then drove on up to see Jackie and Tom at Windance Farm in Gouverneur, NY.
http://www.windancefarms.com/
They breed Maremmas, an Italian guardian dog. These are extraordinary animals and Jackie's are carefully bred and trained for farm work.
She is very warm and friendly--she spent about 2 hours showing us her dogs and explaining what to expect from them. They are expensive, but your dog is 18-24 months old and fully trained for your individual situation when you buy from her. She is planning a litter for February, 2010, which means those puppies will be "finished" in fall to winter of 2011. An adult that has been helping train puppies may be offered for sale in fall of 2010.
The thing is, these dogs are not pets, and they need to have a job to do when you get them. So we have to coordinate the timing of purchasing a dog with buying our livestock, which at this point I think will include chickens and other poultry, sheep and goats. If we get the livestock first, we'll have to protect them from foxes and other predators until the dog arrives, but Jackie said we should definitely not bring the dog to the farm before there is work for it to do. So I have to think this through.
Right now I'm inclined to think we may get chickens soon after we move in because the hen house is already in good shape, and I think chickens will be relatively easy to raise, making them a logical first step in raising livestock. After we're living there, we can plot out pastures and place fencing for grazing animals, probably starting with goats. So maybe we would need a dog next fall, and if Jackie's training dog is available, we would probably be interested in buying it.
The other farm we visited was Buckwheat Bridge Angoras in Elizaville, NY.
http://www.bwbagoats.com/events.htm
Their angora goats and cormo sheep are indeed beautiful. The goats were being shorn when we were there, and Dan seemed preoccupied with that, although we had made an appointment.
The thing about fiber animals is that fiber sells for a very low price right now, and unless you're going to really focus on and invest in that aspect of farming, I'm not sure it makes much sense to establish a flock for that purpose. I'm considering getting just a spinner's flock for myself and my friends who spin, and then using other goats for clearing out brushy areas.
Maybe at some point I would get dairy goats to make cheese, but that is an extremely high commitment move that requires milking every 12 hours every day without exception. I certainly won't rush into that. The other possiblilty is to raise meat goats and sheep. Now here's the thing about that: while I love both lamb and goat, I'm not sure I could eat an animal I've personally known and raised.
This issue will come up with beef and hogs as well, so I simply have to face this aspect of farming. Eggs, dairy, and fiber are not murderous enterprises, but neither are they very profitable. Crops, even hay, might go further towards paying the bills. Or maybe we'll end up putting our efforts into developing a bakery. I'm just brainstorming here. As we make decisions about the farm I know I'll have to sort out my feelings about these things, while balancing them against practical matters such as cost, income potential, and the amount of labor required.
Do they work well alone, or would two be ideal as backup for one another?
ReplyDeleteJackie told me that it's nice to have two dogs, as much for companionship as for the ability to guard the flock. She said a mixed-gender (neutered) pair or 2 males work together better than 2 females. Since I'm a novice with this kind of dog, she recommends getting a finished dog for my first one. After I have some experience, I could get an exposed or started puppy, and then the older one and I can train the young one.
ReplyDelete--Sue