Okay...post your herd pics here! **Dial-up Warning**

[Beekissed]

I agree with free....BB you should be writing somewhere! I'm sure your teachers have already told you that. I'm glad you write here, as you seem like one of the most intelligent teens I've ever met.

Farm, I'm the same way. I enjoy my chickens, I feel responsible for their happiness, I leave them alone to be chickens and don't try to humanize them....and then I give them a good and quick death. They are then used to sustain the lives of others. If only I could be used in such a manner! This is why I am an organ donor....I only hope that someone finds use for my parts when I die and it helps them live a good and better life!

 

[big brown horse]

What have we gotten ourselves into? Lemme go look! Oooo, I'm so excited!

BRB!

 

[Blackbird]

Well gee, thanks.

Monique, I know you feed whole grains to your goats, what is the mix that you feed?

I have a friend who feeds a mix of barley, oats, wheat bran, beat pulp, sunflower seeds, and a bit of corn oil. They have 20-30 dairy goats and sell their milk. She says they milk better and stay a lot healthier on it, and the milk tastes better. I'm going to ask her about it when I get the chance, she also said something about feeding brewer's yeast too..

 

[freemotion]

My mix depends on what I can get, as whole grains can be hard to come by so far from where they are produced, here in Massachusetts. I prefer barley, so when I can get my hands on it, sometimes directly from the farm in Maine, I feed that along with sunflower seeds and beet pulp. Sometimes I add whole oats to stretch the barley. Whole grains still have B vitamins in them, unlike processed grains, so I don't feed yeast. Also, fermenting increased nutrient value, and sprouting increases protein, so essential for making milk....and kids.

For Mya and Ginger, I put about a quart of barley and a pint of sunflower seeds in my little bucket, and fill that with water and a glug of whey and let it sit for 24 hours at room temp. It lives in a corner of my kitchen near the garage door, in a little hallway. I milk in the garage, so this is convenient for me.

After 24 hours, I pour it into a colander and rinse it in the sink, thoroughly, in warm to cool water. I let it drain for a few minutes, then scoop out a big double handful for Mya. I give a little less when it is 24 hours old, and increase the amount each feeding as it continues to sprout, as I have noticed that she tolerates it better as the sprouting advances (dog poo sign!) After each milking, my routine is to clean her feed pan, and put in a half cup of beet pulp with about a cup of water and set that with the fermenting grain and my milking kit by the door for the next milking. It also keeps it handy to toss in any fruit or veggie scraps. If there are a lot, they go into a small bucket for the next meal or two.

Ginger gets a small single handful of grain with a cup or so of alfalfa pellets. She still rejects the beet pulp, so I introduce a little now and then, and eventually she will get the same mix as Mya. She rejected the soaked grain at first, so I did the same....offering a bit now and then until she decided she liked it. I noticed that she suddenly became very interested in it a week or two after I weaned her completely off the milk. She needed the protein, I think, and finally craved it so much that she was willing to develop a taste for the lactofermented and sprouted grains. I suspect she will want the beet pulp within a few weeks of snow cover, when there is nothing fresh in her diet. She is also not really interested in veggie scraps yet, she just gets a few carrot peels now and then if we have them available. She does get preferential treatment with the daily bundle of leafy branches, though, so I doubt she is craving any extra nutrients right now.

Mya also gets one small coffee can, maybe a pound, of alfalfa pellets that I put into her feed pan just before I put it on the milk stand. She hates them when they go mushy if I prepare her food too early. It is amazing how they can communicate their displeasure so clearly, isn't it??

Oh, and of course, my newest addition, a bit of lactofermented veggies now and then, maybe 1/4 cup or so. I use tongs to take some out of the liquid in the gallon jar, so I am guessing on the amount....one "tong-full!"

This coming winter I will continue to experiment with bringing some of the grains all the way to the grass blade stage, separately from the grain feeding, to add some fresh greens to the diets of the birds as well as the goats. Probably just treat amounts, but it will still be so good for them with our longish winters here. My sprouting stand is built, it is my seed starting shelf unit. I have two shelves, four feet long, and can add two more easily if it works out. That could be quite a bit of oat and barley grass growing in my basement!

 

[lorihadams]

Blackbird, you're killing me!!! I have to put up fence before I get goats.....I have to put up fence before I get goats......I have to put up fence before I get goats.......

 

[Beekissed]

Another pic of some of my herd....

Yes, my sheep are laying mash addicts. Whenever I go out to feed in the evening they always manage to slip in the door and do a line of mash before I can shoo them out. Here, Black Betty is caught in the act!

And, yes, I have cardboard on the walls of my ancient coop. This coop is probably a good 70 years old or more. The wood has shrunk leaving huge gaps between the oak boards on the walls and on the floors. Cardboard keeps the worst breezes out and I place plastic over the windows in the winter.

 

[punkin]

She has that "I've been a baa-aa-aa-aad, baa-aa-aa-aad girl" look on her face.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

She has that "I've been a baa-aa-aa-aad, baa-aa-aa-aad girl" look on her face.

She's also thinking it was totally worth it!

 

[The Vail Benton's]

Thank heavens my Emily & Annabelle aren't the only ones! who steal chicken feed! I have a heck of a time getting my Cochins and Polish Crested's fed without getting mugged. I half expect my goats to start laying eggs and put my hens out of business!

 

[TanksHill]

My dog sneaks nibbles of chicken feed as well. What is that all about???