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Discussion: Horses, Donkeys, Mules, Camels, OxenReported This is a featured thread

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otterswellsea
otterswellsea
20. RE: Horses, Donkeys, Mules, Camels, Oxen
Apr 18 2012, 1:24 AM EDT | Post edited: Apr 18 2012, 1:24 AM EDT
I'm for team goat, they aren't picky or gluttons like the Equidae or Bovinae and can reproduce unlike the mules. Sure you won't have the raw strength that a horse can pack, but them goats will go anywhere and not give a buck. Do you find this valuable?    
shadowmancer
shadowmancer
21. RE: Horses, Donkeys, Mules, Camels, Oxen
Apr 18 2012, 1:44 AM EDT | Post edited: Apr 18 2012, 1:45 AM EDT
"I love this site! For something like...forever... I thought oxen were a separate species of bovine. I never realized they were draft steers. I'm going to have to rethink the number of cattle I want around. While I was only willing to have some for the opportunity of making cheesy goodness, now I have the excuse of producing draft animals. It has always seemed sinful to use a riding horse for draft work. Around here, that is all we have is riding horses. Well, there are a few teams of heavy horse in Lancaster.

Damn! gotta put a whole new section in the scavenger diary. Hope the small dairy farmer near the ORP wants to join the colony.

Um, what is the usual ratio of male to female offspring from cattle?
"
Thats why I want donkey and horse. Donkey are poor plow animals due to their size but excellent pack animals. The horses here are all racers and riding horse so to put them to work wouldn't be the best option so i'll make myself some mules. The best part about horse and mules is that those buggers can run faster than any zombie, i've never seen a donkey run so I don't know about it. Do you find this valuable?    
Zee-Man
Zee-Man
22. RE: Horses, Donkeys, Mules, Camels, Oxen
Oct 2 2012, 3:52 PM EDT | Post edited: Oct 2 2012, 3:52 PM EDT
Today I had a bit of conversation with a client who is a race horse veterinarian. I asked her about common diseases for horses. Tetanus was the topper, along with flu, encephalitis, west nile, and a few others. I had wondered about disease with livestock but didn't realize that it could be so real and present.

With Tetanus being very common I wonder how easy it would be to find and use horses come Zpoc. I didn't get a chance to ask here about vectors for tetanus.
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Freki1000
23. RE: Horses, Donkeys, Mules, Camels, Oxen
Dec 26 2012, 2:07 PM EST | Post edited: Dec 26 2012, 2:14 PM EST
I think horses and other animals would be great assets to have depending on location and climate. The other thing to consider is the amount of food you would need to feed them in the winter. Considering that 1 cow needs roughly 5 round bales to make it through the winter or 40 lbs of feed a day and a horse needs more if I'm correct. The other thing is that even well taken care of horses are still more delicate and susceptible to things like disease and founder which can be brought on by simply eating the wrong types of plants so if you think that you can just wander out from the city and steal a horse even if you can ride there is just a lot of other knowledge required to own Livestock that most people don't think of that can result in your animals dying.

Shadowmancer as much as Im aware the ratio between males and females is dependent largely on the parentage of the calf, I think at least i may be wrong but that's what i was told. Like this year we had it split 80/20 bull calves to heifers but other years with different Bulls we have had it closer to 50/50 or 60/40. Do you find this valuable?