Remember his information is “in general” as not every labor is the same and for the most part, the doe won’t have a problem.  

When only one leg is out and the nose is showing, this is not a big issue. The kid can still be born without your help. If the leg is over the head, just move it into the normal position. This means you have to go in and feel it. But, this is harder for mom to deliver with the leg back. If one leg is back, it will give more room for the head though.  

These are brother and sister and they were born in 2010, I had to assist.

This is really, not an issue. Mom can do it with me watching; but if the head is also back, go for the other leg to be correct. This means going deep to hook the knee with your finger. It will slip out easier. If you see one hoof and the nose, she can do it.  I’ve had some kids when finely in the right direction they shoot out with the next push from mom. YEAH! 

Now, I’ve had plenty of heads coming and no feet. NOT fun. The shoulders get hung up on the pelvis. So, the head HAS to go back in so you can get at least one front hoof in the exit lane. Again, if mom is stressed, get the other hoof and GET THAT KID OUT! I better say that when things, feet and head, are in the correct position, it goes better.  To me, I don’t do anything till the water breaks. If mom is pushing and pushing with nothing happening, I will go in with fingers only to “see” what is going on by feel. If I have to break the water, that kid is coming out with my help. Jumping the gun is a thing I have to weigh. If I break the water and feel a foot, then I may give it 15 minutes. All this does depend on how far apart the contractions are.

If any of you have been in labor, you know what I mean (sorry guys). You don’t have to pull with mom pushing; she’ll push when you pull also.  When the kid is past the shoulders, pull with the kid heading toward moms hocks, NOT straight out. Downwards motion. Mom can be standing or lying down. Remember, downward motion, not straight out.  

This is MilkMaidRanch DJ Rhet Butler and he is the buckling in the other photo on the right. He is now one of my 1st generation Mini-Alpine breeding bucks. He is very flashy.

The kid's back can break if straight out.  

 I hope these will be read in order. You may print them out for future use. 

The harder deliveries will be in the next post.  

Suzy Minck   www.milkmaidranch.com

For me one of the joys of rural life is watching animals. Sometimes I'm very touched by what I see; sometimes I have a good laugh. I’ve also made some interesting observations about how animals entertain themselves, interact with each other, and respond to humans.

Horses play together and fight with each other. They will watch out for each other. In the wild, one stallion will lead and defend a herd of mares and young horses. A lead mare will be his second in command, and they will work together to manage the herd.

This is often seen in domestic herds as well. A stallion will usually have superiority over geldings (neutered males) and mares. However, if no stallion is present, a mare is likely to be queen of the herd. Geldings can also take a leadership role though. We had one gelding who was so protective of his favorite mare that we had him tested to see if any testosterone had been left behind.

The roles of horses can change as the grouping changes. For instance, at our place, when Star was around, King was submissive. But when Star left, King would take over the lead. But passive Bucky was always on the bottom rung of the ladder.

"Just act nonchalant like we don't know they're watching us."

 
Cows don’t really appear to play together much, except as frisky calves. Cows will fight on occasion, which can be complicated if they have horns. Cows don’t communicate much or show a strong hierarchy. Or so I thought.

My eyes were opened by "The Backyard Cow," in which author Sue Weaver reveals the social order of cows. In a herd of cows there is usually a head honcho, who may not really lead per se but gets first dibs at everything. And then there might be a morning hike director who leads everyone out to the pasture. A different evening coordinator brings them back to the barn at dusk.

And cows have a language all their own. Mooese consists of five main syllables used in combination to form six main calls, each of which has a different meaning. Ethologist C.J.C. Phillips has studied bovine communication in detail. (I had to look up the meaning of “ethology,” a new word for me. In case you, too, are in the dark, it is the study of animal behavior.)

"Psst...can you keep a secret?"

 
Chickens don’t appear to play, thought they sure like their dust baths. They will fight over food, roosting space, or for "just because" reasons not obviously apparent. The term “pecking order” came from the hierarchy of chickens. If roosters are present, one of them usually rules the roost, sometimes with the help of another roo or the alpha hen. Where there's no rooster, an assertive hen will take charge. The pecking order can sometimes be tracked from the alpha right down the line to the most submissive chicken.

Roosters have a few different voices for calling their hens to snack time, herding them into a corner to avoid danger, or warning off an intruder. Some roosters let their authoritative status go to their heads and become cocky (another term that came from the poultry world). And even a docile roo can overreact if you wear different boots or carry an umbrella.

Surprisingly, chickens also can have touching relational interactions. We have a pair of banties that are practically inseparable. One, the tiniest breed of the whole flock, is at the bottom of the pecking order. Her best friend, only slightly larger, is at her side day and night protecting and defending her. I have also seen a slender 4 pound hen spread her wing over a much larger 10# hen to protect her from perceived danger.

"In case any of you had a question about who rules this roost..." 

 
Horses, cows, and chickens…that’s about the extent of my experience with farm animals. In the next few months, with a new species on our farm, I expect to make some observations about the social life and communication style of pigs.

Do they utter assorted snorts? Can they wag their curly little tails? Do they share their food?

I’m eager to find out.

Marie and her husband, Jim, are developing a farm in the Pacific Northwest with their adult children and grandchildren. At The Homesteader Kitchen Marie and her daughter review kitchen equipment and talk about preparing and preserving delicious food. Along with other family members, Marie shares glimpses of country life at Rural Living Today and teaches practical skills at The Homesteader School .   

Getting ready for Thanksgiving, I was thinking the other day about locating heritage turkey breeders in my area to source a high-quality bird for the family dinner table.

Corresponding with Slow Food USA via Twitter and email, those folks made me privy to an exciting new technology not all that unlike the heritage breed locator on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy’s website that I used a couple weeks back to find a replacement Hamburg hen for the backyard.

Slow Food USA has put together the Slow Food Thanksgiving Guide, complete with a heritage breed locator, 72 recipes in various courses that you should feel good about feeding your family, and general tips and tricks to having a “Slow Food Thanksgiving”.

Looking for farms that fit the Slow Food mission with dedication to raising appropriate breeds of animals the right way, Slow Food USA turned to the ALBC, Heritage Turkey Foundation and Local Harvest, among other organizations, to come up with a list of farms that ship nationally and do things the right way.

Visit a farmers’ market, source a turkey, check out the Slow Food USA Thanksgiving Guide, and cook a meal that would make small farmers everywhere proud. Also, take a moment to check out these websites and resources, and direct your attention and respect to these organizations fighting the good fight.

As for myself, I’ll have the privilege of slaughtering my own heritage bird Saturday for next Thursday’s feast. There is much to be thankful for this holiday season.

Follow Caleb on Twitter at @calebdregan. 

Midget White tom image: courtesy American Livestock Breeds Conservancy

 Day 1 at the 2011 Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs Pennsylvania offered the chance to mingle with livestock, speak with animal owners, and listen to presentations from leaders in the animal husbandry world.



 

My own responsibilities, helping at the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy's Animal Husbandry Tent, meant I was assembling poultry and rabbit cages, leading ponies to pens, and even in once case carrying a non-halterbroke sheep from a trailer to her pen about 50 yards away.

Some of the coolest things from this Fair, for me: talking with livestock owners of various animals, and even getting to know individual breeds; it offers one of the few chances in this business to have a direct interface with readers, and it’s refreshing to hear about their homes, farms, gardens, animals and lives; seeing speakers like Pat Foreman, Carol Ekarius, Harvey Ussery, and Joel Salatin, not to mention the presentations given by my own colleagues at Ogden Publications; a refreshing chance to get to know those colleagues better, outside of our office cubicles.

This video was a quick interview with Anne Hallowell of Mercer County Pennsylvania. The Hallowells raise Classic Llamas, impressive multipurpose animals that perform well as guardian animals, companions, and most notably pack animals. I’d never seen a pack rig like this for a llama, and the idea of using this animal to pack up for a camping trip and then employ that animal to protect the campsite on that trip is pretty cool.

It’s inspiring to interact with Fair-goers, exhibitors, and presenters alike.

Often times, I think, our first instinct is to think that the cold temperatures of winter are always a bad thing, at least when it comes to our animals. Generally speaking I would agree with that assessment, but I've actually noticed something else that I think is interesting with respect to my hens.

Last year I was very good about making sure that my chicken coop was covered and kept from most of the harsh winds of winter. I covered the bottom sides of the coops walking area with plastic sheeting to keep out the drafts, and taped closed the top to keep the bigger gusts of wind and snow from blowing in as well. It worked well for the most part but I did end up with one thing last winter that I hadn't expected... mites.

Now, fast forward to this winter. I didn't cover any of the coop with plastic, allowing full exposure to the elements for everything outside of the roost house. What I did do was to spend a bit of time at making myself a good water warmer for the girl's water dispenser and set my heat lamp and warmer up on individual timers to optimize the heat for the coldest parts of the day. Now, I didn't do this because I was intentionally testing something, but as it turns out I did learn something interesting in the process.

As I think back, I believe the main problem that caused my mite problem last year stems mainly from the fact that while in the summer months the chickens get to move around the yard, regularly on new ground, in the winter they are essentially stuck in one place because of the snow and the permafrost. Because of this, and with the higher temperatures of a well insulated hen house, I think the mites had a perfect place to take hold.

Now then, that being said, the interesting observation that I made recently was that I have had no problems nor even signs of any mites this year and in fact, my girls seem to be even healthier than they were last year despite my best efforts. They are all laying very regularly, I've seen no evident of mites at all and their feathers are much thicker than they were last year. The only significant difference I can see is that they have not been as sheltered from the cold this year as they were last year. From that I'm making the assumption that the cold has been enough to stimulate them to adapt as they are genetically programmed to do, while also being too cold to allow the natural pests to develop. In closing, I guess I would say that while the cold weather can bring a lot of challenges, it also can be less detrimental than we may be led to believe.

All seasons in nature are there for a reason and winter is no exception. While it may not bring us the excitement of spring, the lush growth of summer or the beautiful colors of fall, it allows the garden... and the livestock a time of renewal. Otherwise difficult to deter pests are laid bare to buy us some time before their annual assault on our gardens, livestock carry their young to be birthed just in time for a full season of feed and even the gardeners are given a few months off to mend achy backs and re-plan the garden for the next season.

Have you found any surprising benefits to winter where you are? I I'd love to hear about them.

Paul~

You can reach Paul Gardener by email, or check his personal blog at A posse ad esse. 

Read more: Growing Possibilities 

Spring is here, and as the seasons go, it doesn’t get much better than this. This particular season has been very exciting for my fiancé and me, as we have a couple of new spring projects that have commanded our attention on top of trying to plan a December wedding.

First and foremost – at least in prioritizing our obligation and energy – we’ll be getting chickens here in a week or two. It’ll be the first time we’ve kept chickens together, and after some painless and even fun convincing, my future wife is onboard with the project.

The key was getting our little coop and run set up; after she saw the nifty GardenEggs.com Little Egg Chicken Tractor, she was excited about the prospect of keeping chickens, and even wanted to raise them from day-old chicks so that we wouldn’t miss out on that part of the process. I think I picked a good one.

Once the basic construction was finished – a perfect 2-hour Saturday project, I might add, for me and a buddy with the grill going and a cold beverage – it was time to paint the coop for waterproofing reasons.

The Little Egg really is a thing of beauty. I had friends come over – they all thought I was crazy talking about raising chickens, one even asking, “Where does it stop, Caleb? Pigs are filthy creatures. I don’t want to live by pigs.” Just keep your dirty mitts off my eggs, Ryan. – who suddenly realized it wasn't so crazy, and this thing is perfect for an urban backyard. Enter for free and win one, as part of our May/June 2010 issue’s GRIT Gear Sweepstakes. Or you can buy the plans for $16 to make one yourself at GardenEggs.com.

I knew right away as we entered the hardware store after construction that she had elaborate plans well beyond my idea of a couple of coats of basic blue/grey paint. We’d talked a little about it. As I was picking out good paint for said coats, she wandered over to the isle where all the small brushes and bottles of red, blue, yellow, and green bottles of paint were.

Heading home, her knowing how to get my goat a little bit, she started talking of flowers and peace signs adorning our coop. Nothing against flowers and peace signs, they have their place and it’s all well and good, but that place is not on my chicken coop or any other piece of property for that matter; it’s just not my taste.

The feathers she drew around the bottom of the coop, and the mother hen and chicks walking along one side, amusingly brighten the coop (I'll provide a photo of the mother hen and chicks asap). I adore it.

Now, all that’s left is to come up with something clever to write on the door that shuts the coop off from the run. I suggested, “Girls Only,” “Beware of Dog,” and a couple others, but I don’t think my suggestions had that “that’s it” ring to them. We’ll see.

The other project was putting in our first garden. I’ve gardened for most of my life, but this was the first time I’ve started one from scratch, digging up the sod by hand and working the soil into what I thought was good enough shape to plant into; it’s the first time I could say any garden was truly mine. Hopefully, this will be the final year my lady and I rent, so next time I install a garden I hope it's permanent, and out where the pavement ends.

I did it all by hand, not for any reason other than I didn’t want to spend the $40 to rent a tiller for 2 hours just to till up such a small area (about 10 feet by 5 feet). As I worked the soil and the sweat accumulated in my hat, I couldn’t help but think of my great-grandfather doing this on a much larger scale by hand. A mule and plow may have been used for the big fields, but on some homesteads, a husband and wife surely worked a little garden into shape just to feed a few hungry mouths. Cool to think about and relate to, and I think I’ll probably take more pride out of what does come up – if anything – just knowing the work that went into it.

I went pretty small with the garden only because I’m not positively sure how much room I’ll need for our two laying hens to scratch around the yard. Giving a good quality of life to the animals, obviously, takes priority.

It took me a few hours, but after digging the sod out and hoeing up the soil to where it was fairly fine, I planted corn, tomatoes, onions, and one row of lettuce, with room for another in succession after a couple weeks. We'll also grow some basil and possibly a couple of other things in containers.

Both projects are a learning experience. I know I’ll have to make adjustments, and there’s still more work to be done – predators are my current big worry – but I’ll figure it out. If something happens, I’ll have to deal with it, make adjustments, and roll on. We’ll learn, and that’s always exciting. Also exciting is the thought of catching a mess of fish this summer, coming home and filleting them, and frying them with our own sweet corn and lettuce to go with it. Or making an omelet with ingredients entirely out of our garden; our first fully self-provided meal.

So my question to all of you – what is a clever line for the outside of the coop door? Any one-liner comedians out there much more clever than I?

Backyard chickens are never really far from the front of our minds here in the GRIT corral. Just recently, as part of an upcoming GRIT Gear Sweepstakes for the May/June issue, I received a Little Egg Chicken Tractor from GardenEggs.com, put it together, and am preparing my Lawrence, Kansas, urban yard to accommodate two free-ranging Catalana laying hens. More on that later. Our Community Chickens website, www.CommunityChickens.com, a GRIT-MOTHER EARTH NEWS joint production, also currently features a fantastic giveaway; this one a full-blown coop from Horizon Structures. 

The coop really is a thing of beauty. Valued at $2,195, it houses up to six chickens and has three nesting boxes. The run is built-in, and you can lock the coop up at night to prevent predators from getting to your flock. In short, we’re doing all we can here at GRIT and MOTHER EARTH NEWS to give you the chance to start a flock of your own. 

From quiches made with the extra vegetables in the fridge to fresh eggs sunny-side-up with your bacon on a Saturday morning, there is nothing like farm-fresh eggs. They’re healthier for you, are cost effective, and – most importantly to me – offer a person a sense of satisfaction from having a direct relationship with the food they consume. 

No matter your living arrangement, you’ve got nothing to lose. Visit CommunityChickens.com to enter the Community Chickens Win This Coop! Sweepstakes presented by Horizon Structures. 

Check out the May/June issue of GRIT to find out how to enter to win a GardenEggs.com chicken tractor. As GRIT Editor Hank Will wrote in his editorial for our bookazine, GRIT's Guide to Backyard Chickens, “Keep on cluckin’.”

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’ve been ready for spring for over a month now. We started some seeds, which are doing remakably well compared to previous attempts at seed-starting (don’t get too excited, mostly just herbs, some hot peppers, and some tomatos to grow in the house). The little snow we had was melting fast, and I would say that half of our land was grass or spotty snow. Just last week I saw the first of the spring flowers popping up through the ground. I was getting excited for the girls who must be really looking forward to some nice fresh grass after all these months of hay and grain.

But, alas, we suffered a major set-back in this department yesterday when I awoke to a foot of wet snow on the ground and plenty more falling. We donned our winter gear and headed out to see if we could get the snowblower going. After ten minutes of frustration in the realization that the auger wouldn’t be able to handle the heavy, wet snow, we gave in, and I called in to work.

Though I wasn’t exactly psyched to get such a significant snowfall, I have to admit it was truly beautiful. After giving up on the snowblower and its deafening noise as it choked through the snow back to its parking spot, we headed to the barn to feed everyone an early breakfast. The sun hadn’t yet come up, and we enjoyed some quiet time before the world awoke.

The girls happily munched away at their breakfast of grain and some nice second-cut hay that we found at Guys Farm and Yard over in Morrisville a few days ago. The chickens scratched away at the ground, finding grain and bits of stuff we unearthed after cleaning out half of the old straw this past weekend. The pigs, in their own shed, grunted and squeeked through their mix of grain and food scraps.

There is something just so pleasant about the sound of contently eating farm animals. I think it is partially due to the frantic moments before everyone is fed, while everyone is demanding their breakfast, that we come to really appreciate the quiet afterwards. We rush to feed the pigs before their squealing could bother the neighbors, and we quickly feed the goats before we’re covered in hoof prints, then finally cast out grain for the chickens before they start trying to steal from the pigs and the goats. Once its all said and done, and everyone has fresh, clean water, we can sit back and enjoy the peace.

Our life doesn’t seem to lend itself to too many moments of peace. There is always laundry to do, dishes to wash, dogs to exercise, animals to feed, pigs to move from the barn to their shed, water buckets to fill, eggs to collect, reading/studying to do, goats to check on, home renovations to tackle, not to mention our full-time jobs. So, during these quiet moments before the sun comes up and the sense of urgency to get to work (in one sense or another) arises, we find a second to stand still, hold hands, and breathe deep.

I’m at an exciting point in my life, and I know it. I’m engaged to the love of my life, doing what I love, and preparing to find my place in the country. Reading about Belted Galloway cattle feeds right into that. 

After living in the country for my whole life, I delved into city living when I moved off to college. City living – to some, Lawrence, Kansas, population 80,000 may not be a city, but to me it is – was new, fun and in the end, rewarding. I studied abroad in Australia, near Sidney. I met my future wife bartending in a bar that I will never forget. By and large, college was great. But I’m ready for city living to be a chapter of my life that I’ve closed the book on. 

My excitement now is based on finding my place back out where the pavement ends. Gwen’s fine with country living, as long as she is within an hour of a city. Works for me, as in northeastern Kansas it’s pretty easy to reach Topeka, Lawrence and Kansas City in an hour from most rural areas.

And as I look for properties – the spot where I will raise a family – livestock is always on my mind. I have grand plans, all in my head, about what I want to raise and how I want to live. I talk about it at home all the time. I read breed guides to livestock a lot (Storey’s is great). It consumes me, and I love it. 

In researching, one breed of cattle that strikes me, and appearance is part of it, is the Belted Galloway, a heritage breed of cattle that is hardy and, as we said in GRIT’s Field Guide to Heritage Cattle, well known for excellent performance on pasture and flavorful beef; perfect. Helen Burkett, an ad account executive, told me she misses raising them for their disposition, their gentle and friendly personality.

It is one breed definitely on my radar. The only real drawback I see is that they don’t have horns – they’re a polled breed. I’ll admit that I do like horns on animals, and why that is is interesting to think about. Of course, I’m a hunter and hunters in general like horns, but I’ll bet I’d like horns even if I didn’t hunt. There’s something primitive about them, something in them that allows me to relate to my ancestors, maybe. I’ll never fashion tools out of them – at least I don’t plan on it – but I like the look of a horned beast; it looks more powerful and majestic. 

But horns aren’t always good. Working cattle is different, with different equipment needed to handle and control the horns. And even though Scottish Highland cattle will probably only bump you with a horn in a playful manner, they can be rough without meaning too. That makes Belties slightly safer for children, in my mind. But maybe taking care around animals, especially of the horned variety, is a lesson that needs to be learned on a farm. Safer isn’t necessarily better. As you can see, I’m definitely still wrestling with this, but the Belted Galloway is an animal I’d consider raising. 

When it comes to feeding efficiency, Belties are right up there. Jon Bednarksi, a council member on the U.S. Belted Galloway Society, speaks of his friend who has Angus cattle that go through two to three times the amount of hay in the winter time as his Belties. Angus are larger-framed animals, so it takes more to fill them up, and to maintain their condition. Now with steers, it takes the Belties about two years to get to the desired weight, and with the larger breeds it’s in the 16 or 18 month range, but with two to three times the consumption of feed, the efficiency advantage is still with the Belted Galloway. 

That efficiency means Belties do well on grass, and the grassfed beef trend sweeping the country is part of the reason for the Belted Galloway’s resurgence in numbers (the breed’s status is Recovering in the ALBC). 

Another thing is simply the look of the animal. The stripe on the middle of the animal is a distinguishing characteristic, very recognizable. 

For me, as I mentioned earlier, the hardiness of the animal, the fact that it does well on grass, the personality that Helen mentioned, the feeding efficiency Jon mentioned, mothering instincts and extraordinary beef are what do it for me. 

The Belted Galloway is available in nearly every state. You can go to the Belted Galloway Society’s website and find Beltie cattle near your homeplace. The 20th National Belted Galloway Sale will be held Saturday, April 24, 2010, in Fryeburg Maine. You can watch live and even bid on animals at this year’s sale using Edgecast. For more information, contact Scot Adams at 207-696-3812 or e-mail mnshadow@tdstelme.net.

Top Beltie photo courtesy U.S. Belted Galloway Society

Update: I added the second picture of a red Beltie on March 9, 2010. The red Beltie is probably my favorite color of the breed. Second photo courtesy Klover Korners Farm

I’ve been raising cattle and horses since I was a teenager growing up on my parents’ ranch in the late 1950s, and have been writing about these animals nearly that long. My husband and I have been raising horses and cattle together for the past 44 years. My life work and major goal has been to learn all I can about the care, handling and management of these wonderful animals, and to share what I learn – in my books and magazine articles.

A question I’ve been asked by a number of people is: what’s most important in raising livestock. What are the biggest challenges?

I’d say the biggest factor is responsibility and commitment. In the wild, Mother Nature is in charge of things. If an animal has a serious problem it dies. If there are problems with a birth, the mama and baby both die. It’s survival of the fittest and luckiest (because even normal, healthy animals sometimes fall victim to freak accidents or to predators). With domestication by humans comes a responsibility for the welfare of the animals in our care.

We breed them to raise and use for our purposes, and they would not exist except for us. So we must give them optimum care to make sure they stay healthy, and make sure that their birth and growing up is safe – and that their interaction with humans is positive and happy. We are their guardians.

Thus we must take their welfare seriously, and commit to raising and caring for them as best we can. Tending to their health and comfort should come first, in our various priorities and activities. This is why taking care of animals is so good for kids. Children who have animals or help their parents take care of animals learn responsibility, compassion and a good work ethic at an early age. The animal chores must come first, ahead of other “fun” things or activities. And if an animal has a problem of some kind, you drop everything else you are doing and take care of that animal.

My advice on raising cattle or horses is to learn all you can about taking care of them and how to keep them healthy and safe. Get advice from other stockmen or a good large animal veterinarian if you have questions. Read books and articles about the handling, care and management of these animals. Spend time with your own horses and cattle and learn about them – their personalities and their needs. Knowing your own animals intimately helps you understand them and learn how to handle them most appropriately, and also gives you a better clue regarding what’s “normal” behavior for them and what is abnormal, which would enable you to tell the early signs of illness (or the signs of early labor if your mare or cow is preparing to give birth).

For a good source of information about breeding and raising horses, I recommend my book Storey’s Guide to Raising Horses (new edition just published). It has a large section on basic horsekeeping, a section on health care, and a final section on breeding (selecting breeding stock, genetics, care of the broodmare, keeping a stallion, foaling, care of the newborn foal, etc.). For information on how to safely handle horses and to make sure they are well mannered and easy to handle and train, I recommend my book Storey’s Guide to Training Horses.

Basic cattle care is covered in the new edition of my book Storey’s Guide to Raising Beef Cattle – everything from breeds and genetics to calving, calf health, weaning, getting the cows rebred, pastures and fencing, feeding, keeping cattle healthy, tips on buying and selling cattle. For the serious cattle raiser, my two books Essential Guide to Calving and the Cattle Health Handbook together serve as an in-depth reference. In these two books I’ve tried to address all the issues a cattle raiser might face, and have also sprinkled the text with real-life examples of various animals on our ranch – their challenging health problems or calving situations and how we dealt with those to save the animal.

Veterinary textbooks and animal nutrition texts are difficult for the average person to read. Books for novices rarely contain enough information and cannot answer some of the questions that arise. My goal in writing about cattle and horse care is to bridge that gap and present solid information (more in-depth than you generally find in publications for new owners) but I try to discuss it in ways that are very easy to understand and interesting to read.

For more background on my writing and to read about some of the adventures I’ve had raising cattle and horses, and things I’ve learned along the way, check out my bi-weekly blog Notes From Sky Range Ranch.