Quail_Antwerp: Words from the Barnyard...

[TanksHill]

Ok not to sound to dumb, what does the NPIP stand for? I understand it is a certification for you birds but who issues it? Etc....

Sorry about the snow Quail but at least you don't have to wrestle the goat.

Enjoy your day!!

gina

 

[Farmfresh]

I'll answer that one. National Poultry Improvement Plan.

Birds are tested for Pullorum-Typhoid and the premises are inspected for disease, parasites and other disease causing things at least annually. Records must be maintained and inspected by a State certified inspector. Specific sanitation guidelines must be followed. It is a voluntary program that almost every big hatchery and breeding organization is on board with. The purpose is to provide certification that poultry and poultry products are free of all egg transmitted and breeding transmitted diseases and other diseases whenever possible as well.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

what did you get two of!??!?!?!? did i miss it!? i thought you didnt go to the auction?? do tell....

 

[keljonma]

QA is right - last year was a much harder winter. We got snow and it melted. Now we are getting NON-STOP SNOW ! We've had about half a foot fall since yesterday. Our high today might reach 20!

But at least this year QA hasn't had to break up frozen waterers every couple of hours.... That is a blessing, for sure!

Glad your Christmas was terrific.

 

[Dace]

Perhaps it is an early winter and it will all be gone sooner?

 

[Farmfresh]

Yeah .... right. :/

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Dace, early winter and gone sooner sounds great to me!

So yesterday, I thought I had got out of going to the auction....but this friend has a way of making you feel a little bit guilty if you bail on her.....so.........

She offered to pick me up so I wouldn't have to drive in the white mess and slush and she said, "you have to help me get rid of him, since you brought him here!"

Ugh OK. My fault because he was the crazy, psycho billy goat gruff that came free with those pygmies a few months ago...ya'll remember...the ones E and I picked up so I could flip them at auction???

Yep. That one. The psycho goat that I had to hold by his horns the whole way home the first time. The psycho goat that I was soooo happy that my friend's DH picked him up that day so he never spent 1 night here!

So, since it was "my fault" that she owned Psycho (I honestly think that's what they named him!) I reluctantly agreed to go with her if she picked me up.

We get to her house to load the goat and she sends her 14 yo DS to get Psycho. Is it bad that this boy, who wanted nothing to do with the goat, was simply ecstatic to go get him and lead him up to the vehicle. He was excited, simply excited, that Psycho was going for a trip...a trip that took the goat away from their home, their yard, and the girl goats.

Psycho didn't live up to his name. Psycho walked as nice as you'd please on his tether. He stopped for a few minutes by the bigger goat pen, almost like he was telling the lady goats goodbye. Then that stupid goat walked as nice as you'd please to the car and right up into the crate we'd put in there to haul him in.

Are you kidding me?!

So the drive to the auction was pretty uneventful (not counting the pungent smell of billy goat that made me want to vomit), even if the roads were a bit slushy, and my friend comments, "These roads aren't bad!" :/

So we get there, and Psycho walks as nice as you please right into the auction chute. Doesn't even go nuts that much, only reared up a small tiny bit, when they tagged his ear. Then he followed the auction employee as nice as could be right down to his holding pen.

You are freaking kidding me!!!! stupid goat.

Want to know how sneaky people working livestock auctions can be??

After we unloaded Psycho, we parked and walked around a bit. Friend wanted to stick around, see how much he sold for, and collect her check that day. Small animals and misc checks are mailed, but livestock checks are handed out that day. So, we stuck around. By the time we got upstairs, they had put a female nubian in with Psycho. Friend said, "All those empty pens, why'd they do that?" I jokingly replied, "Maybe they're going to try to sell her as a bred Nubian that way?" and I chuckled.

That's exactly what they did!!!

They brought the two goats out together, sold Psycho first (who brought $85!!!!) and then sold the Nubian as a "bred doe not sure of due date"

So, onto what I brought home...well, I didn't spend $, but my friend wants my Mandarins bad...well I should say they are hers now....and we were working out an arrangement for her to get them and agreed on a price for them.

Well, I wasn't completely sure about letting her get the mandarins....and i was kind of wishy washy about it....but then she lets say "waved the red flag" and I was like, "OK!"

So in trade for my pair of Mandarin ducks -which I'll admit are pretty, but definitely serve no purpose on the farm- I traded for a red and white holstein calf and a bag of milk replacer.......

To top it off, while we were going to load up the calf, her Amish neighbor stops us and asks if we can haul his two calves home. He raises up calves for his veal farm. We get to talking, and I learned that one of his calves is a black angus heifer! So we do some more talking, and we came to an agreement for me to get the heifer! So, she came home with me, too!

We named our red and white bull calf Trouble, because he's just ornery, and the black angus is Blessing.

No pics, because I don't have a picture program in this PC. I had a virus dumped in my computer last week through my email via Facebook, so I'd be careful folks.

Now I'm thinking of trading my Alpaca (thanks to another SS'er for the idea!) for either a milk cow or a milk goat....either one would feed those calves for me so I wouldn't have to buy milk replacer!

Chase and Boss should both be ready for fall sale, and the idea is sell one and hold onto the $ for living expenses, use part of the other to buy 2 more calves....so when the two I got yesterday are ready to either butcher or sell, we still have 2 more coming up behind them.

And now I'm finding I'm looking at what else can I trade for a calf.......

Oh! and I'm trading fencework for hay!! Becca has a neighbor who we're currently getting hay from. We originally wanted to buy a round bale, but he only had some square bales left. So, we agreed to buy the square bales. Folks, this gentleman is super nice! He didn't want to take payment for the hay because he said it's old. Well, E made him take something for it, and it wasn't much. Today we called to make arrangements to pick up the rest of the square bales. Well, he told us that he found a round bale that had been broke open, so if we want it, it's ours! He said he will not let us pay him for it. So, we asked if there was anything he needed help with on his farm. He said he has some fence that needs mended, but he's not doing it right now (not sure if it's because its cold or winter or what) so we told him, "Whenever you want that fence done, let us know! We'll come do it!"

WOOT!! WOOT!! Helping another farm and getting paid in HAY!! WOOT!! WOOT!!

hmm...maybe my Jeep???

This week I also sat down and budgeted every last penny for next month. Barring any unplanned expenses, we're looking good for January!

I've discovered a new coffee creamer flavor as well, and I'm totally hooked! Belgium Chocolate truffle! I need some stockpile of it, because I'm running through my bottle of it fast!!

 

[punkin]

That's great news on the budgeting!! Congrats and I hope no unexpected expenses come up!

As far as coffee flavorings, blech! I just like plain old hot, black coffee. I know, boring.

 

[Javamama]

Sounds like a productive weekend... wait, what day is this Holidays got me all messed up.
Coffee creamer is my last unfortunate dietary stronghold. I have been trying to give it up for over a year. I'm hooked on the white chocolate macadamia flavor. Which also happens to be my favorite cookie. I don't use very much per day at least. Sigh. I guess it's better than booze or cigarrettes. I don't even know how to spell those nicotene stick thingies.
Sorry about the snow! We don't have much here and it's melting already.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

The SIL from h-e double toothpicks has struck again!

This time, the sheriff's department is involved and investigating!!

I got a phone call asking for me, or so I thought. They even pronouced my name correctly. I asked who is calling, and they named off a company I've never heard of before.

I said, "What is _____"

she said "are you ________"

I said, "I've never heard of your company, who are you?"

She said, "We've been sending you letters in the mail, so you should know who we are."

I said, "Please explain to me the company, and then I'll tell you if I'm _____"

She said, "If you're ______ then I can explain to you why I'm calling, but not if you aren't __________"

So I said, "Yes, I'm _______"

She then goes into her collections spiel. That's right, collections spiel for a Discover credit card!!!

I stop her and say, "Wait, I don't have and have never had a Discover credit card!"

Other end of the line is quiet. Then she says, "Are you _____ __ ___________?"

The light dawns, and I said, "No, that's my SIL and you're pronouncing her name incorrectly, she lives in Florida."

So she proceeds to apologize and I say, "Wait, how'd you get this number for her?"

She says, "This is the number she listed as HER HOME NUMBER when she OPENED the account!"

So, I'm ticked! Really ticked! For one, we've only had this number since about mid-2008, so not quite a full 2 years yet and two, my SIL didn't have this phone number until MAY of THIS year!!!! And that's only because my FIL gave her the number w/o our permission or asking us first!

So this is a NEW account she had opened sometime this year, and obviously IS NOT PAYING!!

So, I'm tired of ignoring the bad behavior, of being the nice one, of turning the other cheek, etc. etc. etc.

I called the Sheriff's department. They came out and made a report, and for starters they're helping us investigate if they are also signing up for stuff in our names. Because the BIL has forged E's signature before, so we don't trust he wouldn't do it again.

They are really not gonna like us after this!!