suggestion

[freemotion]

This subject has come up over and over again, and the answer is always no, go to byh and teg. The resistance from us (btw, I prefer this site for homestead animal questions) has to do with the mindset....so there is an organic section now at byh. Still.....it is a very different mindset regarding animals for the small, self-sufficient (or wannabe) homesteader....so the best thing right now is just use the "everything else" category and title your question in such a way that it can be found later by those looking for the info.

Please....I beg of you....No more titles like, "A question for you" or "I was wondering..." etc, as it is impossible to find info buried in these threads later. Get the question into the title...."Can I raise a sheep by itself? How? Or why not?" or "What can I forage to supplement my goat's pasture?"

 

[freemotion]

This has come up many many times and amounted to nothing, so don't expect any changes. LOL.

Say Pat - regarding your generalized paragraph; in my experience it has been the complete opposite. Many of us have raised animals in the conventional way before and have been seeking for alternatives - many of us HAVE been on both sides of it - only to be told repeatedly that if we raise out animals any differently that they would surely die... Don't you think it would get rather tiring hearing that over and over?

Not pointing fingers, of course, but that has also been my experience in 'REAL life' as well.

Yep, if I had a dollar for every "knowledgeable" person who said my chickens will die if I feed them whole corn.... It gets tiresome, the arguments in spite of the clear evidence. Herbal dewormers....RUN! All your goats will die!!!! That gets pretty old, too.

 

[CrimsonRose]

Final comment, NOT directed to the o.p. specifically but to every time this type issue comes up (and it seems to come up a lot on this forum) -- why is it that people supposedly trying to be self sufficient can be such sheep about hearing alternative points of view? Isn't *part* of being self sufficient having the gumption to say "Yes, I hear what you're saying, but that is not what I'm going to do, I'm going to do this other thing" and not get all in a swivet about having been disagreed with? Be happily WILLING to go against the tide, without feeling the tide is treating you unfairly by failing to go your way? (General you there, not specific)

I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't say this on any particular thread because truly it is NOT specific to this one, it comes up a BUNCH on this forum. But it just strikes me as WEIRD that "self sufficiency" should be so dependant on everyone AGREEING WITH you

JMHO of course,

Pat

no I'm not getting upset over the info I get from those other sites... it's good info!

But here is my personal example...

I was a total noob to goats and wanted them solely for milk... I stated this info when I posted...

I showed some pics and asked some questions about my new purchase (a little nubian goat) I was told that she was a mutt would not give enough milk to even be worth trying to milk her... I was told to cull her and spend money and buy a registered goat...

me being a total noob to goats took their advice... I didn't know to say... thanks but that's not the info I need... because quite frankly I didn't know what I needed that's why I was asking...

Had the people on the forum been of the same mindset that I am... and raised goats for milk and wasn't worried about her poor form... I could have possibly gotten the info I needed and help I needed...

again I AM NOT BASHING the other sites or getting "crotchety" about anything... but how can I wade though info if I don't know if it's what I need or not? If I wanted to sell this girls babies and raise "good" quality goats then yes all they told me was correct!

But I'm raising animals not to sell... not to improve a breed... not as a pet... I'm raising them for a farm purpose to be more self-sufficient... and need other farm people to answer my questions... I have that here!

Based on the info I was given on this other site... I sold my nubian for half the price I paid for her thinking she was a cull quality goat... The nice people who bought her run a small goat farm and have several milking does... They did breed her... and she milks almost a gallon a day! Just what I needed in an animal! So she would have been perfect... But instead I sold her dirt cheep and have NO Goat milk... I'm kinda hurt over that whole fiasco but I learned my lesson and let it go... I'm not knocking the advice they gave me... but as you said it wasn't what I was looking for... but at the time I didn't know that... I thought a goat had to be true to breed to be able to be a good milker because that's what I was told...

So now I do know to not take ALL advices offered... but one year ago I didn't... That's my reasoning for suggesting a small section here... Not that I want to go against the other sites or put anyone down...

But why should I have to wade through a bunch of suggestions to a question when it's not being answered by like minded people? (Nothing wrong with that!) but there are a million different ways to raise animals... For example there is a huge difference between large guard dogs and pet Chihuahua's.... If on a pet forum... a farmer might be put down because they leave their dog out in the rain... or don't make them a coat... Same as a chihuahua's owner might be laughed at if they talked about carting their dog around in a purse on a farm forum... LOL

Nothing wrong with either way of doing things... Both animals are raised for different purposes... So asking questions here about how to do things cheaply or nonconventionally won't be answered with a nonrelevant answer...

I know there is a ton of good advice on those other forums and by suggesting this here isn't meant to be a put down in anyway... I just thought it would make it easier to get answers from more like minded people... so you don't have to seconded guess the advice you are given...

 

[Beekissed]

I agree with this post and the other people who state that the other sites are really not conducive for information exchange when you are viewing animals from a homesteading angle.

I was among the first to suggest a livestock section and it has been repeatedly turned down. I realize the mods and Nifty would like us to utilize the designated sites for this kind of info/exchange but it has been increasingly hard to do this on these forums.

Until that atmosphere changes~which I can't personally see it doing so~ we have been trying to fight and swim upstream. It discourages newbies and keeps us from garnering more membership over here when they disappear to find another site that isn't so rough to navigate.

It isn't really a matter of not agreeing with dissenting viewpoints...it's a matter of getting a good information exchange with like-minded individuals about a common subject without the interference of the masses.

After all, why do we have this separate SS forum if we could just discuss homesteading on BYC? Because it is a better forum for the discussion....as would be a section on homesteading with livestock here on BYC.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

I have not used BYH much yet, and now that I know that my natural methods will be attacked, well, guess I will just make do over here

 

[CrimsonRose]

natural methods? for worming or medical care?

see it's stuff like that I would love to learn... what happens when Tractor supply goes bankrupt and I have animals with worms... what would I do then? I honestly don't like the idea of using chemicals to treat illnesses unless absolutely necessary... Goats in the wild have to eat something to help keep the parasites down... I'm always looking for info like that... I want to know what is it and how can I grow my own! hahaha

 

[Blackbird]

Oh Crimson!!!
If I had seen that, I would have counteracted on that... Of all our goats, our two mutts give the MOST milk, even compared to my expensive show goats!!!

We have some good threads on natural worming over here! I'm sorry that I don't have any links to them directly, but they are around here somewhere!

 

[freemotion]

There is some good stuff on byh in the organic section, too. Post there even if you are not asking an organic question....just natural methods. Better yet, post here in the "everything else ss" section.

I've found byh useful if I have a medical question that requires pharmaceutical intervention. Interestingly, there are still many conflicting opinions to wade through. It often comes down to what supplies I can get. I saved my Plummy with advice from byh....which ended up being natural because I couldn't get the meds in time!

I'm so sorry you sold that goat, crimson. I'd've told you to keep her if I'd seen the thread. I love my hybrids and in my two breeding seasons, have tried to get MORE breeds into my goats. I'm finding that the ones with meat and dairy in them are the toughest, the all dairy, although mixed, not so tough. But that is in a teensy-tiny herd, your mileage may vary.

There are lots of mutt goats out there....I've seen a bunch of doelings on craigslist here lately, of breeding age. People are thinning the herd so as not to keep too many over the winter, or to get some holiday money. Put up your own ad if you don't see any offered for sale. You might even be able to get on already bred.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I think those posts are either in one of your or free's threads.

I think it is because we try to be SELF sufficient, we are more likely to steer away from commercially prepared stuff and that includes our animals and gardens.

On the other sites, people are not that concerned about making their own stuff and those that believe that the commercial ways are better, will promote those ways. They can do as they wish, I for one am looking to do my own thing and I just hate wading through all that other info to get what I need, especially when I am starting something I have never done before, like raising goats for milk and meat.
I especially hate being told that the natural ways are going to kill me, my plants or my animals.
Or that someone is going to take offense, because my critters are mutts and I butcher and eat them.
I also don't want to offend someone, by inadvertently suggesting they butcher their pet chicken. That is not as likely to happen on this forum of farmers or wannabe's.

I think CrimsonRose's experience is an excellent point, as to why we could benefit from having this topic on this forum.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

We do talk about livestock a lot here. I tend to visit BYH if I have a question, but I'll just search & read instead of asking. Most of the time, my question has already been asked & usually answered. If I can't find an answer from one of several folks I trust, I'll send a PM, or come here. If no one has a clue, well... If it makes sense, I'll try it! Sometimes I'll ask the old farmwife who works my local feed store.

She's the one who told me wheat will make a milk cow's production go down. Makes sense that (if that's true) too much wheat would make a goat's go down as well. After she told me that, I spent some time searching and found one little study that said it did decrease production. Now I understand (maybe, possibly) why Dixie's production went down a bit in the early summer. DD was fixing her feed (gosh I love that kid) and she was putting a bit more wheat in than I would have.

I have found that anything "weird" or different, kinda gets looked down or you get asked snarky questions. But that's on almost any type of forum there is. Except this one, where a question about churning butter with an exercise bike makes perfect sense

I vote for a livestock/animals section, too