Insel Lyr Farm

Miracle Duckling

2011-07-02T10:13:00.000-05:00

I heard a duckling peeping from the incubator room. But I looked in the incubator and none had hatched.

I heard the peeping again. It came from the back of discarded incubator eggs that I took out of the incubator when they failed to hatch.

The egg was getting cool and the duckling had only made a little hole in the egg. I put him in the incubator.

This morning I see that he hatched. If he survives ducklinghood, I'm going to keep him.

Hatching season 2011

2011-06-08T09:27:00.000-05:00

Just hatched out 4 baby chicks--- their sire is a rumpless Araucana-type chicken. They are available for sale at $3 each.

We also will be having a few Brahma and perhaps one or two Black Copper Maran chicks hatching out in the next few days, same price.

There will also be ducklings hatching at about the same time: Khaki Campbell and rare Ancona ducks. The ducklings will be $3.50 each. My Ancona stock came from Cackle Hatchery. My Khaki Campbells were purchased at a fur and feather swap. I hatched out a lot of ducklings of both breeds and have kept for breeding the nicer ones--- Khaki Campbells without white spots on their neck, and well-marked Anconas. I did retain one Ancona duck that has too much color instead of the ideal marking, because she seems to be a lavender color. But I had her separated at the start of the season and so her eggs won't be among those hatching anytime soon.

I will have eggs hatching for about 1 month to produce poultry for sale. I'm hoping to sell all the young ones as day-olds or thereabouts in order to avoid having to buy lots of feed.

Duckling/Chick buying tip:
Day-old ducklings or chicks need to be brooded--- kept in a warm, sheltered area. It's best to set this up in advance.

Baby chicks and ducklings don't make ideal pets for young children. Young children must be closely supervised around the chicks/ducklings or they may accidentally kill one.

It's often best, if you only want one or two ducks/chickens, to buy three or four ducklings/chicks. They keep each other warm when it's too cool, and there is always the possibility, when raising baby poultry, of having unexpected death losses. If you end the season with more than you need, you can use the spares for meat (or sell them to a neighbor for that purpose) or sell them at a fall fur and feather swap.

Next Year: My Ancona breeders will, I hope, have been replenished with some stock from a breeder who obtained her first stock from Holderreads, since I bought some hatching eggs from this breeder and most of said eggs proved to be fertile. I haven't been able to add new Campbell stock--- we're on an ultra-tight budget--- but will save some nicely marked ducklings to add to the flock, and hope to obtain some quality stock/hatching eggs in the course of next year.

Stir-Fried Asparagus and Weeds

2011-06-03T09:33:00.000-05:00

I had this for breakfast yesterday morning.

Take some asparagus and cut it up into 1/2 inch pieces. Add a bit of shredded cabbage if you have it. To this, add some fresh dandelion greens or some stinging nettle greens.

Heat up your wok or fry pan a bit. Put in some cooking oil, such as peanut oil. I use extra-virgin olive oil.

Stir-fry the lot until the dandelion greens or nettles look more like cooked spinach and less like weeds. If desired, season with a little soy sauce--- I like Kikkoman's low sodium soy sauce.

For a variation, you can add whatever meat you've been able to buy or hunt down for yourself. If you are a Vegan (welcome to Earth) maybe you can shoot you some tofu to throw in.

How do the weeds taste? When I made it with dandelion greens, I added a bunch of the cabbage to tone down the bitterness. I was suprised at how edible it tasted. The stinging nettle is a bit of a tamer taste but I added cabbage to it as well.

NOTE: when picking your stinging nettle, be warned: it stings! Also of course be sure you can tell dandelions/nettles from things like Instant Death Weed or whatever.

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Reg. Shetland Ram for Sale: $100

2011-05-15T07:20:00.000-05:00

Our former herd sire Robert Emery needs a new home! He's a proven breeder, but we don't need him any more. He's five years old this year so we've lowered the price for him to $100.

He was very cute as a lamb--- tan all over--- but faded to pure white as an adult.

NPPRC: Feather and Fur Spring Swap Schedule

2011-05-14T07:04:00.000-05:00

I missed out on selling at the swap in Stephenson, MI, though I did stop by when I saw all the cars, and bought a nice male turkey as a mate for my female turkey, Imelda.

In case anyone else wants the schedule for the rest of the spring swaps, here it is (all are 8am-12 noon local time):

May 14--- Tammy's Tack & Feed, Ashwaubenon, WI
May 21--- Tractor Supply Company, Iron Mountain, MI
May 28--- Tractor Supply Company, Marinette, WI
June 4--- Peshtigo Feed Mill, Peshtigo, WI

(I might be going out to the Marinette swap, maybe even the Peshtigo one, and try to sell a few lambs.)

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Plowing with Ducks

2011-05-14T06:49:00.000-05:00

Forget plowing with horses. My current garden plot was plowed by duck power.

Last year I had my duck and chicken pens all in a row in the front yard. I had some small plastic 'pools' for the ducks to swim in. The ducks did what ducks do to the ground. In fall I moved the pens to fresh ground for the winter.

The old pen area looked like a garden plot this spring, so I took out my Magic Hoe and hoed up a bit. It was just like fine garden soil! So I got busy planting!

In addition to a few garden plants and flowers--- plus a row of Mangel-wurzel beets for stock feed---- I'm starting a small fruit garden. I've bought some yellow raspberries and some blackberries. I also will have some goumi berries--- an Asian berry which has medicinal properties. (Don't confuse goumi/gomi berries with goji berries, another medicinal Asian berry. Goumi berries are self-fertile, while with goji one needs two different varieties to make a crop.)

I've also ordered some strawberry plants (King Kong giant strawberries). So I hope to have some berries for sale this year--- they will be raised 'organic-style'--- no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, but no government 'organic' red tape either.

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Tagventory Day: Figuring out This Year's Perfect Ear-Tagging System

2011-03-14T11:07:00.000-05:00

Every year I do this, sort through the old ear tags that I have remaining, count them, and figure out how many more I need.

This is done each year in conjunction with my current Perfect Ear-Tagging System.

My perfect system depends on each animal having 2 tags-- one numbered tag, and one tag, purchased blank, which has the animal's name written on it with a tag pen.

I've been buying Premier One Easy-Tags, size two, in a wide variety of colors to indicate things like birth year, single/twin status, breeding group.... And every couple years I scrap the system and start a new one.

It's the same this year, but now I'm going for simplification. My major problem with the tags is that they are hard to read from a distance--- and boy, do my girls know how to keep their distance when I'm looking at their ear tags!

I've decided to go with a baby tag system this year--- lambs will be tagged with a size 1, pink or blue numbered tag. When they get to weaning age, (or some point afterward) the baby tag will be replaced by a size 5 adult tag--- the next size larger than the size 2 tags I have been using.

In place of the many colors I've used, I'm down to 2--- yellow for purebred Shetlands, and blue for Shetland-Dorper crosses. No, wait, the government owns the color blue (on scrapie-numbered eartags, anyway) and so I've had to order lime-green instead.

The hand-written name tags and the number tags will be the same color. (I'll also be writing the name and number on the underside of the hand-written tags, in case one of the girls loses her numbered tag and her name tag is faded.)

I do have a lot of spare numbered tags, and I do plan to use them up. Single (non-twin) lambs will be getting the old tags until they are gone. This will remind me to not get so attached to the singles that I keep them for breeders instead of the twins.

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Moonshine, our new herd sire

2011-03-13T13:28:00.000-05:00

I got Moonshine last fall from a breeder in lower Michigan, and am quite pleased with him, adds a little diversity to the herd since I usually use my sires I bred myself since I am trying to preserve the good shedding genetics I have in my herd (I have some purebred Shetlands that shed their fleece just as well as the ones that are 1/2 to 3/4 Dorper).

It was an eventful trip down to pick Moonshine up. Some guy in the parking lot of a Tractor Supply store wanted to sell me some sheep thinking I was a professional livestock dealer, and then there was the fun of trying to smuggle my new sheep back into the UP. The inspector guy says, whaddaya got? and I say, Moonshine....

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Robert Emery pictures--- last year's herd sire

2011-03-13T13:06:00.000-05:00

Robert Emery, 2007

Robert Emery was all golden when he was born. I was very surprised. But last year I had quite a few lambs sired by Robert Emery who were born that exact color. They turn white as they become adults.

Robert Emery, Claudius

When I took Robert Emery in the house to take some lamb pictures, my neurologically disabled cat Claudius came over to be in the picture. Yes, the cat is wearing a dog sweater.

This is a picture of Robert Emery taken today, Mar. 13, 2011. Boy, does he ever need a haircut! He's penned with Rhys, Rei, Moonshine and Sharkey. Used to have my Dorper ram and 2 Dorper cross rams lambs in there with them, but had to move the Dorpers out to keep 'em from getting murdered by the little guys--- Shetland rams are WAY tougher than Dorpers even though Dorpers are bigger.

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Quiche's Lambs 2011

2011-02-18T09:35:00.000-06:00

Majun (male) and Misun (female)

Quiche and Misun

Quiche had twin lambs, a boy and a girl, on Feb. 16, 2011. This is her second year in a row of having the first lamb of the year. It's also the second year in a row of her getting unintentionally bred.

Last year it was a broken fence issue. This year it was a quick-maturing ram lamb that wasn't moved out in time. I think it was probably Takgu, who was the biggest and handsomest of the White Dorper cross ram lambs. I used him to breed to some of my ram Harry's offspring, but Takgu died in the bad weather. That happens sometimes when a ram lamb is used for breeding which is why I usually don't do it.

The female lamb is named Misun and the male is named Majun. Both are Korean names. I took them in the house for the past two days to nap for an hour in my lap so they will bond to me as well as to their mamma. So far Majun is friendlier and Misun is fussier.

Farmers Feeding the World

2010-11-13T08:27:00.000-06:00

Farmers do it every day.... But now there is a charitable effort called Farmers Feeding the World in which American farmers are enabled to do more to feed the hungry.

Farmers Feeding the World works through charities with a proven track record of effectively helping the hungry. Their premier charity partner is Heifer Project International, which gives the gift of livestock to poor families worldwide to help them to help themselves. The person who receives a cow or goat from HPI promises to give one of the animal's offspring to a poor neighbor--- sometimes to a poor neighbor from an enemy tribe!

Here is a video that tells more about Heifer Project International. If you like it, pass it on! And give if you can, pray if you can't.

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New Marketing Resource for Sheep/Goat Farmers

2010-11-03T08:50:00.001-05:00

Just found out about a new marketing resource for the sheep and goat farmer. It's called SheepGoatMarketing.info and it has a directory where you can list your farm and which breeds you have. Potential customers can search by breed for what kind of sheep they want. You can also list what you have available for sale right now.

It also has a lot of good info about marketing your meat lambs, which I know a lot of Shetland sheep beginners may be having trouble with. They even have posters which show the steps for halal butchering of lambs. 'Halal' is the muslim version of kosher, and a lot of Muslim sheep buyers may be inexperienced in doing the actual butchering themselves--- daddy did it back in the Old Country--- and so sheep farmers can put up the posters in or near their on-farm butchering area.

In the past I have heard about great new sheep breeder directories but when I actually got there they had maybe about 4 sheep breeders, and were no longer free. This one is very much better. Unfortunately it's USDA funded in part, but you are not required to support the USDA's more totalitarian ambitions to add your farm to the directory.

So--- I hope you all will support SheepGoatMarketing by adding your farm information. Remember, every farm that adds info makes the directory more useful!

There is a similar but more limited project, the US Sheep Breeders Online Directory, which has been around for ages in Internet terms. Even though a lot of the entries in this directory are old, people still search there, so be sure your farm's web site is listed there too!

http://sheepgoatmarketing.info/index.cfm
http://www.nebraskasheep.com/directory/
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Article: Grazing Methods on the Small Farm or Homestead

2010-10-25T12:00:00.001-05:00

Whether you have one or two pet goats or a herd of a thousand cattle, there are grazing methods you can use to save money and get the most use out of your grazing land even if that "grazing land" is just your backyard.

The commonest grazing method is called continuous grazing. This is when you have one fenced grazing area and you keep your animals there year-round. This has the advantage that it is cheaper, as regards fence costs,
than the other method. A properly designed grazing fence will keep your animals where you want them, and keep them out of the garden and away from the rosebushes and other temptations. It will keep bears and stray dogs from being able to harm your animals.

But there are disadvantages to continuous grazing. Over time you will find that they overgraze the grass nearest the barn and undergraze the most distant areas.

Read More: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1638884/hobby_farm_grazing_methods.html

An article of mine published on Associated Content.

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Article: Which Sheep to Keep?

2010-10-24T11:30:00.000-05:00

Every year sheep farmers are faced with a decision: which of the ewe lambs born on the farm should be kept in the flock. Here is how such decisions should be made.

Every year, just as the sheep farmer is recovering from the chaos of lambing season, another tough time looms— the time when the farmer must make the decision on which of the new lamb-y bundles of joy get to stay on the farm and which must be sold.

Read more: http://bizcovering.com/business/which-sheep-to-keep

This is a recent article of mine published through Triond.com.

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Article: Beginner's Guide to Buying Sheep

2010-10-23T10:22:00.001-05:00

Are you looking to buy your first flock of sheep? Sheep are amazingly useful animals, as well as being fun. There is a sheep breed for every need, and with a little research you can find the one that is right for you.

The first question to answer is what you want your sheep for. If you are a handspinner and want lovely wool, there are breeds such as the Shetland, Icelandic, Border Leicester and many others that are beloved by handspinners. If you don't want wool at all, there are hair sheep who shed their scanty wool naturally and don't need to be sheared, such as the Dorper or St. Croix.

If you love to eat lamb, an important factor is the flavor of lamb you prefer. Read more....

New Edition of Paula Simmons Sheep book is out

2010-10-22T06:47:00.000-05:00

When I first started out with raising sheep, the best book I found was Raising Sheep the Modern Way by Paula Simmons. It provided a wealth of information, and the description of the Shetland sheep breed was what inspired me to choose the breed for my flock.

More recently I acquired Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep: Breeds, Care, Facilities, which is the same book but very much re-written and updated. It also had very useful information (but lacked a bit or two out of the earlier edition).

Now I see that a new edition is available. Is it worth getting? Judging by my past experience, yes it is, and I hope to be able to get a copy of my own soon.

Many sheep books I have owned have not been worth much, but this book, in all its editions, is worth its weight in gold.

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New Forum for Prolific Sheep (Booroola, Romanov, Finn, Thoka Icelandic)

2010-10-18T08:28:00.001-05:00

There is a new forum that has just been started on the topic of prolific sheep--- prolific breed sheep such as Booroola, Finnsheep and Romanov as well as ordinary sheep being bred to be more prolific. The forum is at: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/prolificsheep/

I don't have prolific sheep myself, in fact I only had 2 sets of twin lambs out of the whole herd this spring. But I certainly would like to have more prolific sheep and am interested in the breeds and methods of doing so.

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Building With Stock Panels: Basic Hay Feeder

2010-10-12T09:05:00.001-05:00

Hay costs money. Anything which will increase the amount of hay from each bale which is eaten rather than wasted is a good thing. A basic, box-style hay feeder will keep the hay from being stepped on and trampled while being eaten, and so less will be wasted.

Building materials for this feeder are hog-type stock panels. Combination panels can also be used. If you have some stock panels which have been damaged but which still have good sections, they are good to cut up for this purpose. To cut stock panels, use a bolt cutter. Long handled ones work best.

The long sides on my feeder are 5 units/holes long, the short sides are 3 units/holes long. This makes a size that fits the hay bales I get around here. I took hog panel sections and cut them to the lengths I wanted, then cut off the top sections so the bottom/remaining sections were a bit over 1 foot high.

The reason I used hog panels and not cattle panels is that the hog panels, as you can see, have narrowly spaced bars at the bottom and so will hold the hay in, and also the sheep and goats cannot eat through the bottom section the way they could through a cattle panel section.

Now, I fastened the stock panel sections to each other to form a rectangle with U-bolts, 1/4 inch size. You could also use wire or baler twine if you are short of cash, at least until you can afford the U-bolts.

Now, take the cut off tops from the side sections and cut off any protruding sections of bar. Fasten one of these sections to the bottom of your rectangular box with more U-bolts. It will only cover about half of the bottom, but that's OK. The purpose of it is to keep your rectangular box rectangular.

The next cut-off section will be your feeder's top. Place the top across the middle of the feeder. On one side, attach with some quick links or spring clips. These will act as a hinge. On the other side, use one or two spring clips to hold the top in place. (You can also use wire or baler twine as a cheap substitute for the quick links and spring clips.)

To put hay in the feeder, unclip the spring clips which hold the top in place and put the hay bale in. Be sure and remove the baler twine from the bale and put it away wherever you keep your 'building supplies'. Clip the top back in place with the spring clips.

The feeder top serves to prevent your sheep and goats from standing on the hay bale. Since it does not cover the whole top, the animals can eat all the way to the bottom of the bale.

You can also use the feeder without the top. This is great when you have an animal you don't want to get in the pen with. Just put the feeder close to the fence of the pen and toss the hay in.

This is a U-bolt. I think sometimes they are called cable clamps. (One of the nuts is missing from this one.) The 1/4 inch size is great for working with stock panels. It's also a good idea to have a few 1/2 inch ones for working with bent stock panels and complicated situations.

If you have a bent stock panel, sometimes you can use a 1/2 inch U-bolt to fasten it tightly, then put a 1/4 inch right next to the 1/2 inch U-bolt and remove the more expensive 1/2 inch one.

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Buckwheat lays an egg

2010-05-30T09:14:00.000-05:00

Last year I bought a pair of guinea fowl and was looking forward to hatching some eggs out this year. The female, Buckwheat, just never started laying eggs though. I bought some guinea eggs on ebay and hatched out a batch of guinea keets. When they got to the right age I had to move them from the small brooders to the outdoor brooder room in the barn, but I was worried about cats.

A couple years ago, I had a cat who climbed the walls to get into the brooder room and eat chicks. There is a tiny gap at the ceiling she could climb in through. I had to put an adult goose in there with the goslings as a bodyguard.

So, what I decided to do was see if Buckwheat and her mate Alfalfa would be willing to adopt the keets--- and some ducklings as well. The keets instantly started following Buckwheat and Alfalfa around and the older birds seemed to accept the role of parents instantly.

I was afraid that this would interfere with Buckwheat started to lay eggs, since she already has a large 'family' out in the brooder room. But yesterday I found a guinea egg in there. Hopefully she will lay more that I can hatch out.

I also decided it was high time to put up an ad on Craigslist for the guinea keets I was NOT planning on keeping. They are six weeks old now. So I rounded some up to take their picture.

The reason the keets are looking in the same direction is that there were some curious cats on hand who were wondering if the keets were going to be their lunch. No, no, bad kitties!

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New Mandarin duck forum

2010-05-25T10:14:00.000-05:00

Mandarin ducks are a small ornamental breed of ducks from the far east which are becoming quite popular with duck breeders in the US and elsewhere. The North American Mandarin Duck Breeders Association has just started a new web site with a discussion forum. Please, if you are interested in Mandarin ducks, join the forum! It has only three members so far, but two are breeders of Manderins and should be good sources of information.

On the BackYardChickens forum, there have been many threads in the duck section relating to Mandarin ducks. There is one on incubating Mandarin eggs. And there is one on aviaries for Mandarin and Wood ducks.

We don't yet breed Mandarin ducks, but we do have 4 Mandy eggs in the incubator and so have got started with our Mandarin duck adventure.

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The New Muscovy Ducks

2010-05-11T13:43:00.002-05:00

I bought a breeding pair of Muscovy ducks at the Fur and Feather Swap in Stephenson. They are the black&white critters in the center of the picture.

Directly behind them, outside the enclosure, is Imelda the Chocolate turkey. I'm letting her free-range, but she sticks close to the pens with the chickens she regards as her 'babies'.

And here are the new Khaki Campbells.

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The Little Lame Duckling

2010-05-06T07:19:00.001-05:00

This is a picture of a duckling (on the left), only a few days old, who is dragging his leg behind him. The other duckling hatched about a day earlier than this one.

Both of them are Indian Runners.

The little lame duck is able to get around its brooder and eat and drink. I only have 4 baby chicks in the brooder with it, so he isn't being picked on by bigger birds. I'm hoping he will improve as he grows older.

Update: as of May 11th, the Little Lame Duckling, aka Claudius, is still alive--- here is a picture of her from today.

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Ancona duckling picture

2010-04-27T09:07:00.000-05:00

I've finally gotten around to taking some pictures of my week-old Ancona ducklings! They were hatched in my new Brinsea Octogon ECO incubator, along with a batch of guinea eggs I bought off ebay. I had a pretty good hatch in it.

I tried vent sexing two of them and either they are both females or I don't know how to do it yet.

I have another batch of duck eggs in 'lockdown' that should be hatching soon--- more Anconas, plus some Khaki Campbells, and Indian Runners. I've also got some Silver Appleyards and Dutch Hookbills in other incubators. I'm going to have quite a variety of duck breeds before too long!
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Picture of my Ancona ducks

2010-03-24T08:45:00.000-05:00

Here is a picture of my Ancona ducks. The two males are tri-colored while the two females are black-and white. They are laying very well already and I am already selling some of their hatching eggs on Ebay! I'm also hatching out seven eggs of my own and so far all seven are fertile and alive. I'm also getting some good eggs by some of the chicken hens with my rumpless Araucana rooster. These are the auctions:

4+ Ancona Duck eggs

4+ Ancona Duck eggs (second auction)

6+ rumpless Araucana cross chicken eggs

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Too many drakes!

2010-03-19T07:42:00.000-05:00

Last year I bought some Ancona ducks from Cackle Hatchery. I ended up with six ducks at the end of the season. I checked to see which ones had the curly tail that marks a drake (male). I identified 2 males and put red and blue leg bands to mark the drakes and ducks (females).

This year I noticed one of the red-band ducks had a curly tail. So yesterday I went in to inspect the whole gang. I found that I had 4 drakes, not just two, and only 2 ducks.

I also noticed that I had 2 tricolor drakes, not just one as I had thought. So, what I did was I took the two black-and-white drakes and put them in the pen with my extra roosters.

I'm hoping to hatch out ducklings--- both black-and-white and tricolor. I'm thinking of trying to vent-sex the ducklings so I can raise a group that has more ducks than drakes for next year. I'm also hoping to have many others for selling at the fur and feather swaps this year.
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Guinea Fowl Fever

2010-03-13T09:35:00.000-06:00

Last year I bought a pair of guinea fowl at a Fur and Feather Swap. I liked them so much that at the next swap I bought three more. The runty one died, and two others blew away in a blizzard, but I ended up with a pair, one male and one female.

They are very nice. I housed them with my spare roosters in a pen made out of a six-foot-high chain-link dog run, with an old calf hutch for a winter shelter. The guineas quickly learned to fly out of the shelter to forage, but flew back for overnight.

This spring I decided to get more guineas. The guinea-pen now has netting on the top so they can't fly out, so I will get all their eggs. I'm also haunting eggbid and other sources looking for hatching eggs for sale. I just got my new incubator so I have greater hope that hatching eggs will hatch.

It seems like the first signs of spring is the time when I get all excited about poultry, ordering more kinds than I really need. But I'm hoping this year to hatch out quite a few to sell at the fur&feather swaps. In addition to my guineas I have Ancona ducks (who have already started to lay) and an assortment of chickens including 4 rumpless Araucana types. I also have 2 self-blue silkie bantams--- a hen and a rooster, and if I can only set them up in separate quarters I'll be set....
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Looking for the 'Haunt of Jackals' blog tour?

2009-10-19T14:22:00.000-05:00

It's over at the Lina Lamont Fan Club.

Octagon Eco Incubator

2009-09-27T07:36:00.002-05:00

This incubator is cool! It has a capacity of 24 chicken eggs, and comes with dividers so you can set it up for whatever size eggs you have. It is auto-turning and it looks to be easy to use and easy to clean.
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Farmers' Market in Daggett, Michigan

2009-09-21T07:57:00.002-05:00

There is a new Farmers' Market in Daggett, Michigan, which takes place at Fran's Rink and Park in Daggett--- next to the grocery store, which is next to the place where I go to vote.

It started June 18th, and is on Thursday from 4pm until 7 pm. When I went, there were 2 vendors. There were green beans, garlic, and live chickens and rabbits available, among other things.

The web site has information on what vendors were there in June and July but hasn't been updated. Also it does not have information on how to become a vendor at the market. (I'm working up the courage to phone the farmers' market manager for info.

I'm hoping that folks in Menominee Co. will patronize the market and that it will still be there next year--- I'm hoping to participate.

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5 Best Books if you are Serious about Sheep

2009-05-04T06:16:00.002-05:00

If you are serious about your sheep--- whether you have 5 or 500--- you will want some good information about them. There are a lot of sheep books out there. Here are a few with actual information you can use.

1. Sheep Raiser's Manual by William K. Kruesi
This 1985 book is one of the first two I bought about sheep raising, and it has been in constant use as a reference ever since. It is aimed at the producer of commercial sheep (for meat), perhaps in flocks of 100 or less.

This book contains a wealth of sheep wisdom. There is a section on methods of grazing, from continuous grazing to intensive rotational grazing and strip grazing. The pasture improvement section tells how to improve your pastureland through methods such as frost-seeding. A chapter on line breeding tells how to improve your flock through linebreeding while avoiding the hazards of closer inbreeding.

There is a section on accelerated lambing methods, particularly the Cornell STAR system. This system was very popular when the book was written; now people are more likely to favor a system of annual spring lambing on pasture. However, it is good to know both methods!

There is also a very good section on farm business management that all sheep raisers should take a look at. Your sheep should be supporting you, not you supporting your sheep.

2. Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep: Breeds, Care, Facilities by Paula Simmons and Carol Ekarius I bought the earlier edition of this book, Raising Sheep the Modern Way . Updated and Revised Edition about the time I bought the Kruesi book, and both books were my first sheep raising guides. The breeds section in this book was where I first got the idea of getting Shetland sheep, which at the time were very rare and quite expensive. The book has a great deal to offer in the way of sheep facility plans, suggestions for sheep related income, particularly from wool, and vital information on sheep health in lambing. Above all, it introduced me to the charming rhyme 'Ewes yearly by twinning/Rich masters do make/The lambs from such twinners/For breeders do take.' (Youatt, 1837)

The twinning rhyme is sadly absent from the newer edition, but it is updated and now includes a number of profiles of successful sheep farms. It has enough new information that I don't for a moment regret buying the new edition even though I still had the old.

3. A Conservation Breeding Handbook by D. Phillip Sponenberg is useful for the breeder of any rare breed of livestock including sheep. The most important thing I got from reading this book is detailed instructions for how to divide your flock into 3 separate bloodlines for the purposes of reducing inbreeding. It also details 'rescue breeding', which is when you start with a very small flock, perhaps with only one ram.

These breeding methods are not only of use with the very rare breeds, it's also good for preserving rare bloodlines within more numerous breeds, or for those who want to minimize their purchase of outside stock.

4. More Sheep, More Grass, More Money by Peter Schroedter is not written by an 'expert' but by a boots-on-the-ground, manure-on-the-boots sheep farmer who tells how he makes money by grazing sheep in Canada. Grazing is the emphasis here. Schroedter recommends pasture lambing in the spring rather than winter lambing in sheds and tells how to do it. He tells how to pick strong grazing replacement ewes, and how and when to add grain feeding to the mix.

Much of this book is quite amusing and it is a great and useful read, but remember this is one man's experience. He dismisses the prolific breeds such as Finnsheep, Romanov and Booroola as being too expensive to feed for his system, yet I know of one Booroola breeder who also practices pasture lambing. As always with farming books, try things out and keep what works for you, in your situation.

5. The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable is another book I bought early on which has proved its worth over time. The book recommends using garlic as a wormer; recently there have been scientific studies which confirm this method's usefulness. This book is a very complete account for the use of herbs with different classes of livestock, including many that the flockmaster can grow for himself.

Do you have favorite farming books not included on the list? Tell me about them in a comment!

31 Days to Build a Better Blog , day 2 assignment, Write a List Post.

Note: several more Shetland sheep blogs have been added to our blogroll, as well as some Dorper sheep blogs. Please visit them!

~o~o~o~o~o~
Have a farm blog? Join the farming reddit!

Take Care of the Flock, and the Flock will Take Care of You

2009-05-01T08:11:00.004-05:00

Recently I joined an internet something-or-other called 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. The first day's task was to write an 'elevator pitch' for your blog. That is, to explain your blog briefly enough that you could explain it to someone in the course of an elevator ride.

What I came up with is this: 'Take care of the flock, and the flock will take care of you.' What does it mean? I'm not quite sure. But in part it's a reaction to the idea of solving all of one's financial problems with off-farm jobs, money-making schemes, and purchasing various high-priced stock, equipment or feeds to make your flock profitable.

Your flock--- the sheep you've got now--- have the potential to support you if you support them. At least, that's my hope.

So that's what I will be writing about on this blog. I hope someone enjoys it!

One thing I'm going to be doing to create a better blog is to create some good blogrolls. All of the blogs will be related to sheep farming or farming in general. Today's addition to the blogrolls is Allan Savory's blog. Allan Savory is the editor of the Stockman Grass Farmer magazine, a good magazine about intensive rotational grazing.

A previous addition to the blogroll is 'Redbud Lane Shetland Sheep'. This is a Shetland sheep farm in Missouri. Right now they have a lot of wether (neutered) ram lambs for sale, check them out here.

~o~o~o~
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New Arapawa Goat line in US

2009-04-19T05:39:00.003-05:00

I've received this message from Arapawa goat breeder Al Caldwell:

"We are pleased to announce the birth of twins from sire Yellow Tag, a buck
in David Hughes herd in NZ. Our Dolly kidded a buck and a doe April 9. They
are most lively and handsome. This expands the genetic material in the US
herd from the 6 original founders to 7. It is a step in reducing concerns
over inbreeding.

Last Fall John Truelson and I organized the artificial insemination of the
semen imported in 2005. Several efforts to artificially breed the goats had
been unsuccessful over the years. We are encouraged by this bit of success.

There have been a total of 15 kids dropped on our farm this Spring. I hope
others are adding to their herds. Unlike previous years, there are 8
doelings and 7 bucks in the mix. I hope others are adding to their herds.
The conservation of the breed needs more holders and larger herds."

Congratulations to Al Caldwell (and Dolly the goat) on their blessed event.

2009 Fur and Feather Swaps in NE Wisc and Upper Mich.

2009-03-15T22:42:00.004-05:00

This is the schedule of Fur and Feather Swaps sponsored by the Northern Poultry Pigeon & Rabbit Club for 2009. Contact persons: Mary or Doug, 960-753-4153; Chris or Sheryl 715-938-8162. (I'm not a member or anything but I do like to attend the swaps!)

May 3
Stephenson, Michigan
Menominee County Annex Building
8am-12noon

May 31
Marinette, Wisconsin
Tractor Supply Company
8am-12noon

June 7
Peshtigo, Wisconsin
Peshtigo Feed Mill
8am-12noon

What I didn't know about Araucana/Ameraucana chickens

2009-03-13T22:57:00.002-05:00

I used to think that there were Araucana chickens--- the purebreds, who lay blue eggs, may be tailless and have tufts--- and there were crossbred chickens who laid blue eggs and which might be called Araucana, Americana, Ameraucana or Easter Eggers depending on the hatchery's whim.

Now, I had some 'Araucana/Americana' chickens from Murray McMurray hatchery some years ago and they were nice chickens. But the egg color was mostly disappointing, mostly greenish rather than blue.

Recently I was looking into hatching egg auctions on eBay and I found one for 'Ameraucana' chickens and the seller explained some stuff. There are actually two legitimate breeds of blue-egg chickens--- the Araucana, which is tailless and tufted, and the Ameraucana, which has muffs and beards. Both are developed from South American chickens. The Ameraucana in the US is very similar to the breed called 'Araucana' in Great Britain, more similar than the American Araucana is. In addition, genetic tests show the Ameraucana is related to various blue-egg chickens in Europe including the ones on the Shetland Islands. Since the reason I wanted Araucanas in the first place is because I couldn't get Shetland chickens, I decided to go for Ameraucana chickens and got two sets of hatching eggs from eBay.

I was very impressed by the blue color of many of the eggs I got, and hope that I have a good hatch to get started with the breed.

I believe that the crossbred chickens being sold as Araucana/Americana, Ameraucana and whatever ought to be labelled 'Easter Eggers' to avoid the confusion that has arisen. I'm not saying there is anything intrinsically wrong with the 'Easter Eggers'. It's just that they ought not be called by a name they aren't entitled to.

For more information on Ameraucana chickens, visit the Ameraucana Breeders Club.

What breed of Ewes should you breed to your Dorper Ram?

2009-02-11T08:13:00.002-06:00

The Dorper breed has become a popular breed of sheep because it is a single purpose breed, and that purpose is meat. Once you have switched over to Dorpers, you no longer need worry where your next shearer is coming from, because you don't shear Dorpers. So you are out of the wool business, which has become a losing business for so many.

Some sheep farmers can afford to sell their current flock and buy a flock of Dorpers. Others will have to grow into the Dorper business by grading-up. The Dorper registry allows the registration of the offspring of a Dorper ram and other breeds of ewes, and you can grade-up the offspring til they get to a very high percentage level, at which point they are called 'purebloods'. (The animals that are 100% Dorpers with no outside blood are called 'fullbloods'.)

I got my first White Dorper ram (White Dorpers are managed by the registry as if they were a separate breed from regular, dark-headed Dorpers) a couple of years ago. The farmer I bought from told me that in the first cross with the Dorper/White Dorper, the offspring would still have wool I would have to shear. It would be a couple of generations before I would be able to get the wool out.

This turned out not to be the case, because the sheep I had were fullblood Shetlands. The Shetland is a small breed of sheep from the Shetland islands to the north of Scotland. They are noted for their fine wool, and they come in many colors and markings. But more to the point, they are known to grow their wool in yearly fleeces instead of continuously. In the Shetland islands, traditionally the Shetlands were not sheared, but 'rooed' (plucked). That is, the wool of their old fleece was pulled off by hand, leaving the start of the next year's fleece on the sheep.

I have always preferred to 'roo' my Shetlands rather than shear them. I am so bad at shearing that it's like a circus, with the sheep out of my control. I prefer not to have a sharp cutting instrument in my hand during the circus! So my breeding program has tended to favor the sheep that 'roo' well.

And so, I set my first White Dorper ram to the Shetland ewes. The result has been a small flock of F1 (first cross) ewes, every one of which has fully shed her wool!

Now, in the same year in which my F1s were born, my yearling Shetland ewes also shed their wool. I had decided to give it a try to see how fully they would shed. Many shed completely, others partially. All of these ewes were the daughters of a particular ram, Area 51. Unfortunately, Area 51 had been sold for meat that fall, because he'd had a few sons with problems.

Most of my Shetland ewes who were not related to Area 51 didn't shed nearly as much--- but the F1 ewes that ALL shed were sometimes the daughters of Shetland mothers who didn't shed at all.

The key seems to be that the mothers grew their wool in yearly fleeces which all Shetlands do. This enables their half-Dorper daughters to shed their wool completely.

I believe as a result of my little experiment that the Dorper/Shetland cross has some real possibilities. Shetlands are a hardy breed. Three Shetlands can be fed for the price of two sheep of other breeds. They are also good mothers. And they give the would-be Dorper farmer the results he wants in only one generation of crossbreeding. And while Dorpers are larger than Shetlands, I haven't have any birthing problems as a result of the cross.

For crossbreeding purposes, where you may not care about registry papers, you may be able to pick up decent Shetlands at a fair price from hobby breeders getting out of the hobby. You needn't worry about the color of the ewes--- all bred to my White Dorper ram have had white lambs, regardless of the mother's color.

There are other breeds related to the Shetland that also grow yearly fleeces that might be a good fit for crossbreeding. There is the Romanov, famous for multiple births. A Romanov breeder told me that the breed sheds its wool. Finnsheep, also a multiple birth breed, are also related to the Shetland, though I don't know how sheddy their wool coat is. And the Icelandic sheep are also a relative of the Shetland, though they are less available and may be too expensive for a crossing program.

Dorper/White Dorper sheep are a very practice breed choice and I hope I have interested some of you in the possibilities of Shetland x Dorper crosses to build up your flock.

Feeding goats and sheep sprouts

2008-12-25T10:20:00.003-06:00

Winter is always hard on livestock around here, and I am always looking for something to make the stock healthier through the winter. Recently I came up with the idea of growing sprouts in the house to bring out to the herd.

I grow them the regular way you grow sprouts, except I use grain--- corn or oats--- for the seed. Not seed corn or oats, but the kind you feed to the animals. I just had my first 'crop' mature and I fed most to the goats, with a little extra to the six ram lambs that I just removed from the buck yard into a stall in the shed. (Two of their comrade lambs had died, and I caught the dog pulling wool off their backs--- the dog can hop in through the gate into the buck yard, unlike other areas of the farm. So I felt they'd be safe indoors.)

Tomorrow I'm going to set up some regular sprout production. I've got a book on wheatgrass, which people grow in trays in their home. I bought similar trays and am going to start growing 'oatgrass' and 'corngrass' in them. I also have a new sprouter to try out. I need to get some shelving to put my trays on, and then I'm in business.

I'll take some pictures of the setups when I have them in order, and will give updates on the results here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ritchie watering systems

Kidding time? NOW?

2008-12-06T12:12:00.002-06:00

I must have been crazy....

One of my does yesterday gave birth to a slightly premature buck kid. He looked dead but I could see his heart beating. I tried to revive him but in vain. The mama, Luna Bug, is a Fainting goat and the papa is Knute, an Arapawa buck.

So now I am on alert to expect kids. My Boer cross does Paprika and Kallisto both look very pregnant. I gave the goats an extra bale of hay today, both to ensure they all are well fed, and to provide them with more bedding in the two stalls they are most likely to kid in. I'm also bringing them out warm tap water instead of cold water, which means every bucket I bring I have to watch out for cats escaping into the house.

Last year we didn't have snow so early so I didn't mind a goat having a baby in December. This year--- well, my main purpose is that I wanted the buck to be healthy and in my experience bucks do better when they are not alone. Well, at least now I know for sure he's fertile.

All I Want for Christmas...

2008-11-26T09:36:00.003-06:00

A sheep handling system! This one is from Premier One.

Do you Digg Arapawa goats?

2008-11-22T10:27:00.003-06:00

If you are a member of the social networking site Digg.com, please consider digging these:

Arapawa Goats and their Friends

International Arapawa Goat Association

If you have stuff that you want ME to digg, visit my profile page and let me know, or even add me as a friend and I will go and do likewise.

Arapawa Goat Links

2008-11-09T11:31:00.011-06:00

This is going to be a comprehensive list of links concerning Arapawa goats, please feel free to add your own in a comment.

Networking
Arapawa Goats and Their Friends - internet group for friends of the Arapawa goat as well as breeders, with discussion forum, pictures, videos...

Associations
Arapawa Goat Breeders USA --- breed association in US
International Arapawa Goat Association --- international breed association

Information
Arapawa Goat news at Warmwell.com --- information on planned cull of goats in NZ, other news
Arapawa Goats at Rarebreed.nz --- information from NZ
Petition to save Arapawa goats from cull --- petition now closed
Goats by Breed-Arapawa Island --- at GOATWORLD web site, you can add links
Arapawa Goats at DMOZ --- directory which supplies Google directory and others, you may suggest Arapawa Goat websites (click 'Add URL')
Breeds of Livestock - Arapawa Island Goat --- livestock breeds directory

Breeders
Directory of Arapawa Breeders in NZ --- breeders directory
Te Hua Farm in Oxford, Canterbury, New Zealand -- breeder
Jenness Farm, Nottingham, New Hampshire --- breeder, sells Arapawa goats milk soap
Insel Lyr Ranch, Daggett, Michigan, USA --- breeder
Serenity Winds Farm, Hanson, Massachusetts, USA --- breeder
SilverWings Ranch, Oregon USA --- breeder, in 2001 anyway
Fort Lewis Preservation Farm, Maine, USA --- breeder

Related Books
Natural Goat Care mentions the Arapawa goat on page 3
Raising Milk Goats Successfully general milk goat care (the Arapawa is a dual purpose breed.)
Raising Meat Goats for Profit general meat goat care
A Conservation Breeding Handbook how-to book for breeders of rare livestock

xx

Breeding Season commences

2008-11-08T09:42:00.002-06:00

It's That Time Of Year again. Time to breed the sheep. I had planned to use my ram Robert on the best of the Shetland ewes, and Harry, my White Dorper, on the ShetlandxDorpers and on the rest of the Shetlands.

But Robert couldn't be caught and my other grown Shetland ram, Nikolai, could, and Nikolai is a handsome fellow, so he's getting the girls.

Next part of the job was sorting the ewes into two groups. I have to lure them or chase them into a catch pen, then corner them and grab Nikolai's ewes and drag them ten feet to a gate. When all of Nikolai's ewes were out of the catch pen, the remaining ewes were released into the barnyard.

Then it started to rain. Grabbing sheep covered in soaking wet wool is even less fun than grabbing dry sheep.

Finally I got them all sorted. Nikolai began with the rams on Nov. 6th, and Harry started in on his group on Nov. 7th.

Why is it so much trouble to drag rams to the ewes, which is where they want to be anyway? I just HAVE to save up the money for one of those sheep handling systems. Or maybe Rush Limbaugh could give me one. He bought a lady a car recently, to cheer her up after Obama won the election. I could use some cheering-up, too.

Death of a Deformed Lamb

2008-10-08T09:32:00.005-05:00

This last year the Shetland lambs we have had born are all sired by Nikolai, our black-and-white ram. Only one of the lambs turned out to have Nikolai's black-and-white pattern. And now, she has died.

Her problem was that she was born deformed--- she had a recto-vaginal fistula (hole between rectum and vagina) and a imperforate anus (no hole for the anus). Somehow I managed to not notice this at birth.

The lamb, Rohanna, seemed quite all right at first. But then I noticed her straining and thought she was constipated. She was rather hard to catch, but when I finally did, I noticed her problem. I looked through my vet books and only the big red Merck book mentioned this possibility.

It's always miserable to find out your best lamb isn't going to live. I thought of 'doing her in', but I really don't like to do so.

Rohanna was born in early May, and lived until mid-September. In her last days, she lost interest in eating, and finally grew weak. Her last day, I had to carry her back from pasture. I found her dead the next morning not too far from where I put her.

Internet searching on Rohanna's deformity led to very little information. I don't know whether it's hereditary or just an error in pre-birth development. Just to be on the safe side, I'm not going to repeat the breeding that produced her, but am not sure there is any point to keeping all of Rohanna's relatives away from the ram in question.

New Trustee for Arapawa Wildlife sanctuary

2008-06-11T09:44:00.003-05:00

Following the death of Betty Rowe, her granddaughter has become Trustee of the Arapawa Wildlife sanctuary. Here is her message to those interested in the future of the Arapawa goat:

Greetings from Arapawa Wildlife Sanctuary

My name is Shannon Rowe, Bettys granddaughter and have officially stepped into her 'gumboots' in my role as Trustee.

I have been living at the sanctuary since late April with my daughter Giovanna, to ensure the wellbeing of the goats and to carry out the wishes of Nana (Betty) in regard to the welfare and future of the animals.

For the immediate future, I will be focussed on overseeing the late kidding season and on-growing of those resultant babies.

For those of you who do not know me, I grew up on Arapawa Island. Always close to my grandmother and sharing her love of the goats, I have birthed and raised orphans myself in addition to having served my apprenticeship mucking out goat sheds.

I have now been joined by Debbie Rowe (Mum), as Trustee who also has a passion to see that the Sanctuary achieves all that Nana wished.

We thank all for their concerns re: the welfare of the animals and will continue to keep in touch with regards to future planning.

Regards
Shannon, Giovanna, & the Goats

Betty Rowe, Preserver of Arapawa Goats, dies

2008-05-23T17:04:00.003-05:00

Got an email from Al Caldwell:

"We have word that Betty Rowe died Saturday morning in a New Zealand
hospital. She had suffered a series of strokes a few weeks ago and was
unable to recover. Betty was the centerpiece of the conservation effort of
Arapawa Island goats. We will miss her in many ways."

Betty Rowe was an American living in New Zealand. When the New Zealand government decided to kill off the Arapawa Island goats (as part of a plan to save endangered plants/animals on the island), Betty Rowe got involved and arranged for the rescue of many of the goats, providing a foundation stock for preserving the breed.

To view a picture of Betty Rowe , view the Arapawa Goat Breeders USA news page.

New Lamb Pictures!

2008-05-05T12:27:00.006-05:00

It's that time of year again--- lambs being born all over the place. We had two new ones born this last Sunday, here are some pictures.

This first picture is of Roswell the lamb and his mother Philomena. Both are purebred Shetlands.

Roswell's sire is Nikolai, a white flecket ram. 'Flecket' means he is white with black spots. Roswell is kind of flecket, too, but he only has one 'fleck'. See the picture below.

Yes, his 'fleck' is Down There, by the Important Part.

He's a cute, lively little lamb. His grandsire was Area 51, who was the sire of most of my self-shedding Shetlands.

He's going to be kept intact for the time being as a potential breeding ram either for this farm or for sale.

And this is our second Sunday-born lamb, Rebecca. We're on the letter 'R' this year. Her sire also is Nikolai.

Her mother is Perpetua, another Area 51 daughter. Perpetua and Rebecca are from bloodline A. (Roswell and his mom are bloodline C).

Rebecca is probably going to be kept in our breeding herd.

Here are the twins, Rei and Rhys. They are both black with white marks on their heads. However, their black wool may turn out to be grey, moorit (brown) or fawn. Their mother is a moorit, Ladislava. She's an older ewe.

Rei and Rhys were quite small at birth--- Rei was 3.5 pounds and Rhys only 3 pounds. But both get around quite well. They are about a week old in this picture.

Rei is really good at following mama out to pasture. Rhys, however, get about halfway and runs back to the barn to look for mama there.

Producing more nanny/doe kids with apple cider vinegar

2007-07-15T10:23:00.000-05:00

Years ago I read an article in Countryside & Small Stock Journal about the many uses for apple cider vinegar. One of them was to put it in your goats' water during breeding season. This was said to cause the nannies to produce more female offspring. I tried this out and guess what? It seems to be true.

The first year that I consistently gave apple cider vinegar during the breeding season, I had five nanny goats. All had twins, giving 10 offspring. Eight were nanny kids, only two were males. Each male had a female twin, and both were among the first sets of twins born. With an 80% success rate, that indicates that the apple cider vinegar may be useful.

The amount I use was not carefully measured, I just poured some in out of the one-gallon jug of store-bought apple cider vinegar. I would guess the amount was 1 to 2 cups, in a water bucket with a five-gallon capacity. I used real apple cider vinegar and not the apple cider flavored vinegar they sell now in the large jugs.

In other years I fed some apple cider vinegar, but not consistently, and did not keep track of the results. There was only one other year that I fed it consistently enough to get results. (In other words, gave it every day starting a few days before the breeding session began.) I don't have the exact records of that year, but again I had a bumper crop of female twins, with only a few males born, and those all had female twins.

I have never tried this with my Shetland sheep. For one thing, they drink much less water, so should be less affected. But this year during breeding season I may well try it.

I won't be able to run an effective test on this with my goats this year. I had to put my Boer billy with the nannies early because he broke out of his pen. When the pen is repaired, this breeding session will be done. There will be a second breeding session in the fall, in which I may use the apple cider vinegar, but if Warlock has done his job the first time around there may not be enough births to be a good test.

The best use of the apple cider vinegar is with the rare/endangered breeds, such as my soon-arriving Arapawa goats. Since one buck can service quite a number of females, one doesn't need as many males, and extra females are a blessing. And since apple cider vinegar is also generally healthy for goats, it won't do any harm.

This year, I won't be testing the method on the Arapawas, since my only breeding-age female, Rose, will be bred when I get her. But next year, when I will have 3 does to breed, I'm definitely trying it, with the intention of increasing my population of Arapawa breeding females. After that is accomplished, I may eliminate the use of apple cider vinegar most years in order to ensure that I get enough buck kids to have a good selection.