Big news! We are blessed with having two litters! Marnie has delivered five boys and one girl! Emma is next! Will post photos of her litter in the next few days!
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Aussie has settled in and feeling right at home. (On a side note, decided I may like his name more if it were spelled Aussie instead of Ozzie--it worked, I'm okay with it now.) He is such a fantastic horse and really is the perfect horse for me. I cannot believe I lucked out with him. He is the sweetest and most perfect horse and I love him to pieces. Like any new horse he acted strange for the first week and a bit uneasy. He tested us a bit but not a whole lot, nevertheless he wasn't comfortable riding with a stranger on his back and in an unfamiliar place so I had Farm Girl ride him for the first couple weeks to work out his kinks and help relax him. It really didn't take him long to relax though and before I new it, it was my turn to climb up into that saddle. However, it's been a long time since I was in a saddle and the only time I was briefly was a couple years ago and the incident left me sore. Not that I had an accident or anything but we got caught in a thunderstorm out on the trails and had to boogy to get back to the trailer. I was hardly in shape for galloping and my body paid the price for it days--weeks afterward. Needless to say I was in no hurry to return to the saddle. However, in the past year I began to feel the old familiar yearning of wanting to get on horseback. More so when Farm Girl hit the trails and I was keeping her company on a bike rather than a horse. I began to play with the idea of getting my own. But I knew I wanted a quiet well-broke bombproof horse that had more whoa than go. The hunt began but not real hard, just looking now and then to see if anything caught my eye. Then along came Aussie and he seemed perfect. Perhaps a little taller than I had wanted, but his temperament was exactly what I wanted. He may be big, but he is a pussycat. Nevertheless, when it was time for me to get up in his saddle, I was nervous and asked Farm Girl to lead me around the arena on a leadline. Yes, the same way she does my son. :P But by the next day, I had regained my confidence and was riding my horse all on my own. It felt wonderful. I hadn't realized how much I had missed horseback riding. I can't wait now for me to build my confidence up even more and finally hit those trails with Farm Girl.
Introducing Ozzie, a handsome registered sorrel quarter horse! The other horse we were suppose to get fell through but all is meant to be as Ozzie is perfect! Not sure about his name though, hopefully I can get use to it otherwise Ozzie is getting a name change.
Introducing the first ever chicks born here at the farm! They are a barnyard mix of chantecler and barred rock. Four are pure white and two are black and white. This one is my favourite. Loving the stripes down the back!
I came home today to discover a wonderful surprise! There were baby chicks in the garden! One of our chickens had chicks! And we had no idea she was sitting! There is one chicken in the coop who has been sitting for months now but we gave up all hope ages ago of anything hatching. Some days she'd have a few under her, the next none, and lately all the ladies in the coop have been laying their eggs in the brooding box for her to sit on. She's got about twenty under her now!!
But the chickens were all locked up in the coop today as we had to go away for a couple hours. But when we got home one of the hens was wandering around with seven little barnyard mixes outside the coop, so obviously she has been missing for a while now and I hadn't even noticed!! Funny because our Peking duck had been sitting and we waited and waited until eventually all hers turned up as duds and we had been so disappointed. So this is a happy surprise and wonderful addition to the farm. I've been wanting to send my lambs out to pasture for a while now. However, as the weeks have passed and my little lambs barely grew, I knew it was going to be an issue. Not sure why, but our little flock are slow growing. Not certain if it's the breed, or whether they were weaned too early from their mothers, or all the health issues they went through at the beginning but they don't look any bigger than they did when they arrived at our farm. Whatever the reason, they were too small to put out to pasture as the fencing out there would not be able to contain them. It got to the point in time that we needed to order a fresh stack of this year's first cut of hay. But what really nagged me was that I have field's of perfectly untouched hay flapping in the wind. And a little flock of sheep that I could not send out there. So I went to the local farm supply store and bought a portable electrical net. The store had two, which came in two different size boxes but from the same company and had nearly exactly the same description. Both the store clerk and myself could not figure out the difference other than one was a North American packaging and the other was a European packaging. I chose the European packaging simply because it had a red netting and I thought it would be more noticeable to the sheep and keep them from running into it. Next we unraveled the net in the location we wanted which was at the back of the barn. Actually we had placed it next to the barn originally, but it was such a pain in the butt trying to get the sheep in and out without a working border collie (next year I better have a working bc!!). So we set it up at the back of the barn where the sheep simply had to exit the back barn door and reenter at the end of the day with little fuss. Now the reason I`m writing this post is because one would think it is straight forward setting up this net, however, I found myself on the net looking (without success) for further instructions when it didn`t work. The lambs slipped right under the net. I new I had to get the electrical circuit going on it and train them to fear the net, but the the thing that stumped me was this was a portable net. Unlike an electrical fence I set up permanently along the pasture, this one I thought wouldn`t need anything permanent like a metal rod in the ground or a power outlet since afterall it is portable and those things wouldn`t be handy all the time. But in fact it does. You can purchase solar terminals but since we set ours up at the back of the barn, we simply used a small voltage electrical terminal. There are portable ground rods but again since we were at the back of the barn, I hammered a permanent rod into the ground next to the terminal. A ground rod is essential in completing the electrical circuit otherwise the fence will not be live. Next you must ensure no part of the horizontal wires on the net touch the ground or any grass, weeds, or any object really. Note, the very bottom horizontal wire is not live and can touch the ground. But since it is a flimsy net material and the posts are about 12 feet apart, we gave it added support between each post and stretched it taught. Then we waited and watched the lambs graze until they touched the net and got a little shock. (Don't know why but they constantly wanted to graze along the net until they realized it was hot and grazed in the middle thereafter.) Not only did it work on the lambs, but our german shepherd, Dakota, also got a good shock when she wanted to get in and chase the lambs as well as our free roaming pig who let out a yelp and went running. The goal is to train the lambs to fear the net so that I can eventually remove it from the electrical source and place it anywhere in the pasture and they will continue to respect it and stay within the net. But for now I can't tell you how pleased I am to see them finally outdoors grazing. Barn animals belong outside and not cooped up in the inside of a barn all day long. I'm just crossing my fingers that the goats also learn to respect the net as well.
This was me and the hubs 25 years ago yesterday. This is us with our clan today. How time flies. Celebrating love, laughter, and life 25 years together.
No, I'm not talking about humans. Instead, I'm referring to livestock animals with small ruminants such as my sheep and goat. This is a very common problem amongst flocks and I have learned the hard way the truth in that. Unfortunately, I have lost two of my baby lambs to it and my young billy goat. What is overeating disease? Well I have learned alot about it and I'm sure not nearly enough. Sheep and goats have a wide range of diseases and symptoms that you could write a book on them alone. But I am going to talk about the overeating disease called Enterotoxemia or Pulpy Kidney disease that has affected my herd. This is when large amounts of grain inside the ruminant promote the growth of lactic acidic bacteria, which increases acidity in the rumen and could lead to acidosis. This often occurs when sheep/goat devour too much grain too quickly, over indulge in a too lush pasture (particularly one that has too much alpha), or have a change in diet. Remember when changing feed to be sure to do it gradually or your flock could befall the same fate as mine as their digestive tracts need time to adjust to the change in diet. It can also be caused by a newborn lamb over drinking too much of mother's milk. This is what Teresa, my goat breeder/turn-to-person-when-everything-goes-wrong says, "Overeating disease is also called enterotoxemia or "pulpy kidney disease". Classic symptoms are bloat then scours and death, but you don't always see all these symptoms in every case. It is the toxins that the microorganisms create in the animal's gut that end up killing the animal, sometimes within hours. But it is treatable - you may be advised just to get antitoxin and do your whole sheep herd. Can you call the farmer and find out what their immune status should be? ie. were they and/or their mothers vaccinated and if so for what?" This last part is very important. I had no idea I had to worry about what the mothers of my little herd had been vaccinated with before giving birth. They should be vaccinated with selenium two weeks before birth as it passes down to the fetus. The mothers should also get a pre-kidding vaccination with "Tasvax 8" which protects against many things including enterotoxemia and tetanus. The kids get passive immunity through their mothers and the colostrum. So that is all the medical jargon. And you are thinking what the heck is she talking about?! Let me tell you what had happened to my little flock. It all started with the first little lamb who appeared one day lethargic and didn't rush to the hay feeder when it was dinner time. I kept a close eye on her and noticed she was rather skinny and very weak. Not sure what it was, I separated her immediately and gave her some water, hay and a bowl full of grain. She ignored the hay but consumed the grain. I thought well at least she was eating. But she did not get any better. She continued to loose weight needless of the fact she nibbled now on the grain. We brought her into the house hoping to nurse her back to health but it didn't help. She died a week later all skin and bone. She had simply wasted away. I thought of calling the vet but what I had read was that owning livestock meant owing deadstock and that sheep was one of the most susceptible to diseases and death. So I chalked it off to a loss in our investment. Then another lamb became ill. She started foaming at the mouth and began twitching and convulsing. I immediately separated her from the others and gave her only hay and water. The reason for this was because I was beginning to suspect the grain as just a few short days earlier our little billy goat had gotten very sick after consuming a large amount of grain. To explain, we had put him in with the lambs in a rush after he was getting picked on by the older goats and not being able to access the hay. I had forgotten about the grain until he started devouring it like there was no tomorrow. The feedstore assured me it was safe for him to eat. But he became very sick shortly after this. He got a bad case of scours, runny eyes, became droopy and lethargic and started to loose weight. Then the day after we separated the sick little lamb, she went down on her knees and was unable to get back up. That was when we called in the vet. We couldn`t chance another loss in our investment. I am sad to report that far too many vets are not qualified for sheep or goats, as case in point in my situation. He had no idea what was wrong with them and treated them with what I had thought was wrong. Scary thought. Really, this is my first flock I am a far cry from an experienced farmer, particularly of livestock.
So he gave them a shot of penicillin and a vitamin deficiency injection and left me a couple of syringes full for a follow up in the next few days. The next day I found the little lamb close to death in a pool of her own diarrhea. And no change in the baby billy. I immediately called the vet. He had no idea what was wrong with them but advised me to give them some pepto bismol and some pedialyte as follow up in the afternoon. I went out and administered the pepto to both. Later in the afternoon, I went out to administer the pedialyte and found the little lamb dead in another pile of her own diarrhea. I was devastated and went back into the house to inform Farm Girl of the bad news. We decided not to contact the vet as there really was nothing he could do at this point. The next morning we found the billy goat on his last breath. We decided to give him the second penicillin injection and crossed our fingers. Remarkably it worked! He started to show vast improvements. He began eating and drinking and regaining his weight. His eyes had cleared and the diarrhea eventually went away and he was back to regular pebble droppings. However, goat polio had taken over and he was unable to stand or eventually sit. Complete and utter paralysis had taken over the poor thing until eventually reaching his lungs and he died a painful death. He had been such a fighter and held on for so many weeks, we were really rooting for him but the disease (or the toxins left from the disease) eventually took his life. It was during the last few days of my little billy's life that I contacted my goat breeder friend in a desperate cry for help as my vet had no idea what my little billy had when paralysis had taken over. It was through my own research that I discovered goat polio. She immediately recognized the symptoms of Enterotoxemia and advised me on how to treat the rest of the flock before the same fate befell any more. What had happened? Why had this occurred in my flock? I had been completely baffled by this disease that took 3 of my little kids. It was nothing I was prepared for and unfortunately the old saying you learn from experience was my lesson. My first mistake was not asking the breeder what the lambs were vaccinated for and secondly what diet they were on before moving them to our farm. If I had done that, I would have done a gradual introduction into the grain instead of assuming there was only the one type of lamb grower. This also applies to hay. Be sure to feed them the same cut of hay or if not then to buy some from the breeder and slowly introduce the new cut into their diet. However, you can still do everything right and enterotoxemia could still hit your flock. Sheep out on pasture are often found the next day dead in the field with bloated stomachs. It strikes quickly with deadly results. So keep a vigilant eye on your flock. If you suspect anything wrong, begin decreasing/eliminating feed or exposure to pasture immediately. Treat scours with pepto bismol and if that doesn't work purchase some Neorease and always have some on hand. It works wonders. If you notice your lamb or goat appears bloated, feed them a mineral oil from the kitchen. I use vegetable oil because that is what I have on hand. Bloat is caused by the gases in the stomach unable to break up and begin to accumulate in the stomach. If not treated, the results are deadly. The vegetable oil helps break up the gases. Separate the lamb from the others without any excess to feed or water for 20-30 minutes. She should begin belching on her own but if not then contact a vet asap. There is a procedure called stomach tubing but I don't recommend this if you don't know what you are doing. Lastly, if possible, try to ensure a feeding rack or tray that enables everyone to get an even share of the grain. This is what really hurt my flock. I gave their grain in one open tray and the stronger, dominant lambs ate more than their share while the lesser dominant lambs did not get nearly enough. We feed each lamb and kid goat an individual feeding every day twice a day. It's time consuming but at least we know everyone gets the same amount of grain. However, I have a small flock so that is doable. If we had any more I would have to come up with a better feeding system. It's been a frustrating and disheartening experience and I won't lie when I tell you had I contemplated bailing out and selling the remaining lambs but I put aside my fears and feelings of failure and asked for help. The number one lesson I learned. Never be afraid to ask for help. Hopefully, your vet will be able to steer you in the right direction but if like me, you have a vet that is as green to small ruminant livestock as you are, then find someone who has lots of years and experience in raising them. Thankfully, I had Teresa, a goat breeder of 40 plus years. She was a lifesaver and without her help and valuable knowledge, I could have lost a lot more sheep or goats. Unfortunately, we had to rehome Ella. She was a wonderful dog and makes a wonderful pet, but we were looking for more than just a pet. We were looking for a working dog on top of that, and truthfully, we just don`t have the room to keep every dog we fall in love with. So we went back on the hunt and came across another border collie. This time I was smarter and looked for a registered dog ensuring it's purebred. We had looked at a dog named Marnie earlier and decided against her because she appeared aggressive toward Emma whom we had brought along to see how well socialized she was with other dogs. Even though I knew it was probably because they had met on her own territory, in her own house, playing with her toys, I turned her down. Then I decided to reconsider her and went for another visit after rehoming Ella. The main thing going for her was that she was slim, athletic, and registered. I recognized some of the names in her bloodlines and knew she came from herding stock. The bad against her was of course that she was aggressive, a bit older than I had wanted at 2 1/2, and came from a home where she controlled the owner. On a second visit we decided to take her for a walk. The owner wanted us to put on a guard around her mouth because she was unable to walk her properly without having her shoulder dislodged. I went against using the guard and discovered exactly what she meant. The dog had zero respect for the human walking her and dragged and pulled ignoring any demands or corrections I tried to give her. I could almost hear my instructor groaning at me. She thought Ty was bad on a leash!! This dog would need work. Lots of it. Needless I decided to take a chance on her. Upon bringing her home, she was excited, nervous, apprehensive, but greeted all the dogs wonderfully! Two days after bringing her home, she and Emma are the best of friends unlike Ella who took 3 weeks before she bonded with Emma. Ty, of course, everyone loves at first meet because he such a laid back quiet unassuming type of dog. Then the following morning I decided to begin working on correcting her on a leash---something I was not looking forward to. A couple weeks before I had made this piece of homemade training tool as per my instructor`s advice. The goal is to teach the dog to walk behind you by swinging the tool like a pendulum back and forth in front of you. Hopefully, the tassles on the one end is sufficient enough to scare any dog from passing, but a stubborn naughty dog may have to get the other end which holds a stick. Marnie was a good girl and respected the tassles. Amazing really considering just the day before she was walking us! She is such a smart little girl! That's why I love this breed so much! What can take days, weeks for some, a border collie can pick up in a few short lessons. There intelligence is remarkable. And Marnie is living up to her breed. Let's just hope her instinct test goes well. I'm very nervous about that, she doesn't show as much eye as Ty but hopefully that won't effect her natural herding ability. But even if she doesn't pass her test, she is extremely athletic and Farm Girl has signed her up for agility classes. She just needs to build some more muscle up and this girl will go far I'm sure.
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