Wing It Ranch

[Molpet]

I'm going to be completely honest here. I'm struggling! I think I've put entirely too much on my plate.. the chickens are easy but the goats and Livestock Guardian Dog are maybe a touch too far for someone who works full time with multiple irons in the fire. I'm gone from home about 11 hrs per day so I have to jam caring for all the animals, milking Daisy, my normal chores and errands, and a side hobby that I do with my partner.

Somethings gotta give. Can't give up my career.

My thought on getting any livestock is they have to have a job.
Chickens = eggs & meat
Goats= land clearing & dairy
LGD= protecting the goats.

Well, I'm barely getting any milk from Daisy and I can't let them out of goat pen to clear more land until Beau is with them. I can't put Beau with them until he's trained not to harass the goats. He's chased them in the past and recently he showed possessiveness for baby Titus and wouldn't let Daisy or Maggie near the kid. So he's separated and now I have to do short supervised training sessions.

I'm just exhausted from so many chores and starting to burn out. I literally milk Daisy with a headlamp in the mornings because I have to leave so early for work. I absolutely love the goats but I'm starting to see this is going to have to be a hobby for when I'm retired.

I guess I just needed to talk it out. Not sure what I'm going to do. I have a work trip coming up and I had to hire a pet sitter for only 6 days and she's charging $400... considering rehoming the goats and Beau. I've never rehomed an animal in my life! Always stuck with whatever animal I've brought home through good and bad. Feeling a lot of guilt for even considering...

Yes it gets overwhelming.
I usually can't sleep after selling the extra in the spring.... wondering.
But if people didn't sell we wouldn't have anything to buy. Someone gave us a chance and we are just passing on the opportunity to someone else.
At least that's how I try to look at it.

 

[thistlewick]

I completely feel this Wingit!! COMPLETELY!! I don't want all my chickens anymore and the sheep, who don't cause ANY TROUBLE, I don't want either.

Because -- we can't travel. We are stuck here. We *are* retired and I am RESTLESS. I got animals too soon.

There is a small animal auction in my town that I can take the chickens and sheep to and get rid of them in an evening. It's nice having that out. Maybe I will take it, maybe I won't.

What I have seriously considered because all the hawk losses is curtailing my flock to <15 birds and just keeping them cooped up in the freakin Taj Mahal we built for them. It's 384 square feet of space. 15 chickens should be alright with that.

Anyway, Wingit, you are NOT alone. You do what is best for you and everything will be alright. No one is judging you at all.

 

[WingItRanch]

Thank you ALL for your thoughts. That does make me feel a lot better to know I'm not alone in this. I do still enjoy all the animals but man, I'm just so physically tired.

I think I'm going to stop milking. I'm not getting enough milk to make it worth all the early mornings covered in mosquitoes and all the cleanup.

I'll take my time making any decisions.

 

[Strawberry74]

Thank you ALL for your thoughts. That does make me feel a lot better to know I'm not alone in this. I do still enjoy all the animals but man, I'm just so physically tired.

I think I'm going to stop milking. I'm not getting enough milk to make it worth all the early mornings covered in mosquitoes and all the cleanup.

I'll take my time making any decisions.

Another thought on the goats. What is your set up? If you aren't milking, do they require much in terms of daily cares? I have an auto water on their trough so it fills automatically when needed. It's also feasible to put out enough hay for a week so filling feeders daily isn't an added chore and it makes them clean it up more instead of wasting it. As far as fencing, we have 4' woven wire and hot wire on top. The goats are let out of their 2 acre main pen/barn area in the morning to graze as desired on an additional 3 acres and then the gate is closed at night. We see coyotes and fox occasionally, but they'd have to clear 2 fences with hotwire on top if they wanted in. No issues in 8 years.

Take your time and do what's right for you.

 

[WingItRanch]

Another thought on the goats. What is your set up? If you aren't milking, do they require much in terms of daily cares? I have an auto water on their trough so it fills automatically when needed. It's also feasible to put out enough hay for a week so filling feeders daily isn't an added chore and it makes them clean it up more instead of wasting it. As far as fencing, we have 4' woven wire and hot wire on top. The goats are let out of their 2 acre main pen/barn area in the morning to graze as desired on an additional 3 acres and then the gate is closed at night. We see coyotes and fox occasionally, but they'd have to clear 2 fences with hotwire on top if they wanted in. No issues in 8 years.

Take your time and do what's right for you.

So I don't have water or electricity out at the goat pen. They have a ton of food options because it's so green this time of year and it's a pretty big space for only 2.5 goats. Really, the water is the main chore.

As for predator protection, we've seen Bobcats, Coyotes, and Foxes on our trail cams. They're in a pen with 6 ft fencing. Beau is in a separate pen (old pig breeding pens with all the doors open) where he can see the goats and bark away predators to his heart's content. I walk him daily for extra exercise and to get his scent around.