BarredBuff
El Presidente de Pollo
Can't wait to see the pictures of your new goats!
Pink Fox: its Raining...IN MY HOUSE! :/
- Thread starter pinkfox
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pinkfox
Super Self-Sufficient
well there are a couple a few pages back buff...but i will get plenty once they come home.
Deb the zoo i worked at stored their open feed bags in metal and heavy duty plastic trashcans...
the extra bags were kept on plastic pallets stacked with mouse traps set out along all the walls under the pallets, we'd occasionally get a chewed corner on the paper bags, but they never seemed to bother with the plastics.
im definatly thinking trashcans are the way to go for me at least (i can put the cans neer each animals enclosure) but i dont want standard trashcans because my arms are too short to reach to the bottom (long legs...little body as i learned at the zoo...i could NEVER reach those last few scoops in the can withint laying the trashcan down and crawling inside) so theyd have to be a little shorter to be easier on me...
right now in terms of feed...
the rabbits go through about 50lbs a month. once ive got babies and growouts im expecting that to double.
so thats 100lbs a month
the goats im told to expect to go through 50lbs a month for the first year and a half (for 2 kids and through their first pregnancy) then expect that to double for first freshning and as moch as quadruple for 2 does ofr future freshning (assming they are deacent milkers)
so thats anything from 50-200lbs a month of goat chow lol.
right now im still on my first 50lb bale of grass hay with the buns and i bought that back in january.
not sure how much hay the goats are going to be consuming though or what size the cheaper bales of hay are (this 50lb bale is timmothy/orchard grass, which is geat for the buns who do better on timmothy over alfalfa but its expensive at $16 a bale...i dont mind paying that if its going to last 4 months...but the goats need "weedy" hay which should be cheaper, however o idea how much the cheaper hay bales weigh or how quickly 2 goats would go through a bale.
goat mineral should last awhile so not too worried there.
not sure how much feed the ducks are going to be going through, right now its just the 6 runners, hoping to add 2 geese and mabe 4 khakis to the mix a little later in the season, but mums flock of 11 chickens go through 50lbs of feed in 2 1/2-3 months and dont have much forrage right now so im going to say about 50lbs a month on duck feed should do me there...
crazy math lol.
but im definatly thinking trashcans might be the way to go...preferably ones with wheels so they can eaisly be moved around.
anywho.
weather is supposed to be in the 80's for the next few days...not bad not bad, so windows are going to be getting opend up, get some air in this place.
gonna try and get some potatoes into the feed sacks ive set aside (have 3 sacks right now), i dont eat that many taters realy...
think im going to give the bunny hutches a good clean out today (bluebell and acorn should be due on the 18th if they too *fingers crossed*) and litterboxes need doing so figure why not...lol, (and i can use some of the litterbox dumpings in my potatoe bags, the rest will go onto the bed that i still need to fill a little more. which will evetually have carrots and garlic in lol)
and i want to get at least the base coat on the 3 small post on my back deck that i want to paint up.
im thinking rosemary basil and mint in those as they can sit on the back deck all summer and get brought in for winter use and they're the herbs i use the most.
but yeah...i think thats the plan for today.
Deb the zoo i worked at stored their open feed bags in metal and heavy duty plastic trashcans...
the extra bags were kept on plastic pallets stacked with mouse traps set out along all the walls under the pallets, we'd occasionally get a chewed corner on the paper bags, but they never seemed to bother with the plastics.
im definatly thinking trashcans are the way to go for me at least (i can put the cans neer each animals enclosure) but i dont want standard trashcans because my arms are too short to reach to the bottom (long legs...little body as i learned at the zoo...i could NEVER reach those last few scoops in the can withint laying the trashcan down and crawling inside) so theyd have to be a little shorter to be easier on me...
right now in terms of feed...
the rabbits go through about 50lbs a month. once ive got babies and growouts im expecting that to double.
so thats 100lbs a month
the goats im told to expect to go through 50lbs a month for the first year and a half (for 2 kids and through their first pregnancy) then expect that to double for first freshning and as moch as quadruple for 2 does ofr future freshning (assming they are deacent milkers)
so thats anything from 50-200lbs a month of goat chow lol.
right now im still on my first 50lb bale of grass hay with the buns and i bought that back in january.
not sure how much hay the goats are going to be consuming though or what size the cheaper bales of hay are (this 50lb bale is timmothy/orchard grass, which is geat for the buns who do better on timmothy over alfalfa but its expensive at $16 a bale...i dont mind paying that if its going to last 4 months...but the goats need "weedy" hay which should be cheaper, however o idea how much the cheaper hay bales weigh or how quickly 2 goats would go through a bale.
goat mineral should last awhile so not too worried there.
not sure how much feed the ducks are going to be going through, right now its just the 6 runners, hoping to add 2 geese and mabe 4 khakis to the mix a little later in the season, but mums flock of 11 chickens go through 50lbs of feed in 2 1/2-3 months and dont have much forrage right now so im going to say about 50lbs a month on duck feed should do me there...
crazy math lol.
but im definatly thinking trashcans might be the way to go...preferably ones with wheels so they can eaisly be moved around.
anywho.
weather is supposed to be in the 80's for the next few days...not bad not bad, so windows are going to be getting opend up, get some air in this place.
gonna try and get some potatoes into the feed sacks ive set aside (have 3 sacks right now), i dont eat that many taters realy...
think im going to give the bunny hutches a good clean out today (bluebell and acorn should be due on the 18th if they too *fingers crossed*) and litterboxes need doing so figure why not...lol, (and i can use some of the litterbox dumpings in my potatoe bags, the rest will go onto the bed that i still need to fill a little more. which will evetually have carrots and garlic in lol)
and i want to get at least the base coat on the 3 small post on my back deck that i want to paint up.
im thinking rosemary basil and mint in those as they can sit on the back deck all summer and get brought in for winter use and they're the herbs i use the most.
but yeah...i think thats the plan for today.
- Thread starter
- #2,163
pinkfox
Super Self-Sufficient
well today = SUCK!lost 7 rabbits today...
and by that i mean whent out to feed and Acorn was dead...
dont know what happend, she was fine yesterday, ate no problem, then this morning she was stretched out and head back and stiff in the hutch. visually no signgs of issus, no signs of anything trying to get into the hutch and the other rabbits are fine...
so i decided better than waste her to learn from the experience...so i skinned her, opend her up and yup...she was indeed pregnant.
carefully removed the uterus and opend it up, 6 kits, all perfectly formed little nails and everything, all cold, even if id gotten to her and emergency c- sectioned her imedaitly after death they would have been a week early and wouldnt likely have made it but i gave the biggest one a good rub down just to be sure...nothing...
she was cold externally but sitll slightly warm inside so im guessing sometime in the early hours of the morning.
completed my "autopsy/butcheirng" nothing seemed amiss, hear, liver ect was all good, meat nice and healthy looking, no odd areas or tumors so right now my best guess is something spooked her and she broke her neck judging by the position of the body her head was tilted back.
she was very fatty inside the body cavity but shes also a 3 yr old doe...so...
her pelt and carcas is in the freezer, without being certain of COD im reluctant to turn her into stew however shell make a perfect meal for the dogs.
im gutted...
not only did i loose a pretty doe, but i lost 6 kits who looked like they would have all been a realy nice size.
plus its a financial blow...if even 4 of those 6 fits had survived...*sigh*
i wish i knew exactly what killed her.
I do know she hadnt drank anything since i filled her water bowl up yesterday...she did eat hay and some pellet though. vent was clean, feet and teeth looked good, intestines were very clean no loose poop ect. her bladder was a little dark so im wondering if dehydration played a part and she was fatty so mabe that payed a part too, but right now my money is on a broken neck if for no other reason than the position of the body.
*sigh*
from this i have learnt i need a good pair of scissors and a good set of pruning sheres kept incredibly sharp specifically for the butcheirng process.i also need a good bucket, and i need a good spot to do the butchering (i managed to find some wire and hung her from a nail on the outside of the fally down shed and it worked but i could have done with more room/open space to work.
i also learnt i need to study up on my rabbit anatomy...ive watched a tone of vids on butchering YOUNG rabbits, but there always so lean and clean...this girl had a good layer of cavity fat that i had to work through and it made it difficult in some spots to figure out what was fleash, what was fat and what was organ.
I dont like fumbling around and the idea of potentially runing meat after going through all that simply because im not familiar with a "fatty" rabbit
Ill get over it...im more angry than anythign else...the what-ifs setting in...was it somehting i should have noticed, was it a wild animal, if id just gone out to feed an hour earlier could i have done anything to save her or mabe the kits, i should have checked her earlier, i shoudl have...
BUT i also know if i let the those whatifs will eat me alive and the sad truth of the matter is it doesnt matter now so i need to get over it and move on.
going to clean out her cage whipe it down with a little bleach and let it air dry then i think ill move Rowan Upstairs into Acorns hutch.
im now REALY hoping bluebell is pregnant, and im going to talk to the lady im getting the opal buck from in april and see if she might have a nice young senior doe who can come with him...(if not ill probably keep one of Bluebells does if she does deliver.
UGH....so frustrating.
Anywho, that kinda set my day back so back to work, got bunny cages to clean, nails to clip and 3 feed sacks to get some poop and dirt in for the tater slips.
im a "farmer" now, so cant let one death kill my entire day!
hqueen13
<Insert Snazzy Title Here
So sad. The whatifs are terrible. They happen with horses all the time. You just wonder what really happened.
This is the part of farm life that I am a bit afraid of.
Wannabefree
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That's horrible! Sorry pinky She was such a nice doe too..I hate that part of farm life as well, but it's always there *sigh*- Thread starter
- #2,166
pinkfox
Super Self-Sufficient
yeah its just so frustrating...i wish i knew WHY, i opend her up HOPING to see an enlarged liver or a tumor or something, somehting to say "hey look...reason" but nothing obvious...
and then knowing she was only a week away form delivering those 6 kits just adds to it...
UGH.
theres a reason to everything in life, but makes you wonder why, why did 7 lives have to be taken all at once?
oh well.
managed to get all the buns cages cleaned, everyone got fresh hay and a handfull of clover today too, and i managed to get 9 potatoe slips planted in 3 bags...
im a bag short, i thought i had 4 bags, but only found 3, so it must have fallen behind something.
ive got plenty more slips too lol.
i had a carpenter bee who must have thought i looked very nice while i was cleaning the rabbit hutches as he was very interested in buzzing annoyingly around my head...thankfully carpenter bees are generally dopey and weird but not very agressive but still its unnerving to hear them buzzing so loudly around you.
in other good news, my hosta that i ripped up and divided in an attempt to save the por sorry looking things seem to have not suffered all too much shock from the entire situation as theres hosta leaf buds comming up. YAY...i was worried...they were in bad shape...but they seem to have recovered quite nicely. and one of my little azealea has a flower on it...yay! lol. i cant wait for that flower bed to start filling in and looking nice...this house deserves a little curb apeal.
i need to get no tresspassing and "no turn around" signs posted too
had an old man decide to use my yard as a turn around today...it drives me crazy theres enough room to pull onto the "drive" area and turn around...but instead they drive down and turn around on the grass...i dont want my land used as a turn around. its not a public road, and eventually ill be using that land and i dont want people driving all over it...
worse was he gave ME attitude that i shouldnt be parked where i park because it "makes it hard for people to turn around"
i told him he was tresspassing...and he left pretty dang quick at that point lol.
and then knowing she was only a week away form delivering those 6 kits just adds to it...
UGH.
theres a reason to everything in life, but makes you wonder why, why did 7 lives have to be taken all at once?
oh well.
managed to get all the buns cages cleaned, everyone got fresh hay and a handfull of clover today too, and i managed to get 9 potatoe slips planted in 3 bags...
im a bag short, i thought i had 4 bags, but only found 3, so it must have fallen behind something.
ive got plenty more slips too lol.
i had a carpenter bee who must have thought i looked very nice while i was cleaning the rabbit hutches as he was very interested in buzzing annoyingly around my head...thankfully carpenter bees are generally dopey and weird but not very agressive but still its unnerving to hear them buzzing so loudly around you.
in other good news, my hosta that i ripped up and divided in an attempt to save the por sorry looking things seem to have not suffered all too much shock from the entire situation as theres hosta leaf buds comming up. YAY...i was worried...they were in bad shape...but they seem to have recovered quite nicely. and one of my little azealea has a flower on it...yay! lol. i cant wait for that flower bed to start filling in and looking nice...this house deserves a little curb apeal.
i need to get no tresspassing and "no turn around" signs posted too
had an old man decide to use my yard as a turn around today...it drives me crazy theres enough room to pull onto the "drive" area and turn around...but instead they drive down and turn around on the grass...i dont want my land used as a turn around. its not a public road, and eventually ill be using that land and i dont want people driving all over it...
worse was he gave ME attitude that i shouldnt be parked where i park because it "makes it hard for people to turn around"
i told him he was tresspassing...and he left pretty dang quick at that point lol.
Wannabefree
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Easy on the natives 
He has probably been turning around there since he was a boy. I figure a sign would cut it out. Most folks around here are relatively polite and don't mean anything by it...just don't think about what they're doing before they do it 
I had a little winged admirer today too. It does get on your nerves after a while, but I think it's cute they're so curious...so long as they keep their rear end to themselves.
He has probably been turning around there since he was a boy. I figure a sign would cut it out. Most folks around here are relatively polite and don't mean anything by it...just don't think about what they're doing before they do it I had a little winged admirer today too. It does get on your nerves after a while, but I think it's cute they're so curious...so long as they keep their rear end to themselves.
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pinkfox
Super Self-Sufficient
i wouldnt have minded if hed turned around the same way the post delivery does, they use the OBVIOUS "driveway"...
but this guy drove down almost to where the tree line starts and uses half that side area to turn around...
THEN gives ME attitude about me parking my car on my own property...
then gives me attitude for me telling him that its my property and i can park where i want on my own proerty...
he also almost hit my car..missed it by mabe 1/4 an inch...then he almost drover right through my flower bed...you know..because hey why not...
i can only assume he was "lost" because he didnt stop at the neighbors house either
i need to figure out who handles the roads around here...we at the minimum need a "dead end" or "no outlet" sign even if they wont give us a street sign (or fix that corner where the road has collapsed LOL.
Dunt know what there gonna do when the no tresspassing/no turn around signs go up lol.
eventually there will be a gate blocking anything going past the area that the postal service uses to turn around lol.
I think Selmer would handle our roads since were McNairy county...right?!
doesnt help that it drives the dogs crazy too.
I figured hey dead end road with absolutly NO signage and looks like a driveway...shouldnt get too muhc random traffic right...well youd be suprised LOL.
i wonder if some of the folks ive seen come down her then turn around are folks that have been dumping on this property over the last 14 years...
but this guy drove down almost to where the tree line starts and uses half that side area to turn around...
THEN gives ME attitude about me parking my car on my own property...
then gives me attitude for me telling him that its my property and i can park where i want on my own proerty...
he also almost hit my car..missed it by mabe 1/4 an inch...then he almost drover right through my flower bed...you know..because hey why not...
i can only assume he was "lost" because he didnt stop at the neighbors house either
i need to figure out who handles the roads around here...we at the minimum need a "dead end" or "no outlet" sign even if they wont give us a street sign (or fix that corner where the road has collapsed LOL.
Dunt know what there gonna do when the no tresspassing/no turn around signs go up lol.
eventually there will be a gate blocking anything going past the area that the postal service uses to turn around lol.
I think Selmer would handle our roads since were McNairy county...right?!
doesnt help that it drives the dogs crazy too.
I figured hey dead end road with absolutly NO signage and looks like a driveway...shouldnt get too muhc random traffic right...well youd be suprised LOL.
i wonder if some of the folks ive seen come down her then turn around are folks that have been dumping on this property over the last 14 years...
Wannabefree
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Yeah Selmer handles it. Sounds like he was lost..hard to believe folks would be that rude around here. Maybe he needed a good 
They really should put up a dead end sign on your road. It looks more like a driveway than a street 
They really should put up a dead end sign on your road. It looks more like a driveway than a street - Thread starter
- #2,170
pinkfox
Super Self-Sufficient
lol i know right, it barely even looks like a driveway anymore...you blink and youve missed it...
I always tell folks comming to look for the "little yellow "water valve" sign...thats my street" lol. theres no signage whatsoever on this street whihc is great unless your trying to find it or think its a turn around.
I think he was just old and grumpy and lost and took it out on the first person who looked at him funny...
most folks ive met around here have been realy polite and most who "took a wrong turn" seem to correct their mistake the moment they realize this house isnt empty anymore lol.
I always tell folks comming to look for the "little yellow "water valve" sign...thats my street" lol. theres no signage whatsoever on this street whihc is great unless your trying to find it or think its a turn around.
I think he was just old and grumpy and lost and took it out on the first person who looked at him funny...
most folks ive met around here have been realy polite and most who "took a wrong turn" seem to correct their mistake the moment they realize this house isnt empty anymore lol.
