Out Around the Barn

It has been a very hectic year and so many changes have taken place. We are ending the year in good standing with a few new members to our barnyard, five miniature horses.  These new additions were part of my good will effort to rescue them from a farm that had ran out of pasture and the owners were just sick that they could not feed them.  They were in good physical shape and between wild and semi-tame.

The owner and I had worked together with putting on petting zoo clinics for the elderly at nursing homes this past summer.  She knew I was an animal lover and called me up and asked if I would have room to take 2 or 3 of her herd and give them a home.  Al and I went to look at them and came home with three; Cocoa, Jessie and Mistress Minnie, the baby of the herd.  I fell in love with them before I even got them home.  They are just a pleasure to watch and play around with.  It is a task to get them to cooperate at times since they have not been messed with in quite some time.  I can get close to all of them but they are still skiddish and fearful at times and spook extremely easy.

They get along fine and I would mess with them as much as time would allow, but not as much as I would like to.  About three weeks later I was contacted again and a couple had backed out of taking the stallion and mare, which is expecting in Feb./Mar.  I had to do my “FLIRTY EYE MOVE” to get Al to agree to just go look at them once more.  Of course, I knew we would be bringing them home because he hooked up the trailer and away we went.  So I now have five.

Taco, the stallion, and Sugar had not ever been separated and she had delivered healthy colts and fillies for the past eight years.  The owner said the could not be separated or they would just be uncontrollable.  I kept them together for three days and then I took a risk and separated them.  It took Taco a while to adjust being alone but he does just fine.  Sugar has to stop by his stall on the way back in the barn once in a while just to say “hello” and then goes on.  Taco will do his “I am the Man” dance every once in a while but for being told he was wild and I would have a hard time with him, we get along fine.  It took me an hour to get him to come to me and a halter on and now we are “buds”.  I must say that he is just so beautiful.  A miniature black stallion and with the lines and mane to go with it.  So petite but full of spirit and spunk.  Don’t let them fool anyone, just because they are small does not mean that they cannot put away the food.  I feed them Grostrong Ultra Fiber and they eat it up.  They are not shy when it comes to meal time.  I did have to make some changes in the feeding area and that is they cannot reach any of our feed bunks so feeding pans were placed and it makes feeding time a lot easier.

We have had a busy year but our animal family continues to grow.  We are ending the year with new stock and new baby goats on the way within two weeks.  Life on the farm is just great.

Spring has sprung, Easter has passed, and we are on our way to working outdoors in the yard, gardening, and on the farm.  We are close to the close of our birthing season  for the year; we have 4 more cows and a couple of 2 yr. old heifers to have calves and we have 2 more goats (Boar) to have little ones;  I have 10 already. And if that weren’t enough, we have 33 baby chicks.  Combining all of them together, I have 52 new baby animals.  It sure keeps me busy.

With the re-birth of Spring and all the new babies, it keeps a person busy making sure all of them are eating well and the mamas are keeping them well fed.  From experience, I have learned that is pays to keep a close eye on them for the first couple of weeks to make sure they are staying healthy.

Things to look for is coughing, discharge, fever, being inactive, and loss of appetite. Once they are feeling better, their health should improve.  It is not to say that you may need to talk to a veterinary and get some medications in case they do become ill.  Even though, we sometimes feel like we know how to treat them and what to give, we are not necessarily always right in our diagnosis.  If in question about anything, always check with the professionals.

I am talking from experience, since last year I lost 9 baby goats before I found out the real problem and began treating it.  I knew nothing about Coccidiosis and learned the hard way, what it was and what to do about it.

One issue, I am having this year is the nannies are having their babies and a week to two later, they are expelling discharge and bleeding.  It has been an issue with everyone of them.  So, I went to the vet and he suggested a long lasting penicillin.  Then you watch them for 3 days and if it doesn’t seem to have an effect, give another dose and then talk to the vet if not better within two weeks.

Always keep their bedding dry and keep them out of the rain to avoid foot rot.  Once you get it on you farm, it is hard to get rid of.  Take care of your babies and Good Luck. 

Pictured here is Beauty and her triplets born on March 26, 2011, Jack, Junior and Jada.  Just minutes after their birth.

Most of us assume that when individuals such as farmers and homemakers work at home; they have a very simple and easy life.  Well,  that is not the case. Working at home doesn’t mean that challenges and deadlines aren’t a part of their lives just like everyone else.  They face them everyday and it could be as simple as being interrupted by excessive phone calls, upset and crying or sick children, nothing going as planned, the overwhelming feeling lack of social contact, and too many projects that need their attention.  Working at home can be very economic for some and it works out well, but it can also be frustrating when there are other distractions at home that we do not have to deal with when we work away from home.

On the farm, there is always something to do.  Livestock needs to be fed grain and hay on a schedule, morning and evening, a ample supply of water must be available to them at all times, if one is under the weather, so to speak, it needs the necessary attention to get it back to good health so it can return to the herd.  Having a vet on speed dial is pretty important when an animal goes down, depending on the illness or injury, it may need immediate attention and professional help. Animals go through stress, as well, when they become sick or injured, so it is imperative that we remain calm while tending to them.  The barns and shelters must be kept in good shape and dry for the livestock to have a place they can go out of the weather so hauling manure is a job that must be done on a regular schedule and the fences must be strong enough to turn cattle and horses so that they stay contained within their boundaries.  If you have close neighbors, it is not a pleasant experience when you have a few stubborn head of cattle that like to test you and push the fence.  People don’t like unwanted animals in their gardens and yards.

When the time comes for breeding your herds, keeping a record of the day the bull or stud went in with the cows or mares, is extremely important.  This goes for goats, sheep and other breeds as well.  By knowing when you put them together, you will have an idea of when to expect the birthing season to begin and can prepare your barns or make the necessary arrangements for the events to come.  Records are also important in keeping track of vaccinations, days bought and sold, births, and injuries and illnesses.  I keep track of when I de-worm my goats, when their hooves get trimmed, when I change feed and minerals and etc.

It is a wonderful life, living and working a farm.  It has its stresses and challenges on a daily basis but, on the flip side, it can be a peaceful and calming life.  Every job has a place for schedules and time management and that includes those jobs at home, it really doesn’t matter what you do, we all have them.  Life does feel a little simpler on the farm when out working with Mother Nature and God’ creations but it is LIFE, and with that there is never a dull moment.

I have been raising chickens now for about three years now and I still learn something new everyday.  I have Bantys, Leghorns and Buff Orringtons and they are all now grown.  I have started allowing them to roam the farm and have to alternate letting them out of their coup in the daytime and the dogs out of their pens at night.  I have found that to let them all out at once is unhealthy for the chickens especially.

I have 4 roosters and 43 hens.  They are now laying over 2 dozen eggs a day and I sell them for a buck a dozen otherwise I have them running out of my fridge, literally.  They are a sight to watch as they peck and roam around scrounging for worms and bugs and can make a mound out of nothing pretty fast.  I was surprised to go out to the barn to feed and found my storage room where I put straw and hay for my goats all in mounds and hills.  They work fast.

The other thing I am trying to learn is how to get them back in the coup when I need them there.  If I wait until 8 pm  they might go in pretty easy because it is getting dark but, there are days when I need them to go in earlier if I need to be gone or I know I won’t be able to be out at the barn at the time when they need to go in.  Right now I am chasing chickens everyday to get them in.  I seem to always have a couple stray away from the group and then it is a chore to get them back to where they belong.  I am afraid to get one of the dogs out to help since Jessie has caught one or two before and they didn’t make it.  So I run myself ragged just trying to get them in.  I have had to leave a c0uple out once or twice just for the sake of not being able to get them where they belong.

I keep my hens healthy by feeding them Egg Maker Complete Chicken feed.  This particular type of feed is designed to help the hens with all the nutrients they need in order to lay their eggs.  Love my Chicks!

Since I was a little girl I remember my mother teaching us to say a night time prayer,”Now I Lay me down to sleep, I pray dear Lord my soul to keep, if  I should die before I wake, I pray dear Lord my soul to take.”  I remember this as it was yesterday and I taught this same prayer to my children when they were little tykes.  Today you just do not hear the prayer much anymore and it is a real surprise when you hear a child pray these days.  God Bless those parents and grandparents that keep the power of prayer alive in their children.

I suppose you think it is funny for me to talk about prayer on a farm blog but if any one person knows about the power of prayer it is a farmer and his family.  We live by Faith and in order to have faith, prayer goes right along with it.  We look to the Lord our Father for a plentiful crop, for the rain when we need it, the sun when we need it and sometimes even when we don’t.  We depend on our Faith to keep us healthy in order to provide for our families and to tend to our crops and livestock.  We cannot always depend on the market to provide because it fluctuates constantly.  We have to depend on Faith to carry us through easy and happy times as well as the rough and tough times.  Faith is invisible yet we know it is real, we feel it every day just like the wind and through prayer we strengthen our Faith to help us through out our lives by talking to God and Trusting in Him.  God Bless us all.

I am writing about this today just because one of God’s beautiful creatures reminded me that we all have faith even if we aren’t human.  I took this photo of my kitten, Gizzer, while she was sleeping.  It just goes to show that all God’s creatures pray, at least that is what she looks like she is doing.  It was so adorable I had to share it with all of you.

 Just remember to keep your animals healthy and for Cats and Kittens try our Proud Paws Cat and Kitten food for great taste and good nutrition for your felines.

We all wished for summer and now it is here, 100 degree weather and the humidity, oh my!  With the weather reeking havoc on our crops and our own bodies, please remember the animals.

What causes a bull or a cow to go blind?  It is not always caused by an injury; it can be caused by allergies or particles in the air that irritate and by irritation of flies and insects.  If not treated quickly can cause blindness. 

I am talking about a form of Pink – eye, an acute contagious conjunctivitis marked by redness of the eyeball.  The symptoms are redness and swelling of the eye and some can even get ulcerated spots on their eyes.  This actually causes temporary blindness.  They will run into fences and walk in circles due to confusion.  They can get lost from the herd and if cornered can become dangerous due to lack of sight and fear of the unknown.

This particular form must be treated medically by an antibiotic spray (that you can purchase from you local veterinary) given with an antibiotic injection.  We use LA – 300 Antibiotic (also purchased from vet), this is one livestock medicinal item we keep on hand in our medical and farm supplies.  Both of these, the spray and the injection, given together will help your animal heal and recover quickly with less risk of total blindness.  Most will recover with 100% of their vision restored but, there may be some that will not fully regain their eyesight back at 100%.  Depending on how long they had the infection and how severe the infection will determine what damage was caused.

It is most imp0rtant to treat your cattle and livestock as soon as you notice any signs of irritation or redness of the eyes.  It does happen to the best of us; we work the farm; planting fields, away from the livestock , maybe at a second j0b and do not notice the changes right away.  They, also, do not just creep up overnight either, so to speak, so it is no wonder that it can get away from us, at any given time.  We just have to do the best we can and as soon as we notice a problem; we tackle it head on and give it our full attention and care.

There is not one single thing that can prevent this particular infection from occuring in your livestock but as a preventative measure, keep your pastures cut low enough during the growing season so that your livestock are not fighting the tops of the grasses and weeds to feed on the grass available to them.  As a preference, we try to keep ours cut no shorter than ankle length when we mow the pastures.  This allows the grass to contiunue its growth and kills most of the weeds or, at least, causes them to grow at a slower pace allowing the cattle enough grass to eat during the spring, summer and fall seasons.

Nothing hurts more than the heartbreak of losing someone or something you love.  The something I am referring to is the loss of a couple of kids, goats, that contracted Coccidiosis.  Being a beginner in the raising and handling of goats; it was a shock to me when my kids started getting sick.  I have had my herd for over 2 years and this had not been an issue for me so I was at my wits end. 

I read up on the symptoms they were showing and most of it pointed in the direction that I needed to de-worm them.  I hadn’t considered that they would need that at such a young age but, then again, I was totally at a loss.  So, checking with the vet, I got what I needed and de-wormed the whole herd of 15, making sure to disperse the correct dosage per body weight, per animal.  They seemed to improve some but in two weeks,  I knew it had to be done once more.  The time came and I done another round.  A couple of days later, one of my kid nannies became weak and I had to remove her from the herd and give IV solution for dehydration.  She did not make it.  I was devastated!  I did not understand what was happening.

I called the vet again and explained the weakness and dehydaration symptoms and lack of appetite and told him my smallest was down and the others were showing similar signs.  After due consideration, he prescribed a Corid Drench for 5 days and a liquid to add to their drinking water for the older ones.  Coccidiosis, which can be fatal if not treated in time, is an infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites that attack the epithelial tissue of animals and my little ones had it.  My littlest was not strong enough to withstand the medication, another loss.   

I began working with them on a schedule and drenching them once daily.  Cleaned out their feeders and  re-strawed their barn.  They would be confined for 5 -10 days and needed a clean dry place to get over this.  After a couple of days, their appetites increased, the diarrhea cleared and they were playing again.  They even began to look healthier.

I was relieved but we were not out of the woods yet.  They were not 100% and Doc said as a preventive and precautionary measure, I should change their feed to a medicated one that controls just this issue.  So I did.

I now feed Goat Power feed with medication for Coccidiosis mixed in.  It has given me great results and the goats love the taste.  They look forward to that everyday.  From this experience, I have learned to keep Doc’s number close at hand and when I see something that is not quite as it should be to question it, even if it amounts to nothing in the long run.  Sometime it just may save a life.

Yahoo!  Baby Chicks are soon to arrive.  The Ladies have been on their nests for 21 days and within the next week we should have little ones.  I have four hens sitting and boy, can they get cranky.  Even when you reach in the nest next to them to gather eggs, they will try to peck at you, cluck like they want to attack and can be extremely mean to the other hens.

We recently built a new chicken coup and put up new nests for all our hens.  I have recently learned that to have happy chickens it is good to have all your daily needs close by.  I keep their feed in a barrel right inside the coup, they have free range to water and have plenty of room to  peck, search and roost.  This keeps them happy and healthy.

My chickens have their own waterers, feeders and nests to complete their home.  They roost off the ground to keep away from country critters.  They are eager to see me when I come to gather the eggs, I know this by them all standing at the coup door.  They just get excited.  By the time we are done they have all calmed down and are ready for a quiet night.

Their daily farm supplies are easy to keep on hand, their food, water, straw for bedding and a bucket or basket to gather the eggs in. One tip I would like to pass on;  if you are like me and spoil your animals, I have found that chickens really like cat food and it is good for them, especially if you have layers.  I give them a treat about once a month by just scattering some on the ground and letting them at it.   I enjoy my chickens and in a few days will have approx. 70 little ones added to my flock.

There is always stress on your animals when you wean the little ones from their mamas.  It does not matter the type or breed, there will be crying from both the mamas and babies.  Besides all the noise the animals will want to get back together and they will look for any opening to do just that. 

For at least three to four days they will walk the fences, try to jump the fences and try to climb through or crawl under any opening just to get back together.  We always wean in the sign of the moon and have mostly good results but, there are always those few that just cannot get with the program.

So, what do you do when they get back together and you have to begin the process all over again?  Really, I do not know what the best plan is.  I take it one day at a time and go with the flow.  Try as I might, I fill and close any openings that I find, where I think they are getting through and try again.  Does it work?  Sometimes but, not always. 

I weaned my kids, baby goats, 2 weeks ago and have only had them all get out one day but Jillie has gotten out 12 out of the 14 days they have been weaned.  It never fails, I go out to feed and she is back with Miss Dolly, her mama.  She is such a pet, I spoil them awful, that it is nothing to get her back in with the others but keeping her in is a problem.  It is hard not to think it is funny or cute but, she needs to stay in her pen. 

Reinforcing the fencing is the best plan to keep them contained and having fencing supplies on hand is helpful.  There are those moments, and I have a lot of them, that you just have to rig something up until you have the time when you can complete the job.  Fencing wire, wire cutters, tools and the rest of fencing supplies are necessary livestock equipment to have on the farm and handy at a moments notice.