De-Worming Goats

[FarmerChick]

oh I sure agree with his philopshy about following nature.
we sure took nature out of so much in this world...from breeding animals to natural death and everything in between..LOL-LOL

yea I saw the follow up with birds and such on the rotation schedule.....me I am not a bird fan so I ain't doing that..HA HA HA

Tony wanted to do the chicken tractors and all that and I said, I ain't moving no chickens.....stick them where I can feed and leave. I actually hate chickens alot..HA HA---probably since that stupid monster parrot of my aunts bit me when I was little. Oh you know this one----Its OK, it won't bite, it is friendly"----CHOMP!

probably why I avoid feathers now..HA HA HA

I think I will look up his farm again and check into his methods. I haven't been to his website in a long time. No even sure about the DE on the critters feed, but they said it is very dusty and can cause lung irritation...even being food grade....so kinda sketchy on if I would do it. DE with Basic H was a combo alot of the sites I read used together as a wormer situation.

I don't know....maybe time for this old "set in her ways" farmer to start looking at new ways to do things. I think for me it is more "when I get out of farming" time now.....not the "lets start up a farm now" situation..LOL

 

[PamsPride]

I think it helps that Joel Salatin follows all his ruminants with birds on pasture. Says this helps eliminate reinfestation of a lot of parasites for his animals. He tries to mimic natural situations as much as possible, so birds following ruminants is how it occurs in nature. It makes for a faster rotation of his grazing...I think he moves his herd every two days!

The more I read about his farming practices, the more I would love to try them out. He even gears his breeding programs to have calves when the deer would have them, as this is when the grass has the most nutrients available for mothers and babies.

I think he also supplements his grazing with brown seaweed at certain times of the year. I'm going to look into this whole seaweed thingy.....

Are you basically saying he has his goats or sheep on a piece of pasture for two days moves them to another pasture and then puts chickens on the piece he just moved them from for two days so they can clean out all of the parasites from the pasture then moves them again in two days? That seems like a LOT of moving! What do they do for night time housing? I would think that my chickens would be so confused as to where they are supposed to sleep at night. So, how does he work out the housing situation? Or does he walk them back to separate locked up housing every night??
I feel like I need to read these books so that I can know a little more about where you are coming from because you seem to like everything Joel has to say.

 

[Beekissed]

FC, I don't think the brown seaweed is DE exactly...its just dried sea kelp and I think they get it in a liquid.

Pam, the man is opinionated and pretty sure of himself, but the fact remains that he went from living in the top half of his parent's house on 150? acres of land that was a worn out, overgrazed farm with poor grass and extreme soil erosion and is now living on the same farm with added acreage, is the foremost expert on grass-fed ruminants, is paid scads of money each year to speak to groups all over the world, has apprentices that come, live and work on his farm for room, board and $100 a month...and feel lucky to be in the apprentice program(which is booked for the next couple of years), working on his farm can earn college credits at certain ag programs, and it cost $300 for a 2-hour educational tour of his farming practices at his farm.....and these are fully booked for this year also.
He has written 3-4 books on his farming practices, his beef, pork, rabbits and chickens are spoken for a year in advance by some of the top chefs in D.C and cities within a 50 mi. radius of his farm...and some who travel even further. He refuses to ship meat because he believes in buying local. He also has been quoted and has written articles in most of the major agricultural-based publications.

To me, he's pretty into the bottom line~money~but his philosophy includes treating his farm like his employment...and who doesn't want to earn a better wage each year? He's pretty much living proof that, if done correctly, farming CAN pay, even on a more modest scale than he is working right now.

You will have to read his books(I found them at the library) to see how he pastures his chickens. He even breaks down the costs of building the tractors and the designs and why to do them this way. Granted, his books are now about 10 years old but you can still get the picture. When you read about his pasture rotation and his feeding practices, you will start to see...he explains in fine detail, with diagrams, about grass growth and how to graze for each season to get the most nutrition.

He stresses frugality, especially when starting out, and focusing on the main goals. He preaches diversity of livestock on a farm and that a monoculture farming practice depletes the land and creates more debt in the long run.

He seems to approach his farming with as much in depth information as possible and is eager to learn and change when new information is available about the type of farming he does. He has learned a lot through trial and error and he tells this stuff in his books just like all the other...tells about stupid mistakes and how he found out about them. His farm isn't real fancy, either, sort of looks knocked together..but he explains this also.

ETA: He also states, after getting established, his daily, regular chores in the busy season only takes 4 hours a day, in the slow season~1 hour! He says once the cattle get used to rotational grazing they are waiting for you to change their pasture and will follow you anywhere to get new graze!

 

[FarmerChick]

FC, I don't think the brown seaweed is DE exactly...its just dried sea kelp and I think they get it in a liquid.

***Oh I know
I was just saying alot of sites I read said they teamed DE with the Basic H


seaweed would be a great vitamin additive to the critters I think.

 

[Sherrynboo]

I have to agree, Joel Salatin is an expert in his field! I wish I had the cooperation here to follow his methods on a much smaller scale. I only have 4 acres and only 2 are being used. Hubby will build things that i need to have built but I bet if I got rid of the goats and chickens tomorrow he would be one happy camper! His heart is not in this homesteading dream as mine is. We are currently trying to figure out the best place and most efficient structure for the chickens and trying to get them down nearer the goat area instead of the front part of the yard. What I really need to do is just win the lottery then I could have all the fences, coops, pastures etc that I could dream of plus buy a few more acres to boot!

Sherry in GA