Morning experience with our livestock guardians

I've debated on whether or not to write a post about the eventful morning we had, before we even began working the goats.  All I can do is be completely honest about our farm happenings in order for others to possibly learn from our experiences; bad or good. If blood makes you squeamish, I don't recommend reading any further.

Shane went out first thing this morning to bring the goats across the road to our working area so we would be able to get the kids separated from their dams and also get their weights.  I stayed in the house making breakfast and coffee to provide the "fuel" we would need for the day.  Of course, when we move our herds, our Anatolian ( livestock guardian dogs; LGD ) stay with the goats.  They stay with them wherever they go.  Shane got the goats across the road, moved into a small holding area, and left them to come home and get breakfast. 

On our way to the small holding pen, it was obvious from a distance that something had happened with the LGD's.  This is what Kimba looked like when we arrived. 

Kimba

We knew right away that Kimba had been in a brawl with Sinbad our other male Anatolian.  Kimba stays with our does, while Sinbad was in the adjacent field with our bucks.  We're not certain who started it, but there was evidence that they started fighting through the net fence and it carried on right on the other side, while tearing down the net fence.  You can only imagine what two 130lbs dogs fighting could do to a net fence.  We went to check on Sinbad and this is what he looked like. 

Sinbad

The reason that I am posting this is that I feel like we only need one intact male LGD on our farm or they should NEVER be close within eyesight of each other.  Even though they are in separate pastures, they sometimes are in close proximity to each other and it most always provokes a fight, even though there is always fencing separating them.  I'm not sure if this will solve the issue, but something has to be done.   We can't risk the chance of this happening again.

Scrapie tags

Tomorrow we are going to wean our kids.  Most of them are 90 days old.  This is always an exciting time for me.  We will run each kid through the working chute and get their individual weights.  This will allow us to compare it to their birth weight and figure out their average daily gain (ADG).  I always look forward to seeing which kids end up with super ADG's.  Then at 150 days we will get their weight again.  This will give us an idea how well they gained on forage alone since being weaned from their dams.  Anyway.....I've yet to get to the intended subject, scrapie tags.  We plan on tagging all of the kids with their USDA scrapie tag.  As I was getting ready for tomorrow, I realized we didn't have enough tags left for all of the kids to be weaned.  I decided I needed to order more, but for the life of me I couldn't remember where I ordered them from.  Soooo I decided to share a few links that might help you in finding out who to contact in your state to get these tags.  They are free from the USDA.  (In order for us to sale our goats at our local stock yard, the goats must have an approved scrapie tag.)

Click here to go to the USDA's website to locate your state's office.  Just click on your state, and it will take you the Veterinary Services Area Office information for your state. 

Check back in a few days to see how our work day goes tomorrow.  I hope to get a lot of pictures to post.  I will also include how we figure our ADG's and our on farm index scores.   

Trip down the fire lane

Yesterday morning, I noticed some of our goats were not where they were supposed to be.  The whole back side of our property, which doesn't have electric fencing yet, is bordered by National Forrest.  I noticed a few does had gotten out, so I called them back in.  Well, it was only half of our does/kids.  I decided I'd better go find the other half.  I headed back to our house to get the remote for the electric fence and noticed a lot of movement in the forest behind our house.  I ran in and got my camera because I knew exactly what was happening.  The other half of does/kids had decided to make a trip down the fire lane that runs behind our house.  

If you notice in the picture below, some of the pine trees have green vines growing on them.  This vine, along with other brush, seems to grow out of control in the woods.  Every year or so, the forestry workers conduct a control burn that will rid the forest of all of this overgrowth of brush.  They push a fire lane between our property and the forest to prevent the fire spreading to our property.  After the control burns, it doesn't take long before new growth starts. 

Our herd had managed to get out to take a stroll down the fire lane to forage on all the vines and such before (due to unreliable, dilapidated fencing). We ended up putting a strand of "temporary" electric fence to keep them from doing that. Long story short, we just recently removed that strand to put in another place and the goats have finally figured out it was no longer there.  So it is looking like we will be working on putting up permanent electric fence in that area.

The whole 80 acres was fenced years ago for cattle; which only required a few strands of barbed wire. If you know anything about goats, they will find a way to get past a 6 foot brick wall ( just kidding on that one). We have been fortunate to be able to put insulators on existing posts and running "hotwire" up about 12 inches from the ground.  One strand does the trick, so far. 

working on vines

overgrown fire lane

While I was taking a few of the pictures the goats were too busy chowing down on the greenery to notice me at first.  Finally, when they saw me coming, they took off like a bunch of teenagers that had just been caught somewhere they shouldn't have been.  I've had to chase them down that fire lane back into the pasture before, so they knew the routine.  Most of them ran ahead, but there were a few brave ones trying to get in a few more nibbles before I could get close enough to move them on.   The craziest thing is that we have about 12-15 acres that they could be doing this in.  I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.

Just one more nibble

Can't seem to get away from it

Oh, the rain

Yesterday we were blessed with a good rain.  I ran outside and pulled all of my potted plants and put them in the yard as the rain was approaching.  It was wonderful to see all of that water falling from the sky!   I'm sure my plants loved it as much as I did.

Amaryllis

I was starting to worry about what would happen if we didn't get any rain soon.  Our grasses aren't growing at all.  Thank goodness for the 15 acre cut over that the goats are able to work on in addition to the forage in the pasture.  I have even noticed some of the cows working on a few bushes as well.  I have to remember to stop worrying though.  I know that God plans everything for a purpose.....all of that hot dry weather may have killed off some sort of "bug" out in the fields that may have wreaked havoc on our farm.  We will never know.  One thing I do know, there is nothing more tranquil than the sound of rain falling on a tin roof, and the cool air that comes from a nice afternoon shower.  Thank you Lord!

What a wonderful sight!
(puddle in our driveway)

Taking a dip

We are still in serious need of rain down in these parts.  The other morning on our local news, it was said that we had a 15.11 inch deficit so far, compared to our yearly average of rainfall.  It is being predicted that we have a 30% chance of rain this weekend.  One good way to look at it is that we don't have to mow our grass as often, if at all ;)  

The streams have diminished in the back forty, so we have made an alley with electric fence that leads to our pond in the front pasture.  The electric fence keeps the animals from grazing in the front pasture.  It is so short, but the animals will get right out there and graze like you wouldn't believe.  All the while, the back forty does have some grass that we stockpiled.  There's just something about that shorter tender grass!   

doelings getting a drink

Even Kimba, our Anatolian Shepherd took advantage of the pond today.  He walked right out there and laid down.  It actually looked quite relaxing to me.  Today I believe our temps reached 98 degrees with a heat index of 100-106 degrees.  It's been pretty hot around here!

It wasn't long before the cows came and sent the goats moving on around the pond.  It was their turn to come for a cool down.  I was amazed how almost the whole herd of cattle ended up getting in the pond.  Usually it's just a few, but today they all decided to take a dip.

Cooling off

Shane took a load of "culls" to the stockyard this past Monday.   Most of them ended up being commercial goats that we purchased last fall.  They just absolutely couldn't hold a candle to our kikos.  The whole point for us raising kikos is for less maintenance.  These commercial ladies were high maintenance, so they had to go.  There was also a 100% New Zealand kiko doe that was sent to the stockyard with that group.  Shane has been wanting to get rid of her since last year.  He didn't like her build, or conformation.   We bought her at a Cream of the Crop Sale a couple of years ago as a yearling, and she just never did shine like the others.  It was a tough decision, but I think it was the right decision.  If we are going to continue raising breeding stock, we are going to be faced with many more tough decisions about who stays and who goes.  In order for us to improve our herd, we will have to continually cull through them.  When we first started out, it was pretty easy to know which ones were going to be culled.  It's just that each year, it gets harder and harder.  In the end, it will be worth it though. 

Getting ready to go

Anatolian Shepherd Pups For Sale

These pups are out of Jael and Kimba They were born 2-19-11. They have received 2 rounds of immunizations and have been dewormed. We have been letting them learn the ropes from their parents out in the pasture. They have been exposed to cattle, horses, and of course goats. As of now we have 2 females and 2 males left for sale. They are $400 each.  If you would like to see photographs of their parents click here.

Updated photo of Rooster

If any of you out there have tried to take a photo of an animal, you know how hard it is to get them to stand still to get a decent shot.  I even got a camera with a longer range zoom in hopes of being able to capture a good photo without getting too close causing the animals to walk away.  The other day I was trying to get photos of a horse we have for sale and I noticed Rooster watching me from a distance.  I got my camera and zoomed in a snapped a few shots.  He stood there for a minute or so watching me, so I managed to get a half decent photo.  I am most certainly not a professional, but I am so proud when a photograph turns out without a blurred moving animal or without their head turned away.  So here he is.......

CPK Rooster Cogburn

I have also uploaded this photo on our herd page on our website.  There you will find photos of our other herdsires.  We also have their pedigrees available to view on this page as well.

We need rain

We are in desperate need of a good rain.  Forecasts are calling for a small chance tomorrow.   In the past couple of months we may have received rain on 2 occasions; of course others around the country are wanting the rain to stop.  I wish there was a way to shift all of that water around to areas that need it so those that are getting too much wouldn't be dealing with the flooding conditions. 

The forage in our pastures are just shriveling up.  It's also very dusty here.  At least we still have water in the pond.   Below I have included some photos from around the place. 

This picture below is where a stream usually runs through our back forty.  This is one of the places that the livestock would go to get a drink of water.  As you can see, it is mostly mud....not really any running water.  We have had to put the goats in the front pasture because we have a watering trough as well as a pond in it.  They have been unable to find the water in the back forty.  There is one stream left, and no matter how many times we have "driven them" (with border collies) to it,  they have yet to get any water from it.  There is some brush surrounding it and the goats seem to think there is a monster hiding behind that brush.  If they only knew there was good cold water!  We really need them to stay in the back forty because of what brush is back there.  The pastures hardly have any grasses left in them.

And finally, when I can bear to write about our experience with the commercial does we bought last spring......I will share it with you.  We were planning on providing  percentage kikos for those who may want to breed up.   Right now I can say that we've had a change of plans,  thanks to does like this one below.......those darned ole red-heads.

Will he be staying?

We have this horse, named Shaggy, that Shane has just put up for sale. He is a little "spirited" I guess you would call it. Shane has been riding him for a few months now, and he has a really great gait, ( he's a cross between a Quarter Horse and Tennessee Walking Horse) but he always seems so jumpy to me. I told Shane that I would rather him go somewhere else, so someone with experience could train him and ride him.

The funny thing is, he is an absolute gentle and meek horse when he's in the pasture. He will come up to me for a rub on the neck. Then he will proceed to follow me around like a little puppy. As long as I will pet him, he just stands right there with me.  Dillon also loves him for that reason. He says that Shaggy is the best horse ever and that he wants to keep him.

Shaggy

After he was listed for sale, Shane decided to ride him one last time. He came back and said that he rode perfectly. It was almost like he knew that he was going to have to leave us. Then Mallory wanted to ride him, and I was super nervous. He walked around our yard so calmly with her on his back. Then Dillon tried him out, and he did just as well with him.

Sunday we decided to go for a trail ride and Dillon rode Shaggy all by himself. Just as soon as we left with the horses, Shaggy fell in line behind me with his head down, and walking so calmly. I was amazed that this was the same horse that always seemed so jittery. It's almost like he knows when the kids are on him to be extra careful. I just wonder if it's too good to be true. Will he stay or will he go? I guess only time will tell. This will be the second time he has been up for sale. The first time Shane changed his mind, after being for sale only one day. So far, it's been a week and we've only had one call. It may be meant for us to keep him.....Any of you horse experts out there ever heard of a horse behaving differently with children?

While I was out in the field trying to get photos of Shaggy, Mr. Sonny, wouldn't leave me be.  I tried to get far enough away from him to get a picture, but he wanted to be right beside me.  This was the best I could get of him.  He is so shiny and beautiful!

Sonny

A Lifesaver

This handy little remote shown below is a real lifesaver.  For those of you that have electric fencing, or are considering electric fencing, you should really know about this little remote.  It is called a Fault Finder Remote Control.

front of remote

There is a probe on the end of this remote, that when in contact with the electric fence, will tell you the voltage pulsing through the wire.  It has a screen that will tell you what the current voltage is, and  the direction of the current flow.  It also has an on and off button that will allow you to turn off the whole system from right where you are without having to go back to the energizer and flipping the on/off switch. (This comes in really handy when you are in the back forty quite a way from the main switch.) Some of these functions will work with any energizers, but the on/off capability with the remote will only work with one particular brand ( Stafix).

In this picture below you can see the probe at the top of the remote.  This is where you find the voltage.  There is a slot below that probe that you can put the wire in ( it has to have contact with the metal ) and it will find any problems that you may have on the fence.  It will point an arrow to the direction of the problem.  You will just keep on putting the remote on the wire and follow the arrow.  If it is pointing in the other direction, the problem will be somewhere between that point and the last spot checked prior. ( I really hope this makes sense :) 

back side of the remote

Shane has spent quite some time using this remote to locate any problems with the fence.  Just the other day, it showed that the voltage was low, and pointed him in the direction of the problem.  He said that he followed the arrows and he finally got it narrowed down to an area.  He couldn't see any problem right away, but with closer inspection, he found that an old piece of wire was sticking up out of the ground and was touching the backside of the fence.  He was able to turn off the energizer ( which is a good idea when dealing with a wire that has 10,000 volts running through it)  from that location and fix the issue and turn the energizer right back on within a few minutes.  Then after testing the fence again, all was well.   He said that the remote was a lifesaver.  He also said that he highly recommends it to anyone that has a large area that has electric fencing. 

Here is a picture of the remote from the manual.  It has all of the parts and functions of the remote.  It might help you understand it better.