Premeir 1 Electric Fencing

"D" asked me how could I confine the sheep to just the garden area? Wouldn't they go anywhere they liked? 

I accomplished that feat by using a portable electric fence. I'm using Premier 1 fencing designed for sheep. I splurged this past Christmas and bought the farm a present. I purchased 5 rolls of mesh fencing plus a charger to use with it. 

I've seen this fencing being used at Kapapala Ranch, so it wasn't totally foreign to me. But I had never actually used it myself. So this was a new adventure. 

The fencing arrived on schedule, neatly packaged, complete with everything needed. I followed the instructions for opening the rolls up and setting the fencing in place. It turned out to be easier than I anticipated. I really had myself braced for a difficult time, but it didn't happen. Rolling up, moving, and re-setting the fencing has proven to be fairly easy too as long as I paid attention to what I was doing. Paying attention is the main point. I had memories of untangling strings of Christmas lights as a child, but the tangles never occurred with this fencing...thank heaven. 

The fencing I choose has fiberglass posts every 6 feet. That proved to be a good choice. The 12 foot spacing would not have worked so well for how I intend to use it. I'm moving the fencing frequently and the 12 spacing would have been very difficult to handle alone by myself. 

I took the time to train the sheep to the fence. Having had experience training dogs to the Invisible Fence, I was aware how important it was to correctly introduce the animal to the new fencing. So the first 3 days were short sessions where I kept an eye on the sheep. I didn't have the electric charger attached, therefore the sheep could investigate the fencing, learn how to get their heads out from the holes, and slowly untangle themselves if they happened to put a foot through the fence. I didn't pressure them so that they wouldn't panic. Plus since sheep don't like to move in reverse, they needed to learn how to do that automatically on their own if they got a body part in the fence. On day 4 I left them corralled for the day. All went well. It's now been 2 weeks and they are comfortable with the fencing. Nobody gets tangled in it anymore (only one apparently learning disabled ewe kept getting caught up in it.) They understand it now. And guess what......I haven't hooked up the charger yet. Of course, they haven't run out of grazing either, so they don't see a need to bust out. But they are not challenging the fencing so far. I do plan to introduce them to the charger next week in order to train them to respect the fence, but I am impressed how they are taking to it so far. 

Noooowwwwww, the goats are another story!!!!

What can I say...goats are baaaaaad! It didn't take them long to investigate this new contraption. They tried chewing it, climbing over it, pulling it with their horns, pulling the fiberglass posts up, sticking their heads and legs through it. They also managed to get tangled up in it. Mean mommy (me) let them get tangled ultra good, stuck there laying on their sides well bound up in the fencing. I walked around them, talking to them but ignoring their struggles. After 10 minutes I began to untangle them....after binding their legs with duct tape so that they wouldn't cause more harm while I freed them. Freeing them was almost as tedious as unraveling those strings of Christmas lights! Once free of fencing and duct tape, I let them loose. Being smart goats, they are now leaving the fencing alone. Good thing! ....... It's also a good thing that the charger wasn't hooked up. They have learned their lesson the easy way. 

Surprise On The Road

Living in a rural farming/ranching area, surprises in the roadway sometimes happen. It could be a stray dog, feral cat, turkeys or peacocks, stray livestock. I've come upon domestic goats, sheep, alpacas, and cattle in addition to feral goats, mouflon, and pigs. No livestock owner wants their stock to be in the road, but it happens. Today I came upon this......

Not knowing who owned them, I called the police. My top concern was that they would wander onto the main highway and cause an accident. They were about a half mile from the highway and were heading that direction. Failing to be able to get around them and thus drive them back up the mountain and into some neighbor's pasture for safety, I helplessly stood guard to prevent a vehicle from coming down the mountain, thus hitting or spooking them further down to road. They continued to head for the highway and I can only hope that the police arrived in time to block the end of the road. Guess I'll hear the neighborhood gossip tomorrow as to what finally happened. 

Keeping livestock adequately confined can be difficult, but it's the responsibility of every livestock owner. And it's always a nightmare when they break out. On my own farm I check the condition of my fences daily, looking for weak or damaged spots. Even so, I've had livestock escape, usually because a fence section was brought down by a fallen tree or weakened due to acid rain. Most of my stock is behind double fencing, which helps a lot to keep them in my own property. So if I notice that the pigs have escaped, they are still behind the second fence that completely surrounds the farm perimeter. 

On Farm Vaccination Info

After my little snit-fit yesterday, I got to thinking that I should explain some of the ins & outs about using vaccines. 

Vaccinations are a great help to avoid having to use antibiotics and to prevent animal deaths. That's probably the number one reason farmers use vaccines. Pet owners vaccinate their pets primarily because they have been told it's the proper thing to do, plus they don't want to risk having their pets die. It's only after an unvaccinated pet gets sick that they learn about how expensive the veterinary treatment can be, plus learn that their pet might still die anyway. 

Most farmers/ranchers do their own vaccinations. As for pet owners, that depends upon the region that they live. Most urbanites and suburbanites have veterinarians vaccinate the pet. Rural, remote, and economically depressed regions see more owner vaccination vs veterinary administered vaccinations. Personally, as long as the user gets educated about vaccines and vaccinations, plus is willing to assume the risks, I see no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to do home vaccinations.   

Things to consider in order to effectively vaccinate at home........

First, it's imperative to use the correct vaccine. Vaccines are matched to the specific animal species and a specific disease. 

Owner needs to read label thoroughly to determine the correct method to inject the vaccine. And the correct amount of vaccine to use. If the vaccine is given incorrectly, the animal may get no protection, and even worse, become ill. The owner needs to learn the correct way to administer untranasal, subcutaneous, intramuscular, and/or intradermal injections. 

Care must be used to inject correctly and use the correct size needle and syringe. This also goes along with needing to know how to correctly restrain the animal so that the injection can be properly made. 

Injecting mechanisms and syringes & needle need to be sterile and properly cleaned. Leaving residual disinfecting solution behind could make the vaccine ineffective, besides causing site reactions and/or infections.

The time period between vaccination and slaughter needs to be determined and followed if the animal is destined for human food. 

Vaccines need to be transported and stored correctly, otherwise they are ineffective. 

If not already in liquid form, they need to be mixed (liquid part mixed with dry powder part) correctly and used within a specified time period. 

Not all vaccines for a particular disease work the same way. So in a vaccination series, using different brands for each vaccination may not be effective. Stick with the same brand and vaccine through a vaccination series. 

Mistakes I've seen made...

...transporting vaccine from the store in one's pocket. I've also seen vaccines sitting on the dashboard of the pickup truck. I've seen people leave the vaccine sitting out on a countertop for hours before using it. 

...freezing the vaccine 

...using outdated vaccine 

...reconstituting the vaccine too far ahead of time. 

...using cat vaccine in a dog

...mixing two vaccines together in the same syringe. 

...injecting SQ (subcutaneous, that is, under the skin) a vaccine meant to be given IM (into a muscle) 

...using too small of a needle

...injecting in the wrong location, which applies mostly to livestock that will be slaughtered. 

...not having the animal restrained while attempting to vaccinate 

...vaccinating an ill or debilitated animal

...not vaccinating according to the correct schedule. 

...using a dirty syringe & needle, or one that was incorrectly resterilized 

...administering the vaccine via the wrong method. I've seen vaccines designed for intramuscular injection bring given "sub-q" (that is, SQ or subcutaneous.)

Occasionally an animal can have an adverse reaction to a vaccine. It doesn't happen often, but it can. Most reactions are not life threatening (hives, lethargy, fever, swelling at injection site, limping, etc), but rarely they can be. Thus most breeders and farmer/ranchers who do their own vaccinations keep epinephrine on hand to treat anaphylaxis, a life threatening reaction. In the 29 years I worked in veterinary medicine, I only witnessed 2 cases of anaphylaxis initiated by vaccines. So it doesn't occur very often. But when it does, you had better have epinephrine handy. 

Loose Livestock Damage

Farm livestock gets loose. It's a common thing that happens. A fence gets damaged by a storm, a tree branch, something else brings it down (such as a car, a neighbor's bull, a trespasser). A gate latch fails. A person misses latching the gate correctly. The livestock learns to open the gate latch. Things happen. Livestock gets loose. 

I've had my share of this happening for a variety of reasons. But I have the habit now of checking the perimeter fence line each morning, looking for weak points, for breaks. I double check the gates when I go through. But still.... It's not uncommon for a feral pig to come by and damage a fence. Or for a branch to fall in it. As long as the livestock stays on my own 20 acres, I don't consider it a disaster. But they surely can cause havoc within my 20 acres. 

Just last month the sheep broke out of the back pasture. The wire gate gave way, a victim of the acid rain. I hadn't noticed the bottom restraining wire getting weak, but those sheep guys did. It was closer to their eye level and they spotted it. I'm guessing that one of them was rubbing themselves in the gate post, relieving an annoying itch, when the bottom of the gate gave way. It was a glorious opportunity to confirm that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence! 

Mostly the flock ate the grass. They entered an area where they've been allow to graze before, but I normally erect protective barriers around things I don't want them to eat. A simple hotwire can protect bee hives, gardens, or fruit trees. Since they understand and respect a hotwire, I don't even need to have it hooked up to a fence charger for it to keep the sheep at bay. But alas, no barrier hotwires. Results........

Lilikoi vines defoliated within reach. Several small vines got chewed through, thus killed. 

Young citrus tree defoliated and pruned. Luckily it's starting to push new leaves. 

My red grapefruit tree, pruned at sheep level. 

Happily I discovered the breakout before things got worse. But in the past I've had the entire veggie garden eaten! Yikes. 

The latest breakout was a couple days ago. Calico, the goat, learned how to work the gate latch. Smart goat. Of course, every other goat followed her to freedom. No damage done, but the gate now sports a chain and clip to help keep it shut from inquisitive goat lips. 

The real danger comes when livestock leave the farm. If they get onto a roadway, they could cause an accident. Bad news. Thus I am very diligent about maintaining my perimeter fence. 

Bitten !

I've worked fairly seriously around animals since I was 15. Through the years I've taken my share of hits -- kicks, bites, & knocks. Yup, I've been stepped on, squashed, knocked off my feet, run over, pinched, scratched, thrown through the air, and bitten. That's not including the times I've been peed on, pooped upon, vomited on, spit on, slapped with manure laden tails, etc. I've got more scars than I remember. And I have to admit that 99% of the time it was my own fault. I was doing something wrong. I truely believe that most accidents involving animals are avoidable if the human is smart enough and alert enough. Ha, but that doesn't always happen, does it. 

I'm going to show you what happened when I took my attention off one of my donkeys that I was working with. Oh, everybody thinks a donkey is sooooo cute. Everybody wants to hug and pet them. But I don't let anyone near my donkeys, and for a real good reason. It's a big animal, and big animals can hurt a person in a big way. Most people who are not animal savvy get really upset when they get damaged by an animal, and totally refuse to accept the fact that the injury was their own fault in some way. So I'm not stupid enough to let someone get hurt and then turn around and sue me. Nope. 

When working with my livestock I try to stay totally focused on them. When you least expect it they will take advantage if your attention wanders. Thus after trimming my donkey's feet, I stood still for a moment listening to a new bird song coming from the next pasture. With my eyes gazing afar, the donkey took its revenge. She clamped down on my leg.....hard! You talk about getting focused instantly!!! My immediate fear was that she would try to lift me up and shake me., thus tearing my leg muscles. So I did something clever but also foolish, I shoved my fingers into her mouth and dug it into her tongue. Ok, she instantly released me but I got a finger bitten in the process. Geez, now I hurt in two places. 

From this angle it doesn't look all that impressive. A couple of pinched cuts and a light ring about the size of a hardball showing where the rest of the teeth clamped down. But looking down from the side shows the monster swelling. 

No, my leg isn't normally bowed. All this swelling is what it looked like AFTER I had ice on it for an hour. (Actually I used frozen packs of food which conformed to the leg better.) Without ice I dread to think how bad it would have looked. Yes, that donkey bit down really hard and took a full mouthful of my leg. 

The reason I'm discussing this is not to get sympathy. Frankly, I don't deserve any. Getting bitten was my own fault. But I want wannabe farmers to be aware that live animals are not like plush stuffed toys. Real animals can do real damage, even to experienced owners. Just because you exude love & peace, just because you don't intend to mistreat the animal, that won't protect you. If you believe that it will, then perhaps you should reconsider having livestock because one day you're going to get seriously injured or even killed. If you have  livestock, accept the fact that some day you will get injured in some fashion. It's not a case of IF you will get hurt, but WHEN and HOW you will get hurt. The idea is to keep the injuries small and infrequent.

Donkeys aren't the only farm animal that can hurt ya. Chickens peck and spur you, drawing blood. Ducks pinch and can gouge of piece of flesh out of unprotected arms and legs. Geese can hurt you with their wings, even breaking fingers and arms. Cute little bunnies can bite and scratch deep gouges in you. Cats can scratch and bite. Dogs can too, but they can also maim and kill. Pigs can cut you up bad, mauling you, even killing you. Sheep and goats can gore, ram, break bones. Cattle are even worse and can easily kick, bash, and stomp you into pulp. Horses and donkeys can bite, kick, trample, squash. Plenty of farmers and ranchers have been seriously damaged or killed by their livestock. Even when the animals aren't attacking directly, working with them can result in serious injury when they slip, fall, shy or unintentionally mangle you in some way. Working with animals is not for wusses. 

I'm hoping not to get injured again for the next few years. Yes, I'm hoping to be smarter for a while. 

And if you've noticed, I'm not showing you my finger at the moment. It's got a nasty crush wound. No broken bones and it still works, but it will be nasty for the next week or two. It looks pretty gross. 

Grass Clippings for Livestock Feed

Many folks have asked me if its ok to feed grass clippings to livestock. I've read many dire internet warnings about this very issue, but I've also read several professional ag reports about the positive results of experiments utilizing grass clippings as feed. It basically boils down to .........maybe.........it depends. 

I decided to give it a try, not that I heartlessly jeopardized my livestock's wellbeing. I read everything first, took steps to be as safe as reasonable, and started slowly. 

Nowadays when the weather cooperates, daily I feed a trashcanful of fresh clippings to the herd which currently consists of a dozen sheep, one horse, and two donkeys. During the summer it's one trashcanful morning and night. In winter it is only one in the morning because the grass doesn't grow very well, so my supply is more limited. 

Things I keep in mind........

1- the clippings must be extremely fresh and not allowed to heat up at all, nor clump. They are fed immediately. 

2- the clippings consist of the same sorts of grasses and herbs found in the regular pastures. 

3- noxious weeds are eliminated from the areas where I mow for the clippings.

4- clippings are collected via a mower bag to avoid raking up stones along with clippings.

5- care is taken to avoid sucking up trash as I mow.

6- I don't feed clippings from other people's land because of possible poisonous weeds and plants that the animals are not use to eating. 

Things I need to be concerned about and aware of........

1- greedy eaters may not adequately chew grass clippings before swallowing. Incompletely chewed or rapidly eaten clippings could result in choke. This has not been a problem with any of my animals. 

2- livestock might overeat resulting in bloat, laminitis, or colic. I have not had this problem because I limit the amount of clippings plus do not have any greedy gulpers. 

There can be dangers in feeding grass clippings. But my current livestock are sensible eaters. The clippings are just a chopped up version of their regular pastures. And the clippings just serve as a novel snack morning and evening. One trashcanful shared by so many animals means that no one gets too much. 

So why bother to make the grass clippings? Because I have sections of old pasture that I no longer allow the livestock access to. Why? Because I've converted parts of that pasture area to vegetable gardens and orchards. But the grass that's in between and around the trees is perfectly usable as livestock feed. I could use a sickle bar mower, like one used to cut forage for hay making, but the lawnmower works ok for me. It's quick and easy. 

Besides the sheep, goats, and equines, who else likes grass clippings? The chickens. The pigs will eat a bit, but they primarily play in it and make nests. Since they get out to graze in the afternoons, they don't find the clippings all that attractive. And neither do the rabbits. Hands down, the rabbits prefer long grass, not mutilated mower clippings. 

Oh, one more point. Equines (horses, donkeys, etc) are the primary livestock class that may be the most apt to have problems with grass clippings, especially because they can tend to bolt good tasting foods and over indulge. If you notice in the photo, my livestock have to eat the clippings through the fence. Not a problem for the sheep. But the horse and donkeys can only nibble small mouthfuls through the fence since they can't simply bury their noses into the pile. Perhaps that helps prevent the problems associated with feeding them clippings.

Simple Hayfeeder

Being that it's the middle of the winter, my pastures aren't growing much. So when the grass gets low, I need to confine the livestock to the inner, unimproved area in order to protect the good pastures from being overgrazed. This means that I need to supplement with hay. This year I added two donkeys to the inventory which resulted in my pastures getting grazed down quicker than previously. Usually I don't run low on grazing until closer to May. But this year I found myself starting the first week of February, alternating every other day between the grass pasture and the inner non-grassed area where they are fed hay or hay cubes. Hum, I'm going to have to refine my pasture management for next year.  

Anyway, what to do to get through this spring. The easy fix was to supplement with hay. Expensive solution but available. The horse and donkeys get hay cubes, which they seem to prefer. While the sheep get baled hay. Oh, they like the alfalfa too but they tend to have difficulty with it and choke. So I want to keep them away from the cubes. With all the livestock sharing the inner pasture on grass-free days, I had to devise a way to segregate the feed. Luckily the equines go for the cubes over the baled hay. 

I use a trashcan for holding the hay cubes. The trashcan is secured to the fence so that it can't be knocked over. 

By dumping only one 50 lbs. bag of cubes into it, the sheep can't reach in and get to the cubes. 

None so far have figured out how to jump into the trashcan, thus the cubes are effectively out of the sheep's reach. But the equines can reach them easily. 

Now what to do about the baled hay. Sheep can be great wasters of hay. And hay around here cost me $45 a bale! I'm not inclined to see sheep pee, poop, and sleep on it. My first idea was to build a keyhole feeder. So I built one and it worked fine for the sheep until the horse got her head stuck in it. Luckily the mare didn't injure herself but she busted up the feeder by dragging it about until she freed herself. Rather than trying to separate the livestock by building additional corrals, I tried to come up with a simpler, quicker, cheaper solution.....in a hurry. Dumping hay into the ground won't do. I tried putting the hay into a cement mixing tray. No good. Sheep just stood on the hay. I tried a tub like a bathtub. Sheep jumped in, pooped and peed on the hay. Two failures in 20 minutes. 

Watching the lambs sticking their heads through the fence trying to reach some dropped hay made a lightbulb go off in my head. Why not put the hay outside the fence? So I gave it a try to see how they handled it. The lambs and ewes were fine, but the rams couldn't get their heads through the fence, so they could only reach what was close. Quickly they ran out of reachable hay. Now if I could only keep the hay up against the fence, it should work. 

Raiding my trusty pallet stash, I brought four pallets over. Propped up by the fence, it looked like they could work, but the hay would drop between the slats. 

So two old feed sacks cut open and nailed to the pallets would prevent the hay from slipping through. What I quickly jimmyed together kept the hay up against the fence even as hay was being eaten. It just slid down the slanted pallet and right up against the wire. The ewes tended to eat the hay further away while the rams cleaned up the hay along the fence. 

I've been using thus method for 6 weeks now and have seen very, very little wastage. On top of it, the equines can also access this hay if they want to, without ruining it too. A simple solution that was easy, quick, and cheap. 

Home Slaughtering Issue

Stan asked via email if I had a local slaughterhouse to take the pigs to for processing. Yes, there is one about two hours away. But I don't use it. For many reasons, I opt for home slaughter. 

#1- There is no guarantee that I would be getting my own animal back. Even at our local slaughterhorse in Hilo, you're not allowed to watch the process. You have to drop the animal off then return a couple days later to pick up the wrapped meat. I've talked with a few neighbors who swore that they didn't get their own meat back. There's no way to prove that, but it's what they believe. Since the slaughterhouse sells meat to stores and restaurants, and processing is done behind closed doors, and there is no third part inspection or supervision, the benefit and opportunity to the slaughterhouse of switching carcasses surely exists. 

#2- Animals go through mental and emotional stress when transported if they have not been conditioned to it. I've seen them "dance" in trailers, repeatedly crash into the trailer sides attempting to escape, repeatedly vocalize, get "stress diarrhea", hyperventilate. Why put them through that if there is no need? 

#3- Since I would never sell my livestock via an auction or to a slaughterhouse and thus into the commercial meat flow, I won't even go there. That's a situation I can never approve of, though I have been forced to condone all my life via eating commercial meat and eggs. In the 80's and 90's the commercial situation was atrocious. Thankfully Temple Grandin has precipitated dramatic changes and improvements since then. Hubby chooses the bury his head in sand when I comes to this issue. We can't even discuss it.

#4- With properly done home slaughter, the animal undergoes little or no stress or pain.

#5- As was pointed out to me by a neighbor, once you're set up for it, home slaughter and butchering is a heck of a lot cheaper. 

The down sides are:

...often people cannot deal with the emotional aspects. 

...you need to learn from someone else how to do it. 

...you cannot legally sell, trade, or in some locales even give away or share the meat, depending upon the species. But to tell you the truth, most people I know that home slaughter & butcher ignore that regulation. 

...with larger animals, you need to have a big enough freezer for storage

...for beef, you need to arrange to have the meat hung for aging since most people don't own their own walk in refrigerator. 

I live in a area where home slaughter & butchering is common enough. I'm sure there have been many a tourist freaked out when they pass by one of these events. But locals here generally accept the idea. 

Collars and Halters

One of the blogs that I follow just recently posted a story about a near disaster involving her goats and collars. In my opinion it's a must-read article for any small livestock holder, including cats and dogs. 

http://www.5acresandadream.com/          March 1, 2014 entry

Why did I like Leigh's post? Because many people fairly new at keeping livestock are not aware of the realities of life. Regardless of how we keep them, I believe that we sometimes cannot fully protect our livestock from danger. And at times we need to balance the pros and cons of the various methods of animal husbandry, accepting that there is no perfect method. Sometimes accidents happen. Some are preventable but some are not. 

So how have I resolved the use of halters and collars on my homestead? What's my take? First and foremost, I have agreed with myself to accept the consequence of my decisions. I agree that there is no perfect solution, and when it comes to dealing with animals, there can always be accidents. That's a given. So I won't mentally beat myself up when an accident does occur. Thus I will balance the danger against my own needs for safely handling my livestock. I think it comes down to the need for my safety versus their safety sometimes. Sounds a bit heartless, but that's life. 

(Bucky on driveway clearing duty. He's totally at ease with his collar and tie-out.)

Our sheep and goat all are collared. Our goat has horns. Yes, those horns can be a problem. We keep both sheep and goat collared for two reasons. #1- Ease of handling them. I often need to restrain them. Hair plucking here, deworming there, checking for flystrike here, checking a hoof there. They are all people friendly and willing climb all over me, but heaven forbid I try to restrain them! Suddenly they don't consider me the loving mother substitute that they once knew. I suddenly turned into a sheep eating monster to be avoided at all costs! Baaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Sure, I could just collar them for procedures, slipping a noose over their heads, then installing the collar....but why? Hey, I've already got a noose on them. But there is an instance far more important for those collars. I think about those times when they sneak out an opened gate. Those collars have saved those animals from skittering off and becoming lost. Grabbing or snagging a collar is much, much more effective and less traumatic than trying to grab a rear leg or do a full body tackle, which seldom works by the way. Oh before going to 24 hour collaring, I have  had a few wild rodeo-like rides on the back of a panicked sheep, getting drug across the field only to end up being sheepless, dirty with mud jammed down my shoes, up my nails, and thoroughly rubbed into my skull. Sheep 1 / Human 0... Sheep 2 / Human 0... Sheep 3 / Human 0. It takes an old human days to recover! Then there's the time four of us tried to corral a ram out of a flock. Now get this.... old Rapanui was a normally friendly ram when not in a flock situation, often begging for treats and petting, following me around and making a pest of himself. I can't tell you how many times one of us had a grab on his wool as he ran us over only to lose the grip. And every time we tried to lasso him he jumped high into the air like Pegasus trying to take off! How many times did we say, "If only he had a handle we could have caught him on the first go-around." 

(Bucky recycles weeds into fertilizer.) 

#2 reason - Uncollared (or unbranded or un-ear tagged) sheep and goats around here are considered unowned strays, so anyone can capture or hunt them. We actually have a number of loose sheep and goats in the wooded areas around me, escaped from somebody's flock somewhere. Most people respect a collared animal and won't take it. So if your stock is identifiable with a collar, you have time to try to locate them and get them back. My collars are those web nylon type dog collars, so it is simple to use a permanent marker to write my phone number plus the word reward on them. Branding sheep doesn't work too well. And ear tags often get pulled out here in the brush.

When it comes to horses, leaving halters on all the time is usually asking for trouble. They tend to use their rear hooves to scratch their faces. And they frequently rub their heads on fence posts, gates, trees. Thus the risk of becoming ensnared or tangled is a real concern. That having been stated, my own current horse constantly wears her halter. Why? Because she's a nut case, she's a tad wacko. Well, more that just a tad. When's she's wearing a halter, she's docile and catchable. When she's not wearing a halter, she's like a freaky wild thing. Catching her becomes a trial of patience and trickery, and hours of frustration. I've never owned a horse quite like this before. So I consider her a special case. A halter she shall wear even if it has its dangers.  It's a case of having to accept the trade off. 

(Yoshi is never without her halter. Somehow it keeps her sane.)

Our cats do not wear collars. I live where there is thick low growing brush with strong twigs quite capable of hooking a cat's collar, thus ensnaring it. Plus my cats often climb into trees where an ensnared collar could result in death by hanging. But I also have another concern where being collared could save the cat's life. Many neighbors control the excess feral cats via trap & kill. Obviously owned cats are released. So if a cat isn't collared, it's hard to tell if it is a neighbor's cat or a feral. I toyed with the idea of using a button ID in the ear, but hubby objected. He felt that just keeping near neighbors informed about our cats was caution enough. Perhaps it has been. But we did have a cat disappear who we knew tended to roam. Drowned in a feral cat trap? Perhaps. Luckily most of our cats by now have become settled stay-at-homes, but we know that if they wander that they might be killed. So is the solution to confine them in the house? Sorry animal worshippers, but the answer is no. These cats are here for a job, rodent control. They must earn a living, just like me. And they are good at their job since we no longer have rats coming into the house, chewing wires in the workshops, getting into the feed. So the bottom line is that they will be cats that are free to come and go as they please, and I will do what I can to encourage them to stay on our farm. 

Dogs - presently all collared. Decades ago I used to raise and show dogs. None wore collars for safety reasons.....and the esthetics of a fine quality dog. Yes, show dog people truly are snobs! All were identifiable via tattoos, and later, microchips. I lived in "civilized" NJ. But here in Hawaii we are in a rural area. While my farm is fenced, the dogs are capable of jumping the fence under times of stress. One of our farm guard dogs jumps the rockwall at times. When strangers act weird passing by the farm, the watchdogs get edgy. So keeping them collared with ID lets people know that they are owned, versus being strays or abandoned dump-offs. I've never come up with a problem with the dogs yet, but the possibility is there. If one should be out in the road, anyone capturing them would know right away that they are owned by us. By the way, no jumping to false conclusions here. Crusty, the dog, has only hopped the fence or wall less than a half dozen times. So it's not a common occurrence. 

In my opinion, collars have their value. Yes, they also have their risks, as with everything on the farm. Life is not risk free. Life is not safe. And while some accidents could have been prevented in hindsight, sometimes there are reasons for not taking those steps. I don't believe in being reckless with my livestock, but things can happen. That's life. Suck it up and get over it. 

Working Livestock

I've been following the New York City carriage horse controversy for several weeks so far via the NYC Post and Jon Katz's blog ..... www.bedlamfarm.com

(You can sort out just the carriage horse posts by typing in the word "carriage" into the search engine at the top left of the blog entries. )

This morning I received an email asking me where I stand on this "horrible abusive issue" and would I be willing to host a home for some of these "rescued abused horses". The person in question knows that I came from the general NYC area, worked in veterinary medicine, came to the rescue of many an abused animal, and provided life long homes for many animals destined to die otherwise. Shipping a few of the horses here is not an issue, nor would setting my farm as a quarantine location for the few months needed for Hawaii State quarantine. Plus she knows that I have a soft spot in my heart for horses, especially harness horses. She was wrongly informed that I am an animal rights activist. 

I'm not going to beat around the bush. I firmly do NOT believe that the NYC carriage horses are abused. Although I have had no contact with them in 12 years, I know that there are laws and regulations in place ensuring their care, health, and safety. Veterinarians routinely visit those horses and would report signs of abuse, if any existed. Based upon my past experience, I do not believe that those horses need rescuing. This is not a situation of animal abuse in any shape or form. You can read Jon's blog for a current assessment of the care and situation of these horses. 

The whole issue is generated by animal rights groups who have successfully used money to place a person into the office of mayor. They are now using this person as a puppet to grandstand their "animal rights" movement. I put the term animal rights into parentheses because in this case the horses already have far more rights than afforded people who live in NYC. The activists wish to push their movement beyond the right to food/shelter/care, now to no-work/no-purpose. This is the next level in the animal rights movement, who sees a vegan style future with no work animals, no food animals, no use of animals, and ultimately no pet animals. 

This NYC carriage horse controversy is just another manifestation of our society's disconnection with the natural world. And more importantly by far, people's willingness to form an opinion based upon unsubstantiatable claims, a willingness to believe stuff without considering the source and without checking for oneself. Simply a case of fighting to the death for something based on gossip and lies. 

So how does this relate to my homestead story? Plenty! If working a horse in harness is illegal one place, how long will it be until it is illegal in other places. Will the working horse become illegal? I could no longer use my horse to pull a log out of the woods, pull a garden cart, nor take for a ride. What about my working collie dog? Is that next? If PETA and animal rights activists rule, then even keeping a  farm dog or farm cat will frowned upon. No flocks of sheep. No milking goats. No laying hens. All some day to be banned. No, I put my foot down here. I don't see work as abuse. Hubby and I work every day in order to earn a living. I see no problem with an animal working to earn its living too. 

Disaster - Predator Attack !!!

Dog attack!!!!!   Not mine, but a neighbor's. A horrible disaster that could have been avoided if the dog owner had been a responsible person. But here in paradise, there are a lot of irresponsible dog owners. This neighbor lost four adult sheep outright. A fifth had to be shot the next day due to the attack. And her prematurely born lamb most likely won't survive either. 

Dealing with a dog attack is something that most livestock owners have to deal with at least once in their life. Sadly, many of us have these attacks happen over and over again. Not only does the farmer have dead and injured livestock, he often never gets reimbursed for his loses plus has a dog owner pissed at him!  For real! The dog owner is mad. By some twisted, denial type of logic, the dog owner blames the farmer. And heaven forbid if the farmer shoots the dog in order to stop the killing. The dog owner is then super pissed.  I've seen it happen many times. 

I've talked with plenty of dog owners who routinely let their dogs run. Some take their dogs to rural areas and purposely let them loose in order to give them a good run. Never do they consider the chance that their friendly dogs will kill livestock if given the opportunity. They swear that "not my dog, he never would". But in reality, it's just a dog doing a dog thing, killing prey. Other owners let their dogs roam at night, claiming that dogs need to roam, it's their instinct. Well, it's also their instinct to kill, but owners refuse to acknowledge that. On my own road one of my own neighbors swore that his dogs never left his property. After giving him several warnings, his dogs were shot dead after killing several sheep. Instantly he was angry, threatening several farming neighbors, not acknowledging that he and his dogs were at fault. We all breathed a sigh of relief when he moved away. 

Most dogs will kill livestock if put in the right situation, that is, unsupervised freedom. Those that 

are too small to make a kill can still maim or otherwise injure livestock. I've seen sheep die after being harassed for an hour, constantly being run, and never have been torn or bitten even once. I've seen chickens and rabbits kill themselves inside their pens slamming against the walls while a dog harasses them from the outside. 

Several years ago I too experienced a dog attack. I had some dead sheep and some injured ones that recovered but bore the scars and fear for the rest of their lives. Thankfully my next door neighbor shot the dog before I lost my entire flock. The dog owner refused to pay, then moved away to places unknown. The incident prompted me to get guard dogs and install electrified fencing, expenses that I should not have had to bear, in my opinion. The dog was the trespasser, not the sheep. 

Graphic photo below......... What a dog can do to sheep......if you are aghast and can't bring yourself to look, that's fine by me. But then perhaps farming isn't for you, because as a farmer it is something you'll someday see on your own farm.  It doesn't matter what kind of livestock you have, the are all vulnerable. Even cattle and horses aren't safe. One of my friend's dogs even managed to kill a domestic pig. My girlfriend had two horses were killed here on my farm by loose dogs.  Dogs are effective killers. No way am I against dogs, but loose uncontrolled ones can be destructive to innocent livestock. 

Homestead Livestock

Over the past years I've tried all sorts of livestock before finally settling down with what I believe are the easiest ones for the small homestead farm. Chickens. Muscovy ducks. Sheep. Rabbits. Pigs.

Rejected from my personal choices are:

   Cattle.....Difficult to contain when they have a mind to travel. Eat a lot of food. Big enough to hurt you easily. Laborious for home slaughter.

   Goats.....Hard to keep fenced in with just routine fencing. Climb on everything. Destroy things.

   Horses..... Require a lot more work to maintain. Eat a lot of food. Big enough to hurt you easily.

   Turkey....Disease susceptible. Die readily from just about anything.

   Ducks .... Noisy. Filth up a pond in a hurry.

Now, just because I've written them off my list doesn't mean that other homesteaders wouldn't be successful with them. And funny to say, just because they are on my "no" list doesn't mean that I don't have them! Yes, I confess. I own a horse and a goat. I own a horse simply because it gives me pleasure seeing her there and tending to her. Sure, the manure benefits the garden too. The goat is a daily reminder to enjoy life. Try new things. The goat is a challenge and it's hard keeping one step ahead of him, but he makes me laugh and reminds me not to take life too seriously.

Chickens are good suppliers of eggs and meat. Depending upon how I house them, I also get manure and pen litter for the compost. My little banties do bug control for me. Since I grow or gather much  of their food, it costs me little to keep them.

The Muscovy ducks are easy to keep. No pond or swimming water required. Not noisy. Good producers for meat....plus some eggs. I allow them to produce ducklings. Selling the excess is never a problem for me. They self-browse much of their food from the pasture.

Sheep are easy to handle without injuring myself. I grass feed mine and use grain only as a training incentive, so my feed costs are low. Since I have hair breeds, I don't have to sheer them, a big plus. They are easy for the homesteader to home slaughter.

Rabbits are simple to house, feed, and slaughter. They are a good source of delicious meat. And for those so inclined, their pelts can be home tanned.

Pigs are for me the most challenging on my list, simply because they can be strong rooters and can be fairly weighty when time for slaughter. But I have taken advantage of that strong rooting instinct, using a pig to help root out unwanted trees and tree stumps. And although other homesteaders find a 200-250 lb pig ideal, I would opt for 100-125 lbs. The smaller size is easier to handle for me. 

Fish. If one has the right set up available, raising tilapia or catfish might be a good option. I haven't tried it yet, but I am on the verge of plunging into tilapia raising. Since I haven't tried it yet, I don't know just how well they would work for the small homesteader. 

Some of the more exotic livestock is a real risk, as far as basic homesteading goes, especially for beginners. Most are expensive. Most people don't know enough about them to keep them alive and healthy. Most local veterinarians know little about them. In this group I'd include emus, ostriches, rheas, llamas, alpacas, and other exotics. I don't know about you, but I bet I could kill all mine in the space of a month or two, just out of plain ignorance. 

I chat with other homesteaders who have been successful with some really weird livestock. How about raising guinea pigs for pets and FOOD? I'm told that they eat a lot of food for a small amount of meat, but they produce really cute babies. Then there is Stan who raises iguanas for meat. And Bill who raises snakes for food. Well, to each heir own.