Black Dog Farm

Livingston, MT

blackdogfarmmt@gmail

(406)220-2338

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A pasture-based farm raising pork, poultry + eggs in Livingston, Montana

Follow our day to day life on the farm on Instagram & Facebook!

Happy #nationalfarmersday ❤️ We’re honored to raise food for our community, and thankful to all of the other local farmers raising the food we eat but don’t grow!
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Thank you for allowing us to live our dream - worth the early mornings, late nights, stress, and endless to-dos to put good food on your table!
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📸: @toripintar
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#thankafarmer #farmerday #knowyourfarmer #supportlocalfarms #locallygrown #growyourown #montana #montanafarm #smallfarm #eatlocal #eatlocalfood #madeinmontana #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #livingston #livingstonmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

So far these guys are doing great and are staying snuggled in the barn as we continue to weather this winter storm. It’s been in the low teens at night with blowing snow yesterday. Today looks like the last cold day (high 20s) so they should be able to return to normal life outside by the end of the weekend.
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We got about 165 laying chicks in the mail this morning (of course, because they usually come during a cold snap) and everyone is looking pretty good. We’re going to be processing some (50-100) of our older laying hens starting tomorrow. They’ve had a great life and have given us lots of eggs, and now they’ll feed the dogs.
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The last two days have definitely given us a taste of winter, though it’s tough when it comes and we still have broilers in the fields. Looking forward to lightening our load all around before winter sets in permanently.
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#piglet #idahopasturepigs #ipp #pasturepigs #cutepiglet #winteriscoming #fallonthefarm #fallinmontana #montana #montanafarm #madeinmontana #lifeouthere #smallfarm #livingston #livingstonmontana #bozeman #bozemanmontana #bozemanmt #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

Tulip had 11 sweet babes last night and everyone is doing great! 😍
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Tim noticed her nesting yesterday and was able to move her into the barn. It was 70° yesterday but with a winter storm warning in the forecast, we didn’t want to take any chances. We are so glad we did because it was 20° this morning and snowing!
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Tulip had one piglet stillborn and 11 big healthy piglets. It was a bit of a longer labor but she is up and eating this morning and all the piglets are snuggled in. This is the first time we’ve had to farrow a sow in the barn and we are glad we had the option! It was 16° warmer in there than it was outside this morning.
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Happy Wednesday everyone!
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#piglets #idahopasturepigs #ipp #pasturepigs #spottedpig #cutepig #babypigs #farrowtofinish #thatlldo #montana #madeinmontana #montanafarm #smallfarm #fallinmontana #fallonthefarm #livingston #livingstonmontana #bozeman #bozemanmontana #bozemanmt #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

It’s a very winter-feeling fall Saturday here! 🍂☁️❄️
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Hope you have a great day!
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#rainboweggs #eggbasket #eggbasketcollective #eggenvy @eggenvy #iamamodernfarmer #farmlifebestlife #farmlife #happyhens #beyondfreerange #gatheredfromthecoop #eggfarmer #pasturedeggs #smallfarm #montana #madeinmontana #montanafarm #livingston #livingstonmontana #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

I’ve loved following along with the #womensworkwednesday hashtag hosted by @love_and_lavender - there are so many badass ladies out there in the Instagram world growing and raising food!
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I do things on a daily basis on and for this farm that I never would or could have predicted I’d be doing in my lifetime. But what a LEARNING EXPERIENCE! I’ve learned enough to fill an encyclopedia (maybe not a useful one to most) and have many more volumes to go. I feel strongest and most capable but also most defeated and inept in the same place: on this farm.
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📸 by another awesome lady @toripintar
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#womenswork #farmlife #farmlifebestlife #onthefarm #lifelessons #countryliving #lifeouthere #montana #montanafarm #smallfarm #madeinmontana #fallonthefarm #fallinmontana #livingston #livingstonmontana #bozeman #bozemanmontana #bozemanmt #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

This handsome dude is Willy (Wonka), one of our bucks. His momma is Bitters, our #herdqueen and one of our favorite does. We bought Bitters bred, and she had Willy and his sister shortly after. We kept Willy pretty much just because he’s so handsome.
If we were deciding on personality, he wouldn’t be here because he’s actually kind of a jerk 😂
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Sharing for #meetmygoatmonday with @theyounghomestead
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#nigeriandwarfgoat #dwarfgoat #goatsofinstagram #goatstagram #itsallaboutlooks #gotitfromhismomma #farmlife #farmlifebestlife #countryliving #lifeouthere #smallfarm #fallonthefarm #fallinmontana #montana #montanafarm #madeinmontana #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #livingston #livingstonmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

Happy #Caturday !! Come see us @bozemanwintermarket this morning from 9-12! We have lots of eggs and whole chickens today!
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We want to say thank you to everyone who has expressed concern about Henry and shared their well wishes for his recovery! For those who missed it: Hen was attacked by a coyote 3 weeks ago today. Tim found him laying on the mat just inside the cat door in the barn first thing in the morning. Thankfully he made his way there because we likely wouldn’t have found him if he hadn’t. At first, he just appeared to have puncture wounds to the side of his face and top of his head, but it quickly became apparent that there was more going on. His temperature soared to over 105° and he became hypoglycemic. I was able to place an IV catheter to give him fluids and stabilized his blood glucose. Over the next few days, his ear canal began filling with pus. I sedated him to explore his wounds and the full extent of his injuries became clear. The wound on the side of his face had a substantial amount of unviable tissue, his ear canal was severed, and his facial nerve, which is responsible for his blink reflex, was damaged. We’ve been doing daily or every other day bandage changes for the last 3 weeks, and late this week he was finally healed enough to go without a bandage. He’s maintained a great appetite throughout and has settled into being mostly indoors. Time will tell whether he’ll need operations to remove his eye and part of his ear canal, but things are looking up!
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Henry is the Nicest Cat On The Farm, and we are so glad he is still here!
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📸: @toripintar .
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#farmcat #workingcats #catsofinstagram #henry #montana #montanafarm #smallfarm #farmlifebestlife #farmlife #farmersmarket #madeinmontana #bozeman #bozemanmontana #bozemanmt #livingston #livingstonmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

It’s a get-it-done kinda day here! We pulled Rooster (our bull) from the cows, and reunited the cows and calves with last year’s steers and our young Highland heifer who we don’t want bred yet. They’ll all spend a bit more time grazing in the front pasture before we start feeding hay. We still have SO much grass out front! We also moved the weaner piglets and separated Tulip, the sow that is due to farrow first in just a few weeks! Now we are going to separate the older feeder pigs one more time to make 3 smaller groups of 7-8 each, which gives everyone easier access to feed.
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Then tomorrow it is forecasted to start raining/snowing and take a dip into the 20s at night 🥶❄️
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What does the weekend look like your way??
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#workworkwork #farmlife #farmlifebestlife #highlandcattle #scottishhighlands #smallfarm #lifeouthere #countryliving #winteriscoming #fallinmontana #fallonthefarm #montana #madeinmontana #montanafarm #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #livingston #livingstonmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

Happy Thursday from these turkeys! 🦃
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Tim is heading home from the chicken processor today, and just in time because I dropped off the last of the chickens in freezer @littlestardiner yesterday 😳
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Today is a bit of a catch-up day for me in the house and on the computer. I’m cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, hiking the dogs, and sitting down with QuickBooks. Those are my goals at least! 🤞🏼
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Hope you all have a great day! The weekend is coming! 👏🏼👏🏼
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#turkeys #pastureraisedturkeys #beyondfreerange #openskypoultry #bourbonred #bourbonredturkeys #whiteholland #whitehollandturkeys #heritageturkeys #pasturedpoultry #smallfarm #lifeouthere #montanafarm #madeinmontana #montana #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #livingston #livingstonmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

We’ve been a little quiet over here on our feed this week, but I’ve been trying to keep up in stories! It’s one of those weeks where we are going in so many directions, I’m just trying to focus on the essentials!
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Tim is 4 hours away at the chicken processor for a few nights and I’m holding down the farm while working my day job (took a half day today because 🤪). We are supposed to get our first hard freeze this weekend with snow and 20s in the forecast! ❄️ It’s coming!
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The egg baskets are slowly filling back up, and we should have plenty for you @bozemanwintermarket this Saturday! I’m loving some of the colors from some hens we hatched this spring, and I’m looking forward to doing some more hatching this fall and winter!
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Hope you’re all having a fantastic week. Thanks for following along with us!
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📸: @toripintar
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#farmlife #countryliving #blackcoppermarans #rainboweggs #pasturedeggs #happyhens #winteriscoming #fallinmontana #fallonthefarm #montana #madeinmontana #montanafarm #smallfarm #livingston #livingstonmontana #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

It’s weaning day for Huckleberry’s piglets. We decide when to wean based on a number of factors: namely age of the piglets (usually 6-8 weeks) and condition of the sow, which can deteriorate daily in those later weeks. Huck is looking a little thin, and she has nursed her piglets for 8 weeks. In our experience, the piglets that get to nurse longer grow better. These guys are looking so great, but they have a lot to live up to, being the little brothers and sisters of The Favorites. Huckleberry will have a long break now, and won’t be bred again until July. We are transitioning from spring farrowing to fall farrowing so that we are raising smaller pigs during the long winters here, and finishing them in late summer after they’ve filled their bellies with grass.
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I am working on our first monthly newsletter today. If you’d like to get updates from the farm, announcements about things like Open Farm Days and pork and turkey availability, head over to our website (link in bio) and enter your e-mail address in the pop-up field or at the top of our “contact us” page.
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Also, in honor of #climatestrike we’re hoping you’ll take a few minutes to pause today and contemplate the very uncertain future of this planet. I believe the single most important thing we can do is to vote and encourage those around us who may be apathetic or misinformed. This is an emergency.
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📸: @toripintar
Have a fantastic Friday! ❤️
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#huckleberry #idahopasturepig #ipp #pasturepigs #pasturedpork #pastureraisedpork #farrowing #goodpig #thatlldopig #montana #madeinmontana #montanafarm #smallfarm #lifeouthere #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #livingston #livingstonmt #livingstonmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

Extra grateful and proud of these hard working canines this week. If you’ve been watching our stories, you know that Henry (swipe ➡️ to see his perfect little face pre-injury) was attacked by what we assume was a coyote last Saturday. I heard a coyote very close that night, and then the dogs went nuts. Our best guess is that the dogs scared the coyote and caused it to drop Henry. Thankfully he got himself back to the barn and through the cat door, where Tim found him in the morning. He showed signs of head trauma, has a severe crushing wound to the side of his face and almost didn’t make it. He is on the long road to recovery, but may yet lose his eye and lost the hearing in one ear as his ear canal was severed.
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About 4:30 this morning, we again heard a coyote very close. Tim went out to check on things and found Emmy and Teddy posted at the fence line with the coyote on the other side. We’re not sure why the coyotes are testing things now after years of mostly staying away. But we do know that without our team of livestock guardian dogs, we wouldn’t have Thanksgiving turkeys, meat chickens, or eggs for you!
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Come get the fruits of their labor (eggs and chickens!) TONIGHT at the Bogert Farmer’s Market extension at the Market at Ferguson Farms from 5-8pm! Same parking lot as Sidewinders and Nordic Brewing.
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📸: @toripintar .
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#livestockguardian #guardiandogs #lgd #maremma #maremmasheepdog #workingdogs #farmdog #workingdog #dogwithajob #montana #montanafarm #smallfarm #lifeouthere #farmlife #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #livingston #livingstonmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

When you forget the basket... 🧺
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Come see us tomorrow at the fairgrounds from 9-12 for the LAST Bozeman Farmer’s Market of the year! But don’t fret, the @bozemanwintermarket (our FAVORITE market!) starts NEXT week!
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📸: @toripintar
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#beyondfreerange #pasturedeggs #rainboweggs #openskypoultry #tastethedifference #smallfarm #lifeouthere #countryliving #montana #montanafarm #madeinmontana #livingstonmontana #livingston #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

This week’s @iamcountryside theme is #whyi _____ (farm, homestead, garden, etc) and it really has me thinking! The farm grew from a desire to raise our own meat - because of disgust with the way pigs and chickens are raised en masse, for greater nutrition, to be able to control what we’re eating, for the connection that comes with tending what you eat before you eat it. It seems I’ve also been destined since the early childhood days to live my life with animals at the center, and since Tim has a similar affinity for animals, that piece was already in place. We figured if we are going to put a large amount of time and effort into raising our own food, maybe we should also raise it for other people: enter Black Dog Farm.
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Since that founding thought line, our “why” has morphed into a lot more: the challenge of running this business (both physically caring for the animals and building the farm, and the actual business side), the support and enthusiasm of our friends and family, the absolute beauty we live in every day, a lifestyle of always-something-to-do that fits our shared need to move and accomplish. However, when I think about the farm today, approaching the end of 2019, I think most about the community that has grown from it: customers turned to friends who drive 30 minutes to bring us a home cooked dinner on a Sunday night because they want to do something nice for us, the other local farmers we have gotten to know, professional and at home chefs who know and appreciate good food, people who care about what they’re eating, how it was raised, the planet we inhabit. Our community and our tribe has ballooned from this farm, and that has made our lives the richest they’ve been in the past decade.
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Between the perfect animals we share this life with and the flawed humans we’re lucky enough to know, we have enough motivation to wake up every day and keep truckin’
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Photo by our lovely friend, @toripintar
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#whyifarm #smallfarm #montana #madeinmontana #montanafarm #lifeouthere #livingston #livingstonmontana #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

Caught this little cutie deep in thought 💭
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Happy Wednesday, friends! We woke up to more rain here in SW Montana! It’s been raining for almost a week! It looks like the weather pattern is changing and we’re in for a beautiful, 70s and sunny weekend ☀️
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This is the last week of summer farmer’s markets for us (crazy!), but we are definitely looking forward to a slightly slower pace and a winter routine!
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#wednesday #humpday #summerinmontana #summeronthefarm #winteriscoming #idahopasturepigs #ipp #pasturepigs #littlepig #pastureraisedpork #smallfarm #lifeouthere #countryliving #madeinmontana #montana #montanafarm #livingston #livingstonmontana #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

A shot by @henryalyssa from the @seasonalmontana dinner we hosted earlier this summer. I love seeing photos that really capture the magnificence of these mountains we are lucky enough to live and work beneath!
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We often wish that house wasn’t built right there, but beggars can’t be choosers and we have nothing to complain about with this view 😍
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It’s not a bad place to be a pig or a chicken or a turkey or a dog or a human. I am grateful every day 🙏🏼
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We hope you are as ready to kick off the weekend as we are! Today is in the 90s today, but it’s looking like the last of it. We cool off to 70s tomorrow and we’re looking at highs in the 60s next week!
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#winteriscoming !!
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#views #absarokamountains #mountainsofmontana #montana #montanaviews #summerinmontana #summeronthefarm #themountainsarecalling #montanafarm #smallfarm #farmlife #farmtotable #farmdinner #madeinmontana #countryliving #countrysideandfarmlife #livingston #livingstonmontana #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

Sharing this sleeping-in-the-sun mother/daughter duo for #meetmygoatmonday with @theyounghomestead even though it’s Tuesday because after a 3 day weekend at the end of summer, it might as well be Monday, right?
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Bitters and her doeling from last year, Apple, are attached at the hips.
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We hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend! We are experiencing some of the hottest weather we’ve had all summer this week, and fall continues to sound like a nice respite. I’ll reflect on summer soon, but not while it’s 90° 😝
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#nigeriandwarf #nigeriandwarfgoat #dwarfgoat #goatsofinstagram #goatstagram #montana #montanafarm #summerinmontana #summeronthefarm #lifeouthere #farmlife #countryliving #madeinmontana #smallfarm #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #livingston #livingstonmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

One of those days where you just need to hop in the tub with your friend...or something 🤨😂
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We had a great time at the Bozeman Farmer’s Market this morning - thank you to everyone who came! Then we came home and got the fence line we were working on yesterday buttoned up and hooked our electric back up. It’s a bit warm for those kinds of projects 😑
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Hope you’re all having a wonderful Saturday!!
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#pigs #idahopasturepigs #ipp #pasturepigs #bathtime #summerinmontana #summeronthefarm #fencing #farmlife #smallfarm #montana #montanafarm #countryliving #countrysideandfarmlife #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #livingston #livingstonmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt

Come see Tim tonight @bogertfarmersmarket at Lindley Park from 5-8! Come early for eggs 😉 These are some Olive Eggers I hatched this spring 😍
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Summer is winding down here in Montana and some late season fatigue is setting in. It’s been a bit of an intense and unpredictable season and I’m finding I’m looking forward to “wrapping up.” For us, that means finishing up our broiler production for the year and processing our turkeys. Our chicken processor is only open from May-November, so we have to raise all of our chickens in that time period. We’ve more than doubled the number we’ve raised this year compared to last year, and having an empty brooder and eliminating meat chickens and turkeys from the daily chores is sounding restful to me. We have a long (but manageable, I think) before-winter to do list to chip away at over the next few months. With our loooonnnnggg winters, I try really hard not to wish away the seasons, but I do look forward to a change of pace. How are you feeling about fall approaching?!
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#summeronthefarm #summerinmontana #winteriscoming #endofseason #chickens #chickenfarmer #changeisgood #montana #montanafarm #smallfarm #knowyourfarmer #madeinmontana #supportlocalfarms #bozeman #bozemanmt #bozemanmontana #livingston #livingstonmontana #blackdogfarm #blackdogfarmmt