...and He has brought it to pass.

God, in His great wisdom and by His mighty hand, has brought about a transition for our farm and family. In early May, Blair, the human kids and I relocated to the mountains of Harman, West Virginia, along with 4 dogs, 2 bucks, 5 does, and 3 kids. We have had great support from our family, church, and our new friends, and have in a short time constructed a well-winterized barn in a fenced winter pasture, and are finalizing plans to construct kidding pens for our 4 does due to kid in January. We have celebrated 6 birthdays, seen our first blizzard, experienced the miracle of 4 kiddings, and watched a litter of Holly's puppies come, grow, and go to their new homes. Blair has worked hard to split a good supply of wood and, with help from our generous landlord, fence a winter pasture, build a 16x16 run-in, and make lots of other improvements, both inside and outside here. School was very challenging for me, but was a lot of fun and intensive learning for all of us. The children have taken on a large part of the daily feeding and watering of the animals, and the herd and their guardian angels are healthy and happy. Stay tuned for my next update, with photos of the Christmas preparations and the winter kidding stalls.

Holly's First Anatolian Litter

Holly, the Houdini of dogs, is nearly impossible to confine. At 100lbs and even at 7 weeks pregnant, she has been known to scale a 6' fence,. Slip out the top slot in a horse gate, and scooter under a 4" gap under the fence. She can be captured and held in a kennel with 10' sides, and that's where she spent 3 weeks in heat...the first time. Fast forward 2 weeks. By the time a dear friend had observed Sammy and Holly doing what dogs do, I already had another occupant in the heat pen: Rio, our senior buck, was confined in an effort to keep the goats from getting bred. So Holly Houdini went into the goat pen, securely held by 3 bungee cords...until Holly snapped them. All 3. And she was gone. For days. And I prayed she had a false 2nd heat. I prayed she had a false pregnancy. And she grew. And grew. And growled and snapped at the other pups left from the last litter. And she kept on growing. And yesterday the day I had calculated as her due date, I felt and SAW those puppies wiggling in her belly, and her 98.6 temp at 4pm told the story: we were gonna have babies within a day! And of course, it's the coldest night of the year. So after am hour of the year. So up went the heat lamp, the heated buckets all got plugged in, and we waited. And when she was still showing no signs, we went to sleep. Come 7am, one very smiley 10 year old boy bounded into my room squealing, "Holly had her puppies, and they're ALL Sammy's! So we have 8 little white bundles: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. Merry Christmas to all!

Puppies are HERE!

We have a colorful, healthy litter of ten pups, five boys and five girls! Sugar was a champ, and once again, shows superior mothering skills, attending to her babies with gentle diligence. And it amazes me how its not too soon, even at a day or two old, to begin pack discipline, with a little, low, almost-whispered growl for a pup who wiggles toward mama's food or water dish.

We would otherwise have all the pups in the barn so that they can be full exposed to the goats, but with daytime temps hovering in the 90s, mom wasn't able to keep her temp regulated, so the gang has been inside. Bambi, the littlest goat, will be invited to meet the pups today, and once Sugar has has another day or two to recover, the pups and mom will return to camp in the barn.

See my ad on eBay Classified Kansas City for information on how to reserve a pup. And stay tuned in the next few days for updates on the early training process my puppies go through!

Waiting...and learning...

Just a short day or two left until Sugar's puppies arrive, and our excitement is only balanced by our concern for Moses, our 6 month old English Mastiff puppy, who is suffering from tick paralysis. Our area is very heavy on the tick population, so much so that Frontline doesn't do a thing. Moses didn't react well to it anyway, so he is treated with Ivermectin oral horse wormer paste to combat the ticks. He was fine on Friday evening at 7pm, and by 7:15, his rear legs were wobbly and he was making strange noises. I approached him, and he was just as waggy and happy as ever, rolling to have his belly rubbed. I moved and squeezed every joint, inspected both legs, belly, back & tail--nothing unusual. He had a handful of tiny ticks on each ear, so I pulled them off, as I do every day. And when he reluctantly stood up, he wasn't limping. Just looked like he was, well, almost unable to use his hind legs.

Time for Google.

Turns out that certain female ticks, when they become engorged, will inject their highly neurotoxic saliva into the bite site, and dogs who are sensitive to it can slowly become paralyzed. The paralysis starts in the throat, which explained the strange chatting he was doing. It then begins to cause weakness in the hind legs, which is what we were seeing. To reverse the condition, removal of the tick is all that's necessary, but failure to do so will result in death.

Time for the Furminator and wormer.

I searched his entire body--between toes, inside ears, inside his.mouth, you name it, I searched it. Came up with one more very small tick, and it was engorged (though still tiny). I then dosed him.with the wormer. So, now we have been waiting.

Moses is slow recovering, although he never did experience total hind leg paralysis. He has walked a bit every day, and yesterday he appeared to he regaining some strength, though only a bit. He weighs about 90lbs, or else I suspect he would be dead. I had withheld food and water as instructed by the Merck Vet Manual, but after 4 days, I decided his recovery was not going to progress without some nutrition. He had some cooked chicken for lunch, and I left his food and water with him overnight. I'm headed out to do morning chores, so I will spend time with him. Hopefully he races right up to me...I'm praying hard for him!

So be attentive to ticks. They aren't just gross, they can be deadly. The Anatolians are usually full of them, too, so tick patrol can be a full time job, but it could save their lives.

We wait...for Moses' healing and recovery, and for new life to arrive!

We are Angel's Haven Farm!

Welcome to the blog and photo album for Angel's Haven Farm! We raise and run livestock guardian dogs and Nigerian Dwarf goats in Odessa, Missouri on 6 acres of gorgeous pasture surrounded by corn and cattle as far as the eye can see.
We are a Christian homesteading family with 8 children (and one on the way!) whom we homeschool. We raise Anatolians Shepherd dogs with our livestock, which currently include goats and ducks, with plans to expand our homestead this fall with the addition of a family milk cow and a flock of egg-laying hens.
Our dogs have free run of the property, and faithfully patrol and protect our livestock, and just as diligently, our family. Sugar, our foundation dog, is 3 years old, and is fawn with a black mask. She is currently expecting her second litter on August 25th, and we look forward to a large litter of gorgeous little fluffballs. Samson, our foundation male, is growing into his large frame at 14 months old and as graceful and handsome as they come, with flashy biscuit-and-white markings and a dark mask. Holly, also 14 months, is Sammy's sister and her shimmering all-white coloring and strong, compact build makes her a fantastic and unique animal. We have plans to keep several of the puppies from our upcoming litter, and are acquiring an Anatolian X Great Pyrenees pup from a farm north of Kansas City.
We raise our Anatolians to conform to the ideal physical and behavioral traits of the working class of the breed. Our females are 85-100lbs, agile and powerful. We breed for calm temperament, respect for the animals, independent thinking and problem solving skills, a keen sense of alertness, wariness of strangers and unusual events, and strong bond to the flock. Our females are 85-100lbs, agile and powerful. Our females have excellent mothering ability, and are diligent teachers of their pups as they learn to grasp the demands of their working environment. Our males are bred for speed and agility, not just sheer mass. Weighing in between 100-130, they possess a threatening presence and the strength to take on and defeat any predator they might meet in the region, yet they still maintain the physical build to chase down the fastest coyote and the endurance to keep up with the most mobile of their goat charges. Our dogs spend 365 days a year outside with their flock. They are fed top quality grain-and-filler-free food and raw meat, are wormed and vaccinated routinely, and are kept in top shape so that they can withstand the deadliest summer heat, the harshest winter snow and ice, the wettest and windiest spring weather, all the while protecting even the most vulnerable of our goats. The dogs work in teams, and we have had no losses from predators on land or in the skies.

Nigerian Dwarf goats are a lively, hardy, nimble breed of miniature milk goat. These colorful and entertaining animals give up to a gallon of delicious, high-butterfat milk a day, yet they stand only 21" high at the shoulder! Our kidding seasons are in spring and fall, and we breed for feminine body conformation, udder structure and capacity, color and three standards of temperament (friendly, excellent mothers, who are gentle and cooperative milkers). Our flock descends from sites of dozens of champion milk goats from around the country, and our closed-herd breeding program is selective for outstanding all-around conformation.

Check back within the next week for the announcement of the arrival of Sugar's puppies. And don't forget to LIKE us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Angels-Haven-Farm/133445290060996