Comments on: Bigger than a Bread Box: Larger Livestock for the Homestead and Small Farm http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/ Finding the keys to the future…and trying not to lose them in the mess. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:26:03 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: louisvuitton78 http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/comment-page-1/#comment-45834 louisvuitton78 Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:35:57 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/#comment-45834 I like the valuable info you provide in your articles. I'll bookmark your blog and check again here frequently. I am quite sure I will learn many new stuff right here! Good luck for the next! I like the valuable info you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your blog and check again here frequently. I am quite sure I will learn many new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!

]]> By: beatssolo http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/comment-page-1/#comment-45736 beatssolo Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:01:26 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/#comment-45736 The subsequent time I read a article, I expect that it doesnt disappoint me as a whole lot as this 1. I mean, I know it was my option to read, but I in fact thought youd have some thing attention-grabbing to about. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could possibly repair need to you werent time in search of attention.<a href="http://www.beatsbydreclearance.com/beats-studio-red-sox-c-5.html" rel="nofollow">Monster Beats Red Sox</a> The subsequent time I read a article, I expect that it doesnt disappoint me as a whole lot as this 1. I mean, I know it was my option to read, but I in fact thought youd have some thing attention-grabbing to about. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could possibly repair need to you werent time in search of attention.Monster Beats Red Sox

]]> By: SOM HALI http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/comment-page-1/#comment-40500 SOM HALI Thu, 05 May 2011 23:51:46 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/#comment-40500 Great post! Great post!

]]> By: luisa http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/comment-page-1/#comment-14337 luisa Fri, 29 May 2009 00:34:51 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/#comment-14337 we've got 14 geese of mixed heritages--african, chinese, toulousse, american buff, and now a gaggle of goslings, mixed. true they are good watch animals, but our local bobcats have been feasting on our flock. so far they have taken five geese and who knows how many guineas, wh/ don't always come in at night. so--get a mini donkey? we don't have pasture land; we'd have to feed it, but it would have an acre or so of well-fenced land for moving around on, mingling w/ all the poultry. (should we get 2, for company?) i would train at least one of them to assist me--i'm 73, large, walking on crutches. sometimes i fall in the pasture when putting everything away at night. a mini could pull me to my feet. mini's are expensive. am i being realistic? thanks for any advice! luisa we’ve got 14 geese of mixed heritages–african, chinese, toulousse, american buff, and now a gaggle of goslings, mixed. true they are good watch animals, but our local bobcats have been feasting on our flock. so far they have taken five geese and who knows how many guineas, wh/ don’t always come in at night. so–get a mini donkey?

we don’t have pasture land; we’d have to feed it, but it would have an acre or so of well-fenced land for moving around on, mingling w/ all the poultry. (should we get 2, for company?) i would train at least one of them to assist me–i’m 73, large, walking on crutches. sometimes i fall in the pasture when putting everything away at night. a mini could pull me to my feet.

mini’s are expensive. am i being realistic?

thanks for any advice!
luisa

]]> By: Susan http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/comment-page-1/#comment-14336 Susan Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:24:16 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/#comment-14336 Geese are exceptional as guard animals for people precisely because people can't get round them. I had som Poms in the house yard and no problems with neighbours in the yard. Then a series of problems - someone was using my paddocks to access the back yards of some neighbours. Our next door n/bs actually had a peeping tom who had befriended their dog. So I got a mixed flock of Chinese and 1/2 Chinese geese - wonderful stuff, the young gangders put on great exhibitions of fighting with each other in the paddock, plus at night if they called out we flicked on the floodlights and took torches and went for a look-see. Trespassers have trouble making friends with geese. Geese are exceptional as guard animals for people precisely because people can’t get round them. I had som Poms in the house yard and no problems with neighbours in the yard. Then a series of problems – someone was using my paddocks to access the back yards of some neighbours. Our next door n/bs actually had a peeping tom who had befriended their dog. So I got a mixed flock of Chinese and 1/2 Chinese geese – wonderful stuff, the young gangders put on great exhibitions of fighting with each other in the paddock, plus at night if they called out we flicked on the floodlights and took torches and went for a look-see.

Trespassers have trouble making friends with geese.

]]> By: Abbie http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/comment-page-1/#comment-14335 Abbie Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:01:48 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/#comment-14335 Now's a good time to get draft horses, as many people are looking for good homes for animals they can't afford. We're getting a bred Shire mare, who's due to foal in August, for a very reasonable price. We're so excited to get to raise our own work horse, and my dad's been dreaming about it since he was a little kid. We've had two teams of horses before, and while we don't use them for farm work really, we do use them for hayrides to attract families to our farm. I'm sure a baby draft horse will be a big draw this fall. She arrives tomorrow night and I couldn't be more excited! Now’s a good time to get draft horses, as many people are looking for good homes for animals they can’t afford.

We’re getting a bred Shire mare, who’s due to foal in August, for a very reasonable price. We’re so excited to get to raise our own work horse, and my dad’s been dreaming about it since he was a little kid. We’ve had two teams of horses before, and while we don’t use them for farm work really, we do use them for hayrides to attract families to our farm. I’m sure a baby draft horse will be a big draw this fall.

She arrives tomorrow night and I couldn’t be more excited!

]]> By: Mia http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/comment-page-1/#comment-14334 Mia Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:57:07 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/#comment-14334 My parents had a donkey that I actually saw with my own eyes grab a fox in his teeth by the scruff of his neck and fling it out of the chicken yard!! And this was a very very old donkey. So they can be great guards. I have a llama guard for my sheep though because I got one for free/ My parents had a donkey that I actually saw with my own eyes grab a fox in his teeth by the scruff of his neck and fling it out of the chicken yard!! And this was a very very old donkey. So they can be great guards. I have a llama guard for my sheep though because I got one for free/

]]> By: rdheather http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/comment-page-1/#comment-14333 rdheather Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:15:55 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/#comment-14333 And also I would add-thinking of what to do when things don't work like they should. In my case that's been a total of three pregnancies in two Nigerian Dwarf goats that has ended in three c-sections. Costly and not very sustainable. The two c-section doe is a favorite and will not be bred again. The other one will get another chance but my new rule is babies with minimal help. It makes waiting for babies a somewhat depressing birth/death combo. And for anyone thinking that pigs plow neatly-think bombing range instead! They are very efficient at turning dirt over but it's all craters and hills. But maybe that's just my piggy. :) And also I would add-thinking of what to do when things don’t work like they should.

In my case that’s been a total of three pregnancies in two Nigerian Dwarf goats that has ended in three c-sections. Costly and not very sustainable. The two c-section doe is a favorite and will not be bred again. The other one will get another chance but my new rule is babies with minimal help. It makes waiting for babies a somewhat depressing birth/death combo.

And for anyone thinking that pigs plow neatly-think bombing range instead! They are very efficient at turning dirt over but it’s all craters and hills. But maybe that’s just my piggy. :)

]]> By: Sharon http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/comment-page-1/#comment-14332 Sharon Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:18:51 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/#comment-14332 Sorry, yes that bit about geese should have said "weeds." Not trying to make people's head explode. We don't actually own the donkey, but Xote comes and lives with the sheep during their season in our lives (May to December last year) - he's a mini, and very cute and sweet. He's a very, very good guardian, extremely serious about it - he even runs the cats out of the pasture, since after extensive sniffing, he determined they are predators. He licked them a couple of times to make sure :-). We don't presently have geese - we had a lovely pair, Agatha and Gangulfus, who were sweet, gentle and very good alarms. Gangulfus died, and when we tried to get Agatha a boyfriend, she took off with him for the pond. The two of them lived on the pond for several years, causing a lot of curiosity about the new breed of wild geese that had showed up. Every so often we'd attempt to round them up, which was sort of the "what to do when the guests come" thing, but they always ended up in the water. This was a failure of our fences, not of the geese, however. We were told that they couldn't fly over 4 foot fences - turns out someone lied ;-). Our other two were Pomeranians, but I'd like Pilgrims this time, which I hear are very gentle. I think that a lot of it depends on them being handled a lot from infancy. Sharon Sorry, yes that bit about geese should have said “weeds.” Not trying to make people’s head explode.

We don’t actually own the donkey, but Xote comes and lives with the sheep during their season in our lives (May to December last year) – he’s a mini, and very cute and sweet. He’s a very, very good guardian, extremely serious about it – he even runs the cats out of the pasture, since after extensive sniffing, he determined they are predators. He licked them a couple of times to make sure :-) .

We don’t presently have geese – we had a lovely pair, Agatha and Gangulfus, who were sweet, gentle and very good alarms. Gangulfus died, and when we tried to get Agatha a boyfriend, she took off with him for the pond. The two of them lived on the pond for several years, causing a lot of curiosity about the new breed of wild geese that had showed up. Every so often we’d attempt to round them up, which was sort of the “what to do when the guests come” thing, but they always ended up in the water. This was a failure of our fences, not of the geese, however. We were told that they couldn’t fly over 4 foot fences – turns out someone lied ;-) .

Our other two were Pomeranians, but I’d like Pilgrims this time, which I hear are very gentle. I think that a lot of it depends on them being handled a lot from infancy.

Sharon

]]> By: Brian Kaller http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/comment-page-1/#comment-14331 Brian Kaller Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:49:42 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2009/02/24/bigger-than-a-bread-box-larger-livestock-for-the-homestead-and-small-farm/#comment-14331 Scratch that last part. I just realized this was a sequel to the earlier post where you talked about that very thing. Oops. Scratch that last part. I just realized this was a sequel to the earlier post where you talked about that very thing. Oops.

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