Posted By sara on February 8, 2010
I have been asked what are the best sheep to breed for meat.
I have read that for best meat production, consider fast-growing breeds with good carcasses. Generally, medium to large breeds are good for meat.
My husband felt that downland breeds such as Texel or Suffolk are best sheep breeds for meat.
I asked my sheep farming friend and she said that her husband “favours a Beltex tup to a Suffolk ewe for meat production.”
Via twitter Jane @ dovefarm suggested the Ryelands, ” I would have to say ‘ryelands’ from mine n customers experience.”
I googled best sheep breeds and found that the Hampshire and the Dorper or White Dorper seem to be good meat breeds.
Which sheep breed do you think is best for meat production?
Category: Sheep |
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Tags: Lamb, Meat, Sheep, Sheep Breeds
Posted By sara on February 7, 2010
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Posted By sara on February 7, 2010
It seems that two of my male cats do not get on for some reason, not sure why as they have grown up together but just in the last year the older male cat (Fluffy) has taken a dislike to the slightly younger cat (Stripe).
Earlier this week Fluffy my alpha male cat looked abit like he had been in a fight, gash on ear and bits stuck to his fur and a runny eye. Stripe who Fluffy doesn’t like seemed abit subdued and slightly below par and I noticed a scab on his lower lip, which suggests he may have been in a fight. He wasn’t walking about as well as he does normally but was eating well. His tail didn’t raise up like cats tails do when they are greeting you and appeared to be stuck to his bottom although not stuck down with anything as such. I don’t know if he has knocked his tail and bottom and bruised it slightly.
On Friday night Stripe was sitting on the bales and then when I went back 10 mins later, after helping to bottle feed the new born calf, Stripe had disappeared and didn’t reappear until this morning but before I could feed him and check he was ok, Fluffy, Spot and Snowball seemed to chase him off.
Is there anything I can do to bring harmony back to the group? We have a large farmyard for 5 cats to wander about in so I don’t think it’s anything to do with amount of space. The 5 cats are Snowy – the mum to all of them, Fluffy, Snowball, Spot and Stripe who are all males. All the cats have been to the vets and have been done so to speak. Stripe and Spot are both from the same litter but Fluffy and Snowball are from two other previous litters.
All the cats are white with abit of ginger on except Stripe who is all ginger.
I am worried about Stripe as he is under par and not as fit as he would normally be to get away from Fluffy.
I hope to find Stripe and keep him away from the others until he is better, but Stripe is hiding from Fluffy at the moment, hopefully uninjured. He was last heard/seen going into an empty corn bin. Fluffy has been sitting outside it waiting for Stripe, I have tried to entice Fluffy away and managed once to get him to come away for some food but when I went to pick Fluffy up at one point he gave me a warning swipe with his claws – fortunately didn’t hurt as it was just a warning to leave him alone!
I am going to go back out now to see what the situation is and hopefully will be able to find Stripe – it may involve climbing up onto the bales. I have already had to navigate the bales and a pile of sugar beet to see if I could see Stripe earlier on, but the other cats were all prowling around and I think Stripe was keeping a low profile, I just hope he isn’t injured.
If anyone has any advice about reasons why male cats don’t get on and what I can do to resolve this situation then please leave a comment.
Category: Cats |
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Tags: Cat Behaviour, Cats, Male Cats
Posted By sara on February 6, 2010
The Mountain Quail is one of the largest birds of the quail family. The eggs are a plain light beige colour, without any spots or patches.
Incubating Mountain Quail Eggs
Incubation period = 24-28 days – I have read that the eggs can hatch over three days.
Temperature = approximately 99.75 degrees F or 37.5ºC.
Humidity = Wet Bulb of 82 to 84 degrees F or a lowish humidity of about 50%.
If you keep quail and want to ask a question to get some advice or just to chat about your quail then why not join the free farmingfriends quail forum.
Check out the following books about keeping and raising quail.
If you would like to receive regular information about quail and poultry then why not sign up to the farmingfriends newsletter.
Category: Incubating & Hatching |
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Tags: Incubating, Incubating Quail Eggs, Mountain Quail, Mountain Quail Eggs, Quail
Posted By sara on February 5, 2010
California Valley Quail are also known as Valley Quail and they are the state bird of California.
Incubating California Valley Quail Eggs
Incubation period = 22-23 days
Temperature = approximately 99.75 degrees F
Humidity = 84 to 86 degrees F wet bulb
If you keep quail and want to ask a question to get some advice or just to chat about your quail then why not join the free farmingfriends quail forum.
Check out the following books about keeping and raising quail.
If you would like to receive regular information about quail and poultry then why not sign up to the farmingfriends newsletter.
Category: Incubating & Hatching, Quail |
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Tags: California Valley Quail, Incubating Quail Eggs, Quail, Quail Eggs, Valley Quail
Posted By sara on February 4, 2010
Here are the most popular articles on the farmingfriends website during January 2010 , so if you didn’t get chance to read them, now’s your chance to catch up with recipes, incubating poultry eggs information pig farrowing tips and general poultry keeping information.
- Pickled Beetroot.
- Lemon cheesecake.
- Edible Parts Of A Pig.
- Incubating guinea fowl eggs.
- Building Your Own Poultry Eggs Incubator.
- Coccidiosis In Chickens.
- Pork Brawn Recipe.
- Incubating Chicken Eggs.
- Quail Housing Requirements.
- Signs Of A Farrowing Sow Or Gilt.
Hope you enjoy reading some of the posts you may have missed on farmingfriends.
As we head towards the Spring months there is more interest in incubating poultry eggs and I am often asked about how to tell when a sow or gilt is going to farrow, so it wasn’t a surprise to see these topics as popular on the farmingfriends website.
If you would like to receive regular information about poultry, pigs or cattle then why not sign up to the farmingfriends newsletter.
Category: Most Popular Articles |
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Tags: Popular Articles
Posted By sara on February 3, 2010
Here is a quick round up of news from the farm since the end of last year and through January 2010.
The cows are in the fold yard and we have had about 4 calves born this year already. We did have a calf that wasn’t digesting food well and I cared for it but it didn’t make it unfortunately.
The hens are being abit naughty at the moment as they have taken a liking to the duck eggs and every morning they have cracked 1-3 eggs. The hens will be moving to another hut after the weekend to prevent them from egg eating.
The ducks are not laying quite so many eggs, although as I have said the hens are pecking at them so it’s hard to tell how many of the 6 ducks are actually laying, although a couple of the ducks look like they are moulting which generally means that they go off lay.
The quail have had mycoplasma and needed to be treated with medication. Mycoplasma is like conjuntivitis. They are all better. We couldn’t eat the eggs for 10 days. The wintery weather has but the quail off laying so haven’t had a quail egg for ages.
Christmas and the new year saw lots of snow in Yorkshire and the poultry couldn’t come out. The guinea fowl don’t like to stand on snow so they didn’t come out for nearly two weeks. The drinkers and taps were frozen every morning so it took extra time making sure the poultry had fresh water. One day the ducks managed to sneak out of their hut when my back was turned and they enjoyed running about in the snow although I noticed they didn’t range as far.
Two foxes have been spotted in the next field so I am worried that they will take the poultry.
The guinea fowl are getting ready for the mating season and are beginning to separate into their smaller groups.
The fattening cattle are now getting to market weight and every Monday a couple of heifers are now being loaded for market. This week the price has dropped which isn’t good news for beef cattle producers.
We are just about to have work started on the farmhouse kitchen so we are currently eating up food in our big freezer so we have been treating ourselves to home produced pork and guinea fowl and even had rabbit casserole the other day.
If you would like to receive regular information from the farmingfriends farm then why not sign up to the farmingfriends newsletter.
Category: Diary |
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Posted By sara on February 2, 2010
Gambel’s Quail are are found in arid areas of the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico. The Gambel quail egg is a pale buff to white colour with moderate pink/brown spots.
Incubating Gambel’s Quail Eggs
Incubation period = 21-23 days
Temperature = approximately 99.75 degrees F
Humidity = wet bulb of 83 F
If you keep quail and want to ask a question to get some advice or just to chat about your quail then why not join the free farmingfriends quail forum.
Check out the following books about keeping and raising quail.
If you would like to receive regular information about quail and poultry then why not sign up to the farmingfriends newsletter.
Category: Game Birds, Incubating & Hatching, Quail |
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Tags: Gambel's Quail, Incubating Quail Eggs, Quail, Quail Breeds
Posted By sara on February 1, 2010
I was recently asked about the incubation period and temperature and humidity levels for incubating eggs from different quail breeds.
Japanese Coturnix Quail
Incubation period = 17 days
Temperature = approximately 99.5-99.9º F
Humidity = wet bulb humidity of around 84-88º F
Bobwhite Quail
Incubation period = 21-24 days usually 23-24 days
Temperature = approximately 99.5-99.75º F
Humidity = wet bulb humidity of around 84-86º F
California Valley Quail
Incubation period = 22-23 days
Temperature = approximately 99.75 degrees F
Humidity = 84 to 86 degrees F wet bulb
Gambel’s Quail
Incubation period = 21-23 days
Temperature = approximately 99.75 degrees F
Humidity = wet bulb of 83 F
Mountain Quail
Incubation period = 24-25 days
Temperature = approximately 99.75 degrees F
Humidity = Wet Bulb of 82 to 84 degrees F
Blue Scaled Quail
Incubation period = 22-23 days
Temperature = approximately 99.75 degrees F
Humidity = Humidity: 82 to 84 degrees F wet bulb.
Harlequin Quail
Incubation period =15-18 days
Temperature = 37.6° Celsius
Humidity = ?
Mearns Quail
Incubation period = 24 – 25 days
If you keep quail and want to ask a question to get some advice or just to chat about your quail then why not join the free farmingfriends quail forum.
Check out the following books about keeping and raising quail.
If you would like to receive regular information about quail and poultry then why not sign up to the farmingfriends newsletter.
Category: Game Birds, Incubating & Hatching |
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Tags: Quail, Quail Breeds
Posted By sara on January 31, 2010
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