Norse goddess FRIGGA spinning the clouds

According to folklore, when she stands up to shake out her apron, snow falls. I think there is way too much spinning going on up there this winter !

We have KIDS! LAMBS and yes, BUNNIES!

Last month I reported that all the February bunnies were lost after being born on an exceptionally bitter cold night. Well, one rabbit who bred a couple days after the main bunch managed to kindle on a better weather day.... so far so good... and others should follow. See the bunny page for pix of the first of the 2007 bunnycrop.

The first kids were born on February 11th ( starting things off right before another big winter storm... sigh). See the goatpage for the developing list of salegoats, a few photos, goats in the news, and a brief description of FROSTBITE in newborns. Need new hoof trimmers? I got a deal on some Zenport trimmers!

The sheep are just now starting to lamb, but I have one Border Leicester lamb to offer... more next month. See the sheep page for sheep in the news and the developing salelist. The Zenport trimmers will work great for sheep too, so I have them listed on this page as well.

FREE Puppies !

pups at 6 weeks!

well Annie had it her way again... three adorable Pyranees x Charpais . All are white with brown spots ... and fat fat fat. They lay out on the snow like polar bears on an iceberg, soaking up the sun, seeming impervious to the cold. All female. Eating dogfood now and ready to wean. Should have great temperments. Raised around children and livestock. Vaccinated with Soloject and wormed.

This year I would like to start a new series in this newsletter. It is a bit controversial from a sales point of view... I mean, I would love to be able to tell you that my sheep-goats-rabbits have never had a sick day in their lives. I would love to tell you that I have never seen X disease on this farm.... but I have been doing this for 25 years now; and when it comes right down to it, I would RATHER tell you the way it is so that experience can be shared.

Anyone who has been in the livestock business for any length of time comes across any number of challenges over the years. These experiences are magnified exponentially the larger your herd size. Just when you think you have things under control, life throws a wrench into the herd. Out of a hundred animals , at least one is going to be ailing from something at any given time. Most ailments are transitory, minor and fixable; but sometimes they are not. When I lose an animal I have lost 1/100th of my "inventory"; but if a person with two animals loses one... it is a loss of 50%! And no matter if we have one animal or one hundred... they all have names and are our responsibility.

When I was a naive newbie, I was critical of anyone who admitted they had disease or injury in their flock. "That will never happen to me", I thought, "I'll be a better manager!" But, unless you never go to an auction, show, demonstration, parade, fair... unless you never buy anyone's stock again... unless you never allow another person to visit your animals and YOU never visit another farm... unless you stop all vehicle traffic at the gate : YOU are at risk of introducing and/or inheriting unwanted problems. It's like saying "I'll never get the flu or stub my toe" (and unless you plan on living in a bubble, we know that is not going to happen!)

Some diseases are even beyond our direct control and are carried by flies, the wind, bacteria inherent in the soil. Diseases and injuries happen... no matter how careful you are. Face it. You must be vigilant and realize that you will be challenged with something new every year. Its part of life on the farm !

1. Your Local Vet - I can handle alot of things here on the farm, but I know my limits. I am not a vet. I am a livestock producer (with the added experience of a healthcare background). My vets know that when I call, it is because they are truly needed. They can be your most valuable asset, so culture your relationship with your local vets.

2. Books - It also pays to invest in a good reference book. My favorite is Smith & Sherman's GOAT MEDICINE which although initially an expensive book, has paid for itself many times. I recommend it heartily and find that it has been helpful for both sheep and goats.

3. Experience - Yours or someone else's can mean the difference between success and failure. Pick the brains of other producers (specialized egroups are great for this)... I call it "the collective brain". If you have a question or a concern, ask other breeders... I am always available by email (sometimes by phone!). You will build confidence with each success and you learn important lessons with each loss.

4. Observation and Intuition - Look at your animals every day. Observe normal behavior. Notice unusual behavior. Trust your intuition. I once called the vet about my milk cow. When asked what was wrong. I told him I knew something was wrong... her eyes looked kind of funny. I could tell from his silence, that he thought I was a crackpot-newbie-farmgirl-wannabe, but he came out. The cow had pneumonia. I knew she was "off" because I saw her up close twice a day for milking. Her eyes looked dull like a child with a fever. (but I did not tell him that... perhaps I should have.) I WAS a newbie then, but knew she was sick. Today, I would take her temp, listen to her lungs and just pull out the Pen-G... but then I was learning.

5. Keep written records - Write down the dates of immunizations, wormer, hoof trimming, problems, birthing notes. Write down the good stuff too, not just the problems. Tag or tattoo your animals... this gets more and more important the more animals you have. Note the breeder and the state where they came from. This information will prove useful time and again.

Broken legs, tetanus, hypothermia, hoof rot, pneumonia, floppy kid syndrome, parasites, lice, ring womb, inverted eyelids, prolapse, mouth malformations, hernias, birthing emergencies, horn injuries, fleece maggots, overeating disease, dog attacks, soremouth, abortion storms, c-sections, pink eye, anemia, mastitis... gee, if I had know I would have seen all this over the years, I would have never got my first sheep! There are some things that I have not experienced (yet)... some things I hope I never have to experience... but you never know. Fortunately life generally does not throw more at us than we can handle at one time. So, what do YOU want me to talk about? Write to me at hmffarm@fidnet.com and suggest a topic , share your experience or problem and I will share my thoughts on the subject.

I will be teaching workshops on Hypothermia, Floppy Kid Syndrome, and Other Livestock Emergencies at Estes Park Wool Market and Heart of America Festival this year as part of this initiative. Hope I see you there!

As an interesting sidebar to the topic above: The Senate Agriculture, Conservation, Parks and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Senator Dan Clemens, heard testimony on SB 417 (Goodman), to create the Farm Mentoring and Education Program;

As the American population gets into the third generation away from farming as a way of life, this is becoming an important topic. Where will the farmers of tomorrow come from as our culture heads towards the super-conglomerate-farm and away from the family farm? It will be a sad day when you can no longer buy grapes at roadside stands. Who will mentor the few who wish to follow in the footsteps of their long-gone ancestors?

Push for COOL
Legislation that would expedite the implementation of country-of-origin
labeling (COOL) was introduced in the U.S. Senate this week by co-sponsors Sens.
Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.). The bill would implement
mandatory COOL by Sept. 30, 2007, instead of the September 2008 deadline set in
a fiscal year 2006 spending bill. "Global trade is not going away, and with more trade comes an increase in the importance of country of origin labeling " Thomas said. "Many nations already label food and other products including the United States, and like
I've said before, if it is good enough for T-shirts, it is good enough for
T-bones." "Consumers should have the right to know where their beef, lamb and pork
comes from", Bingaman said...

Country of Origin labeling is something that we as wool producers should think about too. Be proud. Put "Grown in the USA" or "100% American Mohair" on your yarns or finished goods labels. I know I try to buy items made with U.S. wool rather than New Zealand wool say, for example.

Missouri Farm and Food Preservation Act

Visit www.farmandfoodpreservation.org for background information and
current commentary about the Missouri Farm and Food Preservation Act
(MFFPA) and the Coalition for Farm and Food Preservation, a coalition of
fifteen organizations working to provide stronger protection from
litigation and overregulation for Missouri farmers and ranchers.

Draft ID Documents Available
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service has released three documents relating to the National Animal
Identification System for review and comment by the public.
Released on Thursday were a Draft User Guide, a Program Standards and Technical
Reference document and a technical specification document for the animal
tracking databases.
All three documents are available at http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais.

Missouri Fiber Retreats in March

I have two wonderful fiber events to tell you about this month! The first is Fiber Retreat at the George W Carver Conference Center (at Lincoln University's research farm) in Jefferson City, Mo. This is a very popular 3 day event held every year. The focus is Knitting this year, and their keynote speaker is Melissa Leapman http://extension.missouri.edu/fiber/2007/keynote.shtml

but there are reasonable workshops on all aspects of the fiber arts. Here is what is still open as of March 4th: http://extension.missouri.edu/fiber/2007/Catalog07/scheduleataglance.shtml

The second event is the MoFA Retreat on March 30, 31 and April 1. Held at a new location this year" the Rickman Center in Jefferson City, Mo. and offers numerous demonstrations, workshops, shopping, etc. For more info see www.missourifiberartists.com

Both events have weekend or day prices

HMFF to teach workshops at Heart of America Festival in Sedalia, MO June 1-3

Modern Marketing Techniques