What livestock do you have?

[Okrafarmer]

I'm just curious if those of us with livestock could post what we raise. I'm not talking about dogs, cats, or hamsters, etc. but actual livestock. If you would like to, please tell what species, breed(s), and how many you have, and whether you are interested in buying or selling them from time to time.

(Moderators, is it ok to do that casually outside of the marketplace forum? Not specifically listing sales, but just whether or not you are interested in buying and selling?)

My wife and I have six sheep, which are crossbred, but most are at least half Katahdin. We raise them to eat and sell. I butcher ours for our own use.

We have approximately 25 chickens, including two leghorn hens that are laying quite nicely, an old easter-egger club-footed hen who lays about every other day, a couple old white rocks, one of them lays fairly regularly, or they alternate-- and a bunch of easter-egger pullets and a few roosters-- the pullets should start laying within the next month or so.

We also have 3 guinea fowl, and I just put down a deposit on two cross-bred piglets, which I hope to pick up next week after I get the garden fence better secured to keep them in. They are supposedly 1/4 landrace, 1/4 Poland China, and 1/2 Russian Boar. I saw both parents today-- the boar is one wild-looking varmint!

[Tom]

Why do you want Russian Boar in those pigs?

[LeeB]

Do peacocks count? Lindy has 5 of them, my old horse and a young donkey, couple of black angus cows and some pigs. we got rid of all the chickens because they had a disease that was making the peacocks sick. Didn't harm the chickens, just a carrier. I don't know how many guinies we have. Too many when they go to cutting up.

[Norm]

We haven't had much for livestock lately but the freezer is full! :D

Right now it's just some pullets we bought this spring for eggs. They are a mix of layers we bought from the hatchery and there's a little bit of everything there. Other than that we have a draft I affectionately call the fat horse and a young jenny to keep Becky (the fat horse) company.

[Okrafarmer]

Why do you want Russian Boar in those pigs?

I don't really. That's the way they came from the guy selling them. I would prefer that they didn't have RB genetics, but pigs are hard to come by around here.

[Woodwalker]

[/quote]
but pigs are hard to come by around here.
[/quote]
The things are running wild around here, free for the taking.

[fishpharmer]

Do fish count?  I have a good many catfish, a few cows, way too many horses, and a few RI reds.  

My daughter wants goats and pigs, I am resisting.  Anyone want to trade some goats and pigs for horses? :D :D

[Tony]

   Nothing purebred around here except for us. ( i hope) :

Got a couple of goats, a few hens, a few donkeys, and last but not least,about 20 head of mixed bred cows. Got to increase the cow herd (retirement plan) too much grass!  ;D

    P.S. for those of you thinking of getting "critters", take it from somebody who knows, don't name anything!!!!!  I can't stress how important this is on sell day.

                                                Tony  8)

[Okrafarmer]

but pigs are hard to come by around here.
[/quote]
The things are running wild around here, free for the taking.
[/quote]

Yes,  they are here, too, but not the domestic type, so in response to the question of why I wanted Russian Boar in it, I didn't, but that's what was available was something that was half farm pig. Half a pig is better than none. . . . . .

[LeeB]

Half a pig is best on a spit roasting over an open fire. Cook a while, eat what's done let it cook some more till more is done, eat again. Continue till pigs is all et or you can't stand any more.

[Magicman]

I grew up helping raise cattle and  pigs for the market and horses.  When my Dad finally retired at age 80, he said that the happiest day of his life was when the tail of the last one of them went out of the gate.

Now, when a storm blows a tree across a fence I don't worry.  I haven't had the first tree to get out yet.    :D

[pigman]

I have about 12 deer, 85 wild turkeys, 40 cows with a bunch of calves, 1 bull and no pigs. I just don't understand why I go by pigman. :

[Ernie]

22 cattle mostly Wagyu/Angus cross 16 off to the sale on Wednesday, we have most of one in the freezer.  29 sheep of which 13 are newborn lambs with 9 still to give birth we have two in the freezer.  We just killed our 2 pigs and have heaps of bacon, ham and sausages in the freezer, 7 hens and one rooster.  We have 4 freezers, almost all full at least until the kids start scrounging again

The Wagyus are what are left from the days when we leased a few out for that movie The Last Samurai  which was shot on a friend's farm.  Great eating ;D.  In Japan, they call it Kobe beef. They  feed them beer and massage them every day   Needless to say, I have no interest in massaging cattle or wasting beer

[sandhills]

I have 70 or so angus pairs, 2 horses.  Grew up raising hogs and cattle, got out of the hogs in the late 90s early 2000?  Can't remember for sure but never looked back 8)  We really didn't have much of a set up for them, it was farrow to finish the old style.  My fiance is big into the PBR, she pretty well knows all the bulls and the riders.  She has this dream of raising bucking bulls the funny thing is there is guy here that raises mini bucking bulls for the kids circut.  My fiance has a miniature horse and a mini poodle (which actually does think it's a cow dog) so I have to tease her she needs to raise the mini bulls so she can ride out on her mini horse with her mini cow dog to round up her mini cattle :D :D :D :D

[pineywoods]

A hard-learned lesson my ole dad taught me...if you have to feed it, you don't need it  ;D
Free range chickens might be ok.

[nas]

A hard-learned lesson my ole dad taught me...if you have to feed it, you don't need it  ;D

Good thing he didn't think that way about his kids :D :D

[ErikC]

 We have a couple dozen chickens, 3 horses and 3 mules, and a dexter cow. Also a few ducks live around the place if they count as livestock. One of my horses is a well bred, well built, well mannered quarter horse stud that I have bred a handful of times. The rest are just your regular packstring variety. The stud lives with the herd and goes on almost all my trips, until I say something no one seems to notice he's not gelded.

[saltydog]

one angus bull two hefers two duroc sows ready to pig out  one boar 20 to 30 flemish giant rabbits 30 some chickens 4 turkeys one nubian nanny goat one sonnin nanny 2bohr billygoats 3bohr nannys one lahma oh i forgot about our ducks 15 right now pekin runner mallard and hairdoos (crested) and one 11yr old  bluetick coonhound named puddin .and one 3 month old bloodhound named erma.

[Okrafarmer]

one angus bull two hefers two duroc sows ready to pig out  one boar 20 to 30 flemish giant rabbits 30 some chickens 4 turkeys one nubian nanny goat one sonnin nanny 2bohr billygoats 3bohr nannys one lahma

That's quite a zoo ya got there!

[isawlogs]

I don't have or want any stoopid cows ... That being said , we have three horses, two pigmy goats , two miniature goats , of those two have had there kids , so add three kids to that, chickens two rhode island reds , one plymouth rock  one brown leghorn rooster and one sussex rooster and 14 young chicks from this spring of wich many have been named Hotchicken. There are give or take 40 rabbits at different age stage , most have been named either Freezer or Oven. One has Mushroom Sauce for a name.  There is also four ducks wabling around the yard during the day , I should get a pick of them , ever see a duck with a hairdoo  :  a few of these have a feathered hat on there head .  :D Oh and a lake/pond with a pile of bass in it .  There is a moose out there , he shows up every now and then shy thing though. 

[Norm]

That moose probably was aware of you naming things Marcel and didn't want his written on freezer paper. :D

[D Hagens]

 I have eight chickens and a dog. Yup big time farmer here, think it's time to retire. :D

[Faron]

We have about 130 head of angus cross cows.  We are also starting a Boer goat herd.  16 does right now. We should start kidding in a few days. I am looking at expanding both herds. I need more pasture to expand the cow herd. I can expand the goat herd without  much trouble.  Three horses that are pretty much in retirement.

[fishpharmer]

Faron, do you pasture the goats with the cows?

[woodsteach]

We run 85 pairs of mostly registered Angus and sell as grassfed/finished beef.  And produce bulls for a ranch in cheynne wells, colorado.

We've always had hayburners (horses) and are down to 1 cripple, 1 30 yr old dead broke roping/kid horse, and 1 Shetland pony that founders just looking at green grass.
1 very fat pygmy goat that I purchased from a student. 
And this year we ventured into chickens.  Did the free range thing on the chickens and butchered 75 and kept 25 for layers.

To help keep the cash flowing we also custom graze b/t 75-100 of fall calving cows each summer.

Might add goats into the mix next year to help with the brush, but hate to feed to coyotes and bobcats too well ;)


woodsteach