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Hey, guys. So I have a few questions, but first, some background info. My boyfriend and I currently live in North Central Arkansas, USA. WeÂ’ve been talking for a while about buying a ranch and moving in together, but weÂ’ve been talking more about it here lately than we have in the past. We donÂ’t know where we want to move yet, but we have been looking around. He wants to handle the farming side of things (like growing hay, grain, etc, to help cut down on feed costs), while I want to handle the animal side of things. We want to try to handle the business side of things together. So far, weÂ’re thinking about getting Quater Horses, American Paint Horses, Fresians, and Appaloosas, and then considering Mustangs, Missouri Foxtrotters, and MorganÂ’s, but we arenÂ’t 100% for sure on the last three breeds. We are also wanting to have both dairy and beef cattle, but primarily beef cattle. We donÂ’t know about the dairy cattle breeds we want yet, but we definitely want both black and red angus cattle as far as beef cattle go. We also want to have various breeds of chickens (layers, meat birds, and dual purpose birds primarily, but also a few show birds), and some goats (we donÂ’t know what breeds we want as far as goats go, though). WeÂ’ve also decided that every summer, we want to do a two week long summer camp for kids in 7-12 grades that are in Agriculture classes, FFA, and/or 4H.
My first question is, what all breeds would you guys like to suggest we look into for when we actually make all this happen? You can suggest horse breeds, cattle breeds, chicken breeds, or breeds of goat.
Secondly, if you were to attend the summer camp, what all would you be interested in doing or learning? WeÂ’ve decided on what we want the registration fee to be, but I want your opinions; what should we charge for registration?
I have a few more questions, but I lost them as I was about to type them. I will edit to add as I remember them.
*Also, if you have any suggestions other than what I asked for, feel free to make them. We’re always looking for suggestions on this subject. 🙂🙂
**Edit to add: IÂ’ll have to run this by my boyfriend, but I was also thinking about possibly boarding horses for people. I donÂ’t know what weÂ’ll charge or anything about boarding, so any suggestions on what we should charge per horse would be helpful. If anyone else boards horses for people, what are the responsibilities we will have? What all does boarding consist of? Like, does the owner come take care of the horse (feed, brush, etc), or do we? Do we just provide a place for the horse to stay for a set price, or do we provide that plus feed/grooming/veterinary care/etc? How does that all work? Thank you!
**Edited to Add (#2): I have a family member that taught Agriculture classes and who was also the FFA sponser at the high school I attended. Since she has experience there and since she lives on a farming ranch, I have a few questions I can ask her that I was going to post here. Since I can ask her the few questions I was going to add, I wonÂ’t add those questions here. |
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Hehe,I'm glad first of all to hear you're both interested in the more agricultural side of things!Welcome to the club ;P In terms of breeds,I do love my friesians,But I'm not much help in horse recommendations due to lack of a widespread experience with many.But cows I can give a few suggestions!I'm not a massive fan of Angus' myself,The few we've had were little nutters,But it depends on thw individual animals of course.Angus tend to be really good mothers though!Calmest breeds I've found are Hereford and Limousin,Herefords are also incredibly versatile,And have a good daily weight gain on most external conditions!I think it's highly important you take your time finding calm and high quality cattle,It's worth it to really make the best of the future herd! I'm not much help on the dairy side with limited experience,But id do your research on profit margins.Its alot of work to juggle that puts many out of business,I'd rather stuck right to Beef personally. In terms of the grain side,I'd do your research on the areas soil type,Diseases and all that fun stuff!May seem straining but it pays off to get the best yields,And I'd have a good relationship with seed suppliers Too,They usually do all the soil testing to recomend the best fertilisers and plant types. I just recommend plenty of research and patience,Although alot of it will grow with experience.I really admire you wanting to run a summer camp ,It's something I really think the world needs more of to increase knowledge of where our food appears from! Good Luck! <3 |
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Edited at June 23, 2019 06:07 PM by Empire Eventers |
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Any time Empire,I just really hope my little ramble helps somehow :P Edited at June 23, 2019 05:24 PM by Flipperruby30 |
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Oh just seen the edit.We also board around 30 horses on our farm,And it's a nice tidy reliable income!We basically offer the stable,Field and basic feed and bedding (At a cost) and that's as far as our "responsibility" goes for their horses.Its the owners jobs for vets,Sorting out stabling feeding etc.That works for us as were quite busy all year round.We charge £55 for a stable per month including grazing,Hay and bedding comes as extra if they buy from us. But honestly,If you can run a livery where you look after their horses for extra charge that's entirely up to you and your system! Sorry for all the posts lol! |
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Flipperruby30 said:
Hehe,I'm glad first of all to hear you're both interested in the more agricultural side of things!Welcome to the club ;PIn terms of breeds,I do love my friesians,But I'm not much help in horse recommendations due to lack of a widespread experience with many.But cows I can give a few suggestions!I'm not a massive fan of Angus' myself,The few we've had were little nutters,But it depends on thw individual animals of course.Angus tend to be really good mothers though!Calmest breeds I've found are Hereford and Limousin,Herefords are also incredibly versatile,And have a good daily weight gain on most external conditions! In terms of the grain side,I'd do your research on the areas soil type,Diseases and all that fun stuff!May seem straining but it pays off to get the best yields,And I'd have a good relationship with seed suppliers Too,They usually do all the soil testing to recomend the best fertilisers and plant types. I just recommend plenty of research and patience,Although alot of it will grow with experience.I really admire you wanting to run a summer camp ,It's something I really think the world needs more of to increase knowledge of where our food appears from! Good Luck!
Thank you, Flipper! I appreciate your suggestions! |
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Flipperruby30 said:
Oh just seen the edit.We also board around 30 horses on our farm,And it's a nice tidy reliable income!We basically offer the stable,Field and basic feed and bedding (At a cost) and that's as far as our "responsibility" goes for their horses.Its the owners jobs for vets,Sorting out stabling feeding etc.That works for us as were quite busy all year round.We charge £55 for a stable per month including grazing,Hay and bedding comes as extra if they buy from us.But honestly,If you can run a livery where you look after their horses for extra charge that's entirely up to you and your system! Sorry for all the posts lol!
Thanks again! And itÂ’s alright, make as many mists as need be, lol! |
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For the meat cattle- Angus are a great breed (and very popular in Australia). If you can get the right animals they will have awesome temperaments. Other than Angus I really like limousin. They tend to easily gain weight and have the most adorable temperaments. I'm not a fan of Herefords, the few we worked with tried to jump out of the crush.
For Dairy cattle I know a fair few farmers that breed Frisian/ Holstein mixes. For dairy the breed isn't as important, you would be looking at production, production quality and other factors.
Another thing to think about is how they will be bred, are you going to have in house stud or use AI? |
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Kirralee said:
For the meat cattle-Angus are a great breed (and very popular in Australia). If you can get the right animals they will have awesome temperaments. Other than Angus I really like limousin. They tend to easily gain weight and have the most adorable temperaments. I'm not a fan of Herefords, the few we worked with tried to jump out of the crush.
For Dairy cattle I know a fair few farmers that breed Frisian/ Holstein mixes. For dairy the breed isn't as important, you would be looking at production, production quality and other factors.
Another thing to think about is how they will be bred, are you going to have in house stud or use AI?
I was planning on using an in house stud for both horses and cattle, but to start out, we may use AI until we have a stallion/bull that fits our breeding program. |
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Kirralee said:
For the meat cattle-Angus are a great breed (and very popular in Australia). If you can get the right animals they will have awesome temperaments. Other than Angus I really like limousin. They tend to easily gain weight and have the most adorable temperaments. I'm not a fan of Herefords, the few we worked with tried to jump out of the crush.
For Dairy cattle I know a fair few farmers that breed Frisian/ Holstein mixes. For dairy the breed isn't as important, you would be looking at production, production quality and other factors.
Another thing to think about is how they will be bred, are you going to have in house stud or use AI?
I was planning on using an in house stud for both horses and cattle, but to start out, we may use AI until we have a stallion/bull that fits our breeding program. |
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Sunny
