot out
Sep 1 - put gravel down first
Makes no sense to use higher priced limerock
Inspection crew on site
Load of gravel
Cover gravel with limerock
Hmm...wonder if I am doing this correctly??
Yup, must be...inspector cruised by and nothing was said
Waz this...only one inspector on duty??
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
- Thread starter
- #2,645
OK...back to story...
September 10...
Waz with the ONE inspector??
I know I feed two young inspectors...got the dish pan hands to prove it...why is only one making the rounds?
Lookit this one...
"Hmmm...having a nap...dog day of summer"
"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"
<watching you work makes me tired>
So my part of job is jest about done!
Putting things back to the way they were
Done deal!
Emmy goes and inspects...Lacy (the lazy) wakes up...
is it time for supper yet?
Rick comes home...from work.
Good man...another load of firewood to add to the growing pile
for splitting up
And Rick gets on hooking up the power...
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
September 10...
Waz with the ONE inspector??
I know I feed two young inspectors...got the dish pan hands to prove it...why is only one making the rounds?
Lookit this one...
"Hmmm...having a nap...dog day of summer"
"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"
<watching you work makes me tired>
So my part of job is jest about done!
Putting things back to the way they were
Done deal!
Emmy goes and inspects...Lacy (the lazy) wakes up...
is it time for supper yet?
Rick comes home...from work.
Good man...another load of firewood to add to the growing pile
for splitting up
And Rick gets on hooking up the power...
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
- Thread starter
- #2,646
Heel low:
Still catching up ...
Sep 2 - Lambs were still housed together
Best feed is reserved for the babies to nibble at first. Quite sure the adult sheep figure this is totally unnecessary...
Totally unnecessary jest like the sliding gate is unnecessary!
Oh if there was a will, there would be a way to bully those babies...
Little does Èder realize...his days of
lambing with his sister and half sister are soon over...
A closer view of the above photos...yup...
this young ram lamb has attitude...
Èder has cute little horns growing...
Just like his father Boss Man
http://www.dorper.org/faq.htm
Eat...EAT EAT EAT babies...
Keep getting bigger & stronger!
Another reason for the sliding gate...anytime the lambs want...
They can rejoin the ewe flock
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
Still catching up ...
Sep 2 - Lambs were still housed together
Best feed is reserved for the babies to nibble at first. Quite sure the adult sheep figure this is totally unnecessary...
Totally unnecessary jest like the sliding gate is unnecessary!
Oh if there was a will, there would be a way to bully those babies...
Little does Èder realize...his days of
lambing with his sister and half sister are soon over...
A closer view of the above photos...yup...
this young ram lamb has attitude...
Èder has cute little horns growing...
Just like his father Boss Man
Eat...EAT EAT EAT babies...
Keep getting bigger & stronger!
Another reason for the sliding gate...anytime the lambs want...
They can rejoin the ewe flock
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
- Thread starter
- #2,647
Heel low:
What a difference a day or two can make, eh.
Sep 16 2017
Sep 22 is the first day of Autumn here...frost came earlier and thumped the potatoes...pretty hard. LOL
Rick saw them and asked me..."Are you OK?" Like we have a choice and yes, I am OK the potatoes got thumped. What else stops the nonsense of summer but a good hard frost?
Girl lambs are enjoying themselves
Èden continues to GROW & amaze us!
The two boy lambs are mowing up a storm
Èder loves his new buddy!
Only a week and Eldad has melded well!
I can walk right up to him
and he seems to want to be as close to us as he is able...
Strawberries have been super successful -
now to see how they overwinter
Cooler so we may run the dogs earlier
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
What a difference a day or two can make, eh.
Sep 16 2017
Sep 22 is the first day of Autumn here...frost came earlier and thumped the potatoes...pretty hard. LOL
Rick saw them and asked me..."Are you OK?" Like we have a choice and yes, I am OK the potatoes got thumped. What else stops the nonsense of summer but a good hard frost?
Girl lambs are enjoying themselves
Èden continues to GROW & amaze us!
The two boy lambs are mowing up a storm
Èder loves his new buddy!
I can walk right up to him
and he seems to want to be as close to us as he is able...
Strawberries have been super successful -
now to see how they overwinter
Cooler so we may run the dogs earlier
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
Great photos of the girls - Foamy looks so happy & frisky. Emmest looks like she is eager to get into trouble. Lacy looks like she's sneaking off with something in her mouth.
- May 19, 2009
- 8,453
- 3,391
- 512
Look at the structure on those dogs! I love the front and rear extension on the one on the right. the one on the left ...look at that body lean into that curve! what balance and grace. And the one in the back ..the ability to stalk like that. oh my goodness look at that whole body fluid in motion .
I am so impressed. This pic could easily be used to demonstrate the different ways a properly built dog can move. "Form follows function" should form a sacred Union between the two and you can sure see it here.
Karen
I am so impressed. This pic could easily be used to demonstrate the different ways a properly built dog can move. "Form follows function" should form a sacred Union between the two and you can sure see it here.
Karen
- Thread starter
- #2,650
Lacy is the only one of the three actually doing dog run runs. Retrieving the ball Rick has tossed...Emmy and Foamy are fooling around misbehaving...GET THE BALLY! Good Lacy!
I suppose so long as the dogs are tiring themselves out...it is a good thing?
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