Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
kadence blevins wrote:person i got long haired boar from got a hold of me the other day. wanted to know if i'd want 2 more. free. they are the boars half siblings. few more weeks and i'll have em.
also someone is going to be trading me 3 sows for 2 of my rabbits. might have them before christmas. not sure.
so for now i'm working on plans for what should hopefully be the best guinea pig tractor. at least for me. and once my rabbit litters get old enough to sell i will hopefully be able to get anything i might need to put the tractor together.
so.... is anyone other then me actually getting into this? anyone at all?
Grant Fulcher wrote:
kadence blevins wrote:person i got long haired boar from got a hold of me the other day. wanted to know if i'd want 2 more. free. they are the boars half siblings. few more weeks and i'll have em.
also someone is going to be trading me 3 sows for 2 of my rabbits. might have them before christmas. not sure.
so for now i'm working on plans for what should hopefully be the best guinea pig tractor. at least for me. and once my rabbit litters get old enough to sell i will hopefully be able to get anything i might need to put the tractor together.
so.... is anyone other then me actually getting into this? anyone at all?
I love your work, very appreciative. What attracts me most is they are able to be free ranged in herds no cages or seperating b/c of fighting or digging out etc, easy to feed without commercial bought pellets unlike rabbits. What Im concerned about is that rabbits are delecious and can be in a variety of dishes, GPs remind me of eating a rat's and I heard have a musky taste? What do they taste like?
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Get involved -Take away the standing of corporations MovetoAmmend.org
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Buy Our Book! Food Web: Concept - Raising Food the Right Way. Learn make more food with less inputs
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Abe Connally wrote:I bought a pair of guinea pigs, today. $10 each. The male is a long hair, female is short, both are long, maybe 1-2 months old. For now, they are family pets, but I'm hoping to breed them for meat. If it goes well, we'll get more.
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Buy Our Book! Food Web: Concept - Raising Food the Right Way. Learn make more food with less inputs
Off Grid Homesteading - latest updates and projects from our off grid homestead
Abe Connally wrote:wow, awesome on the big ones!
these I got are about 2-3 months old, from what the internet says about their weight and length. We'll see what they do.
I'm kinda planning to keep the breeders as kinda pets and then harvest the babies. We'll see how that works out.
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Devon Olsen wrote:subscribed
any pics of your progress?
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
kadence blevins wrote:
Devon Olsen wrote:would you mind sharing your ideas for protecting diversity in your "herd"?
i admit i hadnt actually written or drawn this out yet until i saw this. hahaha naughty me.
note that in all possibilities i would *always* be removing young boars into a boar pen or boar colony.
one idea is a several pen version.
pen 1: starter sows (4)
pen 2: keeper sows from sow #1
pen 3: keeper sows from sow #2
pen 4: keeper sows from sow #3
pen 5: keeper sows from sow #4
pen 6: keeper boars
pen 7: eating/selling boars
pen 8: eating/selling sows
if i would go this method then it would probably be setup like the crianza de cuyes farm videos with decent sized breeding pens and bringing forage and feeds to them. this method i would need to tattoo the boars or something to keep track of who was who's baby. for this i would probably have (since they have small ears) like left ear be S2 for sow 2, and right ear be B1 for boar 1. this way in the beginning at least if remember offhand which sow and boar is which then i can just look and see "ok this boar is from S4 and B2" or if i need to pick a boar for breeding pen 3 then i look through for ones not from S2.
or i could pick a really nice boar from S2 to see if that brings up even bigger/average/smaller piggles or also any certian coloring, to watch for roans and dalmations, which on one hand are expensive for good colored ones and on the other hand can carry deadly genes causing stillbirths and other things that will end up as dead piggles.
i'm not sure yet if i want to tattoo the sows as well or not. i think i'm leaning towards yes on that because if i start getting nice big piggles from certian sows or certian boars on a certian sow then i will want to replace other not as good producing ones with the better ones. so i will want to know which sows were from which starter sow.
alternately if i can make more pens then i could just add on with more pens. though i think i'll have more then plenty with that amount of pens! hahaha.
another idea would be if you want to run them in sow colony and boar colony style then setup some pens to put certian sows in for breeding. this would mean everyone would need tattooed or marked somehow if you want to really watch the genetics and make sure to not get inbred too much. and just record keeping who goes in the breeding pens with who. though i only have 3 sows together outside and i will honestly say i know my boys are from the himi sows (one baby each) but i dont know who had who because i just went out to find 2 more babies then i had before. that is the downside of this method.
though i think some ways to make it minimal inbreeding in this method...
1) run one boar for about a month with all the sows. then all the babies will be from that boar and you can tattoo them as being from him. then next you run an unrelated boar with the sows and do the same thing. this way you can at least keep track of the dads side.
2) run one boar for about 5/6 months with the sows. trade him out for an unrelated boar, another 5/6months. back to the first boar 5/6 months. back to the second boar 5/6 months. this way you dont need to keep records but can insure that they arent getting really inbred. though after 2 years you should probably think about getting a new unrelated boar or have the best of the best picked from your boar babies with those 2. but if you decide to go with your keeper boars then you will get more inbreeding though i dont think it would be too much until a few years in (like 5?) when you know everyone is related now and you need an unrelated boar.
another idea would be to have 2 sow colonies with all unrelated sows in each. then an unrelated boar in each. about every 2 months switch the boars from one colony to the other. another no record keeping option without too much inbreeding worry until several years in.
another idea would be 2 colonies like the last one, but keeping the one boar in each at all times. after 2 or 3 years you choose the strongest, biggest, healthiest of all the boars from each and put it as the breeder in the other colony. rinse, wash, repeat![]()
you could also do this with 3 or more smaller colonies. that would make it longer before you'd really need new blood in them. and lets say you have 4 smaller colonies like this (say 2 sows per colony), you could take the boar in each pen and every 2/4 months just put him in the next colony over and that boar goes into the next one over, etc. then after you did this a while and had all the sows in each you could feed, then you pick the 4 biggest, healthiest, best of the best boars and off ya go again. i think this would be the best for no record keeping and least probablility of getting inbred.
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Devon Olsen wrote:thank you for the detailed response
i am personally thinking that small scale, indoor setup would be more ideal for me, and that outdoor space could be used for chickens or somthing to satisfy the eggs that i normally have in my diet
- as for ID of individuals for keeping records could you perhaps get yourself some collars that were color coded for your breeders and then make some tags for them that can be removed and either replaced or erased and rewritten for a new breeder, rather than tattooing? it just seems tattooing may be a pain in the rear for you, painful for them, and might waste some skin or fur, which may not be something you use, but im sure you could find a use for it somewhere... also might be cheaper initial cost for equipment than a tattoo machine would be
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
kadence blevins wrote:good question on the other thread so i'm copying it over to here. for ease of finding for me at least (:
kadence blevins wrote:
Devon Olsen wrote:would you mind sharing your ideas for protecting diversity in your "herd"?
i admit i hadnt actually written or drawn this out yet until i saw this. hahaha naughty me.
note that in all possibilities i would *always* be removing young boars into a boar pen or boar colony.
****big 'ol snip****.... i think this would be the best for no record keeping and least probablility of getting inbred.
Jack Kovac wrote:
kadence blevins wrote:good question on the other thread so i'm copying it over to here. for ease of finding for me at least (:
kadence blevins wrote:
Devon Olsen wrote:would you mind sharing your ideas for protecting diversity in your "herd"?
i admit i hadnt actually written or drawn this out yet until i saw this. hahaha naughty me.
note that in all possibilities i would *always* be removing young boars into a boar pen or boar colony.
****big 'ol snip****.... i think this would be the best for no record keeping and least probablility of getting inbred.
I'm a little tired so pardon me if you actually covered this in your several methods. Another method that comes to mind is the "rolling method" (which I first saw in Harvey Ussery's "The Small-Scale Poultry Flock" but I've since seen it elsewhere). It's supposedly a pretty low-recordkeeping method.
-Start 3 (or more is better) flocks/herds with at least one boar (or closely related boars) and several unrelated sows (whatever number the boars can cover).
-Label each herd A, B, C, etc. Think of it as a last name in a traditional European marriage pattern.
-When the baby sows (sowlets?) from each litter are old enough to be bred, they are permanently reassigned to the next herd (A sows go to B, B go to C, C to A). This is now their new home and they are never passed on.
-Baby boars (boarbies?) that you want to keep for breeding STAY in Dad's herd. This can be either "taking over the family 'business'" or helping Dad on the farm (retire Dad or keep him, your choice).
-This method completely eliminates brother-sister and father-daughter matings. The only inbreeding possible is mother-son, and this can be eliminated by retiring Mom or temporarily removing her.
-With three herds, the closest breeding would be great-grandfather to great-granddaughter (with 4 herds it's great-great, etc.) which is generally considered linebreeding (except the possible mom-son or aunt-nephew, which WOULD be inbreeding, but is okay if you're selectively improving your herd).
-According to Ussery, with three flocks, you can go 10 years without concern about excessive inbreeding and 20 years with 5 flocks. Depending on how young you breed, it's probably about half that time with cavies. Chickens can be bred around 6 months (?) but I think mostly it's about 11 months.
-You can pretty easily control the birthrate in a particular herd by removing the boars temporarily.
I think I explained that reasonably well, but I've been up all night at work so... And sorry about the puns and wordplay, I get punchy this time of daynight.
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Living in Anjou , France,
For the many not for the few
http://www.permies.com/t/80/31583/projects/Permie-Pennies-France#330873
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
K. Johnson wrote:Wow Kadence you've got this whole little forum kingdom thing going here. I have bee thinking about rabbits and guineas as food. I do like rabbit. Why not do whatever is necessary to get the meat off the bone - boil/poach/roast whatever, then roast the bones and simmer to make stock. Add bay leaf, celery and onion (not too many flavors) and maybe a splash of olive oil. If the meat is good the stuck should be nice too. And nutritious. Use it to make cormeal topping for Shepherd's pie. Yum.
Question: If small livestock (including little pigs)is fed fancy feed, like nuts and grains and maybe nice herbs, will the flavor of the meat be better? What's the conventional wisdom versus reality?
Kathy J
Jason Guerard wrote:How does the taste compare to rabbit?
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Living in Anjou , France,
For the many not for the few
http://www.permies.com/t/80/31583/projects/Permie-Pennies-France#330873
David Livingston wrote:Thought you might like this
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22812158
David
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
Tokunbo Popoola wrote:how much time did it take to get them ready? I was thinking of a kinda cuy/pig tractor system? with adding aged hay.
Shenanigans of the sheep and wooly sort.. And many more.. https://www.instagram.com/girlwalkswithgoats/
Papa always says, "Don't go away angry... just go away."
If you are using a wood chipper, you are doing it wrong. Even on this tiny ad:
permaculture and gardener gifts (stocking stuffers?)
https://permies.com/wiki/permaculture-gifts-stocking-stuffers
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