"easy" animals

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ok,, what animals are the easiest to take care of? With my work, sometimes I am gone a few days at a time. But I still want a few animals around, I could hook up a barrell for water, timer for feed, but could I really leave them alone for a few days? anyone do that? And I already have honeybees, but they dont need anything from me

-- STAN (sopal@net-port.com), June 18, 2000

Answers

If you will go and buy a 5 gallon "automatic" waterer, the kind that looks like a big bucket with a pie plate attached on the bottom and has another upside bucket that turns down over it, you can keep chickens without being there to hold their little wings every day. You must make absolutely sure the waterer works properly each time before you leave though. This type of waterer is the kind that works by letting air in to displace water when the water in the bowl at the bottom gets below a certain hole made into the side of the waterer. Sometimes the mechanism won't be lined up just right and it won't let out water. Put out lots and lots of feed, and for 20 chickens or less the 5 gallon waterer should keep them watered for at least 4 days. My aunt used to leave her milk cow for several weeks at a time. She just turned the calf in with the cow. They had a pasture and water from the pond.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), June 18, 2000.

I have a turkey pair, several Muscovy ducks and a rooster. I don't worry about leaving them on their own for a couple of days since they have access to water. Same goes for my cattle. Sometimes I don't even go out to check on them for a week or more. In a pinch, I have a neighbor who will stop by on his way to work.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), June 18, 2000.

Stan, I gotta know which part of the country you live in! I raised bees in the late 80's and early 90's until the mites, beetles and worms made it more trouble than it was worth. I envy you if you can keep bees without that hassle. They are really neat little characters. Good luck, John and Pat

-- John and Pat James (jjames@n-jcenter.com), June 19, 2000.

Actually in thinking about this question, this could actually fit nearly any class of livestock. Lots of folks have goats who nurse their babies, eat out of self feeders, have water floats on tanks, covered mineral feeders, and big round bales of hay. Other than checking on them every day, what else are they doing? Most animals could be raised like this, it is the change that is so harmful, so if you were to slowly change a purchased animals management over to this style of management where you just filled self feeders, you would be wanting to use pelleted feed, on weekends say, you would want to maintain this type of management. Goats not shown or in a milk for profit situation don't even need grain, if the kids are born during the time when hay is good and pastures are in their peak, and minerals are in self covered feeders. Cattle around here are all raised like this, sheep and pigs also. Might want to purchase yourself a good guardian dog if you are in a place where you have to worry about strays, wild animals or crazy folks! Curious as to what you pick! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 19, 2000.

Just a comment on the five-gallon chicken waterer mentioned above -- if you use one, make sure the chickens can't kick the trough full of bedding (shavings or such). If they do, it may be full of water, but they won't be able to get it. We have one of those waterers, they are good, but we always had to keep an eye on things, usually had to clean the trough part out every day or so. This was even with the waterer set up on a couple of concrete blocks so it was well above the bedding!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 19, 2000.


Okay, I give up! Goldfish? Is goldfish the answer?

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), June 19, 2000.

Sheepish, actually with an active YUPPIE market nearby, Koi is a money making scheme, especially if you also raise the water lillys have the pumps in stock and dig the ponds and line them! So, yes goldfish! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 20, 2000.

My neighbors now live in the "city" but still keep some chickens and rabbits and pigeons . They come to their country home about once every 3 days.So I guess these are a possibility

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), June 20, 2000.

I don't wish to dash your hopes but I've come to the conclusion that most animals need almost daily human contact. What if you were gone for four days and something happened like the water leaked? or froze? or whatever? What if one gets hurt or sick and you're not there? Animals are kind of a responsibility like small children are; they can be pesky to take care of but they bring a lot of rewards...but they need the kind of care they require to stay healthy and happy. Perhaps you could still have some of the animals the others suggested and have a neighbor or someone check on them while you were gone???

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), June 20, 2000.

If you have a pond, or could dig one, ducks and geese are really self sufficient. Our ducks swim in the pond all winter long, they never go into a pen or shelter of any kind. The only catch is that they have a tendency to lay the eggs in the pond, so if you want the eggs, you need to either have a shallow pond, where you can wade in and get the eggs, or pen them up at night and let them out in the morning after the lay the eggs. But there is still the meat. Generally speaking, the more you expect from an animal, the more labor and care and feed you have to put into it. You can raise brush goats that you just check up on every so often, and don't need much care except for pasture, water, hoof trimming, and maybe a roof, and you get just meat and maybe mohair. Or you can feed and milk the goats twice a day and do your utmost to provide ideal conditions for them and get the meat, plus as much as two gallons of milk a day from a goat! (also the companionship of the doe, which the brush goats won't give you if they aren't worked with). To sum it up, you kind of get back what you put into livestock.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), June 22, 2000.


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