A difficult week
It seems as though everything is hard this week. The weather is exceptionally cold, our Livestock Guardian dog suddenly got ill and died, and on top of that we are having to change our name because of a trademark issue (that I think is tenuous at best)
The funny thing about the weather, is that, despite the fact that I always fear the worst. We take great care to provide our animals with lots of bedding, an abundance of food, and clean water (which is the hardest to provide in -31 degree temperature) they seem to be just as plump and happy as ever. Healthy paranoia it seems, works wonders. It takes a lot of food to keep the animals warm, roughly three times as much as the warm days of spring. On top of this, every female we have this time of year is growing her young. We always aim for new arrivals in April as the days are warmer, grass is beginning to grow nicely and it adds fresh nutrition for the demands of motherhood. This goes for the pigs as well as the sheep because the pigs also forage and eat grass. It also means that the weaned young will be eating the late spring grass which is especially good for them, and therefore, you.
Berryton Grange Farm will become Berryton Home Farm. It appears that here in the US you can Trademark a noun! In this case, ‘Grange,’ and although we have an excellent case, the time and money fighting would prevent us from growing our farm and being able to help as many people like you to eat good clean meat as part of your diet.
RIP Jill
She was a great dog, barely three years old and it all happened in the space of only three days. We still aren’t exactly sure why she died, the tests have proven inconclusive and we are left without a dog to protect the sheep, and notably the lambs. LGD’s (livestock guardian dogs) are essential to an operation like ours as we graze all year round on rotational paddocks (every other day) But what does that mean exactly? Well, we graze every bit of pasture we have, and also off-site, using an electric fence and the LGD lives inside with the sheep the whole time. The fence is really the last line of defense and the dog the first. Big dogs with a big bark! Replacing her will be hard as it takes two years to train one and there is usually a one year waiting list to get one. I am thinking of starting my own breeding line this year so that this never happens again and to help out other sheep farmers around the country.
I like a dog that is 1/2 Maremma, 1/4 Anatolian, and 1/4 Great Pyrenes. This makes for a dog that stays with the flock instead of roaming like the other breeds do which is important because I need to know that they will always be there and because easily half of LGD’s are hit on roads. Most breeds were/are expected to cover very large areas of land keeping off the Coyotes, this is why they wonder. Maremma’s stay with the flock, even more so with our training. Ever heard of any of these breeds? Look them up, it makes for an interesting read.