Homesteading and Hobby Farm/Ranch

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Blazin

Blazin

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BrutulTM said:
Somehow I missed this. $500k is the price of a brand new combine with a gigantic head which obviously wouldn't be appropriate for your place, but if you really want to combine you can do it way cheaper than that as long as you're willing to deal with old machinery. Hell I have a combine I would sell you for $7k (John Deere 7700 from the late 70s sometime with a 24' head). It hasn't been run since 2012 but it was fully functional when I parked it. If you came and got it running and arranged the trucking yourself I'd probably sell it for $5k. Obviously you're not going to come to Montana, but there's plenty of old machines sitting around if you want to make the effort to use them. Plenty of shit that is from the 50's or older is still in use all over the country. It's still not going to be economical, but it's a lot more realistic than buying new.
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Yes plenty of old equipment around , I probably won't ever buy one with my neighbor having a machine that can harvest my land in a day. It would just be fun to have one from the perspective of enjoying the gadgetry of it all. I don't really get why he has it, his farm is only a little over 300 acres but I'm glad he does. He also sprayed his crops with a helicopter this year all with a hundred head of cattle. I can't figure out the math of it, most likely just bad money management. Farmers sell off a 100 acres to a developer pocket the $2M then proceed to run their farm at a deficit until they run out of money again and then rinse and repeat until there is no farm left.
 
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LachiusTZ

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Blazin said:
Yes plenty of old equipment around , I probably won't ever buy one with my neighbor having a machine that can harvest my land in a day. It would just be fun to have one from the perspective of enjoying the gadgetry of it all. I don't really get why he has it, his farm is only a little over 300 acres but I'm glad he does. He also sprayed his crops with a helicopter this year all with a hundred head of cattle. I can't figure out the math of it, most likely just bad money management. Farmers sell off a 100 acres to a developer pocket the $2M then proceed to run their farm at a deficit until they run out of money again and then rinse and repeat until there is no farm left.
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As someone who has gone through more Sch Fs than . . . uhh, just about everyone on earth, I can answer this.

Its a mix of bad money mgmt, and people allowing them to create NOLs to the sky.

Guess this is as good a time as any, and as good a place as any, but anyone doing Sch F, NOL, whatever, you are required to be able to substantiate the original expenses.

So in 2001, you have a loss of 50k.
2020, your still carrying the loss, get audited.
You better have the documents from 2001 or that NOL is gonna get 6001'd.
 
Kiroy

Kiroy

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coyotes got two of our goats - really annoying because we have people living all over near us with tons of goats no shelter and shit fences. Our fencing is good to great, and I have a 12x12 four walled/roofed structure I built we put them in at night. Few nights ago we had a miscommunication with who put them in (sister in laws family lives in the other house) and the fucking cayotes dug a foot deep hole under our fence and ran one to death and ate the other one to the bones.

Gonna pick up a pyrenees pup tomorrow. It's been on our to do for a while but I guess now's the time.
 
BrutulTM

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Kiroy said:
Gonna pick up a pyrenees pup tomorrow. It's been on our to do for a while but I guess now's the time.
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Is it bonded to sheep or at least goats? Be sure it lives with the goats if not. I haven't had LGDs myself but I have a lot of friends that have and it doesn't always work, especially if they aren't started right.
 
Kiroy

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BrutulTM said:
Is it bonded to sheep or at least goats? Be sure it lives with the goats if not. I haven't had LGDs myself but I have a lot of friends that have and it doesn't always work, especially if they aren't started right.
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Ya she's 12 weeks old bred from currently working dogs - lived with sheeps/goats and young alpacas, along with her working parents for her first 12 weeks. Breeder has good reputation. She won't set foot in our house, will be set up with the goats immediately and only taken out of that field for training.
 
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Burns

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Kiroy said:
Ya she's 12 weeks old bred from currently working dogs - lived with sheeps/goats and young alpacas, along with her working parents for her first 12 weeks. Breeder has good reputation. She won't set foot in our house, will be set up with the goats immediately and only taken out of that field for training.
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With paying for the dog and training, is it still cheaper than getting a Jackass or Llama?

Was reading recently that Llamas make good heard defense and you can sell their wool for a little something, but they are still rather expensive here (depending on coat quality). Aquick search a few months ago gave me: pure herd defense Llama with a shitty coat is ~$5000, while premo coat animals are $20k+.
 
Rime

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A mule or two will settle most coyote problems.

A herd dog is a nice idea, but you are not going to recoup the cost of it+training unless you have a giant sized flock.
 
BrutulTM

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Once again, this isn't based on personal experience, but the sheep ranchers I know don't regard llamas or donkeys as real protection. They will help but not on the level of a good dog. A lot of dogs just kill coyotes that come around. Some of them will kill your cats and dogs and your neighbor's cats and dogs as well which isn't a good way to increase your popularity.
 
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Kiroy

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BrutulTM said:
Once again, this isn't based on personal experience, but the sheep ranchers I know don't regard llamas or donkeys as real protection. They will help but not on the level of a good dog. A lot of dogs just kill coyotes that come around. Some of them will kill your cats and dogs and your neighbor's cats and dogs as well which isn't a good way to increase your popularity.
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Ya there's a cat that hangs around i'll put in with the dog when she's still a pup - if the breeding is good, they shouldn't kill things that don't show predation behaviors towards their herd. Also going to move some chickens down into the goat pasture to get her acclimated to them as well.
 
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Locnar

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I'm speaking as someone that had a Donkey and Llamas. I was not happy with either. Donkey ended up bullying the goats and killing kids. Llamas just have no worth and their coats are a pain in the ass to shear (and not really worth anything). People give Llamas away.

I lose on average maybe one or two animals a year to coyote or bobcats. I've yet to have a serial killer. Seems just a goat is at the wrong place at the wrong time at night when a predator is passing through. I do not lock them up. What I have done is strung up electric netting on the side of the property they mostly pass by, which I "think" is helping. Last goat I lost was killed and eaten at night while in the process or right after giving birth. For WHATEVER reason, her surviving kid was just hanging out with the other goats nearby. Very strange.

p.s. you said your second goat was run to death but not eaten? You sure it was not dogs? Coyotes usually kill just one and ignore what they are not eating.

edit: and I live in a very urban environment, subdivisions and highways all around me and a few sprinkled in greenspace and preserves. So yes Coyotes and even Bobcats can be anywhere. Don't have a dog and its not practical for me. Too much of a liability since I don't live in the middle of nowhere.
 
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BrutulTM

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One of the times that cattle are vulnerable to coyotes is while they're giving birth. They can sometimes get a pinched nerve that makes them temporarily unable to use their back legs so they can't get up and the coyotes will eat the calf while it's halfway out of it's mother. Nature is pretty hardcore.
 
Locnar

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BrutulTM said:
One of the times that cattle are vulnerable to coyotes is while they're giving birth. They can sometimes get a pinched nerve that makes them temporarily unable to use their back legs so they can't get up and the coyotes will eat the calf while it's halfway out of it's mother. Nature is pretty hardcore.
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I think I said this here before too, but Black Vultures will do the same thing. No not urban legend, I'm speaking from experience. This is why I try my hardest to lock up expectants mothers and leave them and their babies in there for at least the first week. After that the kids start to lose their "let me hide in some random place yet get sniffed out and killed anyways" deer fawn instinct and instead keep up with their mothers.
 
Foler

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Kiroy said:
coyotes got two of our goats - really annoying because we have people living all over near us with tons of goats no shelter and shit fences. Our fencing is good to great, and I have a 12x12 four walled/roofed structure I built we put them in at night. Few nights ago we had a miscommunication with who put them in (sister in laws family lives in the other house) and the fucking cayotes dug a foot deep hole under our fence and ran one to death and ate the other one to the bones.

Gonna pick up a pyrenees pup tomorrow. It's been on our to do for a while but I guess now's the time.
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Gotta run cement or at least fence down a few feet all around.
 
Foler

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Kiroy said:
ya instead of doing that over many acres of fenceline, i'll use a dog
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Oi. I was thinking a chicken run for some reason.. Yeah the dog is a better option. Lmk how it turns out. I’m still interested in homesteading but think I’d have to get a dog with all my predators out here
 
Locnar

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Kiroy said:
ya instead of doing that over many acres of fenceline, i'll use a dog
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Very very hard to truly fence out predators, lol at cement around a farm. Attacks can and do happen in the day too.

A good dog maybe.

or better yet just accept the occasional loss. Which is the most practical approach of all.
 
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Kiroy

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Locnar said:
Very very hard to truly fence out predators, lol at cement around a farm. Attacks can and do happen in the day too.

A good dog maybe.

or better yet just accept the occasional loss. Which is the most practical approach of all.
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Already got the dog, spent her first night with our goats last night. She was with a herd of 200+ goats from birth till now (12 weeks) following around her working parents - going to be locked in the shelter with ours every night for the next 4-6 months until she's big and mature enough to not need to put any of them up anymore and I can through up a few more 3 sided shelters and get some more goats.

Got up and let her out when the sun finally started rising (fucking winter hours), did the perimeter of the goat pasture with her a few times while doing some puppy training. Had my 16 month kid in with her a bunch so far today, and my sister in laws 6 year old. And she also spent a half hour in with the chickens. All good so far.

I'm not doing goats for money, just want hobby goats cause they're fun as shit for the kids and teach them some pretty decent responsibility while not being that hard to manage.
 
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Foler

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Any you boys run either a can am defender or Polaris Ranger on the farm?
 
Moglyzoke Moogleman

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Lost a hen to a bear a few weeks back. Fucker ripped off 3 of the fence posts. We put em back up and now have a camera in back (along with 2 more we're waiting to set up.)

Of course he got our favorite hen and not the shit dick asshole rooster.
 
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Foler

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So none of you fuckers use a UTV on the farm?

Seems like dealers aren’t even able to get stock on the lot. Have to preorder anything Polaris or can am
 
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