Bucks Get a Grazing Paddock


The two buddies, grazing together in the forest, makes me happy

Today was a big day for the bucks (and us too). They got a paddock outside of their pen so they could browse and graze in the forest. Prior to today, I would chop down saplings and bring them fresh forage. Now they can harvest their own food.

With the bucks there's some worry about them escaping. We keep them outside the perimeter fence, so if they were to escape we're not too sure where they would end up. At least with the other animals we know they would be somewhere on our property. These boys could end up down the road if they got out. They are also much more difficult to control than the female dairy goats, so we generally keep them in their pen.

However, over the past few months they've gotten more comfortable and I've learned how to manage them a little bit better. I felt I could trust them not to run down I-40 to Nashville and am confident they would remain in or around their pen if they did escape. In fact, one time they busted through the fence and I found them right outside the pen browsing on some trees.

I set up a four strand polywire fence, ran a little chute out to their grazing cell and attached the wire to the electric fencing we ran across the top of their permanent pen. That way they always have access to their pen if they want it.

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Full-time Farming


Our plan when we moved to the farm was to start construction on a licensed creamery for making cheese. We postponed those plans as we settled in. It was clear that we needed a full season to focus on growing our herd and continuing to develop our cheesemaking and animal husbandry skills. Given that I was working remotely there wasn’t as much of a rush.

A big hurdle has been getting our goats adapted to our grazing system and living in the outdoors again. Goats’ adaptation into our grazing system took longer than originally anticipated. We've found that it takes about 2-4 months before a goat adapts and their milk “gets better”. We judge the goat’s health based on body condition and the quality of their milk (SCC counts, Fecals, FAMACHA, and other stats). It takes 2-4 months for a newly introduced animal to achieve our existing herd’s levels (an attribution to pasturing animals instead of keeping them in a barn). It’s also strangely consistent with their smell. Goats smell different when they live in a barn. It literally takes months before that smell goes away, and it happens to coincide with when the milk gets better too.

Anyway, I had been working with this company for the past 4 years. When we first made an offer on the farm last October it seemed that the firm I worked for was going to be in operation for a long time to come. As we moved to the farm the following March the future of my employer came into question. So we delayed investing our life-savings in a licensed creamery. It was a 50/50 proposition that I’d still have a job by the end of 2012. Hanging on to some savings in the event that we were both unemployed turned out to be a smart move.

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Sheba Gets Shot


Izzy and Sheba in the sunrise

Most of you know Sheba, she's one of our Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGD, for short). In fact, she's the head honcho when it comes to LGDs around here. As the Alpha dog, she runs the show and we rely on her a great deal. I'd go so far as to say that she's the most important animal we have.

Sheba is a "perimeter" dog, which means she has complete freedom and is responsible for protecting all the animals. The cows, pigs, goats, guineas, etc. She is the designated perimeter dog because she respects our fence and does not seem to have a strong inclination toward 'packing' with the goat herd. Izzy, our other adult LGD, has far greater 'pack' mentality with the goats and she does not respect the fence lines. That's why Izzy gets locked in inside the electric goat paddocks everyday. We don't want her running around causing trouble and we like knowing that a dog is with the goats at all time.

Sheba is also responsible for training Sophie, our puppy LGD. Just like kids, LGDs do best when they have a good role model. Sophie pals around with Sheba all day and night and only recently started staking out her own areas on the farm. Sheba is slowly giving Sophie increased responsibility as Sophie gets older. They also spar a lot. Sophie will start 'playing' with Sheba and it will evolve into a full-fledged battle. Sheba will let Sophie attack her for a while, casually tossing Sophie aside, and when she's had enough she'll pin Sophie on the ground and latch on to Sophie's neck.

So when Sheba went missing we were pretty nervous. She's not one to be gone for longer than an hour or two. She might make her rounds around the farm, but she's always back in time for evening milking. I can't remember when she's missed it. That's her chance to mingle with her sister, Izzy, and play bodyguard on the walk with the goats. 

Not only that, but Sophie was hanging around and seemed a little more alert than her usual puppy self. Sophie without Sheba is a rare occassion. The night Sheba went missing we called and whistled as we usually do when we need her, but no response. We went to bed worried, especially with hunting season recently opening up and wild animals on the hunt before winter.

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