Friday, July 24, 2009
Bubba settling in, Peachicks & baby chicks growing
Monday, July 20, 2009
Danielle's State Fair Hog - Bubba
Our New Livestock Guardians -- Karakachan puppies
History of the Karakachan dog:
The Karakachan Dog is one of Europe's oldest breeds. Its ancestors started forming as early as the third millennium BC. A typical Mollos, created for guarding its owner's flock and property, it does not hesitate to fight wolves or bears or coyotes to defend its owner and his family in case of danger.
The dog is named after the Karakachans - nomadic shepherds of Thracian origin and the oldest inhabitants of the Balkans. Due to their conservative stock-breeding traditions, they managed to preserve some of the oldest breeds of domestic animals in Europe--the Karakachan sheep, the Karakachan horse, and, of course, the Karakachan Dog.
The breed flourished for centuries until, in the 1940s, the Bulgarian Communist Government nationalized the farming industry. All livestock were placed in communal farms and the Communist regime ordered extermination of the Karakachan dogs, whose services were deemed unnecessary on the collective farms. It was at this point in their history that the Karakachan dog became dangerously close to extinction.
Since then, through the dedicated efforts of a few special people in Bulgaria and around the world, the population of the Karakachan dog has grown steadily. Today, there are between 100 and 200 Karakachan dogs serving as livestock guardians in the United States.
{Taken from the Karakachan Dog website: http://www.karakachandog.com/index.html }
Monday, July 13, 2009
New additions at Dixieland Acres
Our other new additions - 3 pea chicks & 4 guinea keets. Our peahen, Priscilla, hatched all 7 - we think she took over the guinea nest after it was started.
Guinea keets
We enjoy watching all the new babies. :) We've borrowed an incubator from a friend & are getting ready to try to hatch some more guineas & chickens.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Dixieland Acres -- Boer Goats
Dixieland Acres -- all kinds of critters
Dixieland Acres
Our focus at Dixieland Acres is to raise the highest quality boer goats possible for breeding stock, show stock, 4-H/FFA projects & meat. We raise fullblood & percentage boers and our herd includes traditionals, red, paints & black.
In addition to our boer goats, we also have chickens (Rhode Island Reds, Black Astrolorps, Buff Orpingtons, Black Stars, Americaunas and several bantams), muscovy ducks, peacocks, guinea hens & hogs.
For more information on our goat, please visit our website: dixielandacrees.com