× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! When talking about the animals we raise, I often hear, “How do you do it all?” I’m startled at that question, because the reality is there isn’t much to do, so I thought maybe it would help to take you on a walk through my daily chores. As much as possible, I try to automate systems. Like most of us, I have a lot going on with homeschooling, house-wifing and small farming, so anything I can be hands off with is a help. These photos were taken today. The average time to feed and care for all the animals on the property is under 30 minutes, with bursts of activity once per Read More
Tag: dog
Creating a Feeding Station for Livestock Guardian Dogs
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! Before we got pigs, we just had a bowl of food out for the dogs free choice. Those days were so innocent, so pure, so carefree. Then came the pigs. <cue ominous music> Now, I’ve had all kinds of livestock for most of my life, but nothing prepared me for life with pigs. They are an entirely different animal altogether. I remember the first time we were moving two of our little sweet adorable piglets out of one pen and into another. Everything was going great, they were following a bucket of grain and we were thrilled with our success. Then they quit coming. I looked back to see those two Read More
Fencing for the Livestock Guardian Dog
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! My heart jolted out of my body for probably the 4,000th time in a month to the sound of a honking horn. In the weeks since moving to our new farm, situated right next to a paved road, it had seemed like one catastrophe after another and the honking horn was a sure clue that yet another disaster was unfolding right outside. Blaze, our benevolent Great Pyrenees, had once again escaped the pasture where she lived and was out on the road stopping cars. This is a 50 MPH road, so you can imagine the chaos that ensued. She would refuse to move, barking at these evident trespassers and nothing we Read More
When Your Neighbor Hates Your Livestock Guardian Dogs
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! Nearly two years ago, we packed up everything we owned, including 17 goats and their 2 livestock guardian dogs, and moved to our new home, a beautiful paradise you see in all the photos on this website. It’s the place of dreams, a place I wake up every day and thank God for allowing us to buy. Here, at last, we could fulfill our dream of becoming a sustainable farm, able to withstand life’s financial and social storms. We were so eager to begin that we worked until midnight the day of closing to get our beds moved and sleep in our new home. We’d lived in the house we moved Read More
Cost of Making Homemade Dog Food
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! We’re still in the early stages of being 100% kibble free and making our own dog food, so I’ll continue to update this post as the details become clearer. Prior to making the switch, we were spending $4.55 per day for dog food, which gives us quite a bit of cost to work with. If we pay the same amount but feed them homemade food instead, I’d count it a win for the health benefits. How Much To Feed Per Day? Juliette de Bairacli Levy says a healthy collie adult should eat 2 pounds per day with this method. Collies average 60 pounds full grown. Our four dogs average 66 pounds, Read More
Our Journey Begins: Ditching Dog Food
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! For years now I have wanted to get away from kibble in my dogs’ diets. It is unnatural, laden with chemicals and filled with things we wouldn’t necessarily choose to feed ourselves. I have a six year old German Shepherd who, after having mandatory vaccines to be boarded one year, has suffered off and on with skin conditions and nervous issues. He is sensitive to foods and has never seemed to regain full health after his ordeal. It is mainly for him that we are finally jumping into feeding dogs naturally, with no kibble. The thing that has held me back from making this move is the many conflicting recommendations on Read More