North Carolina

[Hollowoakfarm]

Be careful who you tell that you own part of a cow. In our ridiculous state, cow-sharing is not legal! The wrong person can cause you problems. Personally, I think it's ridiculous, and I used to sell my goat milk...for "pet consumption and soap making", as the law allows, but really, everyone knew that milk was going into people. We need laws like SC has on milk.

 

[wildriverswolf90]

Good morning everyone

 

[KristanB]

My lil chic is much better this mornin!!! Up runnin around and eatin!!! wooohoooo!!! Thanks for the help

 

[LukesCityHens]

I tried attending with the local... Just not enough time in the day... Would love to check out your tbh once they were established...

that would be fine with me.
On the chicken front, the broody sweed is still sitting. Today is day 20, so we're listening closely for some chirping. We didn't candle any of these eggs so hopefully she's doing the job!

 

[NewHomesteader2010]

Be careful who you tell that you own part of a cow. In our ridiculous state, cow-sharing is not legal! The wrong person can cause you problems. Personally, I think it's ridiculous, and I used to sell my goat milk...for "pet consumption and soap making", as the law allows, but really, everyone knew that milk was going into people. We need laws like SC has on milk.

Cow sharing isn't legal? I did not know that! What defines an illegal cow share? If you own a cow and pay for room and board (much like a horse, as we do - is that still illegal?) is that defined as a cow share or is it speaking specifically of owning a "share" as in a stock of a cow? I don't want to get anyone in trouble!! Thank you for the heads up, I will choose my words more carefully so I don't get anyone in trouble!!

 

[abChicken]

I just read an article on Raw milk last nite in Carolina Journal CarolinaJournal.com Don't no if You can get it on line or not. Feb issue.

How in dickens do u make something to click on like CarolinaJournal.com

 

[wildriverswolf90]

Hit the add link button and then copy and paste the website address to the link bar www.CarolinaJournal.com

 

[CricketR4]

That is EXACTLY what we want to do. With our daughter's allergies, she MUST have soy-free everything (including milk) and we pay a fortune out of pocket each month to get milk (we technically purchased a part of a cow so it's legal for us to get the raw milk! Our fortune each month is for room/board/upkeep on the cow, but still I think it works out to over $10/gal!!). We have roughly 3 acres (of non-wooded, more if you include the woods...lol) which is why we want a mini - easier to deal with on a smaller plot and we're not sure if our neighbor is going to sell us his land or not, so we're looking at mini's just in case! We haven't done nearly enough research yet, but still working on it. Also, I was wrong, I thought the guy was in TN but it's actually GA (I knew it was somewhere "near" here...LOL, http://www.miniaturejerseysforyou.com/home) - the BEST place I have found is in Utah!! ACK!! If I trusted shipping and such, I'd seriously consider dealing with them, only because they are a large scale farm, so their prices are more reasonable! I found a place in VA but they wanted $7500 for a mini!!

Still, at 3 gallons of milk/day we'll have an abundance of leftover - even after I make cheese/yogurt/cream/butter etc...so we will either give some to the chickens, the demon cat (haha...poor Snickers) or something! The family in GA has a waiting list, so I don't think anything will be available for a few years, but I plan on emailing them to see if they have anything that would be available in the near future (not YEARS away). I still may contact the farm in UT (http://www.minicattlepros.com/holstein.html) just to see - they have a NICE farm and really nice stock (from what this inexperienced eye can see...LOL). Either way, it'll help to have contacts with a few farms to get semen (ewee) to keep the cow in production!! Where are you at? If push comes to shove, we could always go "in" together maybe (I have no idea where Mebane is...I'm sure its nowhere close though...boo)??!!


Such a quiet morning here!

So far, I do not miss our guineas, and I am excited to see if their absence will lessen the stress felt around the farm and get these girls laying! When it comes to RED combs, these girls have it!! I am tempted to keep them under lock and key for 2 weeks to see if anything is happening, but my ducks really REALLY go crazy if they are not let out, so we will have to see. LOL I hope everyone has a great day!!

Thanks so much for those links! Hubby wants a "purebred" even if it's not up to breed standards, because that way we'd have a better chance of selling any future calves. We live about an hour west-ish from you, between Burlington and Chapel Hill (that's according to bing maps and me looking up Johnston County, so it could be further or even a bit closer). $7500 is a bit out of our price range! There is a breeder in VA somewhere that sells mini Jerseys for around $2500, but so far that's the cheapest we could find. We have about 2.5 acres of cleared "yard" surrounded by another 55+ acres of mostly woods, but a few fields, so if need be, plenty of land for a full size cow.

We did find that if you're getting more milk than you can use in a week or so, if you put it in plastic jugs, you can freeze it for 3+ months. That way you could save some up for when you're breeding the cow, and she won't be producing milk. We've been doing that already, we buy milk at Sam's Club once a month (about 6-8 gallons) and freeze it till we need it, just give the jug a shake to remix it since the milk can separate. It's saving us a bit of money that way, but I'd still rather have fresh milk.

 

[Moores6]

Ok, not chicken new but animal question.
How can I tell if a cat is going to have kittens?
I know she was breed (my fault, I miss calculated how old she is, because she is a little kitty).
Now I want to get her fixed but I think she is pregnant.
I know I can have her fixed well pregnant but is costs more and is more dangerous than a regular spay.

 

[CricketR4]

Ok, not chicken new but animal question.
How can I tell if a cat is going to have kittens?
I know she was breed (my fault, I miss calculated how old she is, because she is a little kitty).
Now I want to get her fixed but I think she is pregnant.
I know I can have her fixed well pregnant but is costs more and is more dangerous than a regular spay.

Cats don't often show till just before they're due. Gestation is about 63 days give or take, if you notice about 2 months after you think she was bred, that she's "nesting" (looking for a warm, safe spot and staying there for a bit then moving somewhere else), panting, standing then laying down, she's about to go into labor. I personally am against spaying during pregnancy, but if you don't think you ca care for a few kittens for 8 weeks, feeding them, getting first set of shots and finding good homes for them, then you may want to look into pregnant spay. Since you seem worried about cost, consider the cost of spaying her now, and any added cost of possible complications during that spay, and compare it to the food, vet checks and shots of 4 or more kittens and the spay of mom at about 8 weeks after kittens are born.