I’m a newby from Texas

[Scott Henry]

If it's your daughter that wants goats, will taking some to slaughter be a problem for her? They are cuter than cute, smart, have personality plus, but it can get out of control if you try to keep them all. It might be a good thing for her to know where meat comes from. You can't keep them all!

I suggested meat goats because the meat is good, you can sell the kids and they are not the commitment that dairy goats are. We don't have goats, we have hair sheep. I studied both and settled on hair sheep. We like lamb!

Our fence is 4' tall. I used 200' rolls of 2"x4" woven wire, 48" tall. We used 7' T-posts and have space to string 1 or 2 strands of barbed wire at the top. The horse pasture has barbed wire at the top, haven't got to the rest of it yet.

I don’t think talking them to slaughter will bother her. I could be wrong about that but she will watch us process our deer. It could be different for her with it being a pet though so I will have to tread lightly on that and explain to her why we do what we do.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Welcome to the group, Scott! What kind of animals are you starting with?

 

[Scott Henry]

We will start with a few cows and chickens. I have worked with cows some in the past. Chickens I am clueless about.

 

[Scott Henry]

Welcome to SS Are you planning to keep chickens for eggs, meat or both? They are fairly easy to keep and raise and really great around the homestead.

We will use the chickens for mainly eggs. I will have to do my research about the meat part of it.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

There are a lot of people here to answer your questions, especially on all the small animals, and several are from Texas. I look forward to hearing more.
You've got a really nice mess of fish there on your boat! Do you live near the coast?

 

[Scott Henry]

There are a lot of people here to answer your questions, especially on all the small animals, and several are from Texas. I look forward to hearing more.
You've got a really nice mess of fish there on your boat! Do you live near the coast?

That sounds great because I know I will need some help for sure. Unfortunately I don’t live by the coast. I am in East Texas but I really enjoy offshore fishing and do it every time we travel.

 

[baymule]

Howdy neighbor! We are just north of Tyler, TX and moved here 3 years ago from Livingston. Where in east Texas are you? We have chickens, hair sheep, horses and raise feeder pigs for the freezer. We have 8 acres of sand. Most the soil around here is red but we have sugar sand. We raise a garden and I can, dehydrate and freeze the proceeds. Welcome to SS and a better way of life.

 

[Scott Henry]

Howdy neighbor! We are just north of Tyler, TX and moved here 3 years ago from Livingston. Where in east Texas are you? We have chickens, hair sheep, horses and raise feeder pigs for the freezer. We have 8 acres of sand. Most the soil around here is red but we have sugar sand. We raise a garden and I can, dehydrate and freeze the proceeds. Welcome to SS and a better way of life.

I am over in Kilgore about 30 miles east of you right off I20. Our ground has red clay as well. Not sure how that is going to work when it comes to gardening.

 

[baymule]

We are in Lindale 7 1/2 miles from I-20. For the red clay, the answer is COMPOST and MORE COMPOST! Better get a LOT of chickens! LOL I like to pick up bags of leaves off curbs in the fall and stuff the chicken coop/run 3-4 feet deep in leaves. The hens scratch it to bits, poop all over the leaves and turn it into black crumbly compost in 3-4 months. Best get to building that coop! How many chickens are you going to get?

 

[Scott Henry]

We are in Lindale 7 1/2 miles from I-20. For the red clay, the answer is COMPOST and MORE COMPOST! Better get a LOT of chickens! LOL I like to pick up bags of leaves off curbs in the fall and stuff the chicken coop/run 3-4 feet deep in leaves. The hens scratch it to bits, poop all over the leaves and turn it into black crumbly compost in 3-4 months. Best get to building that coop! How many chickens are you going to get?

I go through Lindale quite a bit for work. I honestly haven’t decided on how many chickens to get. I have to get my living arrangements situated first and clear the land. I should have a good stock of firewood after clearing the land though.