Our Work - Heritage Breeds

WE RAISE HERITAGE BREEDS OF DUCKS AND CHICKENS AND TURKEYS

I am a vegetarian, and only consume a few ducks a year.  Most humans consume so many chickens it is almost unthinkable - and it is raised on injections - it may be time to consider eating duck which is a more nutritious kind of bird.

We bring them to a small batch facility nearby - where they are frozen whole - perfect for roasting peking duck style.

"...more thought into how much meat we consume, doing it more humanely and  healthily - is a good green step forward!"

To Love is to Nurture

I learned about nurturing from my Mom and Dad and extended family. So many things which I will post here as they come to me. My mother was unconditional energetic and with enthusiasm that she nurtured those around her. Everyone loved her. And I am speaking in the past tense although she is alive - she is aged and stricken with Alzheimers in late stages now - and my sister is nurturing her with the same unconditional energetic and enthusiasm anyone will ever hope to have.

Caring for Horses - General

Working with and training animals is a good way to provide good animal care, exercise, mental stimulation, and cooperative behavior. Horses interact with people on their own terms - - until you begin training - than it helps them to interact on our terms. They learn that charging, biting, and kicking are unacceptable around humans. They learn to lift their feet for trimmings and cleaning. They allow us to work in back of them to groom their tails. We enter their stalls and they maintain manners. They begin to understand that the time we are in the saddle - riding - is a time for work - and they are entrusted with our care - and our pleasure. The rest of the time - the feed and care we provide, large pasture and green hay and grass - is for their pleasure. It is an exchange - and very similar to a barter system.

Luckily, we worked with a natural horsemanship trainer. We taught our horses through patience and nurturing. Even when they displayed bad behavior, they were treated with kindness and understanding - until they began to realize that what was expected of them was not that difficult, and the demands not that great.

I believe that animals for the most part should be allowed an environment as close to their natural habitat as possible. Our horses have lots of pasture to roam. More than I have ever seen alloted on the East Coast. In exchange for that, they give me some time to ride. And everyone is happy!

Feeding Tips
Horses need 25lbs of hay per day - for a 1,200 lb pleasure horse - off of pasture. A typical square bale weighs 50 lbs - so half of one bale.

As grazers, they need access to food regularly throughout the day. This means that a horse off of pasture need a steady supply of that hay throughout the day. If you have a 9-5 job, consider hiring a caretaker at least for the afternoon shift.

Horses become dependent on the schedule that you set. Deviations from this could cause upset such as colic - a potentially fatal condition. Stick to a schedule. Our horses are seen and fed at 8am, 1pm, and 6pm in the summer months.

In the harsh winter months they are brought indoors by 2pm. In the bug biting months of summer they spend the hottest part of the day in the cool of the barn. Shelter is very important. Especially during thunder and lightening!

Horses that chew fences are probably not getting enough small meals frequently. Feed less more often.

Unless the horse is a performance horse, sweet feed or grain is fed at a strict ration of one cup per day.

Older horses need softer hay - 2nd cutting - because of teeth - and more grain to keep the weight on.

Always provide free access to fresh drinking water. I like a cut barrel, easy to change and clean the water. Big enough for many horses and small enough to empty easily.

Safety Tips
Rather than having to lead a horse out to pasture - try setting up a corral between the barn and the pasture so that horses walk out on their own in the morning, the friskiest part of the day. Ours trot out of the barn and I never tire of watching them move - whether it be running, prancing, or bucking!

Stalls must be strong - in the event a horse kicks - you do not want them to penetrate the wood.

All breakable objects must be eliminated. Glass windows and lightbulbs must be out of reach -set at least 9 feet off the ground.

Always have a bucket of feed handy in the event of a loose horse. You can't catch em but you can sure get their attention with a shake of the feed bucket!

Caring for Cats

Our cats are tender and loving creatures and for a farm - necessary - at least for me.  I do not like surprises, least of all field mice, plentiful in the fields.   The cats keep them at bay.  Any mouse that comes within our cat boundaries is a dead one.  It's not nice, since I love all creatures, but I have nothing to do with it - it's between cat and mouse, and usually death is swift.  Alot of people consider cats to  be bird killers also, but I 've seen very little bird killings.  Birds present a kind of fun stakeout for the cats but due to flight capabilities of birds, they are pretty safe.  More get killed each year falling out of nests from on high in our barns.  Some chipmunks get caught, but again, rarely because they are tree dwellers.  Some rabbits.  Some pigeons.  But mostly mice and moles, ugh.  

We never have any mice in the house and I never see any in the barns.  The only time I see a mouse is when a cat brings them to my feet, as if I am a kindred spirit who appreciates their prey.  I don't!  

  Life is good at the farm for all of us, especially cats.  It is their ideal habitat because, outdoors there is plenty to hold their interest.

Cats will follow me to the fields to toil amongst the veggies, sit in the cool soil and shade themselves under a zucchini leaf.  They are not house cats, except the 10 degree and below nights - where they'll congregate under the woodstove for a pocket of heat.  I don't use kitty litter - since I think it is an artificial addition to the earth - I use sand instead.  At any given time we have a bakers dozen.  These cats came to the farm, in many cases, by the addition of a fertile female cat.  All of them get spayed and neutered, but cats will travel and there is always a new one at our doorstep.  Right now, our farm cats are Geronimo, Pawnee, Oconee, Oneida, Ottawa,  Cheyenne, Shawnee, Navajo, Blue Cloud, Broken Arrow, Two Feather, and Three Feather and Comanche - a recent addition from who knows where - a tom cat that you can't get near.  

Caring for Goats

We bought goats for $250 in 2009, and we have learned about these animals in our care. Our prior experience has been caring for horses, dogs, cats, chickens, and ducks - we'll post seperate care notes for them.

Rather than tell a story, I will list some pointers and make it easy for someone else to learn from our experience.
Water and Feed and Pasture
Fresh water and clean hay is a minimum. We change water buckets regularly and put large troughs in corrals - free access to water on pasture. Hay is always dust free - and ours is made here - so our animals enjoy great first and second cuttings along with varied grasses and legumes from different fields. Goats get 1.5 lbs of hay each per day.

Grains
Grains are kept to a minimum - like a treat - unless the animal is working ie. milking or breeding. We use the same feed as for our horses - a mix of corn, oats, molasses, and minerals.

Feet
Goats, like every hoofed creature, need to have their hooves trimmed. A farrier can do this, or you can buy the equipment to do it yourself.

Creature safety
Every hoofed creature is like a "bull in a china closet" - that means keep glass windows etc. barricaded with steel bars or install them at least 9 feet off the ground. Pointed objects must be eliminated. Anything not attached to a wall or ground will be knocked over - secure everything.

Lodging
We have a large dairy barn - and sectioned off an area with floor to ceiling kennel frames. It is large enough for these animals to walk around alot - lined the floor with hay, and built a door to get in and out. We replace the bedding every two months. The frequency of this will increase when we get more goats since it will soil faster.

Personality
Goats are very demanding - they want to be around people. They are extremely entertaining - jumping on rocks, and whatever else catches their fancy. Ours climb up the stacks of hay, leap upon the backyard stone table, and dance sideways during our goat walks. They will also butt our dogs, and some dogs will respond aggressively while others will brush them off. They are comical!

Activity
All of our animals receive lots of activity with large areas to graze and varying terrains to explore. Our goats walk/hike with me on our large pasture since it is not fenced in yet. I feel that their fenced in pasture does not provide enough stimulation or varied diet until they are moved to greener pastures. So I'll keep walking for now.

Grazing Habits
Goats can eat thorny bushes - like rose bushes, pine trees, berry bushes, and wildflowers. They also eat grass, twigs, and bark. They follow the scent of honey and left to their own devices they will raid the honey bees. I love when their breath smells like pine needles!

Free choice Baking Soda
We were told this should be available to them. While we put it out - but the goats do not seem to rush to it like they did at their former home. Maybe they ate a lesser quality hay which required baking soda. Our goats are lucky and we are lucky to have top quality hay produced by Gene on our farm.

Horns
The de budding done by the previous owner took on one side only - yes we have single horned goats - unicorns! And they are all white like a unicorn - the Sannen breed. I would leave horns on offspring even though I read that they could be a danger to each other when fighting for food etc. We believe that animals left most naturally is the best option in the long run. Studies in Europe appear to suggest that horns kept on them may have health benefits.

Caring for Hound Dogs

Hound dogs

TREEING WALKER: incredibly perfect for our farm - it turns out coon hounds are prevalent in the history of our Valley.  Unexpectedly,  my first one was a stray who plopped itself in our backyard curling up to sleep!  I named him "Lucky" because, of course any animal in our care is very lucky!  We run them regularly, give them lots of food to match their limitless appetite, and understand that sometimes they catch wild animals - and that is part of their nature as natural hunting dogs.  Treeing Walker hounds are bred to hunt racoon and fox hunts for the elusive fox. They are fast, Spot shown on the left is so adept at hunting, and BoBo on the right will track any scent.  But most of all they are playful,  quick to please, and alert to their environment.  All of my dogs get along with cats but this takes supervised introduction.

The main consideration for keeping these dogs is open space.  There is no substitute for letting them run.  I don't allow them to make noise - but they have a lovely howl - which they synchronize for my benefit when they want something.  Kept indoors at night - so that the moon and nocturnal creatures do not set them off.   These are big dogs - 75 lbs - feed is expensive.  We house 5-7 dogs at any given time.  We rescue stray dogs voluntarily - treeing walker hounds, in particular.  BLOODHOUNDS - This dog is another adoptee to help a friend.  We are building our reputation as a great home for dogs that need a new one.  This is a magnificent breed, but extremely large -  one leap is  pretty far!  They are known for search and rescue, trailing work.  It would be great to train this dog for such honorable work but I am not sure where to squeeze in that time!

Caring for Horses - Feet

Our farrier trims the horses feet quarterly and compliments the health of their hoofs each time.  Stable hygiene and regular hoof care are part of our regimen.  This includes mucking the stalls, of course, but I also do some things that I do not see being done for other horses nearby.  I never let the horses stand in adverse weather conditions for prolonged periods.   I care for them at least 3 times a day, so if it is raining or snowing, or anything that would make them uncomfortable, I mix it up - bring them back in to their stalls, or move them from pasture to corral, and even move them from one corral to the other.  Some people have a set schedule whereby their horses are out for these 10 or 12 hours and that does not change based on adverse conditions.  I don't understand this because no one wants to stand in water for long periods of time and  at times our grass and dirt is just too muddy to stand in!  We keep the stalls very clean and put down wood shavings to absorb wetness.  Our stalls are very big so their is ample room for them to do their business off to one side.  They choose the very back of our 12'x14' sized stalls.  They eat in the very front.  And each horse picks a different side to lay down.

Some of the routine maintenance for a horse that is not shoed is as follows.  Have good clean ground for them to stand on - this includes the pasture, the dirt corral, and the run in or stalls.  If there is rain or snow or ice, the conditions that can be tough on hooves, move the horses to the drier areas.  If the ground is always dry, like in the heat of the summer, create a muddy spot near the water trough, for example, for the horses to step in.  Balance, as always, is key.  If horses get a condition known as thrush, you may try an anti fungal and triple ointment to heal it before it causes lameness.  Remember these feet carry alot of weight - a typical horse at 1200 pounds!  So all of the prevention we do to keep those hooves healthy is very important.

I also pick out the feet frequently to check for stones or other debris that may get caught, and if kept there could migrate up the hoof wall causing infection - you don't want this.  Also, I always pick out their feet before riding as you do not want the extra weight on problems.  We do not shoe our horses since they are not worked often if at all.  They are here for our care and provide us with manure to compost for our fields.  I also enjoying giving pony rides to children as I experienced in my youth.  For riding lessons, I recommend a good stable nearby, where the trainer helped me to school my horses. But for horse care, I am very well learned, besides the books that I have read, I have twelve years experience and good fortune of healthy and happy horses!