Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

Lil' Red is still hanging in. She's mobile, she drinks, she nibbles at feed and she's feeding her baby - even though I'm afraid she's drying up. Her udder is miniscule compared to what it was - but as long as the baby keeps nursing maybe he can bring her production back up. If not, he's eating feed and will manage.

I'm changing up my feeding program. I've never really liked pellets but what I've been buying was economical and convenient and they did "ok" on it. I mix the goat/sheep pellet with a horse pellet because the horse pellet has 50ppm copper and the goat/sheep pellet only has 5.

The last batch of pellets I bought - the goats don't like. I've never seen goats walk away from feed. I went to the feed mill yesterday and asked if they'd changed the formula because my goats didn't like the feed anymore. My thought was that maybe they'd changed the binder in all their pellets. Eh... the counter lady didn't know but she was going to ask the owner. Sooooo, I'm switching my goats back to a mostly grain, (real grain) diet. I'll increase the protein level with a Calf Manna type product and alfalfa pellets - but the bulk of their diet will be oats/barley with a little rice bran and a touch of chopped corn - along with hay and browse of course. I'm also having to buy square bales of hay at $10.00 a bale... ugh.

I'm going to give it a couple more weeks and then offer all the little boys for sale. Probably. Cocoa's boy is really great looking. I might watch and see if he gets a little taller. The bad part is that his daddy was pygmy so he might not get as big as I want him. The good part is that his daddy was pygmy so he's really thick and meaty. I need some pygmy to keep the Kinder line going and Chester just isn't gonna cut it...he's too tiny. He's cute though, lol. I'm thinking of wethering him and letting him be a pasture goat or sell him as a pet. Who knows? By next week I might change my mind.

I want to get my mini nubs bred if they're not already. The Kinder buck was with all the gals (except the old pygmy girls) for almost the entire month of February. But, I'm not noticing that a lot of the girls look pregnant....

Still tossing ideas around about who to keep and who to sell these days. Ya'll know I hate to sell goats...grrrr.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I wish it was cheaper to ship goats. I could use a meaty buck!

I'm thinking of making a real grain diet too, weird timing. I haven't priced it out yet... Might have to ask the feed store what they have today.

Square bales $10/bale?? How big are they? Yikes!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Square bales $10/bale?? How big are they? Yikes!

Not big enough! Probably 50-55 lbs-ish... Really nice hay - but...

I'm waiting for first cutting hay... not my fave but I'll probably try to latch onto a couple big bales until the second cutting comes in. They ought to be cutting hay pretty soon...within the next month or so I hope.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Holy cow that's expensive! We pay $3/bale in the field and $5-6 this time of year. I'm going to get square bales for the milkers and round for the bucks next year.

What's your grain mix, equal parts oats and barley?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

What's your grain mix, equal parts oats and barley?

It's evolving as we speak! I've got all those pellets to get rid of first so I'm going to be mixing in a little of those and also dumping some in the pigs feed. I won't get my 'formula' worked out until then.

Yep - buying hay from the feed store is not on my list of usual things to do - but right now that's what I'm doing....ugh.

 

[baymule]

Check Craigslist for hay. This time of year, someone might need to get rid of last years hay and sell it cheaper than the Feed store.

 

[sumi]

Check Craigslist for hay. This time of year, someone might need to get rid of last years hay and sell it cheaper than the Feed store.

That's a good idea! I have no idea what price hay goes for here or in the States, but it sounds like a rip off to me, paying $10/bale

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Check Craigslist for hay. This time of year, someone might need to get rid of last years hay and sell it cheaper than the Feed store

Have done that.... Found some for $5.00 a bale - moldy, dusty, nasty stuff. At least the feed store's hay is clean and pretty!

Actually from a feed store this time of year 10.00 isn't as bad as it could be. One of the feed stores in town is asking $15 a bale - no thanks!

 

[Mini Horses]

Good hay is not grown in all areas. To ship it costs a lot of $$$. How many chemicals do you want or can you tolerate?

I pay $10 a bale (or more) & so it goes! I have been able to get some very nice, out of state hay, 11-1200# bales at $155. and I am ok with it as it is less than small squares and nice quality. we all stress hay if we have livestock and cannot produce our own.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Our area can, and does, make a lot of good hay. Coastal and Jiggs Bermuda being the mot common improved hay. Can't get locally grown timothy or alfalfa. Just isn't grown here.

Generally, I have a good hay supplier. It's basically a "prairie hay" which is just local native grasses. It's grown less than 1/2 mile from my house so it's what the goats are used to and enjoy in our own pasture. I bought twice as much as I usually get and it still wasn't enough. Our winter was so nasty and wet that the goats spent most of it lazing around the barn and the hay bales. I'll buy more this year. I only paid $20.00 for round bales this year. It's usually 30 - 35, but the guy likes me and he didn't have to load it for me. I just drove the tractor to the field and brought it back one bale at a time. In fact, I haven't even paid him for the hay I got in the fall. I call him periodically and remind him and ask if I can mail payment and he just says...I'll come by your house and pick it up one day when I'm in the area. That's a nice guy!