Dairyland Rabbitry and Poultry

01/16/2025

USDA/AMS has posted a new lamb infographic to its Consumer Labels & Shopping Tips page at https://www.ams.usda.gov/resources/infographics

01/16/2025

Just say NO! 🛑

Now that I have your attention, no I am not saying to not deworm your sheep. I am saying to stop deworming on a schedule.

After a recent post where I shared finding a great deal on dewormer and saying in the post that I hadn't had to deworm any sheep last year I had a few folks say that if I hadn't dewormed that I really should do it this year. Including one person who said I was being cruel and exhibiting poor animal husbandry skills by not deworming.

I didn't deworm because I checked Famancha for anemia from Barber Pole worms and had f***l egg counts to check for parasite load. I did counts right after lambing to check for the periparturient egg rise, at weaning to check both the ewes and the lambs, and then again in the fall after frost. At none of those times were the counts anywhere near a level where my vet or I felt deworming was needed.

By deworming on a set schedule no matter what species, you will contribute to more and more drug resistant parasite populations. Especially those farms who only use one type of dewormer all the time.

Unfortunately here in the US we only have a limited amount of dewormer options among the three drug classes. And of those many have become less and less effective due to resistance.

It is looking promising though that the FDA is working with the American sheep industry to try and get more drugs and dewormers approved here in the states. In countries like the UK and Australia where the sheep population is much larger than ours they tend to have several more options than we do.

If you've managed to read all the way to this point I'd like to leave you with one thing all shepherd's need to remember:

⚠️ Do not deworm without a clear and present need via both Famancha scoring and f***l egg count.

01/16/2025

01/16/2025

I’m learning every free moment i have. These guides help tremendously

01/16/2025

18 minutes a day. That’s all it takes to rise above 95% of the world. 💪

Small steps every day lead to big wins—consistency is the key to greatness. 🏆

01/16/2025

Or 10 😂

01/15/2025

https://www.sheepandgoat.com/_files/ugd/aded98_369bb62f2e38431cadb3c48b76b0b888.pdf

01/14/2025

Stop sharing this.

Right off the bat, the "credit" is given to an account that doesn't exist on any social media platform that I can find. I looked, hoping to uncover more answers.

Secondly, you can raise pigs from the same litter, identically, and end up with genetic anomalies that lead to the fat variations seen below. In this years batch of pigs, we had 3 pigs from the same litter where 2 hung over 200lbs and the third at only 136, despite being born on the same day and getting the same feed.

Third, pigs aren't ruminants and cannot gain a sustainable amount of nutrition from grazing grasses alone. While a curated pasture with large amounts of legumes and high protein forage could sustain life, it won't achieve acceptable growth. Not to mention that the amount of inputs needed to grow and maintain that forage, and the huge amount of rotations needed to preserve it, would place a huge burden on the farmer. The costs associated with that pork would be sky high.

The bottom line is that the image below, along with the "story" associated with it, add up to nothing more than an image that is shocking on the surface to the uninitiated, but nothing more than a farce to gain clicks and traffic to the site of whatever farm page is sharing it.

If we are taking the post at it's word, the hog on the left can only be described as malnourished, and the hog on the right as overfed. Somewhere in the middle ground is where we strive to be as pastured hog producers.

01/14/2025

Don't let them steal your joy.

01/14/2025

See comment

01/14/2025

Meat Pen tip Monday🐰💙
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Get there early. Prepare your rabbits. Prepare yourself. Be attentive. Lastly, GO LEARN SOMETHING NEW!

01/14/2025

Exactly..they're only killing the animals that are going to be ending up in the human food chain... And for what.. let's see drive the food prices up even more on the shortage of some certain foods!

01/11/2025

Ask me if I would ever recommend mixing a giant breed with a commercial meat breed, and my answer from now on will forever be: No!
For whatever reason, anytime I ever mixed a giant breed rabbit with a commercial type meat rabbit, the giant breed takes away from the meat yielded from every carcass I’ve ever cleaned!
The loins are smaller, the back legs are smaller, shoulder meat is nonexistent, and growth just isn’t that impressive, as giants tend to grow bone mass over meat mass first.
My experience with mixing rabbits that have a commercial body confirmation to a mandolin type bodied rabbit has shown me not once, but twice, to leave well enough alone.
Meat rabbits were bred to grow fast, be meaty, and well developed.

In most cases, I wouldn’t even recommend a giant breed as a meat rabbit. I know some may argue that, and while I have harvested a handful of FGs in the past, the amount of time to grow out for those meaty loins was double in time, and feeding costs.
The picture below is a great example of what my own mixed breeds looked like compared to my commercial meat breeds when harvested.
My giants are slinkies compared to my meat bred bricks!

01/11/2025

"Ode to the feral women”

“My soul is not set on fire by being the best home maker but by growing flowers and plants, shoveling dirt, snow or manure, breathing the cold fresh air, letting the sun beat on my face, and tending animals.
It is not that I can't cook and clean it’s that I desire to be elsewhere.
I’ve struggled with the fact that I am well ... me. I am a feral woman. As much as I wish I could be the sweet and clean home maker, I am not.
I finally made peace with this when I saw a quote circulating around that said, “the term domesticated housewife implies there must be a feral one”
It’s me and other women I know. I am, and we are feral women.
We may not have perfect houses, but we still make them a home. We may not clean the dishes right after every meal but we can sure cook a good meal. The laundry is lagging but at the end of the day everyone has something clean to wear. We may not be domesticated but it does not make us less.
If anything, our strength is found as we carry feed sacks across our shoulders, as we till up dirt to plant gardens, as we end a life to provide food for our families all while we still carry the softness of a woman.
Here is to the feral women. May we be them; may we know them, may we raise them.”

Beckard Family Farm-J.B. Black Label Silkies

01/11/2025

01/11/2025

Since Avian Influenza cases are on the rise, we just wanted to remind everyone of some basic biosecurity tips to follow to help minimize the risk of your flock becoming infected. For additional info please refer here: https://poultrydvm.com/featured-infographic/avian-influenza-biosecurity
*Cover and elevate feed and water sources to prevent both wild birds and flock members from defecating in them.
*Designate boots and clothing to be worn only for visiting your flock.
*During outbreaks, minimize visits to other poultry flocks and visitors entering your property. Any visitors should disinfect their boots prior to entry or wear protective boot covers. If you visit other farms, shower and change shoes and clothing before visiting your own flock.
*Clean and disinfect any new equipment and tools and after use.
*Keep your flock in an enclosed run (with the top covered) during the day. It will also help protect them from predators if it is properly predator proofed.
*During outbreaks, refrain from free ranging your flock to minimize exposure to wild birds and their f***s.
*Quarantine any new birds for 30 days prior to introducing them to your flock.
*Remove wild bird feeders and bird baths which attract wild birds to your property.