Freeoples ....
Thread 316
Posted on 06/09/2002 9:52:11 AM PDT by Mo1
Freeoples ....
Thread 316
So9
When I was a boy during the Indian Wars, Lubbock was considered the High Plains, and Abilene, the Staked Plains.
So9
One time in so Cal, we were building our Spanish courtyard with Mexican tile our friends had brought up from Mexico (yep--really)...and Gene bent over the tailgate of the El Camino to pick up the last 3 or 4! He nearly went down to his knees....it was just the slighest of angles with the little added weight of the tile.
He just about had to crawl into the house. Missed several days of work as he went to a chiropractor for xrays, heat treatments, manipulation, etc.
He wasn't a lot of fun to be around the first few days.
OK .. baby is in bed .. time for me to FINALLY get a shower
BBL
They've come up with the temporary air casts (I can't think of the nomenclature right now) to immobilize an injured leg--its like an airbag they fill around the injured limb to take the pressure off the limb.
I read an article right after Seattle Slew died where some money he earned being paraded before he retired was donated to a couple of veterinary colleges--one of which provided a grant to a guy who developed a 'basket' for "wobbles" or neck skeletal problems--Slew had a surgery 2 years ago that used one of the baskets and it worked! And then again early this year they did it in a different spot on his neck--this was not too long before he died.
I would imagine a good buck could be used for cross breeding with Spanish goats for the meat. While it would be great to add some body to the Angora Goats, the black hairs on the Boer would devalue the mohair from the Angoras!!
I want to say back in the late 80s/early 90s, they were talking about $5,000 for a buck. For what its worth--psssssssst......they are still a goat! And it looks as though the Boers are horned, not polled; therefore any babies they have (most anyway) would have horns--which without proper fencing the little bastards will somehow find a way to get their heads stuck in!!! Thanks, but no thanks..... :)
Thanks for the fencing reminder Rowdee. I've been away from the farm too long. God, I hated fencing and fence repair.
If you're serious about raising goats to sell for meat....make certain there is a place in the market--in other words, line that up before you jump in with both feet. Don't just take the word of someone or what you read somewhere--trust me.
For potential problems, you might check with your County Extension Agent; and I'm sure Ranch Magazine would have a listing for a Boer association or something like that--certainly a list of breeders.
My neighbors who started a weed control program and work with BLM, USFS, and the Idaho university system, have to ship their excess animals to Seattle, where there is a market for them. Not only is shipping an added cost, lining it up, etc., requires time.
You might do just as well to have a couple of Boer bucks and run female Spanish goats--they are considered meat goats down your way....do the crossbreeding and make improvements/upgrades that way. You could keep the half bloods and breed them to Boers and come up with 3/4 bloods; after that, you'd have a Boer-looking goat....or awfully close.
Not knowing the current market, i.e., the cost of a Spanish doe vs a Boer doe, I personally would keep in mind that the Boer DIES just as easily and quickly as a Spanish one!!!
As it regards fencing, you could look into sheeptight fencing....it has small squares at the bottom of the roll and larger ones near the top...just make sure your fencing expert doesn't do what mine did and turn the damn roll upside down! I was forever getting little stuck heads unstuck! The woven wires work well to keep dogs out of pasture.
You can also try running numerous rows of barbed wire , starting low to the ground and gradually widening the spacing between strands. I did that with a portion of my place in Montana, along the county road where there was brush right up to my fence line--and encroaching into my lnad....that way, I didn't have to fight the animals--and their natural desire to browse (rather than graze)--they didn't get their heads stuck that way.
Wasn't there a song about that?
"Bus stop wet day
He's there I say
Please respect me fella
Bus stop bus go
He stay's, dead though
Killed by my umbrella
That dumb fella he annoyed me
Don't you know that hurt
My umbrella I employed see
Now he sleeps in dirt"
"Not likely" would be a gross understatement, Val
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