Recent Posts

1

Farm Livestock / Re: Baby Goats Anyone?

« Last post by The15thMember on August 11, 2025, 10:37:26 am »

We always feel lucky that we don't have horribly harsh cold where we live when it's kidding season.  Of course the does try to pick the worst night , but it can only be so bad here.  It's rarely in the teens, and we don't get a lot of snow. 

He is 6 months old.  He was acting pretty shy for most of yesterday, but after my sister gave him some leaves and he rapidly warmed up.  He'll spend a few days behind a fence so he can adjust to everything, and then we're going to actually move the main herd up to another pasture, and then move the buck herd into the main barn to meet him.  That way there will be lots of room for everyone to get to know each other, and as the new guy, he'll kind of have a leg up with the territory being his, as opposed to moving him into the rest of the boys' space.  We don't anticipate any problems with integrating him, as we have several bucks and wethers around his age, and Duncan, our adult buck, is very good with little guys, but this seemed like the best way to minimize Dillon's stress. 

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Farm Livestock / Re: Baby Goats Anyone?

« Last post by Bakersdozen on August 11, 2025, 09:17:00 am »

How old is Matt Dillon? I think he's going to have lots of personality.
One of the most memorable calves from my childhood was one that was born in the worst weather. She was frozen to the ground. Dad got her up and brought her into the kitchen. We fussed over her and bottle fed her for a day or so. She was nipped a little bit too but she turned out to be a great mother to her calves.

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Farm Livestock / Re: Baby Goats Anyone?

« Last post by The15thMember on August 10, 2025, 06:29:17 pm »

Simon went home to his new owners yesterday, and we got a new buckling delivered to our farm this morning! His name is Mr. Dillon (as in, Matt Dillon from Gunsmoke), and he is from Kinder Korner, one of the top breeders in the country. We were able to get him delivered because the breeder was visiting family in our area, so the whole situation couldn't have worked out better.

He had to spend the night alone last night, as all his traveling companions had been delivered already, so he is pretty nervous and stressed. But he is eating and drinking and wanting to talk to the rest of our herd through the fence, so he should get settled soon enough. He keeps running out into his little paddock to see everyone, then getting nervous and running back into the barn, then building up his courage and running out to see everyone again.

In case anyone is wondering about his ears, he was born on an extremely cold night when the breeder wasn't home, so he lost his ear tips to frostbite. She kept apologizing for it, but we think it just makes him look even cuter!

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Any and Every Thing / Re: Mosquito Massacre Bucket Challenge

« Last post by The15thMember on August 08, 2025, 06:23:26 pm »

I have been reading through the journals of Lewis and Clark, and today in 1804, Clark remarked that the mosquitoes were so bad that he was having trouble keeping them out of his eyes. 

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Any and Every Thing / Re: Mosquito Massacre Bucket Challenge

« Last post by Bakersdozen on August 08, 2025, 12:59:00 pm »

I keep a close eye on the bucket of water, especially after a rain. The dunks don't last a month like the package states. When I wigglers in the water I dump it and start fresh. The mosquitos this year are the worst I have ever experienced. We have so much rain and the soil was saturated. There was standing water in the backyard long enough for them to reproduce.

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Any and Every Thing / Re: Mosquito Massacre Bucket Challenge

« Last post by Zweefer on August 07, 2025, 10:55:04 am »

up here the mosquito is our unofficial state bird.  I personally use the portable thermocell units to try and keep them at bay.  thanks for sharing this, I will give it a go and see what results...

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Farm Livestock / Re: Falconry

« Last post by The15thMember on July 26, 2025, 06:36:13 pm »

Typically falconers are training a bird to specific prey, sometimes one species, sometimes several.  This ensures the bird, which is basically considered a type of hunting weapon in the eyes of the Wildlife Commission, only takes prey that it is currently legal to hunt.  Of course, a hawk is not always 100% controllable and sometimes makes mistakes, but falconers are typically exempt from the occasional mishap of a bird taking illegal prey, provided the falconer reports the incident to the Commission.

This also enables falconers to train hawks to do specific jobs, such as abatement, where a falconer is hired by a landowner to hunt and remove pest species, like starlings for example.               

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Farm Livestock / Re: Falconry

« Last post by Bakersdozen on July 26, 2025, 11:47:50 am »

Do falconers train their birds to hunt a specific prey? Or do they send them out to see what they can find?  Fascinating!

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Farm Livestock / Re: Falconry

« Last post by The15thMember on July 25, 2025, 04:38:37 pm »

The district biologist came out earlier in the week and certified the mews.  Charlotte's sponsor warned that the biologist probably wouldn't have a lot of experience with falconry, and he was correct; our biologist had only certified 3 other mews in his 20 year career with the Wildlife Commission.  As as result of his inexperience, there was a little bit of confusion about whether Charlotte was required to also have a weathering area for her bird.  Our state doesn't require it, but that information was also on the biologist's checklist, and so he was under the impression it was in fact a requirement, but a quick call to his supervisor straightened the situation out.

Now that the mews is certified, the state has officially registered her in the federal database of falconers, and Charlotte was able to print out her paperwork and falconry license showing that she is a certified apprentice with the legal ability to trap and keep one raptor for the purpose of falconry.  I also helped her get set up with an account on the US Fish and Wildlife Services website so she can register her bird once she traps one.           

She still needs to get her hunting license, but to do that she first has to pass our state's online hunter safety education course, so she is working on that right now.   

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General Beekeeping / Re: The result of ten inches of rain

« Last post by The15thMember on July 20, 2025, 11:31:48 am »

   Sorry to hear that.  Glad you did not suffer any more severe damage than this though.