Its Been A While

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Ned Newby

I didn’t realize just how long it had been since I last wrote on here.

I ended up milking Olive once we got her mastitis cleared up. Over the last year she has had another bad case of mastitis. We thought we were going to lose her. She stopped eating and got lethargic. We called the on-call vet and he had us give her a heavy dose of antibiotics over a few days. That had her back to normal almost immediately but we still had to hit her with two treatments of “Today” to clear up the mastitis. Even then we thought she would lose her right front quarter. It was hard with a solid mass but with a lot of milking and working the udder she is 99% back to where she was. She is such a good milk cow. She is still giving us about a gallon of milk at each milking.

The winter and spring were relatively uneventful. Except for all the rain. I don’t know if it ever really stopped for more than a couple days. Maybe it was a good thing because we’ve had the best garden in years.

Made some changes this summer that were hard to do and then suffered some heartache. We sold Marla, her heifer calf and several others. Leaving us with Olive, Rosie, BobbyJo, and Violet(Rosies heifer), Mike. We also have two steers ready to go to the freezer, and one for next year. Rosie has a bad hip so she has been retired and is just a pet now. I don’t know if she could handle the bull or calving so she is just a pet for the rest of her life.

We traded five goats for a full grown KuneKune boar named Baccon. We didn’t need another boar but we did need to get rid of some goats. They had been causing me trouble jumping and pulling down fences. That and Waylon had some health issues and at the time I wasn’t certain that we wouldn’t lose him. So now we have three intact boars. Willie, the registered AGH; Waylon a year old red KuneKune; and Baccon is several years old and proven black and white KuneKune with wattles.

It’s been a rough summer. I’ll be glad to see a change in season. We’ve lost three dogs to old age or health issues. First was mom’s dog Bo. He was suffering from heart failure and had to be put down. Then we lost Brutus (BooBoo). I think it was his heart as well but don’t know for sure. He started acting off and had a heavy cough. We brought him inside for a few days and he seamed to improve a little. Then after letting him outside for a little while I found him dead under the front porch. The hardest loss was our Little Man Oliver. We’ve had him since he was only a few days old. He was blind and born with a cleft pallet. Lisa tube fed him for about four months until his mouth could be fixed. We almost lost him several times during that time. He was getting old but should have had several more years. Over the last couple of years He had developed severe allergies and none of the treatments were working anymore. He was miserable, losing most of his hair, skin infections, constant itching, etc,… His last day was a good one. We let him spend time outside, something he loved but hadn’t done in about two years. He had his favorite food and snacks, also something he had been denied because of a special diet trying to control his symptoms. He, BooBoo, and Bo are sleeping in the pet cemetery now, never to be forgotten.

Then, another gut punch… About a week ago BobbyJo wasn’t with the others when I went out to feed. The morning before she was pushing her way into the feed barn and getting in my way. This morning she was a no show. I figured she had a new calf and after feeding I went looking for them. Sadly I found her dead. Probably late the day before. No marks or signs of injury, nothing. I have no idea what killed her. She was not only our backup milk cow but my buddy. A BIG dog. She was Olives first calf here and while not bottle raised you wouldn’t know it because she was so friendly. She was always in my way looking for a hand out or an ear rub. I miss her every morning I go to feed.

On a positive note. Violet gave us a little heifer calf Wednesday (8/12/2020). I will most likely keep her if she is short like Violet and Rosie. I’ve named her Tulip.

Roller-coaster life of owning animals

Posted on July 8, 2019 by Ned Newby

Over the last couple of months we’ve lost or had to put down several animals due to old age or poor health. I guess we are in the middle of the renewal cycle. We started the homestead almost 15 years ago and so many of our pets and breed-stock are hitting their age limit.

Most recently I had to put down my TV buddy Bruce the cat. He had been sick for a while and neither of our vets could figure out what was wrong with him. Finally decided it was some kind of cancer. He is no longer in pain and is resting in our Pet Cemetery.

Sadly all this heartache is just the beginning. We have 3 house dogs and 2 goats remaining from our original six that are all showing signs of advanced age.

On a much happier note we have 2 new additions to the Homestead. Maxwell or Max for short was completely unplanned but a welcome addition. Someone dropped him off in my mother-in-law’s yard. She had him for a couple days but just couldn’t take care of him as much as she wanted to. She is on a fixed income and already has a dog. So now Max sleeps on Lisa’s pillow.

The other addition is Waylon as in Jennings. He is an 8 week old full but unregistered KuneKune boar. He is a charmer already. He is learning to sit like Hank did and loves his belly rubbed as much as he loves to eat.

RIP Hank

Posted on June 5, 2019 by Ned Newby

Sad, sad day. Hank died during the night. We think he had heat stroke when the temperature jumped into the high 90’s late last week. His and Willie’s mud hole nearly dried up but the water tub didn’t. In the past they would just get into the tub. He may have had some underlying health issue but he was fine before and had been struggling for the last few days. He stopped eating and got very lethargic. He would just move in and out of the mud hole.

Hank was our ¾ Kune Kune boar. Lisa had him trained to sit for treats like a dog. He would always put on a show for guests. Willie, our registered AGH boar never quite figured that trick out.

He was very friendly and would even allow the young goats to climb on him.

Always ready for a scratch even when he was a baby.

When we first brought him, Patsy, Willie, Lola, and Eva home they lived in the laundry room. Yes they were all spoiled from the start.

Poor Lola

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Ned Newby

Lola was one of our original registered American Guinea Hogs. She was a better mama than Eva and a sweet girl.

I found her off by herself this morning and when I got close I could see she had suffered a vaginal prolapse. I’d never seen this in an animal that wasn’t about to or in the process of giving birth and never this bad then. I got her moved into the milking stall where I could clean her up and evaluate the situation.

Lisa came out to help but after a few minutes of trying to right the situation it became obvious that I just needed to end her suffering.

I gave her the fresh milk from the morning milking with some corn and all stock feed mixed in. Lisa sat with her while she had a warm last meal and I walked back to the house to get the gun.

On a brighter note. Bonnie can get herself into some of the strangest predicaments. Yesterday morning she wasn’t at the door waiting for me when I came out. Then she didn’t show up when I called her. I knew something was up. I started my morning chores while occasionally calling to her. After about 5 minutes I heard her barking on the other side of the house. I thought she was in the woods but I found her standing next to the fence she had obviously been jumping or climbing over. She broke the electric fence wire and somehow had it wrapped around her like a harness. I got her untangled and wrapped the wire around the post so she couldn’t get into it again. I’ll add that repair to my ever growing list.

Productive weekend

Posted on December 17, 2018 by Ned Newby

We’ve been so busy that many things have just flat been neglected. To be honest almost everything that wasn’t critical has been neglected. We made a little progress this weekend even with the dreary weather.

We sold 2 pigs Saturday and they are coming back for another one next Saturday. After they left I fixed the main gate that wasn’t closing all the way. Then I fixed a place in the fence where the dogs were going under. Just a note, I have more trouble keeping the Great Pyrenees in than I do all the other animals combined.

Sunday afternoon we castrated some little boars that should have been done weeks ago.

This morning I found our second midsize Jersey “BobbieJo” standing next to a new little bull. I really hoped she wasn’t that far along. Her and Olive’s calves were spaced about 6 months apart. Perfect for milking. After she got sick last time and stopped eating I took the calf off her and drenched her with propylene glycol until she was eating again. I also held her in another pasture away from the bull until she got out and got hit by the truck. Any way that gave her some time to build up her body but not long enough to keep her on the same schedule. I may try to separate her again to delay her being bred but I don’t know how it will work since I don’t have the pasture across the road anymore. Mike will probably just tear down the fences to get to her.

Where has the summer gone!

Posted on July 13, 2018 by Ned Newby

Time flies when you’re busy and this spring and summer have been the busiest. School will be starting in just a few weeks.

All the trips to Birmingham to get to know Jenna and Sebastian. The 2 weeks off when they came home to stay. Camping trip etc,… The grandsons here. It’s been a wild couple of months. The garden is full of weeds. The grass needs to be mowed. The gate opener still needs to be repaired. The weather hasn’t helped in the last one. But the house is still standing and all the animals are healthy so we are doing pretty good.

Grandsons Jacob and Westley left to go home with their Dad on Wednesday. We were all missing them before they ever left. It’s very quiet with them gone but it also gives the four of us time to be together before school starts in a few weeks. Having Jacob and Westley here was perfect for the transition but now it’s our time. I know that we don’t know the kids after just a month and a half but to me it feels like they have been here all along. Sometimes I have to remind myself that we don’t have a history and they don’t completely understand us like Jacob and Westley did. That will happen too with time.

Nothing like having the rules changed in mid stream. This week we were informed that the county requires two things that we were not told about before. CPR and another 5 week class regarding behavior issues. What ever sign me up so I can fill these boxes. I did ask why we weren’t told about this before instead of six weeks after placement. Another few weeks and the adoption would be final anyway. But we are still at the mercy of the system so we will jump rope. Jenna and Sebastian aren’t going anywhere especially over some last minute technicality.

We got a new Great Pyrenees puppy. Her name is Lilly. The kids call her “Silly Lilly.” When she is bigger she will join Remmy out with the goats and cows. For now she is a yard puppy. She and Bonnie are playmates.

June 21^st we had a surprise litter of piglets. One of them was not doing so well. In I found it away from all the others and it had not been cleaned off. I thought it was dead at first. Finding it was still alive I carried it to Lisa and let her work her magic while I continued to feed all the animals and get ready for work. Since then we have added a second one to the playpen in the house. It was thin and trying to eat feed with the sows. I don’t think she would have made it another day. Both are doing well. The first one is named Charlie and the second is Charlotte. Charlie still may not make it. He gets tired when eating and has to stop and rest before taking the bottle again.

Bonnie was way too interested in them so she got locked in the feed barn. She had her head and neck stretched as far as she could just seconds before I took the picture.

Westley and I harvested vegetables from the garden on the 4^th of July. It was hot but we got it done. Then everyone sat in the living room and shelled and snapped beans and peas before we went to see and shoot off some fireworks.

Sebastian and I went out to check on the bees when I got home from work yesterday. It’s been nearly a month and I expected a real mess. Fortunately things weren’t that bad. One hive had some comb running across four bars that had to be fixed. The other hives needed a little adjusting but nothing serious. I added some empty bars between filled ones and tweaked some comb to encourage the bees to keep it all on the bars. I’ll try to check them again in about a week. I’ve got to get Sebastian a bee suit so he can get in there with me. as it is he just helped me carry stuff and kept his distance.

The deed is done

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Ned Newby

We sent our first steer to the butcher this morning along with a boar hog.

It took me longer than expected to find someone to do this so Porterhouse was becoming too pet like. If he would have been around much longer I don’t know if we would have been able to butcher him. Well one of we. If everything goes well with this butcher it will be a regular occurrence. I have too many pigs right now and two more steers that are either going to be sold or sent to the freezer. I know one is next years freezer steer but the other may be sold.

Over two weekends I worked to straighten the comb in the hives. It was a mess. Instead of following the guides down each bar the bees built at a 45 degree angle across the bars. I caused so much disruption that I haven’t been back into the hives. I wanted to give them a chance to get all the comb reattached. I use hair clips and string to hang the comb in line with the bars and that means they have about an inch or more to fill in.

I was pleasantly surprised to find both queens had stayed with the hive and both were full of larva and hatching baby bees. I was watching the bees come and go this morning and about half looked like they were carrying white saddlebags.

The garden is doing very well this year with all the rain. So are the weeds.These pictures were taken right before the last series of rains. Now the beans have grown up and over the fence. It is a green wall.

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 25, 2016 by Ned Newby

We had a very nice day yesterday visiting with family at two separate gatherings. My niece Ashley and her husband hosted Thanksgiving dinner for my side of the family. Then we went to Lisa’s moms house to visit with her side of the family. Good food and company all day.

It’s been a while so a little catching up is in order.

I don’t think that I mentioned the last hive swarmed late this summer. I don’t know what caused it but my guess is it was a combination of ants and the drought. So, I’ll buy some more bees and start over in the spring. Maybe I can catch another swarm or two. I didn’t get any last summer.

With the drought still in full swing and the unusually warm weather I never did plant a fall garden. I placed the last two sows and their oops piglets in the garden area for now. The plan is to castrate the males this weekend and move them all back with all the rest. Then I can plant my garlic and onions. The weatherman is saying that we have a good chance of some rain in about a week. We’ll see. A lot can happen in a week.

A couple of weeks ago my cousin, his girlfriend and her daughter came to visit the farm. The piglets were a hit but nothing like Ava. We have gotten used to Ava stealing the show.

Everyone waiting for breakfast.

Something you don’t expect to see at Tractor Supply. I stopped in for a few items and had to get a picture of what was in the trailer next to me. Lisa wouldn’t have believed me without proof. It might be a little hard to tell but there are two camels in the trailer. A large one on the left and a much smaller one on the right.

Found this little guy in the basement when I was feeding the cats. He was small and cooperative so he lived and went for a ride to a new location away from houses. I was able to slide a pet carrier up to him and he went right in. He must have know what the alternative would be.

Here we are torturing Ava with pecan pie. She wanted out badly. I missed getting a picture of her head upside down looking through the mesh. She is just too quick.

Due to other commitments Lisa’s younger brother Greg and his family wouldn’t be able to attend Thanksgiving so they came down a day early. We had a nice visit and as usual the animals were a hit. Especially for little Cooper.

The only remaining registered boar for sale may have gotten a stay of execution. If the weather would have stayed cool this week he would have made it into the freezer this weekend. I just got a call from someone who wants a pair of American Guinea Hogs. If he takes the offer he will be getting a deal. I’m over run with hogs and need to move them.

The aquariums in the basement are full of fish and I noticed tilapia fry in the outside tank. I will have to try and move them this weekend or they may not last if the temperature drops again. The heater will keep the water warm enough for adult fish but I don’t know about fry.

Look what I found!

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Ned Newby

I was cleaning out the canister filter on one of the tilapia aquariums this weekend and found these 3 little guys in the bottom. How they have lived in there for so long is a mystery. Yes they are alive. The largest is about 2 inches long. The line going into the filter is only about a half inch so he has been there for a while.

I emptied the sump tank and cleaned it out yesterday and there were all these fingerlings in there. I knew they were there but didn’t know how many. There should be more in the main tank as well.

Pigs, Pigs everywhere. If anyone is interested in KuneKune AGH cross pigs I’ll make you a deal. Shoot me an email.

Some random shots of the cows and calves.

I cleaned out the compost and scattered it on the garden. I don’t know how well you can see in these pictures but it was full, I mean full of red worms. The garden is going to love this.

Got all the compost tilled into the garden and brought in 20 bales of straw. I’ve started breaking down and scattering the bales but I’m not finished yet. It’s almost time for the fall garden.

Here is a picture of the new home of the pig we sold that now lives in NY. We are waiting for updated pictures of him. He is living in hog heaven for sure. Wish that was my pond. Maybe some day.

And here is Billie Jo we sold earlier this year who now lives in Arkansas. She sure is a pretty heifer. I hear that she has a stubborn streak though. Personally I think they all do.

We still have hens, turkey and chicken, that have gone broody. Here is the latest batch of chicks. The hen made her nest in an unused portion of the aquaponics system.

Lastly, is Smokey. She more than any of the other cats loves new spaces. Boxes, bags or open cabinets. Leave something open and she will crawl in and make her self comfortable. We are using it for our bathroom cabinet but it is actually my Great Grandmothers bread making cabinet. Smokey is laying on top of the flour sifter. All original including the sliding glass doors and the sliding counter. It could use some work but would lose some of its charm.

Update on Timmy, Ava, and pigs moving on

Posted on July 22, 2016 by Ned Newby

Timmy is doing much better. Most of the red angry, bloody tissue and swelling has gone away. He still has what appears to be bare bone showing but that is getting smaller and smaller. At least it looks like it to me. We are still rinsing his mouth twice a day with salt water and giving him a penicillin shot every morning. The doc also has us wiping the area with a fuzzy rag each time we rinse his mouth out. I guess its to remove any dead tissue. It all seams to be helping. Very slow process and at this rate it might be another month but it sure is better than the alternative. At first we were looking at major surgery or putting him down. While that looks less likely every day we are still not out of the woods until that bone is covered and the wound is completely healed. No pictures because we can’t hold him and take the picture and the last visit to the vet didn’t require he to be put under.

Ava is a huge hit everywhere she goes with her little head turns and squeaks. She is growing and getting more active each day. The other day when Lisa made her a bottle (syringe) and opened the cage, Ava scampered up one arm around her neck and down the other arm to get fed.

She also really likes being brushed after her bath.

Marcy, from Tennessee is coming down this weekend to pick up the two not so little red KuneKune cross boars we’ve been holding for her. I’ll be glad to see them move on. Not because they have been any trouble but I need to move some sows around and don’t want them close to the boars. It causes them all to go kind of crazy. I will still have one boar that needs to find a home even if it’s in the freezer. He is about a year and a half old registered AGH is anyone is interested.

Newby's Homestead Hideaway Farm

A lifetime work in progress.

Category Archives: Hogs/Pigs