BubbaTanicals

Archive for the ‘Photos’ Category

Here’s some pics from my weekend spent sweating in a beesuit. Early for swarms, but there sure seem to be more this year than last.

A sizable swarm in a tree

One of my hives threw this swarm on a warm saturday afternoon. I eventually managed to hive it up, but I missed the queen the first time around.

On my second attempt, I managed to locate the queen and put her in a screend box. Knowing they won’t abandon the queen, I left them to their own devices and came back later that night to pick up the cluster. Easy peasy.

Most goat owners will tell you that a goat with horns (not to be confused with a horny goat) is dangerous. Goats are cute and generally sweet animals, but make no mistake, they have evolved over millions of years to use those horns with deadly effectiveness. In the wild, goats use their horns to gore or butt whatever happens to be the target of their animosity, be it a predator or a herd mate. I’ve even heard stories of bucks knocking over or killing full grown cows.

However, in captivity, the need for self defence is greatly reduced. Horns get caught in fences and feeders, pose a risk to other goats and owners, and are generally a pain to deal with. As such, some goat owners choose to disbud their goat kids to keep the horns from ever growing in at all. This process has recently been the subject of controversy in a number of circles, often being lumped in with general animal cruelty. I don’t think you’ll find much argument about the fact that it is unpleasant and painful for the kids, but after much examination, I believe (at least in our situation) the benefits outweigh the draw backs.

Compare the 20 seconds of pain to a lifetime of horn trimming (and associated risks), potential injuries to other animals and people, quality of life if the goat is ever sold, etc. In my mind disbudding comes out on top. That’s not at all to say that it is enjoyable. It’s not. Far from it. Anyone who tells you otherwise has no business keeping these majestic animals.

The process of disbudding involves burning off the cells that produce the horns on the goats head. It’s as simple as it sounds. Disbudding irons that glow red hot in a darkened room are manufactured and sold for this express purpose. The tip of the iron is applied to the goat’s head over the horn nubs where it cauterises the skin and nerves, killing the cells that are responsible for horn growth. In my experience, the kid will usually cry out and often urinate on itself. The only up side to the whole thing is that it is quick – only a few seconds per horn, and that the nerves are burned off immediately making the pain short lived – or so I’m told. I believe that there is some truth to this because after the process, the kids often go right back to playing and romping around as though nothing has happened.

It’s a simple process but disbudding should only be attempted by someone who knows how to do it properly. A botched disbudding can lead to brain damage, disfigurement, or even death. All that and never mind the burns to the person doing the disbudding. In our case, we went to our vet for guidance. She did the disbudding, but I asked her to show me how to do it properly so that next time we can take care of it on the goats schedule instead of ours or the vets. I figure we owe them that at least, right?

Each goat owner must decide for themselves whether disbudding is appropriate for their herd. But properly done, I believe that in most instances this practice is a necessary part of raising goats. The goats and the owner are safer and usually better off in the long run.

It doesn’t make it any easier though.

One of our does a few hours after being disbudded.

Muscadines

Listener feedback show with some swanky new bumper music!.

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Music: The Rabbits, The Gruff
Call the Pollin Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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BubbaCast # 40 [ 47:14 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Canning

Brian and Laura come back from vacation, take some feedback, talk about new critters, try to buy a truck, itch like the dickens, keep deer out of the garden, and do some irrigation.. redneck style.

Links:
Pearson’s Farm (formerly Big 6 Farm)
Richard Scarry
Rain Chains (Our Rain Chain)

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Music: James Larson, Gaia Consort
Call the Pollin Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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BubbaCast # 40 [ 1:13:47 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Burning AFB Infected Hives

Join me on my way down to Baxley to pick up some bees. The first in a series of shows where we focus entirely on bees and beekeeping. We go over some interesting breaking developments in beekeeping amd discuss some of the microbial pathogens that our bees have to deal with.

Gardener’s Apiary
Baxley, Georgia

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Music: James Larson, Gaia Consort
PodCast Call in Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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BubbaCast # 37 [ 56:29 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Making hot while it's cold.

We take some feedback, talk about the bee-koozies, giggle a little about mustache wax, and discuss the perils, pitfalls, problems and preparations to do with shopping for your hobby farm.

Some Links to get You Started

Rural Property
Farm Seller
Land and Farm
United Real Estate
Farm and Ranch

Music: James Larson, Gaia Consort
PodCast Call in Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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BubbaCast # 23 [ 1:16:58 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Three Amigos - Irish, Hollis, and Casper

Part 2 of 2 where we drive around, I talk about our neighbor’s barn going up in flames, and finish up our discussion on goat breeds.

Music: James Larson
PodCast Call in Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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BubbaCast # 19 [ 34:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Irish, one of our Sannen goats

Part 1 of 2 – Time to talk about goat breeds. More UMs and Uhhhs than a convention of Buddhist monks and we finally get the stall finished.

Music: James Larson
PodCast Call in Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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BubbaCast # 18 [ 34:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Showing off the Fruits of our Labor

Guerrilla podcasting from the mobile studio today. Sorry folks. It was mobile or nothing this week. We give a recap on Inman Farm Heritage Days, finally get the horse on stall rest, pick a buttload of grapes, and talk about the agricultural side of dealing with flooding.

Special thanks to Ricky for spending his Saturday slogging through the mud at Heritage Days.

Information on Flooding
Muscadine Harvest 2009

Music: James Larson
PodCast Call in Line: 740-5-MYFARM

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BubbaCast # 17 [ 54:56 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Inman Farm Heritage Days

In the days leading up to our favorite festival of the year – the rain threatened, and then – unfortunately for us it then followed up and made good on the threat. In spades. Friday looked good, but Saturday was wet and muddy from the get go.

I will say that given the rain, this was a dedicated crowd. I made enough on Saturday to cover family dinner at the concession stand. The Brunswick stew was to die for and I ate much more than anyone should be allowed to eat.. shamelessly.

I had a tough time keeping the soaps from sweating with the uber-high humidity, so on the list is trying to figure out some way of packaging them so they keep dry. Any of you soapmakers out there have any suggestions? Wrapping them in paper towels seemed to work in the short term.

My daughter helped with the booth and held her own selling cookies and brownies.

Although the heavy rains did put a dent in our bottom line, we made out okay and caught up with some old friends. If anything, this weekend served as a good reminder to me about why I spend all this time and energy lugging a booth around in the rain to try and hock a few jars of jelly.

It’s certainly not for the money. No, It’s the people. Like so many other things.. it’s the people.

It always has been, and for me at least – it always will be.

Thank you Rick, Joanne, Stephanie and everyone else that works so hard to make Heritage Days what it is.

-Brian