[dominiquer60]

Thanks for the update Andy, it is great to hear about all of your progress and the enjoyment that you get from working your cattle. Mine have been rather rambunctious too, it is fun to watch their sparing turn into mutual grooming. When I feed hay out they will sometimes come to me at a good clip, but a stern shake of a finger and they turn the other way, I never let them forget who leads the herd.

[dominiquer60]

Thanks for the great feedback! Remember we are always looking for interesting material to publish, should you come across any or create some yourself please email it to me at marczake@hotmail.com. Our Summer issue will be a big one that will be handed out to many attendees at the NOFA conference and the Horse Progress Days in Michigan. We have one sponsor for the newsletter so far (Anne & Eric Nordell!) and we are looking for other sponsors and advertisers as well. I would also like to invite any of our friends outside of the Northeast USA to contribute, we would greatly welcome your knowledge and perspective. Our Summer May25th deadline is fast approaching in order to print in time for the Horse Progress Days, and the Fall deadline is October 1st.

Thanks all for your support!

Erika Marczak
DAPNet Newsletter Chairperson

[dominiquer60]

Welcome, we are glad to meet you. You can search for key words about the topics that interest you and feel free to ask any questions.

[dominiquer60]

The clinic was awesome! It was great to see all the little things that can be done to a plow to get it to go better. The transformation that some of the plows and teamsters made over the weekend was wonderful, especially Megan with her new horse and borrowed plow, unbelievable progress for 2 days of work.

It was great visiting with everyone that came.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

This is the valley that suffered extreme Irene damage (see photo http://middleburgh.com/FLOOD.HTM), and was the bread basket of the Revolutionary War. Many farmers suffered huge devastating losses, entire fields of vegetables, corn and late alfalfa were lost, not to mention hundreds of animals and a few barns (fires started when 18′ of water reached the haylofts, and rescue workers could not get to barns). Many communities suffered terrible loss, but after months of rebuilding and still more to go, this community has much to celebrate. I donated a good amount of produce last fall to feed families and volunteers, please consider helping this community if you are close enough to participate with this celebration, they are good people and will greatly appreciate your efforts.

[dominiquer60]

Head yokes work particularly well with beef breeds and beef breed crosses because of their thicker stronger necks. Your more delicate dairy cow may be more comfortable in a single neck yoke. If you will need to hold a load back britchen may add to her comfort as well, she will be able to hold the load with her rump instead of her head and neck. I am not saying that either head or neck yoke is better, but I think it depends on the animals physical build as to how well a yoke will work and with how much comfort or mechanical advantage it will provide.

[dominiquer60]

I have worked with flocks of 1 to 3700. I had to sell my small flock last year, but hope to start another next spring. Dominiques are my breed of choice, but I like most heavy breeds that lay well and make tasty stew hens. More later.

[dominiquer60]

Julie,
It’s so good to hear from you again. Your projects sound exciting and I wish you the best of luck with all of them. It may be a little far, but we (DAPNet) are holding a Plowing Clinic at Sam Rich’s place in CT, there is bound to be a lot for us auditors to learn about plows and plowing. I found my single plow at an auction and another I bought at a yard sale just for the bridle, then after some looking over I think I can make it work if I can find a new point for it and get some new handles. Just keep your eyes open, you never know what is lurking in a hedgerow or road side.

Best of Luck,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Welcome friend, we can never have too many acquaintances from the other side of the pond! Read up and ask away.

[dominiquer60]

Everyone trains a little different, but basically if they are old enough to walk you can start training. With that said a you should have realistic expectations for a 3 day old calf vs. 3 months vs. 3 years. Start slow with the animals as singles with a halter, lead and switch and keep it simple, come-up and whoa at first, adding commands and more time to lessons as they progress and get older. A five inch yoke is a reasonable size to start with and can be made from a 4×4 and conduit. You can start yoking at a few weeks of age as long as each calf knows the basic commands. This is very general, but I am just a beginner myself with a back round in horses also. There will always be a place in my life for horses, but I own a pair of steers now and have a much greater fondness and respect for working cattle and their teamsters than I used to.

[dominiquer60]

It answered some of my questions and spawned new ones, but I will start another thread.

[dominiquer60]

The times have changed some for the worse and some for the better. If only we had the knowledge of draft animals and agriculture that they had and they had our laws that women and lesser classes of the time could vote and count as people. There is always a trade off to deal with, in this day in age I am thankful that we can swap our crazy ideas with each other using these handy electron devices. We may not have Grandpa’s farming knowledge, but we don’t have Grandmother oppression either.

“The happiest people don’t have everything, but make the best of everything!” Quote I saw on Facebook 🙂

[dominiquer60]

If one is dealing with soil that has been compacted for years due to growing conventional corn, sub-soiling can be a quick way to fracture the hardpan. If you have time to wait for a deep cover crop that is great, but it can take a while for a similar outcome.

[dominiquer60]

One thing I for got to mention is that they have very limited choices, white broiler, red broiler, red sex-linked layer, white turkeys or Pekin ducks. They used to only have 3 choices so they are expanding by adding the red broilers and ducks. Though limited in choices, the quality is high.

[dominiquer60]

They are Plain Folk, but have a telephone

Peach Lane Harness Shop
88 Peach Ln
Ronks, PA 17572
Phone: 717-687-5122

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