The Evolution of Atlas: A Breeding (and Chat) Thread

[speckledhen]

Depends on what your lookimg at? Lowline/Miniature catlle or standards? A standard cow calf pair would do great out there. A few miniatures would too.

Not sure. I know the guy who did the pasture work runs cattle and could probably hook us up with something, but it may be too much for DH and I to deal with-having to milk something daily might not work for us and we'd have to build at least a lean-to out there for it/them. He was talking about growing out a calf for the freezer, but knowing him, he'd make a big pet out of it and not be able to do the deed. Have to think on that some more. Thanks for the info!

Yes. I did a 10 day test run with some inferior eating eggs. Everything looked good, including the air cells. It's holding temp. and humidity really good. That gave me time to collect more eggs from my preferred breeding trio. Did I mention that I had eggs collected eggs from my breeding trio, had them sitting on my counter, sorted, and ready to set, then Dh decided to give some eggs to a co-worker. Did he get the ones from the egg basket? Of course not! He got the ones on the counter that I had collected to hatch in the new incubator.

sounds like husbands.

 

[holm25]

If u were to run a beef cow wiyh her calf out there u wouldnt have to milk it. Hows your weather there? The cattle here have no building to go in year round. Well I guess we toss the cows that are calving into pens once labor hits.

 

[MistyMountain]

Not sure. I know the guy who did the pasture work runs cattle and could probably hook us up with something, but it may be too much for DH and I to deal with-having to milk something daily might not work for us and we'd have to build at least a lean-to out there for it/them. He was talking about growing out a calf for the freezer, but knowing him, he'd make a big pet out of it and not be able to do the deed. Have to think on that some more. Thanks for the info!

DH is a bit concerned that is what we have going on here… a someday 1,500 lb pet!! I must say, though, it is easier to threaten the freezer when the finish their bottle and decide it's not enough. They are hardwired to look for legs and will goose you if you aren't paying attention! I was covered in slobber this morning!

We have a number of small pastures we will be fencing in, two 2 acres, one 1.5 acre. We're looking into full time cattle as well, but perhaps miniature. We've been eyeing the Dexters for a while… meat and milk and not too much for simple "homestead" use. Supposedly they can survive on 1/2 an acre per head. Any experience with these, Isaiah?

Isaiah, nice looking calf!! Helps me realize how much "sharky" has grown!!

Cyn your garden is beautiful!! Can't wait for mine to be that size! We're just doing 15 x 15 this year, until we have time to put up the permanent fence. Too much time clearing pasture this year to worry about it. Care to give a run-down of what you've planted?

 

[speckledhen]

If u were to run a beef cow wiyh her calf out there u wouldnt have to milk it. Hows your weather there? The cattle here have no building to go in year round. Well I guess we toss the cows that are calving into pens once labor hits.

I'd feel better if there was a lean-to. My grandfather didn't have shelter on at least one of his pastures, I remember. His farm was on two sides of the county road. The pastures connected to the side where the house and all the outbuildings were naturally had barns to house them but they mostly stayed under the tree cover except for, as you said, cows with calves. That much I do remember.

Our weather is not too hot in summer, generally, 80's, rarely tops 90*, not as humid up here as lower elevations most of the time. Winters can get into teens at night, with the occasional single digit or near zero night temp in the worst of winter. We have some snow, but not really much, normally, 2-3" here and there. Only once in the 14 years we've lived here have we had a big snow, well semi-big, about 10" one time. Nothing like Utah and Colorado were, but wetter than they are.

 

[speckledhen]

DH is a bit concerned that is what we have going on here… a someday 1,500 lb pet!! I must say, though, it is easier to threaten the freezer when the finish their bottle and decide it's not enough. They are hardwired to look for legs and will goose you if you aren't paying attention! I was covered in slobber this morning!

We have a number of small pastures we will be fencing in, two 2 acres, one 1.5 acre. We're looking into full time cattle as well, but perhaps miniature. We've been eyeing the Dexters for a while… meat and milk and not too much for simple "homestead" use. Supposedly they can survive on 1/2 an acre per head. Any experience with these, Isaiah?

Isaiah, nice looking calf!! Helps me realize how much "sharky" has grown!!

Cyn your garden is beautiful!! Can't wait for mine to be that size! We're just doing 15 x 15 this year, until we have time to put up the permanent fence. Too much time clearing pasture this year to worry about it. Care to give a run-down of what you've planted?

We have okra, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, tomatoes (Roma, Cherokee Purple and Ruby Orr and some mystery tomatoes that were in my dad's basement he had seed-saved), lots of beans, both pole and bush (Contender, Roma II for bush and Greasy Back Short Cuts for the heirloom pole type), bell and jalapeno peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, kale, cantaloupe and honeydew melon (two types of honeydew) and potatoes, plus I have my Mexican Oregano out there, flat leaf parsley and I have a Cuban oregano plant still in the house. This week's night temps are too low for it to go outside just yet permanently.

 

[holm25]

DH is a bit concerned that is what we have going on here… a someday 1,500 lb pet!! I must say, though, it is easier to threaten the freezer when the finish their bottle and decide it's not enough. They are hardwired to look for legs and will goose you if you aren't paying attention! I was covered in slobber this morning!

We have a number of small pastures we will be fencing in, two 2 acres, one 1.5 acre. We're looking into full time cattle as well, but perhaps miniature. We've been eyeing the Dexters for a while… meat and milk and not too much for simple "homestead" use. Supposedly they can survive on 1/2 an acre per head. Any experience with these, Isaiah?

Isaiah, nice looking calf!! Helps me realize how much "sharky" has grown!!

Cyn your garden is beautiful!! Can't wait for mine to be that size! We're just doing 15 x 15 this year, until we have time to put up the permanent fence. Too much time clearing pasture this year to worry about it. Care to give a run-down of what you've planted?

We have no experience with lowlines. Theres a forum called "Keeping a Family Milk Cow" and theres lots of Lowline people there. They can answer lots of questions.

Thanks! He is quite the little calf!

Is "Sharky" on a bottle? Or have u got him on a pail now?

 

[speckledhen]

I've seen that family cow forum, very good information there!

 

[MistyMountain]

We have okra, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, tomatoes (Roma, Cherokee Purple and Ruby Orr and some mystery tomatoes that were in my dad's basement he had seed-saved), lots of beans, both pole and bush (Contender, Roma II for bush and Greasy Back Short Cuts for the heirloom pole type), bell and jalapeno peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, kale, cantaloupe and honeydew melon (two types of honeydew) and potatoes, plus I have my Mexican Oregano out there, flat leaf parsley and I have a Cuban oregano plant still in the house. This week's night temps are too low for it to go outside just yet permanently.

Oh Yum!! How do you like the cherokee purple? I was searching for a black brandywine, but could not find any. I am going to check the farmer's market this weekend. All the canning stuff will have to wait until the garden is bigger, next year hopefully. I just have some zucchini, yellow squash, yellow peppers, mr. stripey tomato, roma, cherry tomato and cucumber. I also have rhubarb that will go in the corner and some basil for between the tomato plants and on the deck. I love fresh mozz/tomato/basil grilled sammies! Thanks for sharing! I need to try and start from seed and learn a bit on how to preserve seeds from year to year.

We have no experience with lowlines. Theres a forum called "Keeping a Family Milk Cow" and theres lots of Lowline people there. They can answer lots of questions.

Thanks! He is quite the little calf!

Is "Sharky" on a bottle? Or have u got him on a pail now?

He is still on the bottle. We are going to try and keep it that way until he is weaned. It forces us to spend some time with him and work with him a bit. He will have to have good leading manners for when we rotate pasture. He's eating like a champ. I have a couple cattle questions, mind if I send a PM instead of filling up Cyn's thread?

 

[holm25]

Sure! Idc if u pm me

 

[speckledhen]

Attention, Atlas fans! Today in the mail, I received an unexpected gift from 1muttsfan. She said she was sending me something that was fragile and time sensitive and though my husband asked if she was sending me hatching eggs, I said I didn't really think so, maybe plants for the garden or something. Well, SURPRISE! Thank you SO much, Mary! And Uphilljill, too, for packing and mailing them.

My Stukel hens are aging out pretty fast and this will help bring in a shot of new blood to boost my stock. I'm excited and very grateful. I'm blessed that BYC folks are so kind to me, not sure I really deserve it all, but I am truly thankful. Now, you'll have to bear with me on the hatchalong!

Jill sent 18, only 2 didn't make it, rest were well-protected from yolk spill by bubblewrap, so 16 lovelies to grow out.









Michelle, to answer your question about the Cherokee Purple, we haven't done those before, so I don't know. But the Ruby Orr is a rare heirloom we seed saved from a tomato given to us by a farmer friend just over the line in NC and we like heirlooms over hybrids. Don't need many maters this year, just a few for sandwiches and a few to put up in stews, sauces and maybe some salsa.