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Robert MoonShadow
ParticipantJ-L ~
Oh, it’s definitely a “go”. Just finalizing a date that’s good for everybody.
I’ve got a plow, too – and also need to meet up w/ someone actually smart enough that n=knows how to dial it in…of course, me being me, I’ll probably just do it w/ my donks and take it low and slow. If nothing else, if you show up, I’ll be able to definitely tell you how NOT to do it!! It’ll be another instance where having a sensible donkey will help alleviate the not-so-sensible human involved.
Hope to see you here.ParticipantHow does Sunday, October 9th sound? Or if we want to make it the whole weekend, people can start showing up Friday the 7th?
In the photos above, we’ve got the land to the south (almost 8 acres) to play on.*Thanks, Kristi, for the photos!*
ParticipantHere’s what the land looks like. Highway 95 is in the background (view is looking south)
My garden {the small one}…
The flag will be higher, and thus easier to see from the highway. It seems to attract the notice of the fishermen and river floaters…ParticipantHere’s what the land looks like. Highway
My garden…
Participant“…more than a handful of pigs ‘on staff’…”
Made me laugh, but an excellent way to view them!
I think the greenhouse on top idea is fascinating…do you think it’ll self-generate a good portion of the heat needed?ParticipantOh that’s just too funny! Those look like Kiko goats…maybe I ought to reconsider getting Kikos… the next video w/ the baby goat on the temple walls looks just like my Daphne – that’s what the Boer/dairy crosses look like.
ParticipantThe netting sure helps – the combination of a (visually) physical barrier and then the snap they get when they explore it tends to deter them…works best on dogs/coyotes. The best type is the alternating strands that are pos/neg – “self-grounding”, in that the animal becomes the ground. More expensive, of course, but less hassle with creating adequate grounding on dry ground. A sheep/goat combined herd would really clean up both the forbs and the brush!
ParticipantGood flick!
Is he running a 3-abreast?ParticipantThat is SO cool!!!Is the woman (judging by the sound of the voice) driving the wheelers? I wonder why that is? I think he’s talking them up for the crowd…those mules seem to respond so well to the lines!
BTW Dave, I’m still waiting on YOUR suggestions as for dates for this thing, too!
{Wow, I hope I’m not being too subtle…}ParticipantOldkat – I started with 3 dairy does – mostly Nubian/Saanen/Alpine w/ a dash or two of LaMancha – and 3 Boer x Spanish does (love those “bearded ladies”!). I then got a very tall Nubian x Alpine buck. After 4 years, I’ve got a nice blend of genes that has the heat-tolerance, weight, & multiple birthings of the Boer, the hardiness of the Spanish, and the height and added milk of the dairies. The white in the Boers & crosses makes it easier for me to se them on the mountain side…and face it, the predators can find them easy enough, regardless of color! 😡 But Boers are ‘short and squat’…and thus a lot slower – ‘devil (or predator) gets the hindmost! Just my opinion, really.
I’ve never noticed the Boers being picky eaters..but then mine are crossed w/ the Spanish blood. They can’t get as high up on the brush as I’d like them to (especially useful on the rose, to get all the hips – or “goat-candy”), which is the reason I added the dairy breeding. The breeds I’d like to add are:
* Cashmere = thick undercoat for winter survival
* Kiko = supposed to be every bit as good for meat production as the Boer w/ better feet
* Kinder = originally developed by a couple of women in western Washington in the 80s from a Pygmy buck and a dairy breed (I forget which one). A small dual-purpose goat that’s reknown for multiple births each time – as in, their record is 6! Lots of quads & quints…triplets are the norm – and plenty of rich milk to nurse them!!
For now, I’m happy w/ my “Pirates”. 😀
Oh, I suspect that your neighbor has that barbwire electrified…my Boers dance through 4-strand on their way to the equally sharp roses.
If anyone’s really interested in goats (I hope so, or else I REALLY overdid it on this post), there’s a university out of OK. I believe that has an excellent download on all things goatish for free.
Word of warning: keep the goats away from wild cherry, azealas, rhodedendrums (sp?), and, I believe, mt. laurels unless you want a dead goat.
Erika – I didn’t know that they like poison ivy…never noticed, before. Thanks! I’ll add that to the list I advertise.Participant@dominiquer60 27539 wrote:
A few years from now we will look back on this post as the start of the Western Mountain Animal-Power Field Days….or what ever you want to call it, anyway you look at it this will be a great event. How can you go wrong with a pirate in charge.
Erika
In the immortal words of that great and wise philosopher, Bugs Bunny:
“She don’t know me very well, do she?”
😀
Actually, Erika, we were hoping you’d show up and provide adult supervision to this shindig. 😉The land owners were down there today, burning some old brush (they’re in at least their 80s) and we chatted about this thing… She declared that she’d never seen working donkeys or mini-mules and I had to explain what ‘Fjules’ are. “Can we come?”
:confused:
I’m thinking to myself “Lady, you OWN this land…what do you mean, ‘can you come’?!?”
But of course, that’s just Evelyn’s (sp?) way.
So, she and her husband have been extended a very personal invitation to attend. Hey, I’m a pirate…but I’m a POLITE pirate!
Now if no Fjules or mini-mules show up, I’m in deep doo-doo. 😮ParticipantHey Tom – I doubled my rates & added a $200 delivery charge split 4 ways & they still lined up for it! I haven’t had the nerve yet to add a surcharge for the “custom fertilizing” of their lots. 😀
Goats aren’t as selective/accurate in identifying the weed as you need to be w/ the spray…their philosophy is: If it tastes good, EAT IT!! If it DOESN’T taste good, trample it and poop on it.
Be warned, though; owners love it when they eat the multifloral roses taking over the pasture/woodlot…not so much when they get out and eat their prize roses by the door.
Again, don’t ask me how I know…:rolleyes:
Another aspect to consider: the way they browse, they also remove ladder fuels & ‘prune up’ the bottom of trees, opening up the forest floor.ParticipantI think ATTRA could help w/ a grant and/or expertise in keeping a scientific record of it. That way you could concentrate on the doing, and they can asist you w/ the measuring of it.
ParticipantHey Baystate! Its what I do, to diversify my produce and rabbits…I custom graze my small goat herd aiming at Canandian, bull, and yellow star thistle, multifloral rose, spotted knapweed…
The girls have literally ran pass a bale of alfalfa for the rose. I charge a base rate of $5/day, and it goes up from there. 15 goats, 4-6 rolls of electric netting, 2 battery fence chargers. In fact, I took out an ad on CL specifically saying I only work this county…after 5 pleas, I am now booked on (so far) 4 jobs in the Clarkston/Lewiston areas 80 miles away! At $50 extra fuel charge (each site) & at least double my daily rates…and most of them gladly water & oversee the girls- I’ll just show up to move them around every 5 or 7 days. In fact, I’ve just got an email today from someone who has “several hundred acres of star thistle…” I’m referring them to Ray (quit counting at 8,000 head) and/or his ex (700+ head). They charge by the acre ($50 per). I fill the small parcel niche. So, yeah, goats work…and as for the point about having to bring them back in for several years; haven’t seen an area yet get sprayed that didn’t need it repeated.
Plus there’s personal benefits: never see the client send out their kids to watch the sprayer work, huh? I love it = “Are you a pirate?” “Yup – see the eyepatch?” “AND a pirate?!?” “Yup – see the goats?”
Ever see a kid hug a can of weed-be-gone? Me neither. :rolleyes:ParticipantYeah, I know it’s HeeHaw that’s got the friend w/ the mini-mules, but work with me here, alright?
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