Feeding Dairy Goats From Forage Only

As we continue in our journey of learning about farming and ranching we realize that conventional ways of raising animals may not be the best path for us in some cases. In our situation it is our intent to not only raise animals for our family to consume either the animal or the products of the animal (eggs, milk, etc) but do it in the most sustainable way. For example most people raise diary goats on grains with some land for them to browse but have never done so with minimal grain inputs.

There are plenty of posts on forums where many people offer the opinion that it can't be done or your goats will produce milk but eventually will have health issues. After reading quite a few blog posts and searching Google I finally came across an article titled Forage Based Dairy Goat Management from Langston University in Oklahoma. If you're interested in reducing your feed costs for your bucks and dairy goat herd take some time to read the linked article.

Gravity Fed Bell Waterer for Poultry

If you have chickens and want the ability to provide clean water on a consistent basis this is your lucky day. For a quick background we have ~20 acres and do rotational grazing for poultry, goats and sheep and do not run electric or water out to their location. We have been using the 5 gallon waterers from TSC however they tend to suck nasty water back into the reservoir when filling. Even though we were rinsing out the water in the lip of the waterer the design of the waterer causes it to suck the bad stuff into the reservoir when filling the water in the 'lip' and makes the reservoir water stink.

The solution is the gravity fed Plasson waterers. Although some may call it an automatic chicken waterer I would hesitate because it doesn't carry the water out to its location and fill itself ;) We looked around and found a supplier online offering them, they aren't cheap but they work great. It takes a little fiddling to get the spring adjusted correctly to keep the waterer full to the level we're satisfied with but the entire process took less than 5 minutes. We are not affiliated with this company in any way except for being a customer. We ordered the Breeder waterer but there was another model that also worked with gravity feed but between the two we preferred this model, if you would like to know the other model use the chat feature on their website. QC Supply (SKU# 275030)

You know it is summer in Texas when.....

* The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
* The trees are whistling for the dogs.
* The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
* Hot water now comes out of both taps.
* You can make sun tea instantly.
* You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
* The temperature drops below 95, and you feel a little chilly.
* You discover that it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.
* You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
* You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
* You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
* Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
* You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
* The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
* Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.
* The cows are giving evaporated milk.

Mahatma Gandhi Wisdom

There is more to improving life than increasing its speed
Mahatma Gandhi

Identifying Different Oil Pans

This has nothing to do with my normal blog content however due to the important nature of the content to the blog author a copy of the material is being kept here in case the thread pics become unavailable.

Good day.


Left -> Right: TH700-R4, the TH200-4R, the TH400 and the TH350


1 Aluminum Powerglide 14 bolts
2 TH200 Metric 11 bolts
3 TH350 13 bolts
4 TH400 13 bolts
5 TH200-4R 16 bolts
6 TH700-R4, 4L60, 4L60E 16 bolts
7 4L80E 17 bolts

Egg Cartons

As our egg production has increased we have had a need to sell of some of the extras. After checking our state laws (YMMV) we determined that we needed new cartons with our farm name and address stamped on them. One of the most recommended places for purchasing them is eggcartons.com and after some research we would concur that with shipping their pricing is decent. Below are a few comparisons to simplify your search.

Description: "Eggs From Our Farm" Flat Top
Count: 400
Cost: 99.95
Approx. Shipping: 38.50
Each: $0.346

Description: Stock Printed Flat Top
Count: 800
Cost: 187.95
Approx. Shipping: 75.50
Each: $0.329

Description: Pulp Mis-Print
Count: 500
Cost: 75.00
Approx. Shipping: 38.50
Each: $0.227

Notes: The shipping does not seem to drop based on the volumes we were looking at (100-1500) but the price per carton changes by a cent or more per volume change so make sure to play with the amount some before buying.

Green Shoots Everywhere

Don't be naive! Educate yourself and start growing your own food and pay off your debts or have enough savings to support yourself well into the future.

DEA Agent vs Texas Farmer

A DEA agent stops at a ranch in Texas, and talks with an old rancher. He tells the rancher, "I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs."

The rancher says, "Okay, but do not go in that field over there," as he points out the location.

The DEA officer verbally explodes, saying, "Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me." Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removes his badge and proudly displays it to the rancher.

"See this badge? This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish... On any land. No questions asked or answers given. Have I made myself clear? Do you understand?"

The rancher nods politely, apologizes, and goes about his chores.

A short time later, the old rancher hears loud screams and sees the DEA officer running for his life chased by the rancher's big Santa Gertrudis bull......

With every step the bull is gaining ground on the officer, and it seems likely that he'll get gored before he reaches safety. The officer is clearly terrified. The rancher throws down his tools, runs to the fence and yells at the top of his lungs.....

"Your badge. Show him your BADGE!"

By Tozer

A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself.

Operation Diapered Thunder

Since we wanted to keep the new goat kid, Thunder, in the house during this cold and wet weather we went looking for a solution. We do not have a barn or a decent housing solution for our goats currently and to optimize his first few days of growth and to help him build a strong body we wanted to keep him inside our home and let him roam free during parts of the day. Solution: Goat Diapers! The solution is reasonable from a cost perspective and allows him the opportunity to run around and allows us the opportunity to not have urine and fecal matter around our home.

We took this web page, Why would anyone even dream of diapering a baby goat?, as inspiration for Operation Diapered Thunder.

Another Kid!

During the evening or the early morning one of our pregnant does gave birth to a new baby boy. Due to our recent weather we named him Thunder.

Jaundice in Newborns

Recently I have a brother who had their first baby born. After a few weeks the baby had continued problems with jaundice and after some tests it appears the baby may have Biliary Atresia. This post is here to help others out there searching about extended jaundice and to not take it lightly. Although the disease is very rare (1 in 10000 newborns) it is fatal if not caught. The chances of the child recovering are significantly increased the earlier it is caught, below are some quotes and links.

The first two links below are a good starting point.

Biliary Atresia Overview

Biliary Atresia

Nearly a decade later, funds raised through a foundation the Meehans established in their son’s name have fueled a research discovery that may one day help give children like Zachary a future. Hopkins Children’s researchers, led by Maria Grazia Clemente and sponsored by the Zachary Meehan Biliary Atresia Research Foundation at Johns Hopkins, have discovered that a rotavirus (SA11), known to cause the disease in mice, also grows in human bile duct cells and normal liver cells. “In the lab, those infected cells became spectacularly malformed, which is exactly what happens in biliary atresia,” says Kathleen Schwarz, M.D., director of the Pediatric Liver Center at Hopkins Children’s and senior author of the study. “We’ve known a lot about its inflammatory process, but not what causes it. This may be about to change.”
source: http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/tpl_news.aspx?id=4944

Growth Failure and Outcomes in Infants with Biliary Atresia: A Report from the Biliary Atresia Research Consortium
source: http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/researchDetail.aspx?id=5310

Our biggest recommendation after years of health problems with one of our children is do not wait on your doctor to figure things out but do your own research and be open to alternative health but always keep a critical eye.

May 2010 be a healthy and happy new year for you!

Jesus Is Watching You

A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables when a voice in the dark said,

'Jesus knows you're here.'

He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight off, and froze.

When he heard nothing more , after a bit, he shook his head and continued.

Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard

'Jesus is watching you.'

Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice.

Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot.

'Did you say that?' he hissed at the parrot.

'Yep', the parrot confessed, then squawked, 'I'm just trying to warn you that he is watching you.'

The burglar relaxed. 'Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?'

'Moses,' replied the bird.

'Moses?' the burglar laughed. 'What kind of people would name a bird Moses?'

'The kind of people that would name a Rottweiler Jesus.'

How Does Rural America Measure Up?

As the quote and link below indicate the researchers were surprised, they must have been overwhelmed by their own vast conventional education. People in rural America have been making due with far less than their urban counterparts since urban became a word.

For many people "rural" is synonymous with low incomes, limited economic opportunity, and poor schools. However, a recent study found that much of rural America is actually prosperous, particularly in the Midwest and Plains.

Researchers just had to look at things differently to see the prosperity.

The study - announced today and based on data from the year 2000 - analyzed unemployment rates, poverty rates, high school drop-out rates, and housing conditions to identify prospering communities. The result: One in five rural counties in the United States is prosperous, doing better than the nation as a whole on all these measures.
source: Rural America Surprisingly Prosperous, Study Finds

Sign of Things To Come?

Many people indicate the what happens in Europe in an indication what will be come to the U.S. in a generation. The exception I would make for the below linked article is that instead of the European Union we will continue down the path of the North American Union until we are full fledged members.

At midnight last night, the United Kingdom ceased to be a sovereign state

Slow Down or Stop

Texas Sheriff vs New York Lawyer

A lawyer runs a stop sign and gets pulled over by a sheriff's deputy.

He thinks that he is smarter than the deputy because he is a lawyer from New York

and is certain that he has a better education then any cop from Houston , TX .

He decides to prove this to himself and have some fun at the Texas deputy's expense.

The deputy says, "License and registration, please.."

"What for?" says the lawyer.

The deputy says, "You didn't come to a complete stop at the stop sign."

Then the lawyer says, "I slowed down, and no one was coming."

"You still didn't come to a complete stop," says the deputy. "License and registration, please."

The lawyer says, "What's the difference?"

"The difference is you have to come to complete stop, that's the law.

License and registration, please!" the Deputy repeats.

Lawyer says, "If you can show me the legal difference between slow down and stop,

I'll give you my license and registration; and you give me the ticket.

If not, you let me go and don't give me the ticket."

"That sounds fair. Please exit your vehicle, sir," the deputy says.

At this point, the deputy takes out his nightstick and starts beating the daylights out of the lawyer and says,

"Do you want me to stop, or just slow down?"

God Bless Texas

Drilling a Water Well Cheap

If you are a DIY type here is a good idea for drilling your own water well. Our water table it too deep here but I would try this in short order if we lived somewhere that had water closer to the surface.

An Inexpensive, Do-It-Yourself Water Well

Got Goat?

One of our goats demonstrating their constant curiosity.

When Goats Eat What They Shouldn't

Got this recipe from this post over at The Self-Sufficient Life.

"I Really Shouldn't Have Ate That!" For goats
1/2 Cup Veggie Oil
1/2 Cup Very Strong Black Tea
1 Tsp. Ginger
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
* Drench goat with mixture one time. Watch goat. If goat is no better, drench again the following day. You will not want to use this too much...and you will want to use a mineral/vitamin drench while they are not eating.

What To Plant Now

If you are trying to figure out what to plan this month. Month in the generic sense of March or April or May or June or July or August or September, not the month as in the month of this post then go no further than this little helper from Mother Earth News.

What to Plan Now (by Region)