Tuesday, September 17th, 2013
Big Dog Ranch
Haskett, Manitoba
Apple Tree
One of the delicious varieties of apples
A black walnut tree - in Manitoba!!!
Delicious yellow tomato
Zucchini
Some of the goats. They are numbered in a strategic manner. Females in their left ears, males in their right. The first part of number indicates the mother's number and the second part of the number indicates the month in which they were born.
Curious cows
She got pretty loud!
Chickens
Pedro the donkey
More chickens
Today we went to Big Dog Ranch, which is owned by a youth leader at my youth. We toured is orchard which is filled with apple, pear and cherry trees. They also grow herbs and vegetables such as tomatoes and asparagus. They mainly farm goats, they have sooo many goats and to protect they have a donkey to keep away unwanted guests. The donkey will bray and warn that there is an unsual being in with the animals and if it doesn't leave it will grab the animal or being and snap its neck and shake it till its dead. They slaughter all of their goats. How they keep track of them they tag them the boys on the right ear and girls on the left ear with a number which is their mothers number and the month they were born in. They also farm chickens. Which I do not like they are disgusting and peck at your feet so I'm delighted to tear into a piece of chicken meat when I have chicken for supper!
ReplyDeleteHello! Today we visited the Big Dog Ranch. They had cows, a donkey, goats and ugh chickens gross. They had lots of trees that had fruit even including a walnut tree. They grew there own tomatoes, asparagus, walnuts, apples and all sorts of food. Big Dog Ranch has over 120 goats all together. I learned that if it was a boy goat the ear tag was on the right side and if it was a female it was on the left side. All the goats are slaughtered after around 1 year. They even had a goat that had three legs. It was kind of sad. The bad thing was that there were lots of wasps. One landed on my face. It was terrifying. We walked all around there farm joined by 2 of his dogs. They were really cute. The chickens were really gross and loud. They get there own eggs every morning. The donkey is meant to keep all the animals together and safe. He does a good job most of the time, he's also really loud...Over all I had fun seeing all the animals but the chickens. ~Heather Penner
ReplyDeleteToday we went to Big Dog Ranch and walked around the farm, we were able to see all of the fruit trees that they grow there from apples and pears to apricots and cherry's we also got to see the gardens and what they grow in there. After walking through the gardens we saw the animals first we saw the goats which were a bit shy, second we saw the cows there were quite a few and they were curious as to who we were and why we called them over for no reason, third we saw all of the chickens, and last but not least we saw the donkey named padro he was a friendly donkey but it turns out that he is a guard donkey so if anything new or foreign enters the pen he will attack and kill them, we were told that they used to keep padro in with the goats but when the babies were born padro killed some of them because they were new and he wasn't used to them. We learned a lot about the differences between farm fresh products compared to store bought products and how that even though the store bought is approved by the government the farm fresh is better and healthier for you.
ReplyDeleteDay 7! Today we went to Big Dog Ranch. And we saw their goats,a donkey,hens,kiko goats, a roaster, really cool looking chickens like they had an amazing colored feathers they looked gold with black and we saw some beef cows. for I would say if I could I would live their its so awesome:). The farm is so nice and big and at Big Dog Ranch they let the animals be animals, they let the animals live like their are no humans around to tell them what to do. Big Dog Ranch has been there since 1997 it was first ran by Kevin Hildebrand's parents and they first started with a herd of beef cows and about 160 acres of grain land but the grain farming only lasted about 2 years so now it is run by Kevin Hildebrand himself and his wife and they rent out some of their land, but they still have it like a hobby and a passion for themselves. They look more at raising certain foods and animals all natural, they want the health food and meat. I found it so cool that they had a donkey it was the best part for me of the day. :)
ReplyDeleteThis farm was started by Kevin and Renae Hildebrand in 1997. Originally their was a dairy farm that was established in 1970 by Kevin's parents. They stopped doing dairy due to loss of interest and lack of help. So in 1997 it was converted into the farm you see today. They own 160 acres. 60 acres are rented out to other farmers and the remainder is where they live and manage their farm. An orchard in the back yard contains many fruits and vegetables. They have a variety of trees such as, pear, apricot, grapes, plum, cherry, black walnut, and many varieties of apple trees. Trail, Norland, and Goodland apple trees just to name a few. Approximately 30 trees make up this orchard. The trees were planted strategically to create it's own micro climate and to help for the pollination process and to help their growth. They have 3 different gardens as well that are strategically placed to optimize production and growth. They contain red and yellow raspberries, strawberries, peppers, herbs, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, asparagus, red and yellow tomatoes, etc., and many perennials that I've never seen before. Lot's of jams, juices, and soups are processed from these gardens and orchard's. All of these gardens are fenced in with page wire fencing. It keeps the goats out, but it also creates a mote around the garden where chickens eat the bugs and rodents to keep the pest control down. This is there way of controlling the pests naturally. So no chemicals! Very cool. They have many different animals on this farm. Goats, chickens, cows, one miniature donkey, 2 dogs, and many cats. Approximately 150 goats, and 20 cows are raised and bred for meat. Most of the goat meat goes to Carmen and from there to Winnipeg. On the goats he tags the left ears for females and right for males. When a goat delivers a new born it's called "kidding". The young are then separated into 3 pens according to age and sex. The dog named "Kip" is the pure bred boarder collie that helps to round up the animals into a herd if needed. He also will trap any animals that escape out of their fence. Another animal that guards the yard is their donkey named "Pedro". Donkey's are well known for being stubborn and difficult to move when they don't want to, and for carrying supplies on difficult mountainous terrain. But I never knew they were excellent "guard dogs". If an animal that is unfamiliar to Pedro he will alert the farmer with a loud piercing hee-haw, and try to remove it by killing it. Even if it's a newborn goat. This is why when goats give birth they separate Pedro and place him in the pens with the newborns to familiarize himself with them. Then they are slowly introduced to the rest of the adult goats once old enough and Pedro joins them. This farm has mostly black and brown laying hens that start laying brown eggs at 17 weeks old for the next 12 months. Then their laying drops dramatically and slows down. So typically laying hens only produce eggs up to 1.5yrs old. What impresses me about this farm is that nothing goes to wastes. Only hearty, self sufficient animals are raised and everything is grown, feed , and cared for naturally. The way nature intended it. I was really amazed at how many different projects were going on a daily bases and how well maintained the yard was even though they have full-time jobs. Probably because everything raised and grown is low maintenance. Thank you Kevin for giving us a tour!
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