New LGD Added to the Barnyard

This past week, on Tuesday, March 13 we got a new LGD (Livestock Guard Dog).  His name is Caution and he is six weeks old (he was born January 28, 2018).  We are getting him used to the animals and the farm.  Caution is part Great Pyrenees and part Akbash.  In the picture it looks like Danger doesn't know what to think about him, but he really loves him.  Danger watches out for him like he does the sheep and lambs.  Hopefully Danger can train him to be as good a guard dog as Danger is.

Here Caution is with Mr. T (one of the bottle lambs).  Caution is learning the ropes.

I'm anxious to see if he grows up to be as big as Danger is.  Right now he has more energy than Danger did as a puppy.  I hope he settles down some (the sheep don't like high energy).

This is Danger at 3+ months (he was born in February 2017 - not exactly sure when).  We got him in April of 2017.  This picture was taken May 2017.

Snow on the Daffodils and Forsythia

 Thursday, March 8 it snowed!  Not a lot, just a dusting, but it snowed!  Not surprising though because it ALWAYS snows on the daffodils and forsythias here after they have bloomed.

 I love the first signs of spring!

Bottle Baby Update

Here are the bottle babies eating their lunch.  The two on the left were two of the quadruplets.  The one on the right is a week older than the other two.  They are doing great!  Their eyes opened a few days after they were born and they can see now.  Such sweet faces.

They were originally in the basement, then after a few days we moved them to a pen outside, but right next to the house.  A couple of weeks ago we moved them to the sheep pen and we are trying to integrate them with the sheep.  Right now the little lambs think they are human.  They don't associate themselves with the sheep.

They are adapting well.  At first they didn't want anything to do with the other sheep, now they don't seem to mind them, but if any of us are out there the bottle babies hang around us and not the sheep.

New Edition To Our Farm

Captain's first day in the Buckler Barnyard.  We are so excited to add this beautiful Red Hereford bull to our farm.  In a month or so (we're giving him time to get used to our farm) he will be introduced to our Angus cows and about a year from then we should have some very sweet Black Baldie baby calves running around.

Some of our calves born not long ago (they are from a Blonde bull).  We sold the sire to these calves not too long ago and that's the reason we purchased Captain.

Quads! and Bottle Babies

Tuesday, February 6 we had our first set of quadruplets!  There are 3 rams and 1 ewe.  Two were born with their eyes closed.  They are starting to open now.  Sometimes, if they are born premature their eyes will open a few days after they are born.

We decided to bottle feed two of them.  We were afraid that four was just too many for momma to manage and we didn't know if she had enough milk to keep four babies full.  We chose to bottle feed the two that couldn't see.

We already had one we were bottle feeding from the previous week (she had gotten separated from her momma and twin sister and needed a lot of special attention in the beginning).

The two babies up front (white one to the left and black & white one in the center) are part of the quadruplets.  The black and white one in the back on the right is the first bottle baby born last week (1-31-18).

All of these babies are Katahdin/Dorper cross (mom is Katahdin and the sire was Dorper).

They are all doing so well.

Welcome to our farm

Hello, welcome to the Buckler's Barnyard.  My name is Jena.  I am wife to a wonderful man and  a mother to four fabulous boys.  We have a small 40 acre farm in middle Tennessee.  I love the farm life and I am always telling my friends about our "adventures" on the farm.  One of my close friends encouraged me to blog about my "adventures."  So here I am.

We have Angus cattle -18 head of cows and 1 bull (he isn't Angus)  and right now it is calving season and so far we have 6 calves.  Sad to say that we lost 2 this season.   We raise Katahdin sheep.

 Katahdin is a breed of sheep that is considered a hair sheep (they shed so we don't have to shear them).   We have a few Katahdin Dorper cross. (Dorpers are also hair sheep.)

We just finished lambing season.  Our last ewe had her babies yesterday (twins!).  We have 31 momma ewes total.  Twenty-four mommas just had 43 live babies. Some of our momma ewes had babies last fall.

 The above pictures are of lambs born earlier this season (middle of January 2018).

This sweet face is our LGD (livestock guard dog), Danger.  He was added to our farm in April of 2017 (he was born February 2017).  He's part Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepherd.

So please join us in our farming adventures!