In addition to the portable automatic waterers described above, I love a great tool called a Lixit. You can find these on Amazon and sometimes at pet stores or hardware stores. They attach to the faucet, and the animal learns to lick the end of it and make the water come out. I install Lixits in all of my pastures so that the animals can always access clean water in addition to the water provided in other containers. My goats, in particular, love these and prefer them over drinking out of buckets. (Remember what I said about goats being picky about clean water? 🐐) Most of my pasture faucets are 5' off the ground, so I use a 3' leader hose to bring the Lixit to a better height for drinking and zip-tie it to the nearby fence. ​

Another really great option we use for water is a product called a Nelson Waterer. These stainless steel automatic waterers are a bit expensive but they hold up very well to the wear and tear of dogs and livestock.

In hot weather, electrolytes are crucial for animals. They help by replenishing fluids, balancing hydration, facilitating muscle function, supporting nerve signaling and cooling mechanisms, and maintaining organ function. Adequate electrolyte intake helps animals cope with heat stress and stay healthy.


Electrolytes are especially beneficial for goats (sheep, cows, or other dairy animals) if they are in milk. They can help prevent production from dropping due to dehydration. There are species-specific electrolytes for different animals. You can use them interchangeably, or you can get an all-species electrolyte. These powders look like Kool-Aid, and you mix them into the water. 


The brand I like best for my goats is Goat and Sheep BlueLite, from Premier 1 Supplies. This brand is the best one on the market, and the goats go crazy for it. For horses, I usually use Red Cell or a similar brand. For poultry, I use a poultry-specific brand.


There are electrolytes made for dogs, but I only use them if I have a sick dog, and it won't hurt the dogs to drink the ones for goats or other livestock. But they may or may not like it. Whenever I offer electrolytes, I put them in a separate bucket and offer them plain water in addition to the electrolytes. I do this to ensure the animals still drink even if they don't care for the electrolytes, and so the automatic waterers don't dilute the electrolyte solution.

​If the weather is especially hot you can use cooler ice packs and float them in the water. You can make homemade ice packs out of empty soda bottles or milk jugs. Before we built our puppy parlor we used the ice packs in the whelping box to keep puppies cool in the summer. It was still too hot, which is why we built the Puppy Parlor.

You can also make "popsicles" for your animals, using things like frozen broth or goat milk for the dogs and some combination of fruit or vegetables for goats, sheep, horses and poultry. Lay the "popsicle" in a dog dish or feed bucket so it doesn't all get wasted as it melts.

Don't let the summer heat endanger your Livestock Guardian Dogs and their charges. It's easy to keep them cool and comfortable if you follow the tips shared in this blog post. Provide shade, fresh, clean water, and consider scheduling activities for cooler parts of the day. By taking these measures and being proactive about your animals' well-being, you'll ensure that all of your animals remain happy, healthy, and protected all summer long. ​

​If I feed my goats alfalfa hay, will it cause Urinary Calculi (kidney stones)?

This is the number one question I get asked by new goat owners. I get this question in one form or another so often that I have been meaning to write a post about it for years, but I kept forgetting. But when two clients recently asked me the same question two days in a row I finally decided I needed to write that post. So here goes!

Most people believe that the answer to the question is yes. Most of them are terrified to feed alfalfa, or at least to feed too much of it. Even veterinarians will often say alfalfa causes Urinary Calculi. But that is one of the biggest urban legends out there about feeding goats, and one that truly drives me crazy!

The simple answer is that feeding alfalfa hay to goats doesn't generally cause Urinary Calculi. Urinary calculi is primarily caused by too much phosphorus in the diet. Grain, grass hay, and forage hay are all high in phosphorus. Feeding grain is the fastest way to cause stones since it is very high in phosphorous. Here at Prancing Pony Farm, we only feed grain to does when milking them. Bucks, dry does, and kids do not get any grain except for an occasional treat or bribe to get them to come into the barn. 

​Alfalfa is really good for goats, especially dairy goats. It's rich in calcium, with a ratio of 4:1 on average. Ideally, you want a balance of at least two parts calcium to one part phosphorus in the diet. Adding alfalfa can supply this needed calcium and help prevent kidney stones from forming. It's high in protein, calories, and other nutrients, eliminating the need for grain to put weight on most goats. Goats love it so they readily eat it. The only problem with feeding too much alfalfa is that some goats will get fat. But that's from overfeeding more than the type of hay used. When my bucks start looking pregnant I know it's time to cut back on the alfalfa! 😂

I have been feeding straight alfalfa for seven years and have never had a goat with kidney stones. I heard the same thing about horses long before I had goats. I heard that if you fed horses too much alfalfa, they would get kidney stones. But most of my horses have eaten nothing but alfalfa most of their lives. And most of them have lived into their 30s. None of them have ever had kidney stones, either.

All my goats get alfalfa hay and Craftsmin organic loose minerals from Holistic Livestock Supply. I also add Premier One Supply's vitamin A, D, and E premix, to combat vitamin E deficiency. Because of the California droughts and our general weather patterns (we get rain only a few months of the year), we don't have green forage here most of the year. Even alfalfa can't supply enough vitamin E so adding the premix in helps. If I feed any grain to my milking does, it's usually whole oats, crimped barley, or COB, and used sparingly.

And that's how I feed my herd. Of course, wethers are more at risk for Urinary Calculi than does or bucks. I don't own any wethers so I can't share any experience there. I can only share what I do and how I feed my herd of bucks, does and kids. I urge everyone to research and do what works for them and their goats. ​

I have had some comments on social media posts lately asking why my animals "live on dirt".  Some people may not realize it but farming doesn't look the same in Central California as it looks in Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, Guam (all places I have lived) or a lot of other places.

I live in the Central Valley of California. This is where most of the food in the country is grown, all watered by a huge irrigation system. Back when we first moved here (I'm from Tennessee and my husband is from Maryland) it used to rain only in the winter. We had two seasons. Dirt and Mud. But for about a decade we have been in a severe drought. We get almost no rain and very little snowfall. The snow is what our irrigation systems run on. We have been in such a severe drought for so long that wells are drying up, mature trees are dying and farms are closing. New housing developments are not even allowed to put in lawns in some areas. Only rock gardens and drought tolerant plants. Or fake grass. In some areas entire towns have dried up. On our farm alone we have lost 30-40 mature trees. They just died and fell down or had to be cut down. Almost all of my neighbors and friends have had to put in new wells, because their wells dried up. We are just waiting for it to be our turn.

So why do my animals "live on dirt"? Because there's no water to make grass grow. There's no rain and not enough water to irrigate such luxuries as grass. Even our small lawn struggles to make it. I buy every bite my horses and goats eat, in the form of alfalfa and other hay. This costs me over $2000 a month and it's getting harder and harder to even find hay, much less afford it. Farmers are growing other, more profitable crops instead.

I love grass, rain and trees. Unfortunately those are luxuries I can't have, at least not enough of. So why do I stay in such an ugly, brown dust bowl, you ask? My family. My husband served 40 years in the Navy. We had 6 kids during that career and we spent the last part of his tour here, in the dust bowl. And our children grew up, settled down, got married and had kids. We now have 12 grandkids and they all live in California. We did move back east for a time. Bought a farm in Virginia, where we had all the grass, rain and trees we wanted. But we left half of our family here, in the dust bowl. And with it we left our hearts. So we moved back here. We gave up our 12 acres of green grass in Virginia and willingly moved to the ugliest place on earth. Because though we love grass, trees and rain, we love our family more. And they make this ugly place the real "happiest place on earth".