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dominiquer60
ModeratorI have been starting a business myself and I found that the process of writing a business plan to be very helpful. Even if I never complete it, it has forced me to think about many aspects, such as how I want the public to view my products, who my audience is and where I want to advertise.
When the sugar bush is all set for the season we would like to do some animal logging too, I have no idea who your potential customers are or where you might find them in your area, so I can only share with you about ours. Recently we worked with a local college to put on a logging with draft animals clinic for landowners, this was well attended and we handed out several cards to a captive audience. We also have a few local eateries and a food coop where people that may consider draft animal logging go to eat and look for services. We don’t have any plans to do this full time, so attracting a couple customers a year is all we are looking for.
With over 6,000 members you could contact MOFGA and put an ad or classified in their quarterly newsletter, you may find some interest there.
Best of luck,
ModeratorI like to mix things up once in a while and keep them on their toes as far as the farm routine goes. When they expect a haw to the hay barn I may walk them past it to go check and see how the sap lines are coming along. Working in the woods certainly has great benefits to a young team, the routine is there, but it is a little different each trip, for each trip brings a slightly different location and perhaps a different series of commands, and when you go to a new location entirely there is more novelty. I don’t use them often enough that they get bored this time of year, but I will learn more this summer when I will try to have them out as much as possible.
I don’t do a lot with them out of yolk, but I use every feeding, every hoof trim and every interaction with them as a chance to be their leader and solidify our working relationship. I will admit to lingering at the water tub to rub a neck or two and we enjoyed some time together yesterday in the sun after the Blizzard left and the birds came out. I brought a curry out and we spend a little time together, then they proceeded to have a good romp through the drifts.
I don’t find that I have the time to teach them how to ride, or even to put their brass horn knobs on, but I enjoy making every interaction some quality time on some level.
ModeratorYes I had a grand case of coccidiosis. They had it for a while, but did not present fecal symptoms until we crimped them at 8 months old. My vet said that stress, like the crimping, can cause them to present such symptoms. diagnosing and treating coccidiosis is reasonably cheap. I made the call to the vet Easter Sunday, he was quite certain that it was coccidiosis, I brought him fecal samples the next day and brought liquid Corid home to treat them. The next morning he called to confirm that an ungodly amount of coccidia were in my cattle and I treated 3 times to get them down to an acceptable level, testing in between each period of treatment. Coccidia is a common organism, some cattle will never show signs of it and others may show major signs. My fecal samples also showed signs of other parasites, which I treated for a week after I started the Corid.
All in all the 3 sets of fecals, enough Corid for 3 periods of treatment and some Ivermectin cost me maybe $150 at the very most. A single fecal was $22 per sample, and $15 after that, the Corid was $7 a bottle and with their weight I used 3, there is also a Corid pellet available. Bring fecal samples to your vet, you don’t need to spend the money on a call charge. You can bring a sample from the off steer, samples from both steers, or combine them into one sample and treat them both. It really depends one how you want to approach the situation, by individual, the team or the herd. Chances are if one has it the others could as well. The other thing that I was told to do is to keep the feeding area clean from manure. If they have a tendency to pull hay out to where it can come into contact with manure, see if you can keep the manure cleaned out and/or lessen the amount of hay pulled into the manure. I cleaned my feeding area twice a day anyway, but the organism was rampant on that farm so it was hard to avoid.
Best of luck and let us know how things shake out,
ModeratorWelcome Jeroen,
It is good to have another vegetable farmer on the forum, what nice crops and a beautiful team you have. I like the simplicity of your harness. It looks like you use the same collar and switch the rest out depending on the task, is this correct?
Welcome to our draft community, I am glad that you found us. Please feel free to look around, all of the posts are searchable by subject, look for the search option above. You are welcome to bring up an old thread for more discussion or to start a new one of your own.
I look forward to learning more about your harness and vegetable production.
ModeratorIt was probably a once in a life time trip for us, but they ship parts all the time. If you call looking for something don’t be afraid to ask for Tim, the son tries, but Tim knows his inventory best.
ModeratorAlthough there have been worse storms here and out west, the governor of CT had every reason to close the roads of this state, with 24″ to 40″ snowfall across the state and high winds and drifting, there was no reason for anyone to be out in it. Although people should use common sense, that is a diminishing trait among people of this state, so actions like closing roads need to be taken to lessen the problems for road crews and first responders. For some people it is really hard to understand that their need for a cell phone battery is nothing compared to the problems that they can create by getting in a wreck or stuck, it is a shame really that people can’t think about how they add to a problem like this.
We ended up with 60mph+ gusts and 34″ of snow, I am not sure how they measure it when it drifts so bad. It took us a while to get going, cattle were fed hay only for a while and we had draft animals 2 to a stall. Saturday AM Milking took till noon, and the barn roof is threatening to cave in because of an 8′ drift on the old tie stall barn. The thing about these Nor’easters is that they can have some real heavy wet packy snow, if it had been light and fluffy, I am sure it would have been more than 34″, or at least easier to move around.
The highest measurements that I know of are 40″ in the center of the state and 83mph winds up the coast some in Mass and Maine. The darn thing looked like a hurricane moving off of the coast, look out Scotland, maybe you are next!
ModeratorGrant Michigan!
ModeratorThe snowpocalypse part of the storm is a reality for those along the coast that are still rebuilding from super storm Sandy. This Noreaster actually had a storm serge and the worst of the snow and wind is nailing NJ, NYC, Long Island and the CT coast, to these areas it is like reopening a wound they are having a slow time responding and coping with what some reports say could be as much as 40.” To us this is just another snow storm, we are a farm we have milk cows and other animals and have to be prepared for events like this, but those that are not used to relying on themselves or have been hard hit already, this little bit of snow is a big deal.
ModeratorWe are looking a Blizzard Warning in the face. I just hope that it is cold snow and it blows off the top of the greenhouses easily, otherwise we are ready to tap as soon as the birds come out to sing again:)
ModeratorDoes anyone have a preference for what type of check is best to prevent grazing.
I know a few horses that are in overchecks, they are set very reasonable for work, but the horses are smart. They put their heads down and bend into the check which often gives them enough slack to grab at something green. I find this rather annoying, and tightening the check helps but can be too tight when working. Are side checks harder to weasel any slack out of for grazing? I like that side checks can just bet put over the hames too, one less snap to deal with. Curious to see what others think, I am planning the harness that I want to buy, even though my first team of horses is a long way off:)
ModeratorWelcome Taylor,
“I’ll be headed to NH for the Game of Logging classes in a few weeks and I am so so nervous! I’ve never even started a chainsaw before, this is whole new territory! I imagine it’ll be worth it when I can head into the woods with confidence and do what needs to get done.”
You will love the GOL course, I was in the same boat a few years ago. Just this fall I finally got to the point where I can go down to the limb pile with my pair of steers and cut up a couple loads of firewood on my own. You won’t regret it, just always respect the saw!
When you find that good work horse, don’t worry about it “not looking to good” down the road, because as long as it works good for you, it can work well and not look good. If you watch Carl’s mare work you can hardly tell she can’t see squat, a true testament to a teamster being a good leader.
Best of luck with your new farm, don’t be afraid to use the search option above, bring up and old thread, or start a new one.
Erika
ModeratorThanks Sue, the maple is coming along well, we hope to have 800 taps shortly. Chatham sounds like a good possibility in our future, I’ll let you know when we get our maple on so you can have your ice cream and your maple too 🙂
ModeratorJust an update.
After a grazing season on very well managed pastures with other well managed animals and no drugs/dewormers at all in 21012, my fall fecals were clean, no parasites to speak of. Their winter coats grew in very well and uniform, and yesterday they just started to let go of a few hairs when I brushed them, something that there was no sign of 2 days prior. I know that their guts will never be the same after the mess that they went thru that first year, but I an hopeful that they shed better now that their health has been consistently great for a while, giving the whole body time to adjust to the “new” and better normal.
Break out the shedding blades and curry combs, here comes 10+ hours of day length whether you are ready for it or not.
ModeratorSue this sounds like so much fun, I wish we could make it down, but between the maple season and the greenhouse we are chained to the farm that time of year.
I wish you lots of success and many good teamsters doing great work.
ModeratorI met a woman with a chocolate company at the workshop, she has friends in Wisconsin that could easily integrate draft animals in their business.
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