Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[preciouskitty]

Quote:
How 'bout this...trade ya the soup recipe (which can be made w/beef, easy to make & EVERYONE loves it!!) for that ghost pepper salsa recipe??? !! I love my salsa's sweet & hot (just hot enough to get the sinuses running, but not TOO hot so as to burn taste buds!!)...I actually keep Planter's Five Alarm Chili mixed with Honey Nut on my desk ...sweet + spicy!! YUM!!

 

[snowflake]

don;t know any thing about goats, but they are cute!!!

good thing my neighbors are tolerant and not to close, the roosters seem to crow all night, at least they are going at it when I go to bed and when I get up at 5

Had hot apple cider this weekend, very good fresh from the farm market, you would think we had a poor apple crop thought, $6.50 a gallon

Talked to chicken grandma, on line, she is well, both of her kids graduate this yr, one from collage one from highschool (Dec,) plus I think she is still taking classes, so life has been busy for her

 

[SillyChicken]

I don't believe your breed of goat is a year round breeder like Nigerians are.. so most likely in the fall they'll be in season for breeding.

http://www.biotracking.com/?q=goats

There's not much out there for testing. I know you can't use human test strips.

 

[Farmerboy16]

Thanks Silly. No, my goats do not breed year round, just from August to December.

 

[Farmerboy16]

Have to share this. Happy cows on my neighbor's field.

 

[lbrykowski2011]

Quote: 5lbs tomatoes, 1lb green peppers, 1/2lb jalapenos, 2 ghost peppers, 1lb onions, 1c apple cider vinegar, 1TB canning salt, 1/2tsp. pepper. I bring all to a boil and simmer 10 mins, put in pints and water bath for 20 mins. Makes 6-7 pints Enough to make nose run a little and a sneeze, but not burn nothin, like you said lol I'm not puter savvy, so I hope giving you the recipe like this is ok, I don't know how else. lol and yes, I would love ur soup recipe, I have a couple high school football players and soup is so good after a game.

 

[Stacykins]

Hay all goat people! I think my does are bred, but I am not sure. Need some help.
I have two goats given to me by a neighbor last spring and summer. A Lamancha year old doeling, and a 5 year old Saanen doe. Been milking the Saanen since I got her in July. Got a Boar cross buckling in 4th of July weekend. He was born in March 17th. I had not been able to catch my does in heat at all, but the other day, I noticed the Saanen's tummy looked a bigger than normal. So, I am thinking that the buckling must have bred her around August or so. Then I noticed the Lamancha doeling's tummy looks bigger than normal too. I am not worried about when the Lamancha is due, just the Saanen, for I want to dry her off 2 to 3 months before she is due. But I need to have a rough guess of how far along is she. And what is the easiest and cheapest way of testing them for pregnancy?

Thanks for any help.

Here is some pictures of the two.






Carry on.

To actually test for whether they are pregnant or not, you can send off a blood sample to Biotracking. They can also test for CAE, btw, so it is a good way to tell if your herd is clear or not. I draw my own blood, personally, so I don't need a vet for that.

To tell how far along they are, well, that is a lot trickier. The only way to know for sure is a vet doing an ultrasound.

The larger tummies might not be a sign of them being pregnant at all. You own cows, so you know how rumens work. Sometimes when a goat fills up on a lot of browse and hay, their rumens are nice and round. Not bloated, since everything is normal.

If it were me, I'd actually be drying up the Saanan now. Her body condition is rather poor, she's on the thinner side. Heavy milkers like her put all they eat into the milk bucket. Giving her time to be dry and put some weight back on for a healthy pregnancy and new lactaction cycle. Drying up 2-3 months into their pregnancy isn't enough to really help them put that weight back on, when they start out thin.

 

[preciouskitty]

Quote:
I can work with that! Here is the soup recipe (this MUST be canned using a Pressure Cooker!!): Venison Barley Vegetable Soup 1 ½ - 2 lb. Venison (or Round Steak) cubed (I make cubes very small, like ~ ¼ inch) 1 Large Can Diced Tomatoes, undrained Diced Carrots, Celery & Onion (~3 Large Carrots, 4 Stalks Celery, 1-2 Large Onions) Beef Bullion Cubes (5) 1 Can Beef Consummé 1 Small Can Corn, undrained 1 Small Can Lima Beans, undrained 1 Small Can Green Beans, undrained 1 Small Can Peas, undrained ~ ½ C Barley (do NOT use “Quick Barley”; use regular Pearl Barley) Place cubed meat, tomatoes, carrots, celery, onions, bullion & consummé + 3 cans of water in large pot. Bring to boil, simmer til venison is tender. Add Salt & Pepper to taste. Add canned veggies WITH their juice. Add barley. Bring to boil and simmer until barley tender (~ 1 hour). Enjoy! Canning: A triple recipe makes ~ 11 quarts of soup. It is IMPERATIVE that barley be FULLY cooked prior to canning. Processing: Dial Gauge: 11 psi Weighted Gauge: 10 lbs Leave 1” of headspace when filling jars Processing Time: Quarts: 90 minutes Pints: 75 minutes

 

[1muttsfan]

While there are foods that can safely be processed in a hot water bath, salsa is unfortunately not one of them. It is not reliably acidic enough to prevent the growth of bacteria, due to the addition of low-acid ingredients. Salsa should be pressure canned only. Remember that botulism toxin is completely odorless and tastless, and is only destroyed in contaminated improperly processed foods if it is heated to boiling - not done usually with salsa.

 

[preciouskitty]

Quote:
I know we have had this discussion before..but, I actually do water bath my salsas...after researching using the Ball Blue Book and the USDA guidelines. The key is making sure that you follow recipes (like the Ball Salsa mix or Mrs. Wages to a tee & not change the veggie / vinegar ratio ... only spices)...which I know is what you mean by "not reliably acidic enough.." I suppose, in retrospect, I have two PC's...so wouldn't be that hard to be safe & PC..especially if "playing" with recipes....botulism is bad juju....