All the Creatures

Horse owners and other livestock owners should be aware of what plants can kill their animals. For example did you know that just one leaf of an oleander plant can kill a horse in a matter of hours? Yet most unaware horse owners have those plants growing as ornamental bushes in their landscape. I have a friend that almost went ballistic when a neighbor or hers trimmed his oleander bushes and threw the trimmings into her pasture. Her neighbor certainly got educated later that day by her and her husband the deputy sheriff.

If you own livestock, you must educate yourself to the dangers of poisonous plants that your animals might come in contact with. Get yourself a good book on plants with lots and lots of full color photos like, “All About Poisonous Plants.” Most feed stores have them and of course you can find them on sale all over the internet.

Livestock owners that feed their animals baled hays should also be able to identify poisonous plants that have been dried and baled in their hay. Some plants are harmless at certain stages of their growth so you need to be aware of the plants poisonous life cycle.

Protect your animals and get educated about poisonous plants.

All the Creatures

Is it too early to talk about kids halloween costumes? I am not talking about costumes for human children but our friends, the goats. It is summer now and county fairs are in full swing along with 4-H shows and just plain fun get togethers. We always hear about doggy dress-up and if you go to some of the larger horse shows you can witness costume classes where the horse and rider dress up in non-traditional horse outfits. I thought I would just gather a few photos of goats that have been dressed up. I hope you enjoy them -

Cute photos aren’t they? As a side note, my neighbor has a few goats and one of the females gave birth to triplets a few weeks back. They are Boar goats, the all white with a brown head colored ones. Boars are meat goats. They grow pretty big and I have not asked him if he plans on eating them or not. Most of the time he just sells them. I use to have 2 Nubian/Boar cross female goats almost 10 years ago. I got them as 5 month olds. We had them for about 5 years and then sold them to a breeder who loved that cross.

Goats are fun and do make great pets. They also make good companions for horses.

All the Creatures

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Ramblers Way Farm. All opinions are 100% mine.

I live out in rural America. I am also privileged to witness first hand how farmers are helping the environment. We have several farmers that have returned to the horse drawn plow to cultivate their one or two acre vegetable gardens or put in several acres of corn. Of course they are saving money by not having to buy fuel for their tractors.

The county I live in also boasts that it is the largest producer of grass seed in the world. Part of the maintenance of the grass fields is to have sheep graze out on them during the winter months so that the grass stays short. In the spring the sheep are taken off the fields and they are allowed to go to seed. The seed is then harvested in the late spring and early summer. Because of that, the sheep industry around here is a large one.

I know some people that have pet sheep and they have to find someone to shear the sheep in late spring. I did ask them what they did with the wool and one of them said she actually tossed it in the trash, the other person let the shearer have it. Both of them were stunned when I told them they could have sold it on eBay.It seems there is a growing trend of wool spinners. People have finally figured out that wool is a sustainable and renewable alternative to polyester (which is an oil based product). Now that people are becoming more environmentally aware, the demand for sustainable wool apparel has taken off like a rocket.

The increase in demand for “green” products have put more pressure on the farmer and rancher. Some have even enlisted the help of advisers to see how they can make their operations more green friendly and at the same time lower their costs. Ramblers Way farm is one such place that produces wool and has been actively looking for ways to further reduce their carbon footprint.

All the Creatures