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Joshua Kingsley
ParticipantI think that can be a personal choice but I like the small farmers journal and rural heritage. they both have good resources for working draft animals.
JoshParticipantThanks Erica, I was thinking of the red broiler not so much as a heritage breed but one that could be raised sustainably. The turkeys and chickens that I am currently raising are for base flocks and to put eggs and meat on our table. Then I would also like to sell a few turkey poults in the spring if the hens cooperate. With the chanteclers I will be able to take the culls and put them on the table not quite as fast as with the cross broilers but then again they won’t have the helth problems. Good luck with your mission with the doms.
JoshuaParticipantAnother thought that I had while reading the posts above was I second what they have said and would add that I like to cut the meat the day after the animal is dressed in the late fall. By starting one afternoon with disbatching and sticking ect. I then hang the critter be it a hog or deer ect and cut them up the next morning after I get the rest of the am chores done. For a first time you could offer to help somone in exchange for thier help with your hog. Depending on size I can do a hog now alone in anywhere from 1 1/2 to 6 hours after doing several in the last year.
If you don’t have the means to scrape the hide you can skin them and though it is like dealing with a realy heavy and greasy coat, it is not hard to do. Best of luck with your venture.
JoshParticipantCarl,
I was looking into Red Broilers for meat as they go broody, can reproduce unlike the Cornish Rock cross broilers. The only thing that I have found out about the red broilers though they take a little longer to get to roaster weight than the cross broilers. Though that is that they are also a fair layer that can put eggs on the table for a while before or after you get your chicks for the year. another option would be to get white cornish pullets and cross them with a white rock rooster. then you would get the hybred vigor and the fast growth while having the chicks produced on farm.As for turkeys I have just gotten a call from an aquaintience that has Beltsville Whites which mature out a little larger than the White Midgets. It is looking like they may find their way onto the farm as well… I guess I may be a glutton for punishment. Then again it makes farming fun to see the next generation.
Josh
ParticipantLooks good Carl. Will you let the tops decompose? If not how will you handle them in the future?
I was thinking of clearing a small lot on our farm that is all pole stock or at least thinning it and utilizing the firewood but what to do with the tops? Chip them which means burning fuel or let them break down… We do use wood chips from a local tree service as bedding in our loafing barn for our dairy herd so the chips would be composted and used on farm.
ParticipantWe used poly and sisal depending on what we could buy at the time. We had little trouble switching over from one to the other with the exception that the knotter knives have to be sharp to keep the twine cut off. We used an International #46, a Massy Furgerson #12, and a friend had a John Deere. I don’t remember the model on the deere but some years ou could get the sisal and others it was only poly that we could buy. Best of luck, Josh
ParticipantFrom my perspective, (being the son of a conventional dairy man who has little use for horses). It gets harder to switch after the farm is set up for tractors. I love to use horses as much as I can and did until I sold my teams last year. I am now buying Haflingers and starting over but still am going to have to fight with dad on the value of using horses on the farm. The equipment that you get when you start with tractors will likely not transition over and you will eventually end up with many duplicates, that being said there are options such as the newer fore-carts that can work with modern tractor implements. It is ultimately a choice that you will have to make on your own. I have done both and given the choice on my own I would opt for heavy ponies or horses over the fuel consuming tractors. There are others on this site that do things both ways that may offer their own input but I would go in the path that makes you the happiest.
best of luck JoshParticipantI was told by an old-timer a while back that cribbing is a learned trait. Foals can learn from any member of the herd. I also believe like Jason that a working horse or one with a job will be less likely to have vices. Just like children with idle hands they find ways of making mischif. ( as a younger guy I can attest to that…)
Best of luck, JoshParticipantErik, would you be willing to share in a large scale to the board? I know that I would be intrested and would be intrested in growing some grains here in Pittsford for use on the farm. Thanks, Josh
ParticipantThe idea of an immunity to poison ivy through milk sounds totally cool. Thanks for sharing Jason.
ParticipantI’m sorry to hear about your incident Jenn,
I hope that you are both able to take this in stride and continue on in your working relationship for many years to come. I also understand the value of a good mentor. My Great Uncle taught me the basics years ago, and he had video taped me driving the old team to show me what I was doing wrong. The tape showed that if I get over confident and lax on the lines, even an experienced team can catch you by suprise given enough of a chance ( I had waaaaaay to mush line out to be in complete control of them).My first big horse was a mare that was supposed to be well broke, and she was… for the Pulling Arena. The slightest clink of a chain would set her off like a jack rabbit. That training got me even with 2 years of steady work around the farm with no issues for a long time, almost cost me my right hand one day in the woods. I was thinking that she had turned into a real good mare and went to get some fire wood. I hooked the choker and the clink was all it took for her to be in “Pull mode” she jumped, the choker closed and my glove luckly slid off my hand and got caught instead of my whole hand. She left about a month later. I have looked back on those near misses and wonder why no one got hurt.
For that I will always be greatfull. Well I’m rambling so have a good day all. Drive safe
JoshParticipantIf I have understood right from some people that work at CVPS ( Central Vermont Public Service) there is a new bill that has passed that would mean that solar energy sold back to the grid in vermont will be worth 30 cents a KWH. That would be an incentive to put in solar for some people I would imagine. CVPS has what they call “cow power” wich is generated using methane from dairy farms in vermont, these farms are currently paid in the 9 cent per KWH range I believe… Just some food for thought.
JoshParticipantDoes anyone know where I might get some patterns for these yokes from? I think they would come in handy like Carl mentioned and would be willing to give one a try on our farm.
Thanks JoshParticipantI for one appreciate it being brought to the fore front during this time when we are all thinking about using teams more. I have also met a couple that are also just starting with horses in harness and threads like this are important. They also bring safety to mind for me while I am considering a new team this spring. So thank you all for your input and the time it takes to bring such threads back into the light.
JoshParticipantWe like to do a deep plow with our molboard plows to about 8 inches every once in a while to our ground here, though we have also found that chisel plows will some times go just deep enough to go where the others can’t reach. I think that a subsoiler would work well for some applications but one thing to keep in mind is water. In soil conditions like we have I would be hesitant to break the barrier for the ground water. That hard pan keeps excess water from welling up into furrows and for some of our rented ground that we just obtained, (read well raped for years with chemicals, no earth worms, dead as can be…) I have actually seen dirt float. I might mention that we also live on river bottom land, no stones, and lots of sandy loam, we are fighting silt sand mostly. so these conditions are not normal for Vermont.
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