Random thoughts from the moose cave.

@Rockhead,

snow forecast here over the next coupla days - not as much as the east coast, but enough to make me grrrrrrrrrrrrr

@ehBeth,

ouch...

this is the most awesome beautiful spring I can remember.

but we might head into drought at any time...

and I'll quit complaining about my cold mornings now.

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weird day. went over to see sparky about wiring up a 220v plug out in the work area. and then stopped to see my friend D and her new corgi puppy.

and I got the biggest surprise...

I got some goats.

her brother has some that he wants to be done with. still hafta negotiate, but I am getting at least 2 female kids.

and maybe 4 more kids and a momma and poppa goat.

so now I am dumping the rest of my brush so I can start modifying my trailer to haul baby goats. they are about 50 miles from my place...

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@Rockhead,

Morning, Rocky.
Very happy that things are on the up & up for you.
About time, I say! Smile

Are you going to get into (goat) cheese making?
Now that would be an interesting thing to do!

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@msolga,

possibly at some point, but for now just raising them as meat. hoping to grow my herd fast, I have lots of grass I don't wanna mow.

I had to mow a road out there today to get at a car I'm hauling out of the pasture.

and I hafta sink some poles for my gates...

lotsa work to do before things work smoothly.

gonna hafta hurry up and get my electric fence up and running as well...

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@Rockhead,

goats take good uninterrupted fencing. They will eap over hot wire fencing and be at your back door. Keep em locked in the barn for a few weeks and let them into a paddock area.

You doint want bucks until you learn how to handle em. They are smart and unpredictable. Ask yourself
"Why is this dude getting rid of a herd of goats at no cost to you"?

My rams of a specific blood line go anywhere from 900 to 2500$. Chhampion line dairy goat bucks often command the same

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@Rockhead,

the good thing about goats (if you really get to like em) is that, when they give birth, they give birth to a litter, not just one or two like sheep.

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@farmerman,

they aren't free...

he had a pair that then had a litter.

but $40 each is less than market value.

I'm gonna beef up my existing fence before they come. working on that right now as a matter of fact.

the two I'm getting for certain will be small guys. before they get bigger, the fence will improve.

it's a former horse pasture, so I have decent 4 foot welded wire...

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the A plan for now is to put them in the chicken yard. they can mow it all down in preparation for the chix, and they wont be able to get outta the 8 foot chicken wire...

and I am starting work on a small paddock around the horse barn (as soon as I move out the last of the cars, that's where my mini salvage was)

and then I will fence the big pasture and work on my electric fence...

fm, what kinda fence do you suggest?

I have several rolls of barb wire, and a couple hundred feet of 4 ft tall welded wire.

and about 60 posts to work with, and more available for the drive out to get them. (and a 2 hour conversation, he's lonesome)

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I asked D to try and find out what kind of goats these are.

all her sister-in-law could tell her was that they were cute as hell baby goats.

Ima try and get the real skinny today when I head for town and have better signal. I try not to make any important calls out here in the drop zone...

gotta empty the truck and get going, lots to do yet today.

havin' my cuppa first...

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@Rockhead,

I use the Australian solar fence chargers. I think gotas will respond to a normal shocker, whereas sheep, with all their insulating wool, will need a shocker that "reaches out and touches you"

When you are walking fence, you will learn that Muckboots are your friend.

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@farmerman,

I already have a pair. bought them for fly fishing in lake shasta. somehow still have them. it's almost unexplainable, because I never wear them...

is 4' welded wire topped with barb wire with a buzz wire a foot inside gonna be ok?

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@Rockhead,

I suppose.I use woven wire for te permanent fences. The electric fencing I use 3 strands of nichrome fencing wire attached with "Penne" insulators (They look like plastic tubes You just gotta remember to get the kind with the slit up the back so you dont have to string your fence with insulators. Other kinds like the plastics are ok but they deteriorate after a season in thye sun. They get brittle and break and your back running new insulators(You usually dont find it until after an animal has tested the fence and escaped.

The fencers called "weed burners" are good if you have a power line near the fence. These high joule fences will actually toast any weeds or grasses that touch the fence , but ya gotta keep the bottom mowed (Dont do what I did the first time ,I put my bottom wire too close to the ground. now I just figger that a lowest line should be no lower than a top of a sickle bar.(I love the sickle bar mowers)

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@farmerman,

I already own the welded wire.

my budget for this project is very minimal. like it comes outta my food and gas budget right now...

and these guys are just barely weaned.

they shouldn't turn into houdini overnight...

right???

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@Rockhead,

goats are cute. Thats all I can say. I dont like smart livestock

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@farmerman,

yeah, I kinda got the same problem with women.

I like a challenge...

I'm sure some funny stories will come of this, but what the hell. you only live once.

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@farmerman,

one last question that's been bugging me.

when you want them to move to somewhere else, how do you call a goat?

(a demonstration might be necessary)

maybe I should put collars on them?

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@Rockhead,

Goat Training for Dummies

Really.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/advanced-goat-training.html

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@ehBeth,

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/home-garden/Hobby-Farming/Raising-Goats.html

from the cheat sheet

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/raising-goats-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

Quote:

Asking the Right Questions before Buying Goats
Although you probably are excited to buy goats and bring them home, taking some precautions to make sure that you get healthy goats is an important first step. After you have determined what kind of goats you want and how you intend to use them, you can eliminate goats from consideration by asking the following questions:

•Are your goats registered? If so, with what registry?

•What vaccinations do you give your goats?

•Do you routinely test your goats for any diseases?

•Are these goats negative for CAEV and CL?

•Have you had any health problems in your herd, and if so, what were they?

•Are your goats polled or disbudded?

•Have you had any goats die from undiagnosed disease in the past few years? If so, what are the details?

•Do you bottle-feed or dam–raise kids? Do you pasteurize the milk?

•Have you had a history of abortion in your herd?

•What is your feeding program?

•What kinds of market weights do you get for your goats? (Meat)

•How much fiber and what type do you get from your goats? (Fiber)

•How much milk do you get from your goats? Are you on milk test?

•Have you had any goats die from undiagnosed disease in the past few years? If so, what are the details?

•Do you bottle-feed or dam–raise kids? Do you pasteurize the milk?

•Have you had a history of abortion in your herd?

•What is your feeding program?

•If you’re buying goats to raise for meat: What kinds of market weights do you get for your goats?

•If you’re buying goats for fiber: How much fiber and what type do you get from your goats?

•If you’re buying dairy goats: How much milk do you get from your goats? Are you on milk test?

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@Rockhead,

my wife is i charge of "movig them" They fear me. She uses the tried ad true method of "Bribery with a bucket of grain" technique. After several times, she can just walk out to the pasture with an empty bucket and they follow her. Drivig ay kid of livestock is oly accomplisheable by a Border Collie. Humas will be frusrated at every test. I kow of oe guy who carries a chai saw ad he fires it up so the oise drives em. That oly works for MOST pf his sheep and goats.

One technique is to get an ass or donkey and develop a bod with it. The donkey will automatically assert itself as the pack leader.

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Random thoughts from the moose cave.

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