On Baby Watch!

Baby watch is in full swing here in the barn. 


Our first set of nannies delivered about a month ago.  We have 2 more in stalls and ready to deliver in December.  Then the real fun begins in January when we have 4 does and 7 nannies due between  January 1st and Mid February.    This will be the largest number of goats we have ever delivered and 6 of the 15 belong to other 4H members that we are helping to build a breeding project. 


The barn will surely be busy when all the kids arrive.  We have been preparing for all this fun over the last several months.  Stalls have been cleaned and feeders have been washed.  The nannies / does all received their shots before being placed with the Billie's.  The same preparation every year!!! 


Always when you think you are ahead of the game ... the unthinkable happens.  No matter how much you prepare your animals seem to throw you a curve ball.  That moment when you go out to check your herd and you notice someone isn't acting right.  Well that happened to us over a month ago.




I went out to feed and there she was ... stumbling and not wanting to graze with the herd.  I asked my parents to come take a look and we all agreed something wasn't right and we were about to charter new water on this one.  We moved her to the barn in her own stall.  Then mom and I went to work trying to figure out what was going on with her.




We used several resources from contacting a local breeder who has always been willing to help to reading up about her symptoms on one of our favorite sites - ( http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com )


We came to the conclusion this nanny had contracted Goat Polio or Listerosis - both equally as bad and not easy to treat if caught to late.  Based on her symptoms we were fairly confident we caught it with time to treat. 


What is Goat Polio / Listerosis -


Listerosis is a bacteria that attacks the goats brain-stem.  It commonly comes from parasites, sudden changes in weather or changes in grain / hay and stress. 


Goat Polio is a metabolic disease causing a thiamine deficiency in the goat.  It is more commonly seen in goats that are not getting enough roughage but can also start if fed moldy hay.


What caused our nannie to head down this path is something we still have never figured out.  We read stress can cause this to happen as well but our only guess at this point is she got a parasite at some point either from fair or from the pasture grazing.  Either way we were told by our breeder friends we would be in the fight of our lives to save her.  


What are the signs or symptoms-


Goat will withdraw from eating and the herd along with looking depressed.  They will start stumbling when walking and only be able to move in one directions.  This will progress into a full drunken stagger with shaking and drooling. 




How do you know which to treat-


Blood work is the best way to tell which problem you have. Either way you generally can't wait for a blood test to start treating so you treat for both issues at the same time.


Treating her for both problems is where the fun begins!  Your goat will feel like a pin cushion when you are done.  We were given advise via several sources and after several hours of research this is how we treated our goat.  We are not veterinarians so take this information for what it is worth.


We used over the counter antibiotic purchased from the feed store.  We gauged the dosing based on the directions on the bottle for body weight.


First dose we doubled the amount and had to give it in 2 shots.  Every shot after that was the regular dose.  We gave her antibiotics twice a day for 7 days.


Next we used injectable thiamine - this can only be obtained from your veterinarian.
We gave the first 3 days worth via injections.  Because my mother is a nurse she told me it will work faster for her if injected.  After day 3 we gave it to her orally.  This was given at 4cc / 100lbs twice a day for 7 days.


Next we used drench and water with electrolytes via drench gun to give her nutrition for the first 3 days.  We kept electrolytes in her water at all times in her pen and continued to offer food.  She didn't really start eating until about day 3. 






You will be happy to know she survived and we are very sure so did her unborn kids!  She is happy and healthy and gaining weight like the other pregnant mom's.  She is due around the first week of January so we are praying the kids are all fine.  I knew even if she lost her kids the fight was worth every painful minute ... She is one of my favorite nannies and she has thrown a dapple kid each year. 


Here she is all happy and healthy!

We will keep you posted on her delivery and all the other kids as they arrive.


From My Barn to You,
Bradley

Exciting News!

There is never a dull moment here in the Barn. 


I know my main focus is about the livestock but here in the Barn we also have family pets that help play a large roll in the daily operations.  These guys help us with the animals and watch over us when we are out doing chores.  I don't know what we would do with out our faithful companions.


Some of you may know that I lost my Chocolate Lab a little over a year ago to cancer.  This was a very rough time for me as I had him since I was 5.  


About 4 years ago Duke was bred with a local silver lab and they produced 10 amazing puppies.  I felt so fortunate to be able to keep one and I now have Gage - Duke's son. 

Duke & Gage - October 2013

Along with Duke & Gage we also have these 2 amazing ladies until about a month ago when Ms. Bailey (yellow lab) went to join Duke in doggie heaven.  Bailey was the oldest of our dogs and she is greatly missed.



 Braizy & Bailey - April 2017

This left us with Gage & Braizy .... UNTIL earlier this week!

On Tuesday night the neighbor girl brought down to the house the cutest silver lab puppy!  She wanted to show us her new baby.  We were all so excited for her and her puppy Nala.  She told us the breeder still had 3 puppies left but they were black,  all the silver ones were spoken for.

Jump forward to Wednesday night .... Our family headed to go look at the puppies.  I wasn't sure if we would get one or if we were just looking.  My dad started asking the breeder questions ... She told us the father was from a local breeder.  We saw pictures - He looked just like Duke & Gage!

She told us his mother was a silver lab .... This seemed really strange and very familiar.  Then she told us the name of the local breeder .... Could it be?  

Yes it was!!!! Duke is a grandfather!  

Meet our newest family member .....

We pick her up today at 4p.  Be watching for pictures.

We still don't have a name but please give us some suggestions.

Take Care

From My Barn to You

Brad~

Halter Breaking to Show

Halter breaking show animals is one of my least favorite things to do but it is the most necessary thing.  If you don't start early and keep working with them you will end up fighting your animal the entire season.    I have found the sooner you get them used to the halter the better your results will be.


We just started this process again with our newest little billy goat and our 2 new heifer calves.  Below are a few tips for you on how we manage to get this process going for a successful result.


1) Before putting the halter on the animal we hang it in their stall where they can smell it and get used to it.  This usually takes a day or two.


2)   Put the animal in a confined pen.  You don't want to chase them through a pasture.


3) Next put the halter on the animal.   Try to do it during a cool time of the day so they don't over heat.  We also try to do this as young as possible.  Our little billy is 2 weeks old and we just started working with him.  The heifer calves are a month old and we have begun with them.


4)  Tie them off to a section of non-wire fence or a post.  They will start to fight the halter and become very vocal with the entire situation.  Don't leave them you don't want them to get hurt.

This is Pickles our newest billy born May 15th.

Two new heifer bottle calves

red Hereford calf - Hennessy

black bald face Angus calf - Coco

You can tell that they are not impressed with the halter at this point.  The first time you do this they will fight it pretty hard.  We stayed right with them until they calmed down.

5)  Once they calm down and stop resisting the halter you will want to reward them.  Most animals it is food.  We also take this opportunity to pet them or rub them down so they get used to being touched.



At this point you will want to repeat the processes above until the animal is completely comfortable with the halter.   With some of our animals that is a day or two, with others it is months.  The key is to remain consistent and not give in.


Hope this help you with your animals.
From My Barn to You
Brad

A Lesson of Life

Growing this business has not been easy.  I have learned about my self along with how to breed and raise animals.  This last lesson was one of the toughest lessons I have ever learned.  It was so tough I didn't want to share with you what happened.  I was able to express my feelings in my final 11th grade English paper.  When my mom read it she encouraged me to share with my followers.

So here goes!!!  This is my paper for your reading pleasure.

Life and Death

            It was a cold spring day near the end of April. My breeding season was about to come to a close with my last heifer about to deliver. The birthing period for all my animals was a great success and I was looking forward to seeing what I could accomplish with all my new animals, but the last heifer was a little off. She had been prolapsing her bowels and we were concerned that she would have another stillborn or even die during birth.  The previous year was rough for our animals. We had a couple of devastating losses that were hard to cope with but with the end of that season I had started to look forward to next year’s production. After all the waiting, it finally came and was about to end with the birth of a beautiful new calf.
            When I went out to feed, I noticed the heifer acting weird around this black thing on the ground. Once I got closer to the fence I saw the black thing move its head and saw a white face and knew that our last calf had just been delivered.  I quickly called my mom and notified her that we had delivered our final calf. She was very excited and even congratulated me on a successful year of breeding and deliveries. I carried on with feeding to give the cow and her calf some room to be together until my mom got home. I finished feeding once my parents got home and we all stood at the gate admiring our newest edition to the herd, but something wasn’t right this time. The calf was still laying on the ground and hadn’t tried to get up. With the help of my father, we went out and tried to get her up with no avail. We decided that we should give her time and she would get up on her own. We went inside, ate dinner, and waited.

            About an hour later I went out to see if she had gotten up. I was shocked to find that she wasn’t and she was still in the same spot. I slowly walked back to my house trying to figure out what we should do with her. I told my parents and we decided to wait a little longer.  I was in my room when I heard my mom shout something that I couldn’t understand. I ran downstairs, threw my boots and jacket on, and went outside. Once I reached the barn I saw my dad carrying the little calf into the barn and my mom was trying to get the mom in.

            I asked what was going on and my mom said that the calf was still on the ground and she was almost frozen. We grabbed a heat lamp and some towels and tried to warm her up. We spent about half an hour rubbing her down and keeping the heat lamp on her when we thought that we should try to get her to drink from her mom. We had brought the mother in earlier so that we could try to get her to drink. We coaxed the mom in the barn with some food and got her to eat near the calf.

            The calf had barely enough strength to lift her head so we had to try to get some milk from the mothers utters and put it in her mouth. This was no easy task so I told my mother we should get some milk replacer so we could get her to drink a little bit. Once my mom returned I dribbled some milk into her mouth only to find out that she wasn’t drinking it. I turned to my mom and she said “there is nothing we can do now. We have to leave her in her mom’s hands now”. As everyone left I stayed for a small period of time thinking that I would never see her again. When I finished grieving I got up and left the barn.

            I went to bed that night trying to think of a way to accept the fact that once I awoke in the morning, my dad would be burying her in the pasture behind our house. I woke up the next morning and laid in bed for a while. My mom came into my room and told me she had some news. I feared for the worst that she was dead and I would have to help burry her. Instead my mom said “she’s up and moving”.

            I replied blankly with “what?”

            She said in response with “Dad went out earlier and found her standing up in the barn and as healthy as can be.”

            I got out of bed and ran outside to see the calf that should be dead. I walked into the barn and saw the little calf standing with her mom like nothing happened the night before. I walked back to the housed again but this time instead of sorrow I felt happier than I had throughout this whole ordeal. The entire day went good for the little calf as she hung out with her mom and got to bask in the sun. That night was amazing and I went to bed ecstatic that she had made it through the night and I hoped that she would live to see many more.

            The next morning I asked my mom to feed so I could get to school early for a project. That day at school was one of the best I had had the entire year. I went home happy as could be until I pulled into the driveway. I noticed the mom was no longer in the barn and the baby was missing. That’s when I noticed a body in the wheel barrel and came to the conclusion that she didn’t make it.
             I went inside and sat by my mom.  She finally confirmed that it was the baby and that she had died and once my dad got home from work, she would be buried.  We sat side by side for a while in despair when she said something that I will never forget.  She said "I'm sad too but I realized earlier today that we only lost one animal this year.  This was a large improvement from last year because we lost five.  It sucks but this was a success in my book."  I took what my mom said and realized that no matter how bad or depressing the situation is, there is always a brighter side and that I should look for the better parts in life and not get hung up on the bad.

            

This was a tough lesson in deed but I know there are something's  that are meant to be and this was clearly not one of them.  Now to share my knowledge gained through this experience.



1) The day she was born was very wet and cold.  That is extremely hard on calves.  It is important to get them dry as soon as possible.  This is why we moved her into the barn and rubbed her down and added the heat lamp.   



2) When a calf is born it is important that the cow connects with that calf.  This is done by smell.  Typically the cow will lick the calf off immediately following delivery.  This helps the bonding.  If your cow doesn't initiate that process it is important to get that calf right under that cows nose.  I was told by a local rancher if you have to put grain on that calf to get the cow interested DO IT.  We didn't have this issue but I wanted to share this tip with you.



3) It is very important in the first several hours that that calf get the cows colostrum.  If that isn't happening you should try to milk the cow and give the calf the milk. 



The key is wet cold weather is the worst for calf deliveries and tend to cause the most deaths. 
And in this case you just may have a cow that can't be successful with birthing.  This was her second attempt with two epic fails.  While she has been one of my favorite cows we have come to a cross roads. 


I would like to say a special THANK YOU to  Mr. Tim Ward & Mr. Frank Falen for all of your mentoring with this project.  I would not be able to have come this far without the two of you being willing to take our crazy calls about cow drama.


Hope you enjoy this!
From My Barn To Yours
Brad~

The Discomforts of Agricultural Life

Sometime here in the barn bad things happen even when you have taken every precaution possible to ensure every animals safety.   Sometime the animals have different ideas.  In late January when all our kids were being born we had one such incident that has caused a lasting effect on one of the kids. 

One of our mommy goats decided to have her kid a few weeks early.  This came as a surprise to all of us as she showed no signs of being ready to deliver.  Every pen we have set up has a shelter but this doe decided to attempt her first delivery outside vs. in the provided shelter.  Because  we were unaware she was going to deliver so early we had not moved her to a birthing stall in the barn.  This doe also belonged to one of the youngest 4H members we have been helping with her breeding project.  As a mentor it is hard when something awful happens to one of the kids you are helping. 

Unfortunately, this kid was born outside in the snow which resulted in some issues with frostbite.  This was our first experience with frostbite and what a lesson it has been.   I decided to discuss this with you because he recently lost part of each of his ears due to the frostbite. 

We were all very fortunate he only experienced frostbite on his ears and not his legs as this would have been more life threating.  Once we found him in the snow we rushed him and his mother into a stall in the barn.  They were both placed under a heat lamp.  The kid was wrapped in a blanket to help warm him.  We knew within days that he had frostbite because his ears began to swell.  Once the swelling went down we noticed the tips of his ears were dead.  This last week the tips started to fall off. 

 

This isn't our goat but this is very similar to how his ears look. 

 

 

This has been a very upsetting series of events for us here in the barn but it has also been a very educational experience.    First thing you must do if you expect frostbite:  start to warm the animal.  You will want to warm slowly and provide a warm place for them to rest.  Second: watch the progress of the impacted area.  We have inspected his ears daily since his birth.  We have watched to be sure he is healthy and eating appropriately.  Fortunately for this little kid he has been very healthy other than his ears.  He has been gaining weight and is very strong.  Third: When the ears  come off you want to monitor for a clean break.  If they come off leaving an open wound you will want to be sure to treat the wound.  We were very luck with our kid that they came off in a clean break.  The good news for this whole event is he only lost the tips of his ears, not his whole ear. 

 

Many things can go wrong in the barn and while most of what we experience is the joy of watching each of the kids grow and develop sometimes these life lessons are also priceless.  I would like to say Marica has done an amazing job not giving up hope on her little kid and she has decided even with his ear issues she will still show him at fair.

 

 

From My Barn 2 Yours

Bradley

Congratulations!!!

We are all so very excited here in the Barn for the fellow 4Her's we assisted with breeding projects this year.  We were successful with all 4 projects and look forward to helping each of these families again in the future.


We started off our success with Mikaela Hayes and crew.  She bred her 2 Does with our Buck (Bobby) .... to produce 3 amazing kids!  This is Mikaela's first year breeding and we can't wait to help her again next year. 

Congratulations Mikaela and Good Luck at Fair!

Our next success story comes from Devon Anderson.  Here in the Barn we helped Devon breed the gilt he showed at fair last summer.  She was bred with our Hampshire Boar (Brutus).  She took the first time and he successfully delivered his first litter of piglets mid-January.  This was Devon's first time breeding pigs and we are so excited for his success.

Congratulations Devon and Good Luck at Fair!

Our third success story comes from Marica Quick.  This was Marica's first year ever showing goats and breeding goats for that matter.  What a big accomplishment for such a young person.  Marica bought her doe from our Barn last spring, after showing her at fair she didn't want to part with her.  Since we run 3 varieties of bucks here at the Barn we matched Marica's doe up with a suitable male and she produced her first kid.  We are all very excited for Marica and her new adventure.

Congratulations Marica and Good Luck at Fair!

Our final success story comes from my friend to the north -  Morgan Love (pictured on the right).  This is the second year we have helped Morgan with his breeding project.  He has had 2 very successful set of twins.  This year we changed up the buck he used to see what they produced.  Morgan now has a set of twin buckling's to raise this summer.



Congratulations Morgan and Good Luck at Fair!

Here in the barn we do so much more than breed and raise show & market animals.  We help build memories and success stories for other 4H members with our Give Back Program.  There is nothing more exciting than knowing you bred and birthed your own project.  Along with the breeding process we hold clinics on goat cares and necessary treatments for fair prep.   We also hold showmanship clinics to help those that purchased goats from the Barn.  Watch our FaceBook page for dates and time for the clinics if you are interested in coming and helping or learning to show.  

How do you get started in our Give Back Program.  Purchase a breedable show animal (Goat, Pig, Angus).  Once you have shown your animal at fair you can contact us about developing your breeding project.   We look forward to helping many more fellow 4H members by fulfilling their dreams of breeding and learning about production.


I would also like to thank all my Barn Help, I could not do this without that assistance of my parents, my sister and the 4Her's who come and help.  Thank you all for helping making these success stories.


From My Barn to Yours,
~Bradley

Winter Weather and Livestock

We are in full swing winter here in the Barn!   Now is the time to be sure you know a few things about taking care of your animals during the harsh winter months.  I decided to write this piece since we had some super cold days and nights this last week. 

Pigs actually do very well during the cold months, much better than our goats do!  The main thing to remember about your pig and the snow is to make sure they have a dry spot for bedding - weather they are in a barn or out side.  If outside be sure they have a shelter so they can get out of the elements, wind is the worst for them.  If your temperatures drop below -45 degrees you may see little to no activity from your pig.  They will hold up in their warm spot until the temperatures start to improve.  Always make sure you keep them with plenty of food.  A sow will need roughly 7500 kcal/day to maintain.  They also really enjoy slope so make sure you keep them fed and plenty of water if you don't feed in a slope fashion.

 Goats .... They are bit more tricky when it comes to winter weather. 
Make sure you keep them with water at all times, they will not break through ice in a bucket so we suggest you use heated buckets.  Those have worked the best in our barn.  For the kids make sure to have heat lamps going if it drops below 30 degrees.  If you are in kidding season as we currently are, you have to keep a close eye on the nannies.  Once the kids arrive you will need to get them dried off so they have a good shot a surviving.  When using heat lamps make sure you are only using those approved for barns.  Heat lamps have been known to cause barn fires.  Make sure you keep your nannies supplied with plenty of hay and grain with minerals.  During cold weather make sure to increase by 15% to help them maintain.  If you have goats that aren't in a barn you may want to increase feed another 5% and always make sure they have a suitable shelter to get out of the elements.




Cows are the easiest of all of them!!!! They are built to withstand the cold.  Even when calving they do well in the elements.  They really only need a wind break, unless you are experiencing days of snow fall or cold rain they will have very few issues with the cold weather.  When dealing with maintaining your cattle during those cold months, remember to help the out with increasing their feed.  Ranchers usually recommend for every 10 degrees below 30 degrees you increase feed by 10-13%.   You will also want to be sure they have a water source.

  

We hope all these little tips and tricks help you out with your livestock during our winter months. 

We can't wait to show off all our little ones coming due this spring.  Make sure to keep checking back for updates and information.

Brad ~

Barn2Fridge