lydia -- the 100+ food Elisa test sounds very interesting. I may give that a try, eventually. I'm convinced that I have quite a few food allergies. I used to throw up when I was given white milk as a child. Never drank any once my mother figured out the cause. Except in elementary school when I was forced by a teacher and I threw up. Funny how I was able to drink chocolate milk, though. I read later (as an adult) that in fact the chocolate in chocolate milk reduces the allergic reaction. Anyway, regarding food allergies, I know I'm sensitive to wheat though I'm not a celiac. I am also sensitive to dairy. (Ask me why I can't give up my goatsmilk yoghurt, this is the last frontier for me, hope to give it up eventually.) I subscribed to the test at http://www.enterolab.com/ which is where I got the results about wheat and dairly. The test was expensive. I think over $300.00. Glad I did it though. Sounds like the Elisa test may give you the same results plus some. This food allergy thing is tricky, I think. One of our dogs now it seems has food allergies. I asked the vet to test and she said that testing for food allergies is not very reliable (for dogs). I wonder if this is true for humans? A food elimination diet was the only thing she could recommend plus eating only a particular type of dog food that was "engineered to have a small enough molecule size so it doesn't trigger the allergic reactions" (her words). I was amazed and am wondering if raw food has "smaller molecules" than cooked food, HA, HA. Perhaps moite's methods that she got from her doctor about measuring her pulse rate may be the best way. I'm going the simple route with this raw food diet (for now) because it meets many other needs also. I had a great day yesterday. I went the whole day without the "wave of tiredness" that comes over me every day after lunch. I hope it wasn't an anomaly. Bad news is that with the raw food diet, there is a "detox phase" initially where some claim that you are ridding your system of toxins. The detox phase can produce acne which is what I just got yesterday. I haven't had a pimple on my face for many years but I have two now. Oh well. If my energy level stays good, I'll have to add that as one more reason why I'm glad I found this diet. I was craving cooked food day before yesterday but managed to get by without it. Hopefully those days will get less in number. This was kind of like craving a cigarette after quitting, as I remember it many years ago. Keep us posted about your food allergies. I'm becoming more and more convinced that for some of us, they are literally killing us or are reducing our quality of life (for some of us) to a very very large extent producing chronic problems and diseases that mainstream medicine doesn't have a clue. In my case, I definitely feel like I've become a guinea pig for trying out different "cures". I'm hoping that raw food will by my answer. I realize that because there is no definite proof, I could be wrong on this but as my DH says, it's gotta be better than being so overweight and hungry all the time. We were killing ourselves eating cooked food so how could this be any worse.

I had 2 boys and a girl, but I would think two females would get along fine. Make sure you get her fixed NOW!! I didn't know that my girl needed to be fixed when young, and wasn't able to get her fixed later. It's a very complicated operation for a pig, and when they get older and fatter, it's too difficult. If you don't get her fixed, she'll go into heat about every 3 weeks and it's awful. Complete personality change. They become aggressive and hump everything that moves. They will literally not leave you alone and chase you. They're small pigs compared to farm pigs, but still average at about 100 lbs, so having a 100 lb pig chasing you, attacking you and humping you constantly for several days every 3 wks is no fun. The boys have to be fixed. They are not fit to be pets if they aren't. They smell constantly. They're much more aggressive. Their tusks grow faster. And they hump nonstop. They're in a constant state. Now, I know what you're going to say - - that most males are - - but I mean CONSTANTLY. :) You have to be careful not to overfeed them bc it puts too much stress on their little legs and they become "fat blind" and generally unhealthy. Harleybabe was about 110, Rudy about 85, and Pudge was the big boy at 150, but that is a healthy weight for his frame. (He's still a young'n in pic above) Once she begins to trust you more, if you scratch her, she'll be your best friend for life!! They LOVE to be scratched. I buy those rubber handheld things with nubbies on them that are used for horse grooming and scratch the pigs with those. They stand real still, their mohawk goes up, and suddenly, BAM, they flop to the ground in a state of bliss, waiting for a belly rub. It's hilarious. Providing browse? I'm not sure. Did you see that on 9 sites? Only thing I can think of is browsing room. Sadly, a lot of people would get potbellies as pets, and try to keep them - alone - in small spaces. They need room to run around outside and graze and preferably a herd mate. You'll read lots of stories of people who became disillusioned in their pigs bc 1) they got big when backyard breeders dishonestly marketed them as mini pigs that would stay small (no such thing) 2) they became aggressive from being in confined, unnatural for them, small quarters 3) owners did not take the time to learn about their needs as pigs bc they're completely different from cats or dogs. I've spent a lot of time reading about them; I still do. One more thing -- as soon as she's letting you close, make sure you start trimming her hooves now while she's young, so she's used to it and will let you continue to do it. Really important. If their hooves aren't trimmed properly, they grow sideways and the poor pigs can become lame as a result. I'm attached another link for you. It's a Yahoo Group that you should join. A little on the chatty side, but still very informative. Well, GW won't let me link it, but you can find it in Yahoo Groups - "Pig Info and Chat" Kisses to Porkahontas, Betsy

Golly, never had pet goats and never tried to make a testicle fall off because of loss of blood supply, but this site seems to have info on such things. Maybe they can help you. Nice pictures of goat testes and banding hardware included, not for the squeamish. One picture shows testicles they say are "too small to band" and mentions bad side effects of banding this young. Check it out. You may want to take the little Billy in to the vet and see if he had it done wrong and could have complications. Here is a link that might be useful: Goat Link

I did something similar ... 20 acres, with an old round ring ... the round ring was made of old wood and was falling apart anyways. We took it down and had a bonfire. I've planted many specimen trees around the farm. I found a local company that sold bare root trees in the early spring that were brought down from Canada. They are cheaper than balled trees and easier to plant. Are you planning on mowing the entire 5 acres? That's a lot of work. I have about 1.5 acres around the house mowed, the other cleared acres (about 15 acres are woods) are fields that I have a local farmer brush-hog at least once a year. You will at least need a riding lawn mower.