Something to share....

We had a cow that got down with mastitis this week. When I went out to take her some food and water, this is what I found.  Kimba, Jael and their pups were out there staying with her.  She had gotten down and couldn't get up, so the puppies had kept her clean from where she had pooped.  It was the neatest thing to see them keep the other cows and horses away from her while they were "taking care" of her.  We thought it would be something neat to share with you this week.

Anatolians can be gentle!

We have found that a lot of people around here are terrified of Anatolian Shepherds.  I'm guessing they think since they are "guard dogs" that they are vicious dogs.  Here at our farm, we have contact with them.........ONLY in their pasture with their goats.  Of course they are used to us, so they are friendly to us.  This picture of Kimba and Mallory is proof  of how gentle they can be. 

As with anything new, they have to be introduced by one of us.  When Shane started using our border collie to round up the goats, the LGDs were not keen on a dog coming in their territory "chasing" their goats.  So for a few days, Shane would walk Davie on a leash with him out in the pasture.  Since they have been introduced, we haven't had an issue with the LGDs when we need to herd the goats. 

Other farm happenings

We usually do not wean our calves; they are generally taken straight off of the cows and sold at the stockyard.  This year, our calves didn't seem to grow off real well (probably due to the terrible winter and drought of the summer).  The prices bottomed out late in September, so we will not be taking any to sale.  We weaned about 16 head this past week.  Those that were bulls were banded to make steers out of them.  They were put across the fence from the cows so they could still see them.  For the first few days, it was a noisy mess!  Now, things seem to have calmed down and all have went back to grazing.  We may end up keeping the heifers as replacements.  They were out of the Brangus bull Mojo, and we got some nice daughters out of him.  The steers may be sold as grass finished beef.  The whole weaning and keeping the calves is new to us, so we'll just have to see how it goes. 

We also only have 2 female puppies left for sale.  I should be getting our website updated with the information for those who are interested.  They are growing so fast.  We have found opossums and raccoons dead out in the pasture where they are at.  I think they are learning real well from Kimba and Jael. 

Dog wars again....or maybe not

I've been meaning to post lately, but things just keep preventing me from getting it done.  So here goes.....look out for several posts tonight.

I went out to the pasture the other day to find Kimba with a really swollen head.  All I could think of was that he had been bitten by a snake.  I couldn't find any bite marks on his head.  I did find a cut under his ear.  I decided I would check on Sinbad to see how he looked...(he and Kimba like to tangle up sometimes)  I went to the back 40 where he was and he appeared fine to me from the distance I was at.  The closer I got to him, I noticed he was limping a little.  Then I realized he had a cut under his leg.   Long story short, he had to pay the vet a visit and his wound was left open to drain.  We spray Granulex on it in the afternoon and he's also taking antibiotics. 

View from the side

We're not sure if he and Kimba tied up or if Sinbad got hooked by a wild hog.  They have been rooting up the ground in the back near the goats and we figured it could be a possibility.  The cut under Sinbads chest was such a large clean cut.  It seems like it could've been due to a tusk.  If that's what happened, we can't figure out why Kimba's head was so swollen with that cut under his ear.  Maybe they teamed up on the hog.  Who knows?

View from underneath

A Sad Day.....

Today was a sad day for us here at Deep South Kikos.....Our little rat terrior Maggie ( "Maggie mo-mo" as we called her sometimes) died this morning.

She had to be one of the toughest farm dogs ever known.  She only weighed about 5 pounds and you wouldn't have ever guessed a dog so small could do so much.  She loved to help (or get in our way) when we were working cows or goats.  She had so much heart....She had been stepped on by a cow, bitten by a copperhead, and yet she never stopped being our little super dog. 

We buried her in our backyard under a Bradford Pear tree at Dillon's request.  He wanted to have a funeral for her.  Mallory sang Jesus Loves Me and Dillon asked that I say a prayer.  He put a cross on her little grave site and we all reminisced about all of our wonderful memories of her (through tears for me and Mallory). 

 

We got Maggie in 2002, so she had been a big part of our family for almost 8 years.  We will really miss her very much.  It's something how a dog so little can impact your lives like she did ours.

Temporary visitors from Illinois

About a month ago a gentleman from Illinois contacted us about breeding some of his does to Pistol Pete and Rooster.  He had a select group of does from his breeding program that had made it through his strict culling practices.  He wanted to add some of our genetics to his stock.  We have 3 put in with Pistol Pete and 4 in with Rooster. 

Pistol Pete with the ladies

The does with Rooster

We also had our goat playground modified this past week too.  Shane had a guy bring in his heavy machinery and move the piles of concrete around.  It's not exactly how Shane had wanted it, but the goats are seeming to enjoy it better now.  It is not as dangerous as it was before.   They are running and jumping on it every time that I've went out there to check on them.