# Stuff is starting to work...



## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

So, I killed another lawn mower. i have a little, scrappy 22" push mower and I have been known to mow the entire place with it, but I'm old and tired. And, it takes SO long to mow all of it. 

I got to thinking (that usually illicits an uh oh from somewhere lol) that there must be a better way. In the interest (excuse?) of being more environmentally sound, I now have three Nigerian Dwarf goats that we plan on milking next year, and three adorable wooley sheep. 

OMG! I knew I missed having sheep, but I had no idea how much. There is something so soothing watching them happily mow the yard for me. They are getting comfortable with us, too. Today they got the zoomies and I spent a wonderfully delicious moment giggling at them. 

Yup, I needed this. 

I did a bad thing and named them all, but, oh well. They deserve names.


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

Hannibal, Clarice, and Misha. 








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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

Jack Jack, Angela, and Temperance. 








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Drat! Sideways again!!!


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

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Oh! For Heaven's sake!!!


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

I give up, it's still upside down.


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

Automatic fuel less mower you can eat when its finished?
Eric


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

ericwd9 said:


> Automatic fuel less mower you can eat when its finished?
> Eric


I don't think I could eat them. They are learning their names and coming when called, and I may have accidentally purchased spoiled critters again. Because we all know I didn't spoil them, they came that way. 

The goats love their licorice treats and the sheep are now trying to get into the house. i don't know why. 



:hmmmm:


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

"Because we all know I didn't spoil them, they came that way."
Why do I have problems believing this?
Eric


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## TrixieTreasure (May 24, 2015)

Oh my gosh, how so cute they are, and the names! You can sure come up with good ones, lol! I'm still giggling about " Hannibal". 

You are just like my niece and her family - naming their sheep and goats. Don't remember the names, but they had three baby goats born in March. They don't really live on a farm, but they believe in having their children grow up with baby animals, so they have goats, sheep, chickens, and a calf that is now half grown. They have three (human) kids, lol. Ethan just turned 15, Colin is 13, and Neelima ( Neely for short) is 8. Neely is from India. I think it's truly wonderful when children grow up with farm animals. It gives them the knowledge and understanding about how to treat them with the love and respect they deserve. 

Oh, they also have a dog and a cat too. Gotta have them ,lol.


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## TrixieTreasure (May 24, 2015)

Oh I forgot to mention, we're out in the country on 5 aces, and we also have sheep grazing on our pasture. There are none right now, but we always get them. We rent our land out to the neighbors, and he is free to do what he wants on the land. So he always get sheep. For our land, his land, and for two other neighbors. So when we get them , we get a lot of them, lol.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

bk, how do you figure out how many grazers your acreage needs?


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

patk said:


> bk, how do you figure out how many grazers your acreage needs?


I'm kind of eyeballing it right now with this one. It's a small lot at just over an acre, but, we're in the river bottoms and I've been stuck mowing in the dead of winter before. Everything grows almost year 'round. A lot of the grass goes dormant in August, but since I have a septic system, there is always a lush grassy patch throughout the summer. In winter, there is usually enough grass/weeds to cover until we get our little winter storm in Feb. By March, I'm firing up the poor, overworked little mower again. 

Just in case, I'm already getting our little hay loft set up to store for winter. 

If, by any chance, we run out of grass, the house behind us has been abandoned and I've already spoken with the people the bank hired to mow. They have no issues allowing me to graze critters on that. Especially since they only mow around the house itself, leaving about 3/4 acre untouched. 

So far, I've only given the guys treats to convince them that the barn is a good place to be locked up for the night. Everyone is growing nice and plump just on all the fresh grazing. I have noticed that my crape myrtle has been pruned a bit, but that's probably a good thing. 

My DD and I are planning on cross fencing so we can rotate if needed. I'm hoping I can get it all organized enough to only have to mow a small part in the front and maybe a little in the back. Let the critters do all the rest. Working smarter, not harder.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

i would imagine the critters are pretty happy to help out. sounds like a good plan.


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## ericwd9 (Jun 13, 2014)

Baahhhha! Nheeeeah!


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

Very cool BorderKelpie! When we were on vacation in Montana, we saw that the Highway Department was using flocks to mow difficult terrain.


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

Yay for the new lawn mowers . Those goat kids are precious! Not surprised the sheep want in your house!


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

That's so awesome!


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## sidewinder (Feb 3, 2016)

I've been thinking about doing the same thing. We have a little over 6 acres here, and though my husband has a nice riding mower, he really hates mowing. The terrain is very hilly and rough, with lots of grass, trees and blackberries. 

The sheep would eat the grass, and the goats (who are browsers, not grazers...watch out for your crepe myrtle!), would eat the blackberries. We had goats for milk years ago, and they were fun pets!

It would mean we would have to do new fences all around,though. Goats are notorious escape experts! And it would mean shearing sheep. I'm a spinner/weaver/knitter, so I could use the fleeces, but I'm no longer physically up to the task of shearing.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I'll bet you could get a lot of interest in the wool from spinners, weavers and fibre artists, especially considering you are close to large urban areas (because there are more people in general so perhaps more wool workers ). I would love to learn to do that too! Also my dogs LOVE to sleep on wool blankets. As I mentioned before, my daughter really wants sheep. I understand here in the north that we have to have special predator protection for sheep...sadly the government shoots wolves from helicopters here and farmers are encouraged to shoot them for a bounty, but if you have sheep according to my farmer neighbours, you will bring the hell known as wolves down upon us all, lol. So I have not got any yet  But I want some! So jealous of you BK!


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

I LOVE goats! They are the most fun farm critters ever! My son & DIL are thinking about a couple of Pigmy goats for keeping their steep acre+ cleared because it is fire season here! The feed store near them has em' and my son is sorely tempted! And of course they are as cute as all get out hahaha!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

That all looks like too much fun!


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

sidewinder said:


> I've been thinking about doing the same thing. We have a little over 6 acres here, and though my husband has a nice riding mower, he really hates mowing. The terrain is very hilly and rough, with lots of grass, trees and blackberries.
> 
> The sheep would eat the grass, and the goats (who are browsers, not grazers...watch out for your crepe myrtle!), would eat the blackberries. We had goats for milk years ago, and they were fun pets!
> 
> It would mean we would have to do new fences all around,though. Goats are notorious escape experts! And it would mean shearing sheep. I'm a spinner/weaver/knitter, so I could use the fleeces, but I'm no longer physically up to the task of shearing.


Look into hair sheep that shed on their own. Takes the fun out of spinning, but you don't have to shear anyone. Painted Desert sheep are beautiful. I almost went with those instead of the Suffolk, but Suffolk are what I had centuries ago and I love the black faces and roman noses. 

As far as fencing, I'm cheating right now since I'm paranoid about stray dogs with the baby goats - I have a 12X12 heavy duty dog kennel that my DD and I move around every day or two. The goats are lead from the barn to their 'play pen' every morning and lead back into the barn every evening before dark. Once I get them a livestock guardian of some kind (leaning toward a llama), I will use that kennel to either pen off my crepe myrtle or use it as a large catch pen. As far as the one they already got to, it needed pruning badly (it gets so heavy, it starts to break). I have the little one fenced away from them. 
Once fall hits, I plan on letting them prune my runaway roses, too. They're getting pretty scraggly lately. 

I love this easy way of landscaping.


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

Indiana said:


> I'll bet you could get a lot of interest in the wool from spinners, weavers and fibre artists, especially considering you are close to large urban areas (because there are more people in general so perhaps more wool workers ). I would love to learn to do that too! Also my dogs LOVE to sleep on wool blankets. As I mentioned before, my daughter really wants sheep. I understand here in the north that we have to have special predator protection for sheep...sadly the government shoots wolves from helicopters here and farmers are encouraged to shoot them for a bounty, but if you have sheep according to my farmer neighbours, you will bring the hell known as wolves down upon us all, lol. So I have not got any yet  But I want some! So jealous of you BK!


The biggest issue with predation here is free range pet dogs. I have never lost more than a chicken to coyotes, but I've even lost yearling colts to people's pet dogs. Once, when I first moved here, hunters were hired to 'remove' loose dogs. You would drive down the road and see a squard car parked next to a pick up truck with men carrying rifles shooting loose dogs. It was disturbing. Sad thing is, it may be time to do that again.


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

MollyMuiMa said:


> I LOVE goats! They are the most fun farm critters ever! My son & DIL are thinking about a couple of Pigmy goats for keeping their steep acre+ cleared because it is fire season here! The feed store near them has em' and my son is sorely tempted! And of course they are as cute as all get out hahaha!


Mine are Nigerian Dwarf goats, so, little, but dairy. I get the best of all worlds with these guys. I can't wait for fresh milk. I'm lactose intolerant, so I'm hoping for cheese and ice cream and anything else I can do with it! And, they're cute and happily weed eat for free! 
Perfect little critters!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

BorderKelpie it is sad that people around you seem to be so irresponsible about their dogs, not spaying/neutering and letting them range free all sounds like a recipe for many disasters. You'd think having people hired to hunt the feral dogs might make some people think more clearly about what is good for the dogs and everyone else.


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## BorderKelpie (Dec 3, 2011)

You would think having dog snipers would make people more aware, but, nope. 

Several years before I moved here, a little girl was mauled to death by a pack of free range pets. I would have thought that alone would have stopped the loose dog situation. That's what I get for thinking, I guess. 

Up until recently, I assumed it was a 'country' thing that made people here think letting their dogs roam was OK. A friend of mine moved to Dallas. I hear from her almost daily about the packs of ferals in the city and outskirts. 

Maybe it's a cultural thing???

I am going to take a comment made by a neighbor as a compliment. He had come over to ask about a particular dog that carried off his chihuahua. (but, again, why was she outside alone while in season?! And, none of my dogs were involved lol) Anyway, he said I go above and beyond to keep my dogs contained, especially compared to the people with one or two dogs that roam constantly. I've had the occasional escapees, but I do make a rather determined effort. Right down to naming my potty kennels (nope, my dogs don't even run in my fenced in 1/2 acre backyard unsupervised). I have Alcatraz (thanks to my BC/ACD), CellBlocks A, B, and C (C was recently put up in the carport as a little 4X4 kennel so I could let dogs out of the Jeep while I closed the gate. It's also supposed to by used as a place to dry recently bathed dogs. Yup, I'm enough of a control freak, I even want them to potty in easy to clean places. Mind you, I've mowed that 1/2 acrea back yard with a push mower for years. I have a reason for making them potty in kennels before running loose. lol 
Oops, I'm babbling again, but I'm at work and so wishing I were home. *sigh*


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