2012 Fair - Our youngest childs 1st Junior fair

Getting the animals settled before show day. (Spring Yearling)

Getting a pep talk from the experienced showperson (big sister)

Big brother here for support!

She showed this cow (Dry Cow) as a calf in Kiddie Showmanship...Here they are together again years later.

Showing something more her size.  She loves this March calf and started walking her when she was a week old.  Too bad the calf came down with a kidney infection.  The only animal she showed that did not bring her a blue ribbon.

More family support...the neice!  Possibly a future showman!!!

 

Mom and Dad...the bigest supporters of all!

Showing off the days ribbons!

Here is what it is all about...Daddy, Daughter time.  Nothing is more precious.

Changes...

It has taken me a while to sit and write this update. Due to Todd's continued health challenges, working off the farm and other economical trials, we decided to sell most of our herd June 5, 2012. This decision has affected us from the oldest to the youngest. While we knew at some point we would need to pass the milking on to the next generation, we never thought it would come before the next generation was able to take over.

A special thank you to all those who helped us during this time (especially Miller & Co. Auctions). We are truly blessed to have had so much input, help and understanding while all this chaos was going on.

We continue our love for dairy farming and have a few heifers, bulls and cows in our ownership. During this time we are focusing on them and our new division...Huacaya Alpacas! Alpacas are entirely different from cows, but have one main thing in common...you need to understand genetics. As with our Holsteins, we plan to focus our alpaca breeding program on QUALITY. With time, we hope to be able to show our alpacas with the same success we have had with our cows.

 

Below are the pictures of our newest farm members.  They currently have just the two lanes and some shelter.  Their new housing will consist of six lanes and a new lean-to style shelter.  We are learning more about these graceful, curious animals daily and I look forward to posting more about them soon.

Our first Alpacas...they are all boys.  Left to right:Machu Pichu, Journey, Kennedy

The boys next to the girls.  This is a temporary home for them.

Ugliest Chicken Coop (EVER)!

If you have been reading my blog, you know I am a city girl gone country (AND LOVING IT).  Herein lies my problem.  I don't have the construction knowledge or know-how to many things done.  Mind you, this does not stop me.

My daughter wanted to try a new adventure and my local Co-Op was doing a 1st annual (which means I had a chance at not being the only "don't know what I am doing" person) jackpot broiler.  In case you don't know this means a meat chick raise (in this case) 90 days to show date.  All chicks had to be purchased from the Co-Op.  The Co-Op provided them all at the ripe old age of 10 days old.

So we go to get these babies...

Unfortuneately for my poor baby chicks, I am not much of a builder and know nothing about what a chicken coop is supposed to look like.  Fortuneately, the chicks didn't care what their home looked like, just that it was warm, they were fed and watered AND they had protection from the cats and dogs.

Feel free to laugh at my idea of a home for these babies...

Let me see if I can do justice to what I have done here...in the background is a dog "igloo".  There is large tarp that covers a section of their "pasture and a sort of t-post holding the tarp up.  Again, it is ok to laugh...I am laughing as I write this.  The chicken wire that you see, well, it is in a sort of triangle shape.  No kidding this is the CRAZIEST, UGLIEST thing I have ever seen used as housing for a chicken.

My daughter was very happy, she took 4th place in her age division (she would have done better if I had know that it is ok to get chickens wet and/or give them a bath).

This year, she decided that she would like laying chickens.  We went out and bought a used coop.  I am in the process of fixing it up and refuse to get any chicks until I am done.  Our layers will be around a lot longer and will have a much nicer house.

In case you are interested, Murray McMurray Hatchery has been the best source of information for me.  It has helped with bird selection, feed and shelter.  I even ordered a book about chickens so I could learn how to keep them the healthiest and make certain they had enough in their diet so the egg laying would not deplete their systems.

Hope you enjoyed my ugly coop!  Have a great day and God Bless.



Down on the farm...Lethal White

Lethal White

I was so happy last year (2006); I found the perfect stud to breed my beautiful (yet old) Paint mare to. I happily drove her 150 miles dropped her off, before leaving I whispered to the stud that I wanted a loud tri-colored filly. A few weeks later, I picked her up and took her home to wait the 11 months and 5 days. Her due date: May 17, 2007.


I brought her home and started to have some troubles...she was losing weight, having trouble walking on all four of her legs and seemed to be cranky no matter what I did for her. I got her weight back up with the help of three nutritionists and a great feed mill. For her legs I called in three veterinarians (one was a chiropractor) and an equine massage therapist. She hated the massage and all that the veterinarians could tell me was that she was suffering from severe arthritis. I started her on some Bute (a pain reliever), glucosamine and several other joint supplements. The Bute seemed to help but did not stop her from limping. Needless to say the mare was not feeling well and if she was not pregnant I probably would have ended her suffering as I hate to see any animal suffer. As winter progressed Classi had good days and bad days but the good seemed to outweigh the bad. Winter progressed into spring and I finally stated to think that Classi would make it to the foaling date and I would just have to try and hope she would make it through the nursing portion. Nursing a foal takes a lot out of a mare and I was hoping she was up to the task.



On Saturday (May 5th) I went out to the barn to find that Classi had foaled two weeks early. At first I was elated that the baby seemed to be alive; then I looked closer...there was only white on this foal (Paint horses are supposed to be a combination of at least two colors or a solid red, brown, black etc.). I had heard the term lethal white and was so scared that I ran to the house and called the veterinarian.



While waiting for the veterinarian, I ran back to the barn to get a closer look at the foal. I turned the baby over and got her to stand up...no other color, then I looked at her eyes, they were not only both blue, but a very light blue. I thought, okay, this might not bee too bad...an albino. I can live with that; I wanted a filly and that is what I got...Right?



Wrong...
The veterinarian came out and checked the baby over, I asked him about the difference between lethal white and an albino. I was shocked by the answer. The difference is the lethal white baby would not have intestines that worked properly. A portion of the intestines grows together instead of being hollow; in essence the baby could not pass any digested foods. He gave the baby an enema and hoped for the best. This poor beautiful baby could not pass anything. She had to be euthanized.



I called the stallion owner only to find the answers to questions I did not know to ask. Lethal white is a gene that is specific to Overo Paints. My mare was an Overo and so was the stallion. This does not mean that you can not breed Overo to Overo; but it does mean that you should know if your Overo carries the gene. Her stallion had been tested for the gene after the time my mare was bred and he tested positive and I knew nothing about the gene, but now know my mare is positive.

I hope that my heartbreaking story will help others learn from my tragic mistake. If you own an Overo paint horse and plan to breed it. Have it tested for the gene or make certain that the other horse is either negative or not an Overo.