Nevadans?

[sherylreno]

Good Morning BYC'ers How's everyone today? I couldn't be on yesterday very much with working and going home and cooking. I made my first homemade pizza dough from scratch last night and configured a pizza sauce - wow was that good. I'll still tweek it a bit for more flavor but it was still great. I wish my tomatoes would ripen, I have 12 plants and they are full of tomatoes.

Hi Aubrey - wow that goat is very pretty, I thought for sure you would find one that was out of the ordinary category but she's way too pretty to pass up. So to get milk from her does she need to have a baby first just like cows?

Sunny on the house in Red Rock, way to go. Have you heard of the livestock guard dog breeds, they are made just for what you are looking for. Research them, I hear they are usually free on craigslist because people can't handle the size and they don't like being in the house very much, they much prefer to being around the livestock to make sure they are safe at all times? I'm hearing that coyotes are attacking during the day hours as well as night searching for food, so you do need to be careful. I have a friend near pyramid lake who has 80 acres out there and all of his livestock are surrounded by cyclone fencing over 8' tall and covered on the top but they don't get to free range at all because of all the dangers. He's never lost any though.

Hi Tyler - how are you doing? I'm sorry Lowes didn't have a job for you, so I'm hoping Home Depot will. Don't forget to also include all of your activities too when you apply for a job. Put down you are an Eagle Scout and you volunteer with the Rodeo and anything else you do or have done. Employer's like to see that stuff and it helps them to decide to hire you if you don't have the experience first. They then see you can actually work hard when you let them know how much you do. It's always has helped me when I was looking for a job.

 

[Peep_Show]

Aubrey

Cute goat! Congrats!

Chickens and goats do tend to get along. I think the main problem you'll find is the goat will eat the chicken feed if you have a feeder out. I'd much rather fence off the feeder than tether a goat. And, yes, dogs and goats aren't known to be a good combo. Much better to have her in a dog-proof area than tethered and defenseless.

If she only needs to be milked once a day, then she's probably in the process of drying up. To increase milk production you'd have to breed her and then wait 5+ months for the resultant kid(s). You can milk her while she's pregnant, if you wish. (And make sure you give her a bath after the mating as buck goats are pretty smelly things that somehow that flavor gets into the milk). The last month of that five months you wouldn't milk her at all so that she can stop milk production, get the colostrum going (newborn milk nourishment) and really "bag up" as kidding nears. After she kids you'll know what kind of a milk producer she truly is.

Unfortunately, not all goats are guaranteed to give a certain amount of milk each day....ergo some low producers or those with udder problems get culled from the milking herd and rehomed. However, if she is one, you may find that she provides more than enough milk for two people.

Enjoy!

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Sheryl thank you! I think she's a pretty girly.

I am getting her from a friends mom who bought her to keep her pet ewe company. She never intended to raise it for milk but she bought the goat a wether after the ewe died and she began having phantom pregnancies. She said she's been having these phantom pregnancies for a few years now but she can't milk it because she is gettin arthritis in her hands

sounds perfect to me! She even got rid of the wether to see if it would stop producing but it didn't. Lol, go figure.

Peep! Thanks so much for all of your advice and expertise!
I have heard a lot of negative things about tethering- a lot of people don't like it. I really want to do it for a week or so while everything gets settled. The people who are giving her to us are giving us some 12 foot cattle panels that they use as her fence and will deliver them to us soon. Once those come she will be un-tethered. The dog shouldn't be an issue. He is strictly indoors during the day while the chickens are out, then at night when he has free run of the yard the chickens are in their coop and the goaty will be safely locked in a chain link dog kennel as she sleeps.

I'm thinking this will work out! Now we have to find a whether to keep her company!

 

[Eglyntine]

Quote:
Wyandottes are awesome broodies too

Nikki - I was going to ask you about your wyandottes, I was looking at your page and it's a wonderful page you have!

I have wyandottes as well and I was wondering what yours look like now since they are older than mine?

I put in an order for White Wyandottes in this last order of chicks but at the last minute they backordered them and sent me Buff Orps and GLW to replace them. Which I already have a ton of so I was not happy. I would have preferred my money back and just wait for when they become available.

Anyway, Here are some pictures I took a little while back of my wyandottes:

The Silver Laced

Mixed group with Silver Laced and Golden Laced:

Golden-Laced Rooster:

Oh Aubrey, a 99% sure test of female vs. male at around 4+ weeks, feel down the inside of their leg to where the spurs should be on a rooster and if there is a noticeable bump there you have yourself a male. Once in a great great while it does not work but I personally have not been wrong. I am sorry about the WCB being a male, I did not do the leg test on him but the way his feathering was I was pretty sure it was female. It was just so much different than the other males I had. I should have done the leg test on him before I gave him to you. How are the other polish doing?

 

[SunnyDawn]

Quote:
Yea! I knew it would work out. Sometimes you just have to sit back at let things happen. Congratulations!

Thanks Pam!

Sheryl thanks for the reminder about the coyotes! I had heard that as well but had forgotten that they have been seen hunting during the day lately. Yes I plan on building a large, insulated coop (it gets cold up there) and also plan on fencing off a big, covered run area for them as well. Genny says the Ravens up there are also a big problem and the covered run will keep them out of the eggs. It will just take some time to get this all put together.
I will research the livestock guard dogs when I get a chance too. Thanks for all the info!

Hi Peep!

Beautiful flock Nikki!!!

 

[sherylreno]

Quote:

Nikki - I was going to ask you about your wyandottes, I was looking at your page and it's a wonderful page you have!

I have wyandottes as well and I was wondering what yours look like now since they are older than mine?

I put in an order for White Wyandottes in this last order of chicks but at the last minute they backordered them and sent me Buff Orps and GLW to replace them. Which I already have a ton of so I was not happy. I would have preferred my money back and just wait for when they become available.

Anyway, Here are some pictures I took a little while back of my wyandottes:

The Silver Laced
http://www.chaoticfarms.com/images/adults/11-26-2010-silver-laced-wyandotte-2-of-6-001.png http://www.chaoticfarms.com/images/adults/11-26-2010-silver-laced-wyandotte-hen-4-of-6-001.png

Mixed group with Silver Laced and Golden Laced:

http://www.chaoticfarms.com/images/chicks/201104/201104-flock-005portsm.jpg http://www.chaoticfarms.com/images/chicks/201104/201104-glw-slw-bo-bsl-hens-001sm.jpg

Golden-Laced Rooster:

http://www.chaoticfarms.com/images/chicks/201104/201104-golden-laced-wyandotte-rooster-003sm.jpg

Oh Aubrey, a 99% sure test of female vs. male at around 4+ weeks, feel down the inside of their leg to where the spurs should be on a rooster and if there is a noticeable bump there you have yourself a male. Once in a great great while it does not work but I personally have not been wrong. I am sorry about the WCB being a male, I did not do the leg test on him but the way his feathering was I was pretty sure it was female. It was just so much different than the other males I had. I should have done the leg test on him before I gave him to you. How are the other polish doing?

Thank you Nikki - I did see these pics on your page and I just love them dearly. I have 3 SLW's and I've read on here the ones that come from a hatchery may actually have laying issues, like internal laying issues. My 3 are hatchery ones so I'm curious about that. I also read on here the hatchery onces do not feather like the non hatchery ones because non-hatcheries concentrate on the feathering and body shapes. So I was wondering what your's look like at this stage now. My 3 SLW's hatched March 23rd of this year. I don't know if any of this is true or not but it did get my curiosity going.

Thanks again.

 

[Eglyntine]

Quote:
I picked mine up from Ideal last October and they have not had any problems with laying or feathering. The pictures I posted are of them at 6 months old, I have not taken any new ones recently but they still look the same. Their feathering is amazing, very detailed and bright on the lacing. I have a couple of SLW that do not have good lacing but 2 out of 12 is not a bad ratio. I have two of the GLW that have been broody all summer which I was very happy with because it allowed me to hatch out some meat birds but the others have been laying like clock work since about 16 weeks old with no problems at all. I mostly care about egg production, size and temperament. The perfect lacing is a bonus of course and I was blessed with that too.

I know Ideal's birds are awesome but I just ordered 10 more GLW from e-Fowl so I will let you know how that goes once they get bigger. I would LOVE to pick up some from Paul's but he is a bit pricey for straight run ($9.50/ea) but maybe I will be able to get some next summer. I am still very happy with the hatchery chicks I have so far though.

 

[Eglyntine]

This is my next project, as soon as I can find them for less than $300/pair they will be mine:

Golden Laced Orpington Roo

Golden Laced Orpington Pullet

GLO Flock

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Thanks for the tip Nikki. I will check when I get home and let you know if I néed to purchase more birds, lol. It's okay about the wcb, since it's the only one I've been able to find I might just keep him. Have you done the test on your polish chicks? Do you have enough pullets of each color to sell me one if need be?

 

[Eglyntine]

Quote:
Nah, they are still too young to tell, they are only 2 weeks old

I will know more in a couple of weeks. At this stage their legs look the same.