I'm sittin' on the fence here....goat vs cow

[freemotion]

Umm....she never asked if she should keep her horses. Only if she should aquire a goat or a cow. The horses are staying.

For some people, horses are in the dna, something that cannot be explained.

Goat or cow?

 

[miss_thenorth]

Umm....she never asked if she should keep her horses. Only if she should aquire a goat or a cow. The horses are staying.

For some people, horses are in the dna, something that cannot be explained.

Goat or cow?

Thank you! I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Wifezilla]

I have the perfect solution...

MINI COW!!!

Goat-sized, but it is still a cow!

Dexter's are dual purpose and give good milk but can also be used for meat.

http://www.dexterminicattle.com/

 

[miss_thenorth]

I vote cow.

You can process her into great cuts of meat later...if you are not a goat meat eater at all. Even if you are not a meat eater, I still vote cow...LOL

Tony's cousin has 2 horses and 3 cows on about 2 acres. They of course feed round bales of hay all the time. Cows do well with horses.

this is a good option--but wouldn't you worry about the hay getting wet and moldy? i will discuss this with dh, snce he really doesn't want goats again.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I have the perfect solution...

MINI COW!!!

Goat-sized, but it is still a cow!

Dexter's are dual purpose and give good milk but can also be used for meat.

http://www.dexterminicattle.com/

This is the kind I was considering--I came that close to buying one--for a good price too, last fall. Held off b/c of our pasture. We have only been here not even two years, and it was almost all yard when we bought it--so we are still creating good pasture.

 

[FarmerChick]

I love horses too, but I'm with SKR8PN on this one. If you don't do an exhorbitant amount of riding and using of the horses, the occasional pleasure ride becomes pretty costly when you calculate the hours of relaxation and companionship one actually gleans from the average horse vs. the hours of work of watering, putting in hay/buying and transporting hay, feeding, caring for, fencing and the costs of vetting/farrier.

From what I can see of the people I know who have horses, when they first get them they ride frequently, then less, then seldom. Then they have big pasture ornaments whom they pet on occasion, pay big vet bills and farrier bills for, buy lots of hay for and eventually realize that they have had them so long and they haven't been ridden for so long that they have created a retirement home for a couple of hay burners.

In a practical sense, horses aren't practical..unless, of course, one does use them for other things like logging, getting in firewood, plowing, pulling, rounding up livestock, or guard animals for meat animals like sheep, cows, goats, etc.

Your post was overkill to me on the subject of keeping a horse.

Horse lovers would never agree with you...LOL-LOL

 

[FarmerChick]

I vote cow.

You can process her into great cuts of meat later...if you are not a goat meat eater at all. Even if you are not a meat eater, I still vote cow...LOL

Tony's cousin has 2 horses and 3 cows on about 2 acres. They of course feed round bales of hay all the time. Cows do well with horses.

this is a good option--but wouldn't you worry about the hay getting wet and moldy? i will discuss this with dh, snce he really doesn't want goats again.

Cows can eat hay that other animals can not. Moldy hay is normal for a cow....not the most horrible hay of course, but cows can eat what others can't. Wet hay is fine also. In fact it helps control the dust etc. Kinda like people who have to wet down hay for horses that if they have dust problems.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I vote cow.

You can process her into great cuts of meat later...if you are not a goat meat eater at all. Even if you are not a meat eater, I still vote cow...LOL

Tony's cousin has 2 horses and 3 cows on about 2 acres. They of course feed round bales of hay all the time. Cows do well with horses.

this is a good option--but wouldn't you worry about the hay getting wet and moldy? i will discuss this with dh, snce he really doesn't want goats again.

Cows can eat hay that other animals can not. Moldy hay is normal for a cow....not the most horrible hay of course, but cows can eat what others can't. Wet hay is fine also. In fact it helps control the dust etc. Kinda like people who have to wet down hay for horses that if they have dust problems.

I understand that, but the horses would have access to that hay too, --that would not be good for them though, right?

 

[miss_thenorth]

I love horses too, but I'm with SKR8PN on this one. If you don't do an exhorbitant amount of riding and using of the horses, the occasional pleasure ride becomes pretty costly when you calculate the hours of relaxation and companionship one actually gleans from the average horse vs. the hours of work of watering, putting in hay/buying and transporting hay, feeding, caring for, fencing and the costs of vetting/farrier.

From what I can see of the people I know who have horses, when they first get them they ride frequently, then less, then seldom. Then they have big pasture ornaments whom they pet on occasion, pay big vet bills and farrier bills for, buy lots of hay for and eventually realize that they have had them so long and they haven't been ridden for so long that they have created a retirement home for a couple of hay burners.

In a practical sense, horses aren't practical..unless, of course, one does use them for other things like logging, getting in firewood, plowing, pulling, rounding up livestock, or guard animals for meat animals like sheep, cows, goats, etc.

That's ok, I'll keep my horses for reasons you obvioulsy wouldn't understand, and you can pee in bottles, for reasons I wouldn't want to understand, to each their own.

 

[FarmerChick]

yea they would have access like you said

most horses wouldn't eat the cruddier hay...at least mine wouldn't but I know they would mouth on it and try it etc.

Usually you wouldn't be feeding moldy hay because if you bought a round bale and put out ---say 1/4 each day.....then just throw a tarp over the others.

we tarp our round bales that can't fit into our barns. We make about 200-250 round bales in our cuttings.....what we can't fit into the barns just stays outside with a tarp thrown over the tops.

Store on their side...never on the flat bottom....that absorbs too much moisture up into the hay and it rots faster. If stored on the side with the top covered, they stay surprisingly fresh for a long time.

hope that helps a bit.