A place to find resources, discuss and learn about beef cattle farming and all its nuances. Okay, a place to joke around about farming, I guess.

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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Update on Benson...

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Benson is on the mend!

It's weird owning a three legged dog. Something I thought I'd never have to do. But after seeing the joy on Benson's face and that waggy tail going constantly I now know it was the right decision.

He's a happy happy dog and even runs and plays with Zak again. He's appetite has improved too.

I wanted to post some photos but the wound is still very raw looking and I don't really think I need to post that on the web for all to see. Just trust me that he's happy and healing and that's the main thing. When all the hairs grown back I'll post a photo of our happy little man.


Zak.

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Thursday, January 13, 2011

For the Love of Australian Animals...

I posted this article on my writing site and I thought it a good idea to post it here too.

Please feel free to retweet, blog about or spread through Facebook ~ whatever it takes to get the word out...

WRITERS!!! Help Needed Downunder ~ Queensland Flood Victims, writers unite...

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By now you may have heard about the huge floods that have devastated much of Oz.

It is heart wrenching and many people are today going back to homes that are seriously damaged by flood waters that is, if their homes are still there at all.

What this means to the people who still have their houses is that they will be going to see what was their homes covered in mud, all types of contaminates, oil (from nearby factories etc), sludge, sewerage and the list goes on and on. Most likely all their furniture and personal possessions will be gone, swept away and dumped either on the banks further down the river or maybe swept out to sea.

If we thought it was hard seeing the floods approaching and it was, the real hardship will actually come in the weeks, months and possibly years to come as it takes time, money and effort to rebuild what was a vibrant and fast growing city back to it's former glory and hopefully make it even better. 

If you are a writer and wish to help (or even if you just stumbled upon this blog) don't feel there is nothing you can do, because you can. At the very least you can write about the situation and comment on blogs and generally spread the word around the world.

Please go to:

          Kate Gordon's Blog and read the article...

If you are concerned about the animals go to:  Queensland RSPCA

If you are concerned about the people and the State as a whole go to: Queensland Government

Most of all just show you care by posting comments and offering charity where you can. Spread the word that parts of Australia needs your help today.

Thank you my dear subscribers, and passers by,

Zak.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Osteosarcoma in dogs ~ Bad News ~ Benson

Benson and silky at front of house
Benson and Silky Smooch (not so friendly)Benson (1)

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We had some very bad news this morning about our dog, Benson, and we know Zak, the Writer and Zak, our other dog, will take this badly too.

Benson has Osteosarcoma and we had to make a big, bad and hard decision this morning.

Luckily we have the best Veterinarian in the world looking after, Benson so we feel happy about that.

There were many choices to choose from varying in heart ache, heartbreak and financial cost and we have chosen the one that hurts the dog the least and us the least too. It’s a compromise.

Benson will loose his front leg today and will most likely have to be put to sleep in weeks or months to come. The prognosis for this disease does not sound good.

We love our animals and we always make choices that decide between cash-on-hand and how much pain the animal or the human can bare.

What we are hoping to achieve from this is a happier and contented dog with lots of cuddles and spoiling before the final conclusion.

We don’t know if we’ve made the correct choice but it’s made and we have to live with that, so does Benson.


Zak.
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Osteosarcoma in dogs

Monday, January 10, 2011

Coles response to consumer pressure over sow stalls…

It’s great that consumers and suppliers are taking a focus on animals welfare.
This article highlights Coles new stance on pigs in sow stalls. Coles responds to consumer pressure over sow stalls - 21/07/2010 
My only question with this stance on pig sow stalls is, how does the farmer stop the sows from squashing their piglets when they are born?
The sow stalls as I understand, are what stop the pregnant sows from fighting with each other and when the piglets are born they are protected too. I’d love to hear how farmers will handle the new set ups. What will they look like? What will be the benefits or negatives? How much will all this cost? And, how much will that add to the cost of the final product?

Farmers usually have their animals and their lands best interests at heart.
I find it hard to understand how consumers and retailers can be such a force as to change the way farmers do things that often those same people don’t even realise where eggs or milk come from, and understand even less about what it takes to get food from farm to plate .
What’s your opinion on this one?
Zak, the cattle farmer with a few chickens, sheep, dogs and cats for companionship.

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Sunday, January 09, 2011

Smart US dog learns more than 1,000 words - Yahoo!7

 

Smart US dog learns more than 1,000 words - Yahoo!7

 

As a farmer, watching your dogs, cats, cows, sheep and chickens exhibit intelligent behaviours is no “biggie”. It’s just something that happens every day. I must admit though, there seems to be degrees of intelligence between the breeds but basically all animals are smart in their own ways.

For instance, the female cattle run crèches for their offspring just as we human’s do. And, cattle can be just as selfish and lazy as humans by delegating the job to the youngest mother of the herd, like it’s a right of passage into cowhood. I’ve blogged about that before. Cattle will come to the fence and bellow if something is amiss and we farmers just go and see what the problem is. It’s us humans that don’t have enough language ability to understand what the cow is saying.

I owned an cat when I lived in the city and she used to play with her toys inside my apartment and then I’d tell her to put her toys away and in the box and she would open the lid and place each toy in her toy box. She used to play fetch and retrieve and she knew many of the words I used. I always thought this very normal.

My dog, Zak, knows a multitude of words and my husband and I often make fun of counting up all the words, Zak knows and joking about the inability of the researchers to figure it all out in their so-called “studies” for science magazines and the like. It’s not about how many words the dog can learn. It’s about how patient and persistent the human master is at teaching the animals the words. If you kept a human chained up outside and only spoke to them as you gave meals then that child would less likely to learn many words either. Why is this so hard for the “experts” to understand?

Where do they get this idea that a dog is limited to say 200 or so words? The dogs are limited by the researchers sadly.

Here at, Mountain View, we don’t very often use commands with our dogs, we just tell them as you would another human being, what we want or need them to do, and it gets done. And, just like children, at times they don’t want to do what you tell them and they get hurt feelings if you growl at them for making a mistake. It never surprises what Zak or Benson understand, it’s just expected.

The most frustrating part of owning a dog is their limited lifespan. When a new dog has to be trained it’s frustrating because you expect the new dog to be as good as your older dogs were. But alas, the new dog has to be taught all those things just as we did with Zak and Benson. It doesn’t take long but it’s very frustrating.

I usually never bother to speak (or blog) about these facts because it’s just a normal part of a farmers day and didn’t seem very significant to me. After reading this article it makes me wonder how long it will be before humans accept that animals are intelligent and stop trying to prove it to their minute little brains.

When are they going to do a study on the ability of humans to understand animals languages? I’d like to see the results of that study!

Monday, January 03, 2011

Farming has it's little hazards for both me and the bees...

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I was stung by a Bee last night while picking peaches.

The bite was under the middle of my foot. I guess it was going to happen and if I'd listen to my gut feeling I'd of known it...
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MAJOR CLUES: My dear husband said, "You should be wearing your boots". I was wearing thongs, (flip flops for those living north: NO, I don't wear a g-string in the orchard if that's the visual you got; sorry about that - *shudders*.

Thousands of of bees in our orchard. Great! We have a healthy orchard!

I saw the bees and continued to pull down the bird netting and of course the bees were falling which I found out - OUCH! Thanks to my dear husband for picking out the sting...really thanks.

Moral of this experience: 

1. Listen to your gut feeling.
2. Wear boots or closed shoes in the orchard (duh).
3. Listen to your husband.
4. If you see lots of bees on your orchard fruit - leave them. Come back later or earlier as the case may be.
5. And, again, listen to your GUT FEELING!

One day I might take my own advice...

Zak.

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