Our farm has its own circle of life. All of our livestock help each other and us. We are breeding for our own health as well as the health of our animals. I was a veterinary technician for 25 years. With my background I have learned the holistic approach as well as the traditional medical approach. Everyone has their own preferences. We cater to those preferences. We will not vaccinate the animals that have a deposit placed on them if that is the wish of the new owner. We feed hay that is a natural dewormer and things of that nature. We rely on our Spanish mastiffs to keep our livestock and breeding dogs safe. We absolutely love this life and are always learning.
We rotationally graze all of our animals. We obviously have to have fencing, but we give our animals as much space as we can. Our meat rabbits we raised colony style, so they have more space. Our pigs are grazing pigs. They live in pastures as well. They go into a smaller area just to farrow and raise their babies until weaned. The same with the goats. They come into a maternity area when it gets to kidding. Our chickens are free range. We have livestock guardians with our vulnerable livestock. They also protect our cats and chickens. The chicken eggs and goat’s milk help the dog breeding program. Pigs can have the eggs and the goats milk as well. We feed Lespedeza hay to almost all of our grazing animals, including the rabbits. Lespedeza is natural dewormer for some parasites. Barberpole worm and coccidiosis (protozoal parasite) which are the two main parasites that cause trouble in goats.
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Parasite Protocol: We use Lespedeza for the goats and that seems to prevent us from any other treatment. We do use Ivermectin for our pigs. We also use ivermectin with our dogs in their heartworm prevention. Our LGDs prevent stray animals from getting into our property. We eradicated the fleas from our farm a while back and now don’t have any animals that bring more to us. So, we don’t have to use a flea prevention. We do still get ticks however. We like diatomaceous earth for most other parasites that can get on or in our chickens, garden etc.
Vaccination Protocols: Partial Vaccinations
