Daydreaming while waiting impatiently!

[tortoise]

We put an offer on a property! Modest 2 bedroom home, old dutch style barn, a small outbuilding in disrepair on 40 acres that were cleared a very long time ago. It is brushy grassland with some low-lying area. Problem is there were multiple offers on it! It was only on the market 4 days! So we are waiting... we've been advised that people who put in full-price offers will get an opportunity to put a "best price" offer. We put a full-price offer in, so we still have a chance at it!

In the meantime, I'm daydreaming! As a family, we want chickens. My fianc and son (6 years old) would like to raise fair pigs. I want a sheep for wool, and I adore goats. I have no purpose for goats. I just love them. So I'm thinking little pygmy goats to keep the cost of PET goats down, or pygora goats for wool and nix the sheep.

 

[tortoise]

Sometimes I'm afraid to go in with my ewes because they'll see me and start running - directly at me. A herd of 200 pound animals careening towards me makes me fear for my knees. LOL! They haven't knocked me down yet, but goodness they come close to it. They'll chew on my clothes if the treats don't come fast enough.

There's definitely a special relationship. Especiallymy tame ewes which were NOT bottle lambs. There's one I just adore. Sweet 16 (her ear tag is 16). She was raised on pasture (no bottle feeding, no handling). Her first lambing as on pasture and she didn't spend any time in a lambing pen - some of our others have spent up to 2 months in the lambing pen getting human attention and grain twice a day. Every time we've handled sheep, such as for shearing, I've noted she is easy to handle. She's eating out of my hand now. I have never chased or herded her, and I've avoided stressing her. Watching that trust slowly develop is precious.

 

[tortoise]

It's my 10 year anniversary since joining this forum! So much has changed!

I was newly-divorced single mom of a 2 year old. Lived in my 660 sq ft house in a city, with my BFF and her 1 year old son, 2 dogs, a cat, rabbits, a couple chickens and a goat there at the end. My username was inspired by my turquoise betta fish, named Tortoise. I was working full-time as an administrative assistant and just barely scraping by.

Now, I'm happily remarried (5 year anniversary coming up next month), that 2 year old is 12 and I have a 4 year old too. Live on 80 acre farm, and have a flock of sheep and 2 goats. 2 cats, and a dog (service dog). I'm a stay-at-home mom, homeschooling DS12. Right now I'm living out what I dreamed of when I was in high school (they say that's our truest version of our selves). Complete with the "tall dark and handsome" husband Life is good

 

[tortoise]

Since joining I've learned to

• Make coffee
• Fish
• Clean fish
• Cook fish
• Butcher rabbit, chicken, deer, lamb
• Card and spin wool (extremely poorly, not worth repeating)
• Wet felt, needle felt
• Water bath can
• Pressure can - including meat
• Dehydrate foods
• Prune landscaping
• Pull a tractor out of mud
• Bottle-raise lambs
• Lead-train livestock
• Catch sheep
• Groom dogs (certified master groomer, since retired due to injuries)
• Make freezer meals

I'm sure this list should be much longer, but that's all I can remember now.

 

[tortoise]

I'm out of patience and my minimalist side is kicking in.

• Quitting DS6's violin lessons (end of semester, good time)
• Making DS14 clean up ALL the mess he left behind.
• Decided to quit my job, will finish the two contracts I have but not take on more.
• Actually taking time off work because I need it.
• Actually taking time off from 4-H because I need it.
• Took more steps toward getting rid of Facebook - I'm starting a websute to get my 4-H stuff moved so I can be free of Facebook
• Throwing away everything I cant be bothered to clean up. Mostly DS6's stuff he wont clean up.
• Ignoring/blocking low value online relationships

Momma aint got time for this s$#@

 

[baymule]

My brother ran away from home when he was 14. Sherrif in the next county picked him and his friend up and put them in jail, called parents. Mom and Dad went straight over, but brother didn't know they were there. Then made a deal with the sherrif to keep him for 3 days and give him a stale bologna sandwich, no condiments, and a glass of water, 3 times a day. He never ran away again!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Thanks for the Baymax update. She's lucky to have you. I had a blind dog for several years. His daughter became his seeing eye dog. However, it did get a lot harder when he went deaf. At that point instead of following his daughter around by hearing - he would keep his nose on her. If they lost each other he'd sit down and bark until she found him. They were a great team.

 

[tortoise]

We moved sheep for breeding today. The 2 rams were on a hillside pasture - not attached to the barn or any other pasture. We expected moving them to be easy, but they were so busy ramming and sparring that it was hard! DH was able to distract and catch the more tame/dangerous ram and walk him to the barn. Since the other ram is so wild, we decided it would be easier to walk his 3 ewes across the way to that pasture.

We haltered up the 2 less-tame of those 3 ewes (all will eat out of hand and halter, but 1 is flighty and another isn't trained to walk after the halter is on), and started to move them and the tame/dangerous ram had already escaped! DH wrangled him and moved him in with his harem to keep him distracted. In the meantime, the 3 ewes (2 with ropes dragging) had wandered out of the pasture. DH was getting stressed over having to catch them from entirely loose, but I know my babies. I picked up a grain bucket, walked over. Shook it and called "BAAA-BEES" and they come running for the grain and I just grabbed the ropes. Easy-peasy. Best sheepies ever. I walked over the two older girls - one haltered, one loose, and DH followed with the one that wasn't lead trained. We put the haltered sheep in the ram pasture, but then the loose one got all distracted eating windfallen apples. I lured her over with an apple and we got her in too! LOL!

Nothing is ever easy. DH moves sheep like livestock, because, y'know, he has animal smarts. I train as many as I can and handle them like dogs, because, hey, I'm a dog person. So when half the flock comes when called and the other half runs away like prey animals do, it can get messy.

After we butcher the mutton and take the remaining lambs to auction, I will have almost all tame ewes. All but one eat out of my hand. The last one has potential but I haven't worked with her yet.

 

[Beekissed]

apples and carrots on hand seem to work well for about any herd animal to make them happy to see you.

i have never raised them myself, but when i was renting an apartment next to a field where the landlord had a pony and some mini goats which would always escape and bigger goats too. often i would find them on my porch because they knew who had the numnums i always gave them the cores from the apples and carrots. they'd just be standing there waiting for me to come out or back from hiking/swimming.

Sheep are different than most domesticated herd animals. Though they will mug you for food any given moment...and I do mean mug you, practically climb your frame for a treat or anything they perceive to be a treat, they also seem to have the highest flight instinct of any domesticated herd animal I've ever known. At least, the hair sheep do...not sure of the woolly breeds.

This is why most people call them stupid, as they will startle and run over anything unusual~if their shepherd is carrying an umbrella, it's scary and they won't come for a treat. If someone new is standing next to the shepherd, even if she is holding out treats, they won't come close. If a stranger comes on the land and approaches them, they are GONE. They are more like deer than any farm animal I've had.

They aren't stupid, that's the intelligence of the animal...they know they are on the menu, they are defenseless except for running and being alert at all times, and so they are more wary than most. Their extreme flocking instinct is part of that safety instinct and it works, even on the African veld.

That's one reason I really love sheep, though they can be frustrating at times, they are very intelligent and intuitive. You have to earn their trust and not just anyone can do it, so the relationship between sheep and shepherd is a special thing. Only the people who never take the time to develop that relationship call sheep stupid...those who really know them are well aware of their singular intelligence.

 

[tortoise]

Tortoise, I'm glad you found a doc who seems to have a clue about what is going on with you. How are you responding to the new meds and diet protocol?

In November 2018, the month before I saw the doctor who diagnosed me, I was almost completely bedbound - I could crawl to the bathroom, but that was about it. I was too cognitively impaired to read or work on hobbies in bed. I was unable to drive, and was too fatigued and weak to use my wheelchair in the house.

When I stick to the diet, I'm mostly fine. Just one meal off and the diet and the fatigue and cognitive impairment return. I've only been unable to drive one day since August 2019. I still find unexpected triggers, but I'm better at coping with them.

I had DNA testing done in 2019 that was enormously helpful. I have really bad DNA, lucky me. So I'm on supplements to minimize the effects of those genes. I'm very impressed by a recent addition to my supplements. It seems have fixed my hormone issues - I'm having less joint paint related to menstrual cycle fluctuations.

I have been thinking about working part-time, but decided instead I'll be a "professional volunteer." That will give me lots of wiggle room while I figure out how much I can handle. I am officially a 4-H volunteer as of yesterday. I also volunteer for an organization that provide support and resources to those with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and related diagnoses - I lead a monthly support group.