Hobby Farms Forums / Livestock / HobbyFarms.com Forum Topics

Winter pasture management

williams@uplink.net — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:36:29 GMT

I'm wondering the best way to manage my pasture/hay field this winter. I have read that some farmers keep their sheep on pasture all winter long, allowing them to scrape down to grass (along with supplemental feed/hay). But I know that many horse farms move their horses off the good pastures for winter so that they don't rip up the sod with their hooves during wet periods in fall/spring. I have horses and sheep - should I put up the horses and leave the sheep in the pasture?

I'm tempted to put everyond up in a dry lot(s) this winter to protect the pasture, but I hate to keep everyone confined all winter long. The 'dry' lots are prone to floooding/standing water during wet periods, so they're not great for hoofed animals. We make hay on this pasture, so sound management of it is more important than animal happiness - if I have to choose between the two.

What has worked for you all?

Newbie looking at a hobby farm

jmur5074 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:38:45 GMT

Hey all..new to the forums, I'm glad I found this place!!

Just to give you a little background, I was born in the country and have worked on a couple different farms in the past. I've got experience caring for farm animals, am (generally) familiar with different barnyard animals (primarily dairy cows and calves because that's what I did on the farms I worked on). Anyway, three years ago I moved out of the country and bought my first house IN TOWN because on a single income budget, it's what I could afford.

My fiance and I are now looking at places in the country, and I want to get a hobby farm to feel "back at home" like I was growing up. I've got some questions though, because on the farms I worked for they had lots of equipments, and hundreds of acres of fields for their animals.

The place we're looking at has a small barn, a utility shed, and a hog barn with about 10 permanent pens and a pit below. The barn has room for probably 10 mid sized animals (goats or sheep), 1 or 2 horses, or a few cows. It's also got a loft. It is on 7 acres, none of which are pasture land. 4 of the acres are "prairie grasses" that I'd be willing to part with and turn into pasture land. There is an area surrounding the barn where animals can be contained, but it doesn't provide any grass or dirt.

I'm in MN so cold weather can be an issue.

Here's what I'm looking at doing.

I'm interested in having 3-4 pigs for slaughter (no breeding), some goats (for enjoyment - not meat, breeding, or milk), and poultry (likely chicken and some ducks).

As I said, I've got experience working on a farm, but those have been large working dairy farms. I won't have fields available to me for preparing food/bedding during the winter for the animals. I know I can buy hay, feed, and straw locally, but are there any other tips/tricks that I can utilize to keep costs down? I know I've got the equipment, knowledge, ability, and interest to keep things under control during the spring/summer months; but I'm not sure what I'd do during the winter to keep the animals safe, fed, and healthy. I know it can be done, but I've never been in the position to actually make those decisions on such a small scale with limited resources.

Also, on the farms I've worked on in the past, we used spreaders to remove the animal waste/manure from the barns. I've never had an underground pit. Who would empty that and how much would it cost (generally)?

Anyway....I'm open to any input you can give. I'm looking forward to doing this, but I need to know what I'm going to do in the winter before I make any actual commitments.

Chickens foot looks awful What is it? need help!

TerriL — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:54:15 GMT

Hello hope someone knows what this is and what to do. My Rooster has had a swolen foot for several months. My first thought was Bumblefoot but no bumble but I treated him anyway I soaked, got antibotic from vet IM, packed with iodine, neosporin and treated it for 2 months no improvement. So I decided he had scale mites, his scales were sticking out (of course his foot was so swolen) I soaked, put vasiline on for a long time, just got worse. So after not looking at it for a couple weeks, I looked at it today and hopefully you can see from the pics, he has a nasty place on the side of his foot and a nasty place on top. I tried to dig some of the puss out but just got blood and pieces of his bone from the toes big chunks. I packed with neo and got on line. If I have to put him down I will but I would rather not if I can do something. I can not fine a vet that does chickens. Please help if you can!

Mastitis, clippers, goat driving equipment

gcwpapillon — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:12:30 GMT

I have a (best guess) 3-6 y/o DRY lamancha doe. UTD on shots, wormer....any who. When I got her, the people I got her from only had her a few months, the people they got her from, said her kids died young.....We're going to be breeding her in a few weeks, and though 145 (give or take) gestation seems like forever, I want to be prepared. I'm worried that her kids died because she had mastitis.

1. How can you tell, if a dry doe has mastitis?

2. How would I treat it if she has it?

3. Would it harm her, if I treated her for mastitis, when she doesn't have it.

Sometimes I feel her udders and SOMETIMES it feels like she has small lumps (smaller than a marble). They move around, like from the teat to the udder. Her udders look normal, just really small, cause she's dry.

We're hoping to get a baby doll sheep (or alpacas) sometime, what electric shears/clippers, (whatever you call them) would you reccomend?

Any links to a good website that sells carts/harnesses for goats? Brand reccomendations?

Thanks for the help.

A miniature petting ranch

Drac — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:28:56 GMT

Morning all,

Haven't been around for a while due to home issues and study. My wife and I after some study and some dreaming have decided to go for a miniature petting ranch. Miniature because we like them, petting because quite frankly we want to pets and ranch because we're in Texas and ranch sounds so much more Texan.

So looking around there are miniature versions of everything including herefords. With miniature dogs there are added health problems but all the ads say these animals are great, trouble free, easy to care for.....

They are trying to sell them though so they aren't going to go on about all the problems. Can those who are familiar with various miniature species let me know what I could be digging myself into?

Thx,
Jim

Keeping sheep in

Drawbar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:27:11 GMT

Some days I just hate my sheep...

Lately its been tough to keep the sheep in, they are penned up in their winter paddock now that grass has died back, and this is surrounded by 6 strand electric fence with 11,000 volts. I have even been feeding them hay and watching them graze what little green grass is left.

Still they get out.

Yesterday I realized I needed to check my fence and saw that they had busted through in at least a dozen places. I chased the sheep back in, fixed the fence and got 3/4 done when my Mom yelled to me. I only spent 20 minutes there and yet when I came back up to the house, all the sheep were out again.

I guess its a combination of switching from nice lush green grass to hay, having 4 inches of wool that keeps them from getting shocked, and a need to roam. Either way they just duck their heads and run through the fence.

I called up the FSA yesterday and I am going to see what they have for fencing options, either via grants or via a low interest loan. I know the NRCS will cost share with HT multi-strand electric fencing, but that won't keep sheep in. I think I just need to bite the bullet and put up some really good fence.

Is anyone else having problems keeping their sheep in, or is it just my sheep?

How to care for a newborn Jersey calf??

hendr069 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:56:30 GMT

I FINALLY got my own Jersey!! I'm very excited!! I bought Josie the Jersey Oct. 31, she's suppose to be due Dec. 9 (AI bred 3/5) but I don't think she's gonna wait that long.

Anyway, what do you do different with Jerseys? The guy I bought her from said you only feed them about 3pts of milk (2Xday of course) and that you have to take them to bed with you. I don't think I'm hillbilly enough to take it to bed with me, maybe if its cute enough and can wear a diaper... Just don't over do it with the milk and keep them warm- any other tips/advice?? I'm use to big Holsteins and beefer bbs but Jerseys are more "delicate?"

After we loaded Josie up, the guy said "hopefully she has a heifer" then his brother added "maybe she'll have twins!" Oh I hope not!! Let me raise a single before I get challenged with twins- they will be sleeping with me!!

Cold Weather Sheep/Goats

Dingo — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:39:00 GMT

What is the best breeds of sheep and goats for cold weather with lots of snow. Will be used for meat (maybe fiber). Low maintenance is also a consideration.

Farm Raised Pig Price?

Politicaldog — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:09:15 GMT

Well, we did it. Never having raised any pigs we successfully raised three Hampshire pigs.

These pigs were raised on a combination of good quality swine food from a local grainery along with maybe 35% of their food coming from our organic garden. Green beans, squash..etc. plus a generous portion of eggs from our chickens.

The live weights were 390. 375, & 345. The hanging weights were 260, 230, & 255. We have already sold two of these pigs but do not know what the price should be. The buyers are paying all kill fees and cut and wrap.

It cost us 55 cents per pound live weight to to raise them or 81 cents hanging weight. We are not trying to make a killing but just would like some advice on a fair price per pound.

Thanks

Can I put a ram in with my goats?

majesticfarm — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:14:36 GMT

I am getting a ram to breed with my sheep. I have two goats thought and wasn't sure if he would try to breed with them too or if they would be fine all together.

Working dogs

JasonP — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:16:21 GMT

We just had to put down one of our dogs, (he was a "hybrid" rescue who specialized in crumb munching). If we decide to get another dog, I was thinking about something that would be good with the livestock. We are on a little under an acre with a handful of dairy goats. There is a local guy who has a Catahoula Cur on freecycle. Anyone know about them? I have not even contacted to find out why he is giving him away - any other breed ideas? I want one of the smarter breeds that could be a help with the animals too.

stock choices

walls0stoneIV — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:56:44 GMT

as some know I have fellows here in the area who have bison and try to keep them in with just 2 strands of wire. Some of the bison did break free and did damage to the farms and property around.

Under normal situations involving cows, horses and such, something would be done by the land owner to correct any issues....and in most cases end with
the land owner saying " well, things happen". All the wile knowing that the owner of the cow or horse did what he could and the farm animals are part of the reason the neighbor is here.

In this case, the poor preparation of the hobby farmer to keep control of his stock has lead to his replacement herd, (the first having been exterminated wile trashing our local farms) as escaped into other parts of the community, including town were many small children play on the green at the center of town.

I've been told that a petition is being passed around to encourage the land owner to stop his half *** bison operation. Normal I would say that whatever a man wants to do on his property is his business. however when poor planning and a 2,000 bison bull makes his way over to my property or into the play area in town were my children play...it becomes something very different.

Black marks on my chickens heads....

JustUs — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:00:20 GMT

I have ten Leghorn rooster's and hens. They have some black markings on the tops of the cockscomes, does anyone know what it is? and should I be worried about it?

Thanks

JustUs

Anyone have any barn plans???

sbates — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:20:07 GMT

I am wondering if anyone has any free or low-cost barn plans. I am going to build this myself (slowly), so I would like "low to medium complexity" plans. Something along the lines of a 24 X 32 footprint with a gambrel roof and a hay loft... something like this. But I am not wedded to this design. Can anyone give me some advice here (or maybe some free plans!!!) Thanks!

Dark Brown Eggs

cweick — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:21:22 GMT

P2 has in his flock 2 Welsummers that lay chocolate color eggs. We know of the Cucco Marans that lay dark brown eggs, too (but never had any hens). There is another breed of chickens that lay even darker brown eggs than the Welsummers. I saw a dozen of these eggs at our parish fair.

Does any know of another breed that lays dark brown eggs?

Question about Milk

CampineChickens — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:07:09 GMT

Hi,

Is raw homegrown goat milk better than raw homegrown cow milk? If so, why?

Thanks,
Ariel

Kidding season is getting closer by the minute.....

ozark_jewels — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:09:21 GMT

Breeding season is just about wrapped up here at Ozark Jewels Dairy and Meat Goats. Kidding season starts the 1st week of January, 2010.
I am taking reservations for Nubian kids, Lamancha kids, Boer kids, and a few Grade kids. I do not ask for down payments, just let me know what you are interested in, and I will put you on the list. I do make package deals on three or more full-priced kids. No package deals on bottle wethers.
I have just updated my breedings page on my site, and prices and due dates can be found there.
http://ozarkjewels.webs.com/2009breedings.htm
The dairy Grades are not listed on my site. The Grade does belong to friends of mine, I am wintering over their two does this year. Any kids they have may be available for slightly cheaper than my Purebred kids. The wethers will be $15, the doelings will be $80-$100 with ADGA applications. Dams are good milkers, one is Alpine/Nubian(bred to my Copper-Hill Little Buddy), the other is Lamancha/Alpine/Nubian(bred to my Amberwood Eclipse Of The Moon).
Wishing everyone a happy kidding season!!

Transporting Gilbert and Iggy Home

cweick — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:31:20 GMT

I put out a Want to Buy ad out in the Timberland down here. I got a call the other day and picked up the ex-large pet (Blue and for a dog) taxi up from a man. A new one would of cost me over $145 without tax or shipping. I know I could put it together my self. So what I paid for this one was great.

1. We live in Louisiana, should I tape over the two side vent holes of the pet taxi to help keep the wind off the piglets? What about the front door? Do I need to do anything with that (besides keep it closed and lock...)

2. How much sand should I put in the bottom?

3. How much water should I use to wet the sand and when?

Am I over looking anything here?

Any suggestion on how to switch them from well water from Mr. Walker's place and the "city" water that we have at the Homestead. Our well went dry back in 1999.

Thanks.

Sheep in TN?

thestartupman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:31:46 GMT

Anyone have any info on sheep in TN? What is a good breed? Would prefer a wool type, but would like to hear about any that might do well in TN. Is it true that some breeds birth muliple times a year, and others only once?

Anybody here breed or keep angora rabbits?

brody — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 07:21:34 GMT

or have great angora rabbit links?

I just lost a wonderful family member (a 14 year old rabbit) and am thinking angora rabbit(s) would make sense given my move to the country...

would love more info before the committment to living with one tho

Feeding pigs

britboy — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:52:54 GMT

Next spring I am intending to buy a couple of pigs primarily to clear a stumpy field but also for the meat. I am planning the garden for next year and intend to grow potatoes, swede/rutabaga, carrots, onions, turnips and anything else that people suggest as good for them.

I will suppliment as needed.

The question is: Do I need to soften the rootcrops by boiling them? I have conflicting opinions on this.

Does the following sound about right?

Late spring feeder pig - 20# ish weight

With good nutrition 9 month later pig is 200# and ready for freezer.

270 days gives an increase of 180# = 2/3# per day.

Pig food to weight conversion rate = 30% So 2# average food per day sounds about right.

Total beginer with pigs here, put me right please.

ID Fry

cweick — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:49:26 GMT

This is Fry. She is a "come here chicken." She, French and Sister came before the December 2008 snow storm in LA. She lays large brown (tan) eggs. I don't know what breed she is. Any suggestions? We no longer have French or Sister due to an attack on the flock at the start of 2009. Here back feathers have taken on the color of the blue coat that I used to treat her and Jainy. I don't know her real age. She's been on the place about a year now.

free range chickens

ihenigman2 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:16:53 GMT

i have had a flock (12 hens and two roosters) however i kept them caged up i let them out a few times and they always went back in the coop before sundown ive since moved and had gotten rid of those birds and am planning to get more i was wandering if i just built them a coop to stay in at night and let them out in the day time do they lay their eggs all over the place or do they go back to their nests to do that

chickens not laying

flemfarm — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:37:27 GMT

My chickens have not been laying well most of the summer and now into the fall. I have 25 hens and im getting 5 eggs a day. in the spring i was getting a dozen a day at least. A friend said i should sprinkle hot sauce on there food that it would make them start laying like crazy. I feed my hens 16% layer pellets and they have access to oystershells and i throw a cup or two of scratch grain to them everyday. Im getting frustrated and my egg customers are starting to look elsewhere. I dont want to damage my hens by hot sauce, just wondered if anyone knew anything about it. Thanks

USDA butcher

thestartupman — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:59:27 GMT

Has anyone thought about having their own butcher shop and sell directly to the public? I know it would be a lot red tape, but has anyone tried it?

The best laid plans....

Drawbar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:56:32 GMT

It all started with a pick up door slamming shut. One of the hired men up to the farm stopped at the house and said they were going to spread cow manure on my fields before the CNMP shut off went into effect. Because of frozen soil, we can only spread manure up until December. I like the idea of them spreading manure because that means the grass will really grow next year without having to spend money on fertilizer, but you can't graze sheep on freshly laid manure.

I was just smiling the other day, figuring I could push my grazing all the way up until December, or at least the first major snow. I had plenty of grass for the sheep since the fields were still green and the sheep seemed to be doing well on free range grazing.

Now they are pinned in to the only field I have that the trucks can't get on. That means the grazing is gone and its on to winter feeding. Its no big deal I guess, but one of the things I really want to get into is winter grazing, or at least pushing the grazing back to the extreme. Its a stretch here in Maine, but for every day I gain in the fall, that is one less day of feeding out winter feed...

Now its 20 degrees outside and snowing hard with accumulating snow. I guess winter is here huh?

Let's not abuse private messaging

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Because of private privacy laws, messages sent through the private messaging system cannot be tracked. To help crack down on those abusing the message board, we're asking that if you receive a private message that solicits another message board or website, please report this to us.

You can contact tech support through sitesupport@bowtieinc.com. You can also use the report button located on each post to alert the moderators. We want everyone to have an enjoyable experience here and those abusing the forum only hinder on your positive experience.

Thanks for your support!

Goat after labor

jenlaar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:00:38 GMT

I have a young pigmy goat who had her first kid a little over two weeks ago. The kid was early so it did not survive. The vet checked the mom and said that she cleaned up well and is okay. This morning when I went out she had a bloody mucusy discharge. Should I get concerned or is that part of the birthing process? My concern is that it is so late after the birth. This was my first experience with birthing so I need some advice from those of you who are experienced.

THanks

Berries

JasonP — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:07:46 GMT

We have honeysuckle growing on our property. It is the upright bush type and has produced a good crop of bright red fruit. I have been told it is poisonous for humans, but I was curious if goats, chickens, or ducks can eat them. They are just outside the fenced area, but I love using the landscape to feed my animals when possible.

Trying to Find/Buy Livestock

cweick — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:50:33 GMT

Well P2 is hooked with these Hereford Hogs. I've been looking for a year now. So I'd talked with our Chiropractor about options. He gave us a name of a Mr. Walker who has Landrace, Yorkshire pigs as well as feeder pigs. So we (hubby and I) came up with the plan on getting him 2 barrow piglets from Mr. Walker and let him grow them out. Which in turn would give me about another year to find producers of these hogs (Herefords). I found a farm to the east and it was a no. Found another farm to the west and it's a waiting list and then if he doesn't sell the piglets for meat then he'll call us in October 2010 (which would fit our plan to the "T"). I found several places up north but that's to far to be away from home and animals.

So has anyone else had a problem along these lines? If so, what did you do to find the animals that you were looking for closer to your place?

Thanks.

Evening Feeding

williams@uplink.net — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:23:13 GMT

I just read in the Storey Guide to Raising Sheep (or a similar reference book) that sheep should be fed an hour before dark - no later. I'd never heard this before and wonder why it is? Anybody know why?

Does anyone know of any other optimum times for the evening feeding? Does is vary by species?

I've always kept the horses close to a 12 hour schedule, with the evening feeing being at 8 or 9 pm so that I could also do a 'night check' before settling into my PJs.

What time do you feed in the evening and why?

What will your livestock NOT eat?

cweick — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:50:47 GMT

Our cattle will not eat watermelon or pumpkins

Mangus (rabbit) apples

Dog/Cat cooked steaks...I refused to feed them raw like they want

Keets won't eat busted pumpkins

Suckling Operation?

Drawbar — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:07:00 GMT

We have been emailing the people who own the cottage for our trip to Ireland in a few months. Its kind of neat because its on an active farm, but as she told us the history of the place...first being a dairy farm, but not making any money with that they went to laying hens. Predators took their toll on them, so they now run a "suckling operation".

I have never heard of a "suckling operation", but it sounds to me like they run what we would call a replacement heifer farm. The "sucklings" being the heifers that they raise from calf to motherhood and then sell the now lactating cows to working dairy farms. Does anyone know if that is what the Irish call a "suckling farm"?

On a side note, they seem as eager to have us there as we are to go. They said they will be very busy on the farm at that time, and that they have never had farmers stay at their cottage before. We are pretty excited as well, but were a little saddened that they did not have sheep. They said few sheep farms exist there because the land is flatter and more arable then the "hills region" where sheep farms are numerous.

BBC Mud Sweat and Tractors - Beef

Paul Ewing — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:29:44 GMT

I just caught the BBC show Mud Sweat and Tractors - Beef which is a documentary on the evolution of English Beef cattle since 1900. It especially dealt with the shrinking of the Angus and Hereford breeds in the mid century and it's negative effect on the industry. If anyone can get this series it is a great show. You can find some of them online. It has lots of interviews with the top breeders, show managers, and auctioneers of the era and film footage of the breeds through the years.

It is funny how people are converting to the small cattle that were created in the mid 20th century for a very specific purpose and almost killed the Angus and Her ford breeds in England.

Originally in the 1800's to about WWI, the Angus and Herefords were not much smaller than they are now. More of the fat stock side than the lean that is preferred now, but just as large. This was because the beef was sold to large family estates in England that had many people working on them and large families to feed. Starting around the WWI point, the cattle started getting smaller. Two reasons for this were the smaller family sizes and the import of beef from South America and later Australia. On these import cattle, the carcass had to be able to hang between the decks of the ships for the three week trip to England. The animals proceeded to shrink though the years until they resulted in the "belt buckle cattle" of the mid 1960's. At his point, the Continental European breeds became the main influence because they could make a decent size carcass that was lean. The Angus breed started to get bigger by the gamble of a few breeders that imported the largest bulls they could from the US and Canada to revive the breed in England. Today the breed is back up to a normal size and doing better because they can finish out of grass instead of having to be grain fed like the Continental breeds.

It will be hard to make up any feed efficiency with the prices charged for breeding stock for these re-miniaturized breeds. And if you ever have to sell them outside of the breeding market, it is very likely you will be clobbered. I saw a beautiful herd of Belted Galloways (another small English breed) sold at auction a couple months ago. They all went at canner prices of 30 to 50 cents a pound verses 90 cents to 1.10 a pound for standard Angus crosses.

New to site Need ideas when feeding Goats Grain

TerriL — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:39:18 GMT

Hello, this is my first post I will try and keep it short. I have 14 goats, mostly rescues. I dont feed much grain because our state university said I should not beed any because I have some wethers however my Vet says I should feed it in the winter. Any ideas how you get Goats to mind their manners and not kill me and each other when I try and feed them grain. I actually had one goat get a concusion (sp) last year and die because he got butted just right. I dont think I ever cried so hard in my live except maybe 2 years ago when one of the wethers had UC and eventually died even with surgery. I use the Goat Chow and the Goat Mins and add something into the mins for the UC (sorry can remember the name). Any ideas would be appreciated.

Twins for a Hereford Cow

cweick — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:39:07 GMT

Fall calving season is here. Haven't heard the last count. But we have twins. Both are up and going, however has anyone had any experience with twins. Is it true that if they are opposite sex that the heifer isn't fertile? What do you do, for example do you take the weakest one away and bottle feed it or try to get a mom that lost her calf to except this one? Would like to know what you all would do. Mom is healthy and in good condition, but if the weather turn cold like they say it might, I open to options.

Thanks.

Goat fleas?

Theona — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:43:56 GMT

My goats spend a lot of time itching. Is it possible they have fleas? If they do, how do you get rid of them?

Birds everywere!!

blackhog — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:50:41 GMT

It has been a while since I posted, or even logged in. Any ways My silkies are the silliest of the flock. Infact my flock has been altered a bit.

I lost one hen, got two new (cochin hens) that are black, got two americauna peeps, and now I'm not only raising chickens, but ducklings as well now.(And they are cuter than a button. I have a polish Cockrel and I entered my pullet in the county fair.(She got second)

My grey silkie is really pudgy now too..XD

Poor Horse

ozark_jewels — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:36:38 GMT

We picked up a new horse two weeks ago. We had a vet look Sunny over before bringing her home to make sure there was no underlying problem for her condition. Nope, just starvation. I really think the vet thought I was spinning him a tale because he kept looking at the horse and then shooting me dirty looks.......no, it was not MY vet!
I do not understand how anyone can let an animal under their care get into such bad shape as this poor girl is.
Here she is the day we unloaded her and she met our gelding, Cappy.

She is a real sweetheart and after being wormed and turned out, is looking a little better too me....don't *think* its my imagination. I don't expect her to put on weight fast, but her hair is starting to look better.

Here is her new best buddy, Cappy the gentle giant.

I look forward to riding all these backroads when she gets into shape. I could ride Cappy now but he and I hate riding alone.....

My first farrowing experience

mystnd — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:34:51 GMT

Ok...so in response to the requests that there hasn't been much new lately, I thought I would share my American Guinnea Hog's (and my) first pregnancy experience. I got my 3 girls and a boar at Thanksgiving last year. The girls (Pru, Piper and Phoebe) were 12 weeks old and Bosephus was 8 weeks. I drove to Wisconsin for them and had a ten hour drive home with them in the back of the truck. They did just fine. Guinnea Hogs are listed as rare breeds with ALBC and part of the reason for breeding them is to increase the population of them. They are a land race breed known as easy keepers, very social and not as large as commercial hogs. They are about 1 pound at birth and the breed website describes them as soda pop bottles with legs which is pretty accurate. They are supposed to get to about 200 pounds in a couple years and are said to be delicious. They are a lard hog and are definately THE OTHER RED MEAT.

At any rate, they spent the rest of the winter in the barn and I didn't have a way to get them outside. The standard advice is: don't let them get fat or they won't breed!! Well, I think they got too fat inside and they didn't get pregnant as soon as I expected. I also think they may have been pregnant once and miscarried soon into it but I'm not sure. I spent the summer trying to figure out whether they were just fat (as my brother kept telling me) or pregnant. I eventually decided that they had to be pregnant since it was very obvious that the girls (who have always been bigger than Bosephus) were much fatter than he was. My first clear sign that I was right was when their udders "dropped" even before they filled out with milk. Their vulvas were a bit dilated but not as much as I would have expected. I found a Storey magazine that talked about both respirations increasing and temps increasing about 72 hours before birth. Well, I wasn't interested in checking temps but I was able to notice that Pru (my biggest mommie) was really increasing her rate of breathing and that she would waddle out a bit and then lay down. This was potentially a red herring as we had unseasonably warm temps for the last 3 weeks before they gave birth.

Well, I knew it should be soon but on Sunday morning when I arrived, she had 8 active, cleaned up little piggies. There was one large piglet that was dead and a much smaller one that didn't make it out of the after birth. My LGD cleaned up everything. Pru made a nice big nest and I noticed she fed them outside of it. I put up a heat lamp just in case, but it was still warm and they have rarely used it. Sometime after two weeks one of them "disappeared"...I'm guessing it died and the LGD disposed of it.

The next largest girl had hers on Thursday. By the time I got there, she had 6 babies running about although they were obviously smaller. The weather had started to turn cold and got unseasonably cold over the next week. She made her nest in a small shed that had partially blown down and didn't have much straw or much space. I gave her more straw and a heatlamp but within 48 hours she obviously laid on 3 babies. I tried to save one but it just never seemed to be able to get enough nutrition and it only lasted another 12 hours. The other 3 are strong and healthy although smaller.

Mommie #3 had 7 babies about a week later. By then it was 20 at night (about 20 degrees colder than it should have been) and wet. She made a very small nest in deep straw. She lost 2 right after birth and lost all the rest over the next 24 hours. She was the smallest of the sows and the weather was the worst.

They all ate the same feed and they all gained weight at the same rate as their original sizes when I got them so....I believe that my losses were based predominately on the weather change and their inexperience with motherhood and nest building. I am hoping (controlling this is somewhat controlable but not completely) that their next litters will be in May and that weather will be a bit better. I am also planning (now that I know what pregnancy looks like) to confine them in pens before birth. Guinnea hogs aren't supposed to need farrowing crates. There are definately differences in their mothering styles as momma #1 is very observant but not aggressive about it. Momma #2 was much more protective of her 3 after she lost the others. She acted like she might bite me once but thought better of it. She did step on my foot which probably hurt worst.

Since this is "rescue breeding" I am planning to try to sell the best 4 or 5 as breeding stock and the rest as just plain pigs. I know this is really long and congratulations if you've had the patience to read it. Sometimes I've found that if you don't know what to ask, it's hard to know what you don't know so I thought I'd share this in some detail for the other newbies like me. Mary Ann