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i would love geese, but unfortunately the rest of the family has been scared with stories of "killer geese" so many times be local old farmers that they are terrified of them. I thought about pygmy goats as well because a friend has them and they are lovely things, but apparently they just eat trees and hay and your prized flowers rather than grass!

thats what we have done, CP - we got three ewe lambs in December - as we intend to keep them, we have name them (besides you have to identify them somehow when you are telling your other half one has a problem.. ). we intendt to breed from them and eat their lambs.

having said that, if one had on going probs.. i would have mutton.

By getting the ewes in December.. they were as big as sheep, and we get until next Autumn to see how we get on with them, learning to deal with problems (see my thread on flystrike) without having to worry abotu lambing and lambs.

if all goes well, we shall start the breeding thing this autumn., A neighbour has already offered the loan of her ram.

we have 2 acres.. prolly only 1 to 1.5 committed to fields. I am told that there will only be just enough to eat in winter.. and too much in summer (but with lambs that shoul dbe less of a prob) as I said - we have 3 sheep on that much land.

CrazyParrot wrote:i would love geese, but unfortunately the rest of the family has been scared with stories of "killer geese" so many times be local old farmers that they are terrified of them. I thought about pygmy goats as well because a friend has them and they are lovely things, but apparently they just eat trees and hay and your prized flowers rather than grass!

goats are not grazers, they are browsers, designed by nature to eat shrubs, brambles, trees etc. They will not keep your grass short.
I must admit I find it hard to comprehend anyone who believes old wives tales, hearsay and myths without finding out for themselves. Some geese are nasty, the majority are not.
I get people all the time telling me how savage ferrets are when I tell them I keep them, or that they stink. When they visit I plonk one of the ferrets in their arms and they are won over. Same when people tell me how savage siamese cats are (sigh).

My signature on another forum is 'ignorance is self inflicted'

Still, each to their own I suppose and if someone moved to a rural location with land, then has sheep as pets and is afraid of geese, well that's up to them I suppose.
<stomps off muttering about 'townies>

I grew up on a farm and never got attached to the lambs - they were simply food. The sheep were just plain buggers - I still have a huge scar on one hand from being trampled by a male (castrated) sheep when I was about 5 - so keep an eye on your girls (not sure how old they are) with the lambs once they get bigger. You never know - they may be keen to eat them sooner or later.

The killing of a sheep was always great fun at our place - we'd all take part, and in the butchering. My parents were very practical down to earth people, we were very poor, and the only damn way we were ever going to eat was if we slaughtered the odd lamb/sheep and no one had any problems with it.

We only get meat via killing it, unfortunately. I like the philosophy that so long as you care for your livestock, give them the best lives you can, and respect them - and the meat they give you - then you can't do better than that.

Re geese - my guess is that the local farmers have been having a great deal of fun with you, CrazyParrot. Speaking from painful experience, the grown up lambs are going to be far more dangerous than any geese.

Cornelian wrote:I grew up on a farm and never got attached to the lambs - they were simply food. The sheep were just plain buggers - I still have a huge scar on one hand from being trampled by a male (castrated) sheep when I was about 5 - so keep an eye on your girls (not sure how old they are) with the lambs once they get bigger. You never know - they may be keen to eat them sooner or later.

The killing of a sheep was always great fun at our place - we'd all take part, and in the butchering. My parents were very practical down to earth people, we were very poor, and the only damn way we were ever going to eat was if we slaughtered the odd lamb/sheep and no one had any problems with it.

We only get meat via killing it, unfortunately. I like the philosophy that so long as you care for your livestock, give them the best lives you can, and respect them - and the meat they give you - then you can't do better than that.

Dunno about killing anything being great fun, but your point about castrated adult rams being dangerous is true. I pointed this out in an earlier post. They aren't afraid of humans, they are confident, large and often flipping bolshy.

I dont think I could have fun killing anything! As a kid we kept pigs for eating and the local butcher (also a farmer) would come over and do it because we were all so scared we'd do it wrong! I seem to have got softer with age (and children) though, and don't think I would have the guts to kill anything myself. A neighbour has to come to kill any cockrels for us!

I'll try to persuade everyone else about the geese. I think they look lovely and have always had a soft spot for poultry. you know what farmers can be like though - he's terrified everyone with stories of "a goose killing the cat" and "needing to have a dustbin lid as a shield when you go in to feed them" and "they have razor sharp teeth on their beaks that can cut through flesh..."

If I do manage to smuggle some in though, does anyone know of any breed that would be good? we probably wouldnt eat them, so is there any breed that is more docile than the "killer geese" that people talk about (it would be good to tell everyone that "this is a friendly breed" - maybe they might pluck up the courage to look one in the eye!)

Wow - I'm not a newbie any more!

CrazyParrot wrote:I dont think I could have fun killing anything! As a kid we kept pigs for eating and the local butcher (also a farmer) would come over and do it because we were all so scared we'd do it wrong! I seem to have got softer with age (and children) though, and don't think I would have the guts to kill anything myself. A neighbour has to come to kill any cockrels for us!

I'll try to persuade everyone else about the geese. I think they look lovely and have always had a soft spot for poultry. you know what farmers can be like though - he's terrified everyone with stories of "a goose killing the cat" and "needing to have a dustbin lid as a shield when you go in to feed them" and "they have razor sharp teeth on their beaks that can cut through flesh..."

If I do manage to smuggle some in though, does anyone know of any breed that would be good? we probably wouldnt eat them, so is there any breed that is more docile than the "killer geese" that people talk about (it would be good to tell everyone that "this is a friendly breed" - maybe they might pluck up the courage to look one in the eye!)

I can highly recommend Brecon Buffs as a docile easy to keep breed. They aren't huge either like the Embdens. They are known for being docile and friendly and if you get them as goslings and rear them as pets they will follow you about, eat from the hand and come when you call them.
They don't have teeth at all, just serrations on the beak, used to get a grip on wet grass etc.

now the second ill lamb has died. the vet now thinks it was some sort of virus or clostridial disease. Do you know if clostridial diseases are contageous? we would quite like a couple more lambs, but not if they are all going to catch the same thing and die. I am just praying the other two will be OK.

CrazyParrot wrote:now the second ill lamb has died. the vet now thinks it was some sort of virus or clostridial disease. Do you know if clostridial diseases are contageous? we would quite like a couple more lambs, but not if they are all going to catch the same thing and die. I am just praying the other two will be OK.

before you get any more I would strongly advise you to get a post mortem done to find out the exact cause of death. Sure it costs money but you might have some kind of problem on the land and you would be throwing good money and emotions after bad if you get more and they die too. I thought unexplained deaths had to be investigated by a DEFRA person?

Now another lamb is very bloated. I can hardly handle this anymore, it is terrible! The vet said (as did most other people) that lambs often die of viruses and clostridial infections if they dont get proper colostrum, and these only got the powdered stuff so didnt get antibodies. maybe if/when this lamb dies we should get a post mortem done, but the vet seems to have a rough idea. All the lambs have had different symptoms as well, so I dont even know if it is the same thing that is killing them.

The lambs arent yet registered with DEFRA - I only found out about it after we got them, and wanted to make sure they survive before going through all of that.

ah sorry CP - hope your girls are ok

I would be ok to just go with the Vet's opinion myself. Truth is farmer's dont get rid of their healthiest best lambs, and as I said before - it isn't easy to raise a lamb on the bottle. Remember their chances of survival were nil before you got them.

I lost a wee one last night to watery mouth - once you recognise the symptoms, it's usually too late. And there's another one looking a bit peeky... Can't win them all. Plus one born dead today, too.

seems often the first symptom is death

sorry I've been a while! no more deaths yet... I really havent a clue what this bloating thing is though - one minute their fine, the next they are as blown up as a balloon, and then overnight they are fine again. wierd. I hope it isnt serious, but its been going on for two weeks and no ones dead yet.

I have got our land half registered! we are getting a number thingy soon, and then we can get the sheep registered, so I'm almost not breaking the law.

poor boys are bieng weaned for good in four days. they are already very angry about getting their feeds cut down to two, and then one feed a day, so I hate to think what they will be like when their only way to get food is to bend down and pick it themselves! we are also halter training the biggest one, he's strong though as you warned me - my legs are covered in bruises from his hard feet jumping up on me. any ideas on how to stop that without him losing confidence in us? it will be even less fun when he's fully grown and around 10 stone (he now weighs 20 kg).