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Allen's Acres Farm

Family owned and operated since 1988

Blog

Allen Acres Farm is proud to introduce our new website and blog.  We look forward to sharing our farm life and animals with you.

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New foal

Posted on March 4, 2018 at 7:05 PM

New foal born 2/28/2018. By Ima Lowkey Exec and out of Boston Etta. Tentative name is In Awe of Boston, barn name Aweston.


Pig Me Up

Posted on March 4, 2018 at 7:00 PM


Kip came up with an idea of how to move pigs from one area to another. He took a piece of hog panel and curved it around. Attahced the ends to each other with two double ended snaps. Works great!

Kunekune registration

Posted on February 23, 2018 at 6:40 PM

Happy Friday! I just wanted to take minute and let you know that the process for registration of Kunekunes is complicated and time consuming, so patience is required. Only the BREEDER can register a litter of piglets and get them registered. This is NOT like getting a horse or a puppy where the breeder hands you a paper and then you can send it in to get the animal registered. Kunekunes require the breeder to register a litter, and then pull hair to send in to a lab to verify DNA parentage, and only after that is done, do we get permission to register the piglets, and then the breeder is still responsible for filling out the paperwork and submitting it to register the individual piglets. Also, if you want to have your chosen name on their papers, please tell the breeder so they can enter it during submission. On transfers of registered pigs, again the owner is responsible for filling out the transfer and sending in the original papers to get the animal transferred. It is my suggestion to anyone wanting to buy a Kunekune, to get everything in writing from the person you are getting the pig from. You are relying on the honesty of the person, the breeder or current owner, to come through with what they promised. If they don't, then you have something in writing if you need to pursue a legal recourse. I have been incredibly lucky to deal with honest and trustworthy people, but I have heard stories about problems other people have had from those who are not so ethical. If the person you want to get a pig from is not willing to put everything in writing, then think twice. Please ask questions and make sure you understand the process. The two registries, AKKPS and AKPR, have information on registration on their websites. And they have lots of other information as well. An informed buyer and an honest seller makes the transaction a happy one.

Immunizations and Worming and Biosecurity

Posted on February 22, 2018 at 1:45 PM

I can't emphasize enough the importance of proper immunizations and worming for all animals.

Horses: Our horses all get a 5 way vaccine which is Eastern and Western encephalomyelitis, Influenza, and rhinopneumonitis. Plus we give them intranasal strangles vaccine. Plus they get West Nile vaccine. Our horses are wormed using ivermectin paste every 3-4 months per directions on the box. We will also use a different paste (febendazole usually) to kill anthing the ivermectin might miss. 

Cows: 7 way vaccine plus a scours vaccine for pregnant cows. Calves get scours vaccine and pneumonia vaccine. We use a Masterject immunization system, which I purchased from Wales. Since we don't yet have a squeeze chute, we can use the Masterject and inject them all just using a small pen. We give our shots in the neck or the hip, however it's best to refrain from giving shots in the hip in the animals you want to put in the freezer (steers). For worming, we use Dectomax injection. The big advantage in this over ivermectin is Dectomax can be given IM, whereas ivermectin should be given SQ. We also give the cattle a Safe Guard worming block a couple times of year to kill anything the Dectomax might not cover. 

Swine: Rhinishield X4 every 6 months. Piglets get iron shots at 3 days as well. We use a SlapShot to give the adults pigs their shots. It is easy to use, less stressful for us and for them. Imjections should be given in the neck.For worming, we use Dectomax IM per directions. Worming pigs is very important! People can actually get hookworms from pigs simply by walking thru a pen barefoot that has been contaminted. 

Goats: CDT vaccine. 

All of our animals also receive diatomaceous earth (DE) in their feed three times a week. This is a completely safe and natural wormer. People can even consume it! This product can also be used externally on all animals for ticks and fleas. It works great on dogs too. I have recommended it to people to use in their houses to treat horrible flea infestations, and it has worked very time!! 

BIOSECURITY is a crucial part of disease prevention on a farm.

We quarantine any new animal at least two weeks. If we are not sure if they have received any immunaztions, we do that during this time. And we worm them. 

Some visitors to our farm are surprised when we ask them to use hand sanitizer before touching one of the animals. This can certainly help prevent  transferring any disease causing organisms from their hands to our stock. Visitors are not allowed to go out into the pig enclosures in case they might be carrying anything on their shoes or boots. Maybe we are too protective, but I feel that there is a higher possibility of transferral of diease to the pigs than to the other animals. We bring any sale pigs into the barn into pens for visitors to see. We do not show our pigs! We do not breed anyone else's sows to our boars. 

Follow manufacturer directions on all products, or consult a veterinarian for help.

Buyuers should always ask if the animals they are buying have been vaccinated, and how to keep up on the schedule. Do not believe some of the things you may hear or read about "home" wormers like black walnut tea, etc. Again, people can get worms from animals by skin contact. The only way to confirm a herd is worm free is to have fecal samples checked by a vet. I understand how people want to raise "natural" animals for consumption. Since we do not milk our animals, I don't worry about any withdrawals with using wormers etc however those instructions are on the literature that comes with the product. I would rather raise an animal that stays happy and healthy and control what they eat than risk them using "home" remedies. Any animal that displays signs of illness or injury is attended by a licensed veterinarian. 



A Rough week

Posted on January 20, 2018 at 6:20 PM

The last weekend started off full of excitement as we welcomed two new additions to our Appaloosa herd. Pass Me A Miracle {Mia} came from McNeil Performance Horses in North Carolina, and they are incredibly nice people. Also we welcomed Miracle Huntress (Louise) from Courtney Aaron in Florida. Unfortunately, Louise developed an impaction and ultimately had to be euthanized during surgery. The staff at Conly Koontz Equine were amazing and absolutely did their best. There is no rhyme or reason as to why we lose a special animal. We had Louise such a very short time but we know that many people were affected by her passing. Courtney, the shippers, the staff at the vet's, and our family were devastated by the loss of a young mare with lots of years ahead of her. 

Mia is settinling in well. We turned her out with a young mare and a couple of our geriatric miniature horses today and she was so good with them. She even waslked past the camel without even a twitch. We can't wait til April for her foal by Image Of Sevens AQHA. Her 2017 filly is beautiful.

Everyone survived the hideously cold weather we had for two weeks. It amazes me how well all the animals adapt. They did better than we did! 


New Year/New website

Posted on January 5, 2018 at 3:30 PM
Many thanks to Kathy Peterson of Competitive Advantage Business Solutions for the design of our new website. I met Kathy thru Caroline Malott of Red Roof Kunekunes. Kathy has Viriginia Kunekunes farm. I told Kathy today as she was training me to maintain the website, that you never know how connections are made and to be thoughtful, patient, and kind and your efforts are repaid to you through these relationships. I am so incredible proud of my children (Quinn and Jarrad) and watching then become adults has made me realize that no matter what else I accomplished in my career...nothing else was more important than my children and their success and happiness. I really don't know what this blog will bring. Hopefully, I don't just ramble, lol. I want to share information on our wonderful animals when I can. The sharing of knowledge benefits everyone. I am blessed by knowing my friends in the kunekunes and their willingness to support us in raising these amazing pigs. Our first litters should be here in March and I can't wait. I can honestly say I NEVER thought I would enjoy pigs so much! The cute factor is astronomical! And then there is the miniature cattle. I clearly remember being out in a pickup in a field amidst a herd of Chianina cattle and they were as tall as the cab of the truck. I was scared spitless! But these miniatures are more like big dogs. Even our bull, Oakey, doesn't frighten me. Don't get me wrong....they are still big and it hurts when they step on your foot, but you don't feel intimidated by them as you do with full size cattle. And don't even start me in the calves. Check out the pics of the little white calf we had in 2017. These guys aren't even knee high when they are born, and you can pick them up and carry them around if you need to. I used to think I wanted an all registered herd of a specific breed but I admit to really enjoying the crossbreds and not quite knowing what the calves will look like when they are born. Maybe that comes from our long association with Appaloosa horses. You have to have faith to raise Apps because you can breed two of the loudest colored horses together and get a solid colored foal. It's always a surprise when a foal is born. We have only had one foal out of our young stallion, Exec, so far, and he was exceptional. He was sold to a couple in Louisiana, and I hope he is doing well for them. I have a photo of the colt when we put the camel out in the arena with him the first time. He looked way way up at Dominick and then went over to him and tried to smell him. I was amazed he didn't run in terror. ER and Brett, the two mares, were freaked out when he went outside the first time. No way were they getting close to the scary creature. Dominick is so calm and friendly except when you bring treats for the pigs. Then he just annoys you because he firmly believes that it's one treat for the pigs and 10 for him....repeat. He is not a fan of vegetables except carrots. It's pretty clear when you give him a pea pod and he spits it back at you. Reminds me of Quinn when it comes to peas.....He does love bread, grapes, apples, potato chips, carrots, and strawberries. He knows that the lady with the plastic grocery bags brings goodies! The pigs know what the rattling plastic bag means too, and I really hate that the weather has been so horrible that I haven't been able to go visit in a while though I do send treats with Quinn to give them. It has been miserably cold the last couple of weeks over the holidays and I am constantly amazed at how well the animals adapt to the weather. Quinn has made sure the huts are full of straw for the pigs and goats, and of course they snuggle up at night to keep warm. Tank heaters keep the water from freezing so the animals always have water. Round bales keep everyone happy with food. I am really looking forward to babes this spring. I know one foal is due in February, piglets in March, and calves in April I think. I will do my best to keep the website current. Anyway, enjoy the website and if you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know. Deb

New Website

Posted on December 19, 2017 at 10:05 PM

We are very excited to announce our website and blog.  We look forward to sharing information and things happening here on our farm.


Thank you,



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