Made a offer on the new place today.

[gardengimp]

Chickens, goats and fish; oh my!

Sounds like fun

 

[Dave 54]

Larkin what a stunning place your so lucky , space here is at a minimum nowadays as more and more green field sites are used up .
As to a name for your house why not name it after the book I bought the other day but add a little to it So it would be "Still Waters,The place of the Nishikigoi".
Still Waters after that huge lake you have and the Nishikigoi because of your love for them ( its just an idea .

Good luck with your new home

rgrds

Dave

 

[addy1]

roflmao....................a friend wants us to get goats to eat the poison ivy that is popping up everywhere.........yeah right! They would eat every plant I have before they would even start on the ivy. Glad you enjoy your goats! Larkin and peaceful chickens

Darn stuff is now growing in the inside garden, told honey he needs to be on get rid of it gang, (he does not get poison ivy rash) since I react so bad to it. It is mixed in my raspberry bush, darn stuff.

 

[fishin4cars]

Larkin what a stunning place your so lucky , space here is at a minimum nowadays as more and more green field sites are used up .
As to a name for your house why not name it after the book I bought the other day but add a little to it So it would be "Still Waters,The place of the Nishikigoi".
Still Waters after that huge lake you have and the Nishikigoi because of your love for them ( its just an idea .

Good luck with your new home

rgrds

Dave

Dave, If you had brought that up 6 months ago it probably would be named Still Waters. That would have fit perfectly. But since we have already Got the LLLC done for the taxes and Ins, and the $400 sign made I guess it will stay the Ponderosa while we own it. BTW, once you finish the nppk give me a review, That's one of the next books I would like to add to my collection as well

 

[CountryEscape]

Larkin, I'm sure glad I explained the part about the dwarf MILK goats and you understood pygmies are totally different. I have another suggestion. Are both of your boys still "males"? If so, have at least one of the castrated. If you don't, when the girls come into heat (usually in the fall for milk goats, when the weather first turns cold), those boys will fight severely for the girls attention, and you may have cuts and bumps, and possibly worse. If they are kept separated from the girls, you will be ok, but if you want them all together, castrate one of them.
The other thing to be aware of, when the girls go into heat, the boys will become sooooo stinky you will want to get rid of the goats! Just saying ... another thing, cut those beards BEFORE the boys go into rut (when the girls are in heat, end of summer). Here's the deal! Boy goats pee on their beards to make them "smell good" ... NOTTTTT ... to the girls. They even pee into their own mouth! Yeah, I know, that's really gross, but they do lots of gross things when it comes to wooing the girls. I'm just giving you fair warning. I never owned a buck .. EVER ... and we had goats for 10 years. Always borrowed one for breeding season, or took the does to the buck. Granted they smell the worst during breeding season, but breeding season can last from Sept to Feb.! If you keep the bucks away from the does, and don't want one of your does bred, they will go in and out of heat every 21 days all fall and winter, thus stinky bucks longer! Just some pointers so you don't get a bad surprise later!
I would suggest picking the buck with the straightest front legs (viewing from in front) with the most width between the front legs, and the most angulation of the rear legs (from the hock - knee - up to the rump). You want it to be nice and curved there. Wait, that may be for milk goats, maybe not for pygmies. Hmm ... Or, choose the smallest male, as everyone wants SMALL pygmies! Also, once you castrate one of the boys, he will be much gentler to handle, especially if there are kids around.
As far as catching them for the evening, do you feed them any grain? If so, ONLY feed it to them in the evening. They are smart. If they THINK you want to catch them, they will run. So, do NOT chase them, walk the other way. As you said, they are curious, and follow you everywhere. Make a set up that once they come through the door to the barn, you can pull a rope and close the door. As with any animals, you have to out think them. If they think you are sneaking to catch them, they will run. It's their nature. Also, they want to run and play, and "catch me if you can" is a game to them.
Last, never carry a goat. They can be easily trained to be led. Put a collar on them, leave it on them. Then use a dog leash (good quality one, strong buckle, or horse lead). When we watched pygmies be shown, they lead them like a dog. Yes, drag them if you need to. As with any animals, they will soon figure out it's easier on them to just follow you. But, try luring them to the barn with grain or something they like.
Sorry they ate so many of your plants. I could have forewarned you about that as well! They will prune each and every tree and bush to what they can reach standing on their hind legs. If it has leaves, they will eat it. Period. They will NOT eat grass, or only as a last resort. Goats will try to eat anything or put anything in their mouth. Will they eat a can? Nope, but will they gum it around in their mouth? Yep, if it will fit. They will also want to "taste" your shirt and shoes, and anything you have in your hand. They are that curious, but you already figured that out.
Have fun with them! Keep trying to think like them, don't think like a human. That's what got your in trouble and why they run when it's time to go inside. Make sure you don't wait until you have to get them right now, too. They will know you're in a hurry, and take that much longer to decide to come up. If you go for them, and they run, turn around, head to the barn. If one comes, the rest will, too, because they don't want to be left out. Just figure out a way to be inside the barn, and pull the door shut from somewhere besides the door. If they see you inside the door, waiting to shut it, they will not come inside. You will figure it out in time. Enjoy!!!
Loud chickens just makes it that much sooner you'll have their pen ready! Be sure to put a top on it to keep predators out from above. I always used electric wire at the bottom outside and top outside, too. Raccoons and skunks will climb a woven wire fence if they can get in from the top. Snakes are hard to keep out, but hopefully that won't be a problem for you.

 

[fishin4cars]

Wow, been a while since I posted on this thread. Goats and chickens have settled in very well. We now have a separation pen in case anyone needs a time out. But for now the four goats have really been for the most part an enjoyment. No eggs with the chickens yet but they are all free ranging and usually hang out near the barn.
Anyway today was our first attempts at harvesting the babies in the mud pond. after 12 pulls with the sieve we ended up with a whopping 29 Koi, then one jumped out so ended up with 28 at the end of the day. Boy that was a lot of work! So far only a couple have caught my eye to keep and raise a little longer. BTW, the ones I really want to see are still in the pond, even pumping out half the water and we are still having a lot of problems catching these little fellows. My guess, there is still another 200-300 that have escaped capture.

 

[fishin4cars]

Roll And Momma are proud to announce the birth of the Ponderosa's first new born baby pygmy goats. The Twins were born at 5:00 and 5:10 pm 12-11-13. The first born was our new little Billy, So far I'm calling him Rolly Polly, The little doe was born second. Rolly Polly weighed in at 1# 8oz The little girl weighed in at 1# 6oz. Momma and babies are doing well, Roll is being a typical new Dad, Strutting his stuff and blowing hot air! LOL, Had to separate him about a month and a half ago. He's started snorting and acting very high spirited the last few days. Today after he heard the babies he really started going nuts! Yep, typical Dad.
I was hoping that Rock was the Dad, But I really didn't care, Lamb isn't far behind so still could get a another color out of her.

 

[fishin4cars]

Less than two weeks before Christmas and we are just now experiencing the change of colors and the best fall colors of the year.

 

[j.w]

Those babies are so cute and furry and I can't get over how your place is so gorgeous like a park. You don't really have a Winter do you, I mean it doesn't really get that cold does it?

 

[addy1]

cute! honey would love for us to get critters, but changes his mind when I tell him we could not travel then

 

[sissy]

for the short time you have been there you sure have done a lot of work .Amazing to see how far you have come .

 

[fishin4cars]

Those babies are so cute and furry and I can't get over how your place is so gorgeous like a park. You don't really have a Winter do you, I mean it doesn't really get that cold does it?

for the short time you have been there you sure have done a lot of work .Amazing to see how far you have come .

Thanks Sissy, yes it's been a lot of hard work but we are finally about through with all the major projects. I tried to post some pictures of the front of the house. I did a trade off with a landscaper to do the beds close to the house in exchange for putting in a small preformed pond at his house. He put in a sprinkler system, drain lines, reformed the beds to the patio, and enclosed the Air Conditioning units in lattice work. I have already planted some of the Camellia's, Hydrangea's, and Nandinia's, I'm also planning on adding some different types of Hosta's this spring. Hope to add pic's this week but was having a issue posting pictures last night. I don't like the way the manager works now for adding pictures. Lot harder than it used to be.

Those babies are so cute and furry and I can't get over how your place is so gorgeous like a park. You don't really have a Winter do you, I mean it doesn't really get that cold does it?

JW, No it really doesn't get that cold. 6-10 mornings of temperatures at or bellow freezing is about a normal year. Two to three days a year it might not get above freezing but actually that's quite rare. If we get down in the low 20's we think it's the frozen tundra around these parts. LOL

 

[sissy]

I love hosta's I have been dragging some from house to house 30+ years .I have to pick and choose where to put them here at least until the trees get bigger .

 

[Mmathis]

Those babies are so cute and furry and I can't get over how your place is so gorgeous like a park. You don't really have a Winter do you, I mean it doesn't really get that cold does it?

You should see it in person! Awesome location, too!

 

[fishin4cars]

Shot a quick video yesterday of the babies getting to explore for the first time.