OT: Will my goat friends help with this?

CaliannG · #21 12/02/12, 10:26 AM

Voted, dear! Hope you win!

andabigmac · #22 12/02/12, 10:57 AM

It won't let you vote again. Denied.

Minelson · #23 12/02/12, 10:59 AM

Oat Bucket....when are you going to be able to get goats again?

Oat Bucket Farm · #24 12/02/12, 06:12 PM

Minelson, I'm not sure.

I want them back now, but I know I wouldn't be able to have it like before. No bucks, no keeping any babies. If I can, I am thinking about getting two does or doelings this spring. My brother in a town two hours away from me bought a pickup and is more than willing to transport hay for me. Hay is easier to find over by him.

But then again, I'm wary of doing it. The drought doesn't appear to be getting any better, and if I can't find hay come summer, then what? It would positively kill me to get them and have to give them up again. I just couldn't handle that. I miss Missy and Bella SO much. I just can't fall in love with more and then have to give them up. It hurt too much seeing Belly Bean and Missy and the boys go.

I am looking into Chaffey though. I've heard it can be used in place of hay but I'm not sure if that is true.

CaliannG · #25 12/02/12, 06:33 PM

Chaffaye CAN be used in place of hay. It actually IS hay, it is simply chopped, specially fermented hay.

I am slowly researching and designing a feeding system that incorporates Chaffaye and sprouted Fodder as a "grow your own when the outside has turned into a desert" fallback. Chaffaye can be stored much longer than regular hay. Sprouted grain triples the nutritional pounds and benefit of the grain it came from.

I'm also looking into something similar to the Fodder system from growing greens up to 6 weeks for feed. I think by using a game forage seed base, one can take one, small greenhouse, and provide forage of equal value as healthy browse pasture, to dry lot goats year round.

Oat Bucket Farm · #26 12/02/12, 06:51 PM

Wow, let me know what you find out. If there is anything I can do to not ever have to give up my goats again when I get them, I will do it.

When it became apparent that we were not going to be able to find hay and the cost of feed kept climbing and we realized we were going to have to give up the goats, we did a really good job of convincing ourselves it was for the best. That we really wanted to go camping and go traveling etc.

But in the end, we all just ended up missing the goats. The kids would rather have the goats than go camping. They would rather do without some things to have goats back.

bikehealer1 · #27 12/02/12, 07:22 PM

I voted for you also. if you win do we all get a signed copy?

JBarGFarmKeeper · #28 12/02/12, 08:09 PM

I voted!! You got mine!

anita_fc · #29 12/02/12, 08:52 PM

Voted! You've got some great reviews on Amazon! Congrats!

CaliannG · #30 12/02/12, 09:01 PM

I believe Emily (Ozark_Jewels) bought a full fodder system that is currently cranking out fodder. Mine is still in the "I have the materials and everything, now I just have to build it and get it going" stage. From other members results, and my own calculations, a Fodder system basically takes 1 lbs of grain seed (barley is preferred, wheat is next choice, etc.) and turns it into the nutritional equivalent of 3lbs of grain. Seed for growing is more expensive than feed seed (In oats, 50lbs of whole feed oats is $11, while 50lbs of seed oats is $18 a bag), but since it turns into three times the nutritional equivalent, you are still saving money.

What I am considering for grazing is floating hydroponics. That is basically sowing seed into styrofoam sheets that have had holes poked in them, and "floating" the sheets on 12" high, tupperware storage tubs of water with some Miracle grow added and an aquarium pump aerating it. By using game pasture seed mix, and growing each tub for three weeks, at one pound of seed per tub, I can rotate. On these, I would not feed the whole thing, but simple rotate the grazing on a tub and then let the plants re-grow.

By using the floating hydroponics (which is easy to set up), in 18"W x 24"L x 12"D tubs, each tub should produce 5lbs of grazable greenery every 2 weeks, where they don't have to be re-seeded...just rotate the tub back to the greenhouse when the goat has finished grazing.

That should provide everything that 2 goats need in one, since, 10'x20' greenhouse. (Heck, could even do a hoop house!) year round, for about $0.50 per day in costs.

Now, instead of going the floating hydro set up, on could just do the Chaffaye with the grain sprout Fodder. It would be more expensive, but also more reliable, especially in the learning curve stages.

And the Fodder set up can be done with just a nice spot in the house near a window.

~smiles~ We're homesteaders, right? And yeah, we had the drought year before, so I am WAY interested in feeding critters without relying on local hay!

Otter · #31 12/02/12, 10:12 PM

Voted, and it's on my wish list. I love fantasy.

LoneStrChic23 · #32 12/02/12, 10:40 PM

A

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oat Bucket Farm

Wow, let me know what you find out. If there is anything I can do to not ever have to give up my goats again when I get them, I will do it.

When it became apparent that we were not going to be able to find hay and the cost of feed kept climbing and we realized we were going to have to give up the goats, we did a really good job of convincing ourselves it was for the best. That we really wanted to go camping and go traveling etc.

But in the end, we all just ended up missing the goats. The kids would rather have the goats than go camping. They would rather do without some things to have goats back.

Awww, this breaks my heart

I hope can find a way to have goats again. I love the Chaffhaye.... I still keep those weedy round bales out, but I find that they rarely touch them anymore. Want to do the fodder system from index to see if I can make it work and cut my feed cost even more...

Anywho, I voted for you!

Read your book when it first came out on Kindle and loved it!

steff bugielski · #33 12/03/12, 05:57 AM

Crystal is it suitable for a teenager?

Oat Bucket Farm · #34 12/03/12, 09:49 AM

Calianne and Crystal, thank you for the info!

Otter, thank you for the vote!

Steph, I think it is suitable for a teenager. There is one pan to the fire type scene. The type you would see on old daytime soap operas, where they start kissing and then it goes to another scene. Its clear what is about to happen, but it does not go into detail. I figure if the reader is old enough to know whats going to happen, they don't need an anatomy lesson and if they aren't old enough to know then I shouldn't be the one explaining it.

steff bugielski · #35 12/03/12, 12:02 PM

Thanks.
It sounds like a perfect gift for my niece.

LoneStrChic23 · #36 12/03/12, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steff bugielski

Crystal is it suitable for a teenager?

Yup, teenager safe