Holistic Farm

I'm happy to report that our two caprine additions are getting along very well together. Yesterday when I went out to give the girls their morning feed and let the chickens out I found them both, dead asleep, completely cuddled up to each other. It felt good to know that they both have found comfort and companionship in each other so fast.

For the last 36 hours Shone Vida has been enjoying immensely cold weather and non-stop rain. We might even get snow soon, if it gets colder. In good faith of that fact, Justin and I spent a bit of last night and this morning shoring up the "barn". I piled fresh straw in a corner for the goats to cuddle up in at night, Justin put up some lumber in the barn opening to keep a bit more cold out, and we brought an armload of hay out for them to eat. From what I've read, I need to make sure that the girls have plenty of feed for the day and night. Firstly, because goats really don't like the rain and won't spend as much time eating the grass in the pasture. Secondly, I don't really want them eating the wet grass because right now there are more parasitic parasites on the grass. I keep the girls wormed, but prevention really is the best policy. Neither of them seem to be too distressed about this, spending much time in the barn eating their heads off. Charlotte, especially, is the most glutinous creature I've ever met.

Today marks the first day that I start my holistic approach to farm management. I recently purchased an amazing book by an Aussie, Pat Coleby, called Natural Goat Care.

Amazon was selling it for about $20 new. Coleby is an expert in the field of holistic livestock management. From my reading I've gathered that her approach to management is prevention of disease through proper nutrition. She suggests making a mineral lick for the goat using readily available minerals in their natural form. The cool thing is that animals have an amazing ability to seek out the vitamins and minerals they require, while we humans tend to ignore those signs. So now I have a few buckets out in the barn with different minerals in them. Now the goats can eat as much of a nutrient as they want whenever they need it, according to Coleby, because of that they will be much healthier. One of the items Coleby suggests having available ad lib is kelp meal because it provides a myriad of important vitamins and minerals in their most natural form. I'm pretty excited about this little experiment. Charlotte seemed to enjoy a few licks of the kelp meal already. Now I am interested to see if the chickens decide to take any of the vitamins. Hopefully Shone Vida will be enjoying a long time of healthy and happy animals.