Watch Dogs

I snapped this photo from the kitchen window this afternoon. I love how our LGDs are in the exact same position as they watch over the herd. They are very good at their job.

Sanity day at the races.

Since Neil works long hours off the farm we don't get to spend as much time together as a family as we like. There are times when we just have to look at our never-ending list of projects that need to be done and agree that some family bonding is more important! Today was one of those days!

After chores we packed up the kids and headed north to Clarksville, VA to meet up with Neil's Dad. Clarksville was hosting a weekend of Hydroplane Boat Races which none of us had ever seen in person before.

We had a wonderful day out by the lake watching the races and water skiing show. The kids got sno-cones AND ice cream so they were thrilled! After taking all the walking and sun that we could handle we headed back to the suburban. On the way there we passed by a petting zoo (of which we had all the animals at home, plus more) that was having pony rides. Both the kids got to ride sweet Madeline the pony. Since it was late and they were packing up both kids got a double ride.

It was a good day... until we got home...

This morning while doing chores I discovered that a rabbit hutch door was opened and one of our new quasi-chinchilla rabbits was missing. Neil and I scoured the area around the barn and the woods but found no sign of her. I was disappointed in the possibility of loosing her but knew that she may not go too far and we might catch sight of her over the next few days if we were lucky.

Fast forward to this evening... we returned home from our day, the kids ran out to play and Neil and I headed inside with Taylor. Moments later the kids came running into the house to let me know that Emmie, one of our Anatolian Shepards, had the rabbit and she was "killing it". My heart sank and I ran down to the barn and there was Emmie lying down in the pasture over the rabbit. I feared the worse but walked closer to Emmie to see the condition of the rabbit... she was still breathing.. she was alive!

I knew that I had no chance of getting the rabbit away from Emmie. Once Emmie has something she will fight to keep it. I tried my old trick of trying to lure Emmie away with food but she had no interest in leaving the rabbit. Then the rabbit made a break for it and Emmie was right after it... picking it up over the spine and carrying it around... all the while the poor rabbit was screaming. I just couldn't let Emmie keep her. I used the only weapons I had with me; my voice and the metal food bowl I was still holding. I began hitting Emmie over the head and yelling at her to drop the rabbit. This of course infuriated her and she turned on me (which, in a way, is what I wanted), she dropped the rabbit to attack me... biting at the bowl which I held in front me and then she grazed my right thigh. Meanwhile, the terrified rabbit squeezed through the 4x4" goat fence to safety. I managed to back through a gate and get it closed before Emmie bit at me again.

Neil and I managed to find the poor rabbit hiding behind some sheets of plywood on the far side of the barn behind the milking stanchion. It took some doing to reach her with out risking her bolting again but we got her out and returned her to the rabbit hutch. She was panting pretty hard, her fur was all wet and missing in places but I couldn't see blood anywhere. The stress alone could be enough to kill her. I didn't have much choice but to just let her be for the night and see if she makes it through.

Neil said, "Well, no matter the outcome now, at least you'll know." And he is right, if she had just wondered into the wood and never returned I would never know what happened to her... at least now I will know.

Oh, and my leg will be fine. Two puncture wounds in my jeans and a small abrasion on the skin is all the evidence of Emmie's rage. Emmie, by the way, returned to her placid wonderful self within minutes of the rabbit's escape. She only guards what she feels is hers... if she has nothing to guard her aggression quickly recedes.

What is that I see?

I was surprised this morning to see Emmie, one of our Anatolian livestock guardian dogs, barking at our alpaca stud, Novio, as she chased him along the fence line. This is not a behavior she usually does. I stood at the window for a second watching before I noticed a smallish sized animal with very long legs also running along the fence line after Emmie. My first thought was one of the alpacas must have given birth early this morning as I have 3 that I am expecting to birth any day now. But, something wasn't right... the neck of this long legged creature was too short to be an alpaca. I squinted my eyes up with disbelief... this was a fawn! A very tiny fawn... inside the woven wire fencing of our pasture.

I slipped on the barn boots and headed out to the pasture to confirm what I had seen. All the alpacas in the pasture were standing off to one side watching this little foreign creature in their pasture. Emmie and Berk, our LGDs, were following close behind what was most defiantly a newborn deer fawn. How it got into the pasture is beyond me and I wasn't quite sure what I should do about it. I tried at first to catch it but it just continued to run from me and slam itself into the fencing so I quickly gave up the chase.

Back at the house I called the local animal control office but had to leave a message since they weren't open yet. I waited 10-15 minutes but really felt I needed to do something, anything, to help this fawn. It didn't take long to do a search on the internet to find a name of a wildlife rehabilitator here in North Carolina. I called and spoke with the rehab person and was told to catch the fawn and put it into the woods and was assured that the mother would find it.

So, out to the pasture I go. I don't see the fawn running around anymore. But Emmie is laying quietly in the grass so I go over to see her. As I get closer I can see the fawn in the grass at Emmie's feet safe and sound. As I get even closer Emmie starts in with a low growl and shows her teeth. She has decided that this fawn is her charge and is protecting it... even from me.

With no hope of reaching in to get the fawn without Emmie removing part of my arm I headed back to the barn. I hadn't fed the dogs yet this morning and I hoped that food would tempt Emmie away from the fawn. It worked, but not easily, she did not want to leave the fawn alone in the field but her empty stomach won in the end. Emmie came down to the barn and I locked her up in the stall with her brother to eat like I do every morning.

Back out at the fawn I went and very slowly as I was afraid it would pop up and run without Emmie there. But no it lay still as I reached down to pick it up. I tucked its little legs in tight to make it feel safe while I carried it. I stood not 20 feet from the wood but our 6 foot high woven wire was between it and me and no gate. We had to walk away from the wood toward the barn, go through the gate there and then walk all the way around the pasture to get to the other side of the fence by the wood. I went about 50 feet into the wood and found an open space in the trees that still had some cover. I put the fawn down and because I could feel it want to bolt away I held it firm to the ground until it relaxed. I stepped back and the fawn stayed still for a moment and then slowly raised up and made its way into the brush.

I truly hope the doe finds her fawn once all is quiet and our scent is cold. But I never will know for sure...

Independence Day Update #3

Between yesterday and today there are three new ducklings and two more turkey poults in the brooder. I expect a flush of ducklings in the new few days. Also, yesterday one of the oldest turkey poults that I had left with its mother found its way into the pasture and became a dog toy for our LGDs. When I found it in the barn I wasn't sure if it was still alive or not. It was missing feathers and wet from dog mouth. After I determined it was still breathing I put it with the young birds under the heat lamp in the brooder. In the afternoon it was dry and sitting up a bit. By this morning it was eating, drinking and looking BAR (bright, alert and responsive). It did not want to get up on its feet though... I wonder if it has a broken leg? They are not floppy at all so I have hope it will fully recover with a bit more rest but its days of free ranging with mom are over.

I spent some time in the garden this afternoon. Took the weed whacker around the outside of the raised beds. It looks so much tidier now. I haven't been able to plant in the 4x8 box that I cleaned out earlier this week as I hadn't figured out how to chicken proof it until today. I cut a 16 foot cattle panel in half to give me a 4x8 metal grid to lay on top of the box. Over the grid I will place a bird net for fruit trees. This should keep the birds from scratching up the bed and eating the seeds and disrupting any tender starts. I hope to get some lettuce, radishes, carrots and cukes planted in that box in the next few days.

Here is my update for the IDC this week.

Plant something - Mr. Stripy tomato, sweet yellow pepper, sweet orange pepper, sweet banana pepper, sweet potato.

Harvest something - Fresh free range eggs from our chickens.

Preserve something - Does feeding my sourdough count as something I am preserving? If so, it is something I do at least every other day to keep it alive.

Reduce Waste - Took our once a week trip to town to save on gas. Knitted up a reusable produce bag. No more plastic produce bags for me... YEAH! You can read about it here. Kitchen scraps went to the chickens and/or the compost bin.

Preparation and Storage - I scored a few more great items on the discount table at the local grocery store to have in the pantry. I am continuing to clean out garden beds when I have time and still keep up with the weeds in the boxes I already have planted. I am using newspaper with aged barn floor straw over it as mulch to keep the weeds at bay and the soil moist.

Our two oldest children have life insurance policies through Modern Woodmen of America. One of the many benefits that MWA offers to their policy holders is a free tree every year. This week I remembered to log onto their website and order our two free trees for this year. I don't expect them to come until the Fall for planting but it is something I got done this week! Oh, I ordered a Sugar Maple and a Redbud. The maple for Fall color and the redbud for Spring color!

Eat the Food - Made a Shrimp Scampi from shrimp from the freezer, pasta out of the pantry and served it with a loaf of sourdough bread, also out of the freezer. Brought a pan of Chicken Enchiladas, made with home grown chicken out of the freezer, over to the In-Laws for dinner Saturday night. Made more homemade granola and bagels this weekend for breakfasts.

Brown dog here to stay?

I awoke at 5am this morning and I could see out the window that the little stray brown dog from yesterday was pacing down at the barn again. Goodness knows how long he had been here before I woke. He stayed here all day... in the rain... pacing the fence and trying to squeeze through the gap in the gate. He would bark at the kids and I any time we were outside. He would also bark at the alpacas when they came close to the barn so they stayed out in the pasture all day in the rain as well.

I went outside at 11:30pm and he was still there... still pacing the fence. I have never seen him laying down at all. He has been pacing or running the fence for almost 36 hours. You would think he would be tired and hungry by now.

Anyway, if he is still here in the morning... which I am sure he will be. I will have no other option then to call animal control. He is stressing out our animals, barking and acting unpredictable around me and the kids and he just needs to be gone. I have never called animal control before in my life but this little guy gives me no other option. I wish his people would just come get him and keep him gone.

As an aside... Emmie was still in the pasture this morning! The first time in weeks! Yeah!

Stray dogs

The phone woke me early this morning. It was my neighbor T. calling to tell me that both of my livestock guardian dogs were outside the pasture fighting with two stray dogs. I quickly threw on some jeans and boots and headed out the door. My arrival was change enough that my dogs stopped fighting and I got them safely back into the pasture. I couldn't see any obvious wounds on my dogs... one of the strays was not so lucky and he had blood on his neck, leg and inside his mouth. The larger of the strays (the bloody one) was a yellow lab (cross?) and the other was smaller, brown and medium haired. I could see that the lab had an invisible fence collar on and had in ID tag hanging off it. The little brown dog had no collar at all.

T. was out behind her house so I went over to find out what she had seen. I guess the strays were trying to get into the pasture which was aggravating my two (that's their job... good dogs!). T. said she went in to get the phone and when she came back my LGDs were out of the pasture fighting. I had no doubts that Emmie can get out but I was unsure how Berk had gotten out as well. T. was worried about her dog that is on a run behind her house as neither of the strays had left the farm. They were in fact running all over marking everything! T. and I tried everything to catch them... dog food, treats, offering a ride in the car... nothing would bring them closer to us. Then the lab came over to T's. dog and T. managed to get her hand around his collar. Unfortunately, that act started a fight between the dogs which had to be broken up with a stick.

Neither stray seemed to have any interest in returning home and even moving on to some other property. By now an hour had gone by and we still couldn't catch them. The lab and I had moved back over to the area between our house and barn. I had totally forgotten about how my LGDs had gotten out in the first place... which turned out to be a good thing since Emmie came running out from behind the barn again and grabbed the lab over the haunches and laid him down on the ground. I knew this was my only shot to get hold of him. While Emmie still had him pinned to the ground I reached in and snapped the lead to his collar. I pulled him the few feet to the deck and quickly tied him up. Then I grabbed Emmie and pulled her off of him and took her back to the barn. Then I went behind the barn to see where Emmie had gotten out this time.

Emmie watches out across the cow pasture - photo taken last week

It seems I finally curtailed her normal route of escape yesterday. This time she actually opened the 16 foot gate enough for her and Berk to get out. This is quite a feat as the gate is a heavy corrugated steel one and all the weight is resting on a cinder block angled out. So, for one of us to open it we need to lift it up several inches to clear the block before it will swing in to open. She must have been very determined to get out to get those dogs! The gate is now additionally held tight by a chain.

Back up at the house I got the owner's phone number off the lab's collar and left a message that he was here, that he had been in a fight but he was now secure and waiting to be picked up. About an hour later the owner returned my call and said that they would not be able to come get him until the afternoon. I asked her if the brown dog was hers and she said no it wasn't. Darn, as the brown dog was still pacing the fence, barking and just generally making a pest of itself.

Later this afternoon, the owner's arrived to pick up the lab. I showed them were I had found a few minor puncture wounds on his neck and leg and recommended they be clipped and scrubbed clean. At the same time the gentleman, R., that purchased some hens and roosters last week arrived to get some cross bred duck eggs he was going to incubate. After the lab left R. told me that someone had pulled over up on the road and picked up the brown dog as well. I am glad he saw that because I had missed it.

Anyway, R. took about 25 duck eggs that are a possible cross between our Muscovy hens and the Peking drake that we got as a free duckling at Southern States last Spring. The drake is now gone but I have been pulling the eggs until I am more sure that they will be pure with our Muscovy drakes. Since I am not interested in having mule ducks hatch out I had been feeding the eggs to the dogs on their food in the mornings but R. asked if he could have some to hatch out instead. I was happy to oblige.

About 45 minutes after brown dog was picked up he showed back up here at the farm! This time he stayed for about 10 minutes and then headed back up the road again... presumably home.

What to do about Emmie?

My frustration with our livestock guardian dog Emmie getting out of the fence is reaching a boiling point. I am tired of getting up in the middle of the night to lock her up in the barn. I know I could just lock her up every evening but what good is a guard dog if they can't be free to guard? I had for a few days last week started locking her up at night... until she started escaping earlier and earlier to avoid me. On the nights that I don't happen to wake up and look for her she has always been out in front of the barn in the morning waiting to be returned.

Not this morning though... Emmie was no where to be found on the farm. I jumping in the Suburban and drove up the road 1/4 mile to see if I could see her (or her body beside the road...groan). With no luck I drove the other direction and went up a side road that is visible from our farm. About another 1/4 mile up that road is the volunteer fire department house. I pulled in their driveway to turn around and as I did I noticed across the street was Emmie... sleeping on the stoop of a house.

I parked the Suburban at the VFD and walked over to get Emmie. The older gentlemen that lives there came out and told me that Emmie comes by his place a few times a week and hangs out. He said he knew were she was from since he can see the back side of our pasture from his place and sees her there all the time. Sigh.. at least I know where to look for her in the future.

Now, I knew my next problem was that I would not be able to get Emmie into the Suburban. I tried... but when 150lb dog growls at you know it isn't going to happen. I locked up the Suburban and Emmie and I hiked it back home. Luckily, the VFD's property shares a corner with our property so we could just cut through the woods a bit and then follow the electric fence back home. I was cursing that we have no gates on the far side of the pasture. It was frustrating to be so close yet have to walk so far. After Emmie was back in the pasture via the barn I had to walk all the way back to get the Suburban again. Not how I wanted to start my day!

Since Emmie doesn't get out during the day I went back in the house to get breakfast for me and the kids before coming back out to do chores. After chores were done I went to investigate how she got out this time. I was very surprised to she that she had squished herself under the 10 inches of woven wire fence that Neil had consciously left unblocked yesterday thinking that Emmie would never be able to get under it. Think again! She dug down enough and bent the fence enough to wiggle through... I could see the nail marks in the dirt were she pulled herself under. I blocked that space up and hope that will be the end of Emmie getting out. I guess only the morning will tell...

My new sourdough starter is doing well. I only started it about 48 hours ago and it is already beginning to bubble. Below is a photo of it before I fed and mixed it for the day. I hope not to forget about it this time around. Unfortunately, I can't seem to lay hands on my sourdough cookbook at the moment... it's around here somewhere.

I remembered to take my camera to the barn to get a photo of our newest buckling. I think he is very handsome with his black and white markings. I wish I could use him as a future buck but since he is related to our all our does he will have to be sold or at least wethered. Anyone interested in this great boy?

Oh, I made another 2 dozen bagels today. I put a dozen in the freezer for later. I told you it was a bad thing I learned to make these!

Evening Update: Our LGD, Emmie, was out again tonight. When I went down to the barn to lock her up again I discovered the last two roosters sleeping on the milking stanchion. I caught both of them up and put them in the hoop house. Now all of the roosters to be butchered are separated out from the flock. That leaves me with just three roosters: my Dominique, Speckled Sussex and Hill Roamer.

My Speckled Sussex Rooster (aka Speck)

Another baby goat is here.

It was about 9pm tonight when I could hear the livestock guardian dogs aggressively barking down at the barn. Knowing them as I do I figured that something was being born and they were being protective of it.

I hoped it might be our first spring cria (baby alpaca).

McKayla and I went down to the barn and there, just inside the gate, was our Nigerian Dwarf goat, Pepper, with a wet little baby standing beside her. It was a beautifully marked black with white kid. I lifted it up and determined it was a buckling. I got him and Pepper settled into one of the stalls for the night. Then I went ahead and put Emmie our LGD in there with them as it was very cold (about 17F) and I figured it would give the little guy one more warm body to sleep with if needed.

This will be the last of our goat kids for this spring. Two does and a buckling.

Lost dog and discovered kids!

Emmie, one of our Anatolian Shepard livestock guardian dogs, has been regularly getting out of the pasture at night for a few weeks now. She has always been the one to find the weak point in our fencing and has gotten out on occasion here and there but for the past 5-6 weeks she has been getting out 3-5 nights a week. Every time I think I have it figured out where she is through the fence and fix it she is out again within a day or two.

So, it was no surprise tonight at 10:30pm as I was doing the dishes that I looked out the window to see Emmie slowly walking up the driveway. Evan, our 6yo son, was still awake so the two of us went out to round her up and lock her in the barn for the night. Because we first had to go to the barn to get a lead rope Emmie had time to wander into the woods and disappear. Evan and I walked the road for a bit and then came back close to the house when we heard the chickens getting all in a tizzy. Another trip to the barn and the chicken coop showed everything in order. Not wanting to go in without securing Emmie, Evan and I took the trash bin up to the road for the morning pickup and stopped and got the mail with still no sign of Emmie. Finally, as we were hanging out in the driveway just watching the tree line Emmie emerged by our neighbors house. I was very relieved to see her. I don't really worry about her running away per se but I do worry about her wandering onto our busy road at night as more then one dog has met its end on the road by our home. We walked over to her and slipped the lead around her neck and walked her back to the barn to lock her in the stall for the rest of the night.

As we walked through the door of the barn I was surprised to see one of our Nigerian Dwarf goats, Gabby, just giving birth to her second wet little kid! I wasn't expecting them for another two weeks or so and I would have missed it tonight if it hadn't been for Emmie getting out. Funny, two trips down to the barn and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary and not 10 minutes later we have two more goats!

New Kids Update

I was out to the barn early this morning to check on our two new goat kids. I was pleased to find them both up and nursing. It looks like Mary Jane is being a really good first time mom too. I will keep them separate from the rest of the goats for a few more days to make sure they are well bonded and gaining weight well. This picture shows them a bit later in the day but still not yet 24 hours old.


She doesn't look very happy in this picture but really McKayla was thrilled that she could finally hold the new baby goats. She would carry them around all day if I let her.


And finally, here is one miserable dog! Poor Emie, one of our two Anatolian Shepard LGDs, wants nothing more then to be closer to the babies as well. She did not leave her post all day.

Welcome the New Kids on the Block

No... not the Boy Band from the late 80's.

We arrived back home after our day in town right at dusk. I knew I needed to head straight to the barn to get chores done as I was losing light fast. I pulled the Suburban down to the barn to use the headlights for more light. What did I see as I pulled up?

Emie, our LGD, intently licking the back side of our Nigerian Dwarf goat Mary Jane. I knew instantly that Mary Jane must be kidding (as in giving birth - NOT being humorous). I got out of the Suburban and confirmed that there was a wet dark mass on the ground. I sent Evan up to the house to get some towels. In the barn I got dinner for both LGDs and got a reluctant Emie to leave Mary Jane and go into the catch pen I always feed the dogs in for their meals.

I then turned my attention to Mary Jane. This was her first kidding but she seemed to have handled it well. By the time I got to her the second kid was on the ground but still attached by the umbilicus. I checked the airways of both kids and cleaned off any remaining membranes from their nose and mouth. I picked both little slippery kids up and moved them to an empty catch pen in the barn. I had to come back for Mary Jane as she didn't follow and seemed bit confused. By that time Evan arrived with the towels and I rubbed the kids down to get them as dry as I could. In the process I checked and both were little bucklings; one black with white on his head and the other mostly white with buckskin spots. McKayla of course wanted to hold them both but I told her that it was important that we leave them alone so Mary Jane could bond with them. So, they watched from the outside of the catch pen as I worked on the remainder of the evening chores. By the time I was done both goat kids had gotten up on their shaky legs and started looking for a teat and their first meal.

I had to drag the human kids back up to the house so I could put away groceries and make dinner. I had to promise we would come back down to the barn later and check on them.

About an hour later we returned to the barn to find the black one curled up sleeping and the whiter one nursing vigorously. We watched for a bit more and I felt comfortable leaving them for the night. It will be fun to see them all dry and in daylight in the morning.

Happy Birthday or is that Happy Birth Day?

Today is Neil's birthday! "Happy Birthday" hun! Since it is a Thursday and Neil is off working we will be celebrating his birthday this coming weekend instead. We always look forward to some relaxing family time on the weekends but when there is something to celebrate we try to do something extra special.

Another bit of excitement and something to celebrate occurred today as well...

Our black alpaca, Eloise, gave birth to a handsome male cria this afternoon! They are spending some time together in a stall in the barn for a few days to bond. I do this not so much because I feel it is necessary for the cria but to keep the dam safe from Emmie, our female LGD (livestock guardian dog). Emmie loves new babies so much that she will try to keep the mothers away from them in an effort to "keep them safe".

Our last cria was born without me there and Emmie snapped at the dam, Gritona, and ripped her lower eye lid. I ended up taking her to the vet's office to have stitches put in to repair it. So, now I isolate the expectant mothers about two weeks before their due dates anytime I am not around to avoid any further drama.

Anyway, our new little boy is a wonderful rich color. What color is that? I am not really sure yet. He might be a medium brown or a dark rose grey. Once he is out in the sun in a few days I will be able to evaluate it better. His sire, Kanaka, has thrown many rose grey cria this year so it is a fair possibility that could be his true color.

Here are some shots of him several hours after birth. He is up and standing and all dried off.

And gosling makes three.

I was happy to see this morning that our new gosling was safe and sound. Our goose and gander are very good and VERY protective parents. They seem quite pleased with their new charge. I am happy that at least one of their eggs produced for them... otherwise it would have been a lot of work for naught.

Just so you can all see that my fear of the gosling becoming a tasty snack for one of our LGD was/is not unfounded...


This is Emmie our Anatolian Shepard LGD. She has been following behind the goose family quite interested in the new gosling. If she gets any closer the gander displays and goes after her. Hopefully, their guard will not falter and we can watch the gosling grow up.

Our American Chinchilla rabbit doe, Purslane, has been doing a great job of raising up this latest litter of 10 kits. Today they are 19 days old. Sadly, this morning I found one of the kits dead. It was out of the nest box (as was another kit) and I have to assume it died of cold exposure overnight as no other signs of trauma could be seen. I would have figured that at this stage it would have been fine out of the nest box (I mean really, it is May 1st in NC) .

I tipped the nest box on its side so the kits can leave the box but still huddle together for warmth easily. Plus, with the box on its side, Purslane is able to get up and away from the kits for a needed rest once in a while too. I was sure I was past the point of concern over fatalities but I guess you never know.

We had some other accountable losses today too.

While down by the goat barn this afternoon I noticed that our goose was not in the nest box on her eggs. She often leaves her nest once a day to get a drink and connect with our gander who goes wild when she returns to him. But, since she wasn't currently in the box I took advantage and went and peaked inside to see if I could see the goslings that I spotted two days ago.

At first peak I just saw a nest of eggs but with some digging around I found one dead gosling in the back corner. There were two duck eggs in there so I moved them under the duck in the neighboring nest box. I also found a turkey egg in there. That left six goose eggs. One of the eggs had pipped out quite a bit but it didn't make it. The remaining five eggs felt heavy and not "sloshy" so I wasn't sure what to do with them. It has been two days since I first noticed a gosling in the box but it may have been longer as it was under the goose where I couldn't see it. I made the decision to crack a "pipped" size hole in one to see what was going on inside. What I found was an almost fully developed dead gosling. It had not yet pulled in its yolk sac so it died just days before pipping out. I opened the other 4 only to find more partially developed embryos. So, with that I cleaned out the box and lined it with fresh straw.

It was just about then that the goose reappeared honking at me for being close to her nest. And there, waddling behind her, was a single gosling. She stuck her head in the nest box in search of her eggs and after finding none she settled down in front of the boxes and snuggled her lone gosling under her wing. She wouldn't be able to return to the box anyway as the gosling would never be able to climb up into it.

I worry about such a little thing wandering around the pasture as it would be a perfect snack size morsel for our livestock guardian dogs, but if anyone could keep it safe from the dogs it would be a pair of geese.

Egg Incubator

Well, here it is the end of March and I still don't have any eggs hatching out. The chickens I separated out are laying but not setting. The turkeys are laying but not setting. The ducks have laid nests full of eggs and have also been setting but at some of them should have hatched by now... but it hasn't happened. My goose finally found a safe place to lay her eggs (our LGD Emmie was eating them every day) and is now setting on them too so maybe I will have some goslings by the end of April.

Anyway, I have had multiple inquires about chicks and ducklings for sale with nothing to offer. I have even had several people ask about reserving a turkey for thanksgiving but until I get poults on the ground I don't want to do that either. So, this week I took the plunge and invested in an egg incubator. Just a small still-air incubator that holds 41 eggs. I have spent the last few days with it set up trying to adjust the temperature. This morning I set eggs in it. I put some of the Maren, Barred Rock, Welsummer and a few eggs from the Easter Eggers in there. This is the first time I have ever incubated eggs so I am hoping my hatch rate is at least 50% this first run.

It would be nice to have some baby birds here at last!

Berk's day off the farm.

Neil and I were up early this morning as today Berk, one of our Anatolian Shepard Dogs, was scheduled to be neutered at the vet in town. He needed to be at the vet's office at 8am and that is almost 30 minutes from us. I scheduled it to be done on a day that Neil would be home from work so Neil could help me load him into the Suburban. As a livestock guard dog, Berk does not wear a collar nor is he leash trained. You simply can not walk him from the pasture to the vehicle on lead. We needed to take the large wire dog kennel into the pasture and then lure him into it with some food (without having him eat it!). Berk did not want to go in and pushing him was not an option if we wanted to keep the flesh on our shines intact! After we finally got him into the kennel the two of us had to carry that 150lb beast of a dog through a gate, then a door and finally up into the back of the Suburban.

I delivered Berk to the vets right on time. I helped the techs carry him into an exam room through a back door and then waited for the vet so I could help get a muzzle on him and give him has pre-anesthetic injection. Now, I might have been overly cautious about Berk but there was a great potential for things to go wrong. Berk is a wonderful dog when he is in his pasture doing his job protecting our livestock and us, but not even I would attempt to force him to do anything without risking a limb. Getting him in a sleeping state as soon as possible was the safest way to go about things.

This vet's normal procedure (which was thrown out the window for Berk) is to keep surgery patients until at least 6pm or later before going home. The vet and I discussed this before hand and we agreed that he should go home as soon as possible. Still he estimated it would be around 2pm before Berk could go home. Let's say I wasn't surprised when I got a call just after noon that I could come and get him at any time!

Tonight Berk seems fine. He spent the afternoon in the 10x10 catch pen by himself recovering fully. He was quite happy to be released back into the pasture.

Last night I started a batch of sourdough bread and set it by the wood stove to proof over night. So today, while at home, I punched it down and shaped it into two loaves and set them back by the fire to proof a second time. The second proof took about 3 hours and then into the oven they went. I made these loaves with 50% Organic White Whole Wheat Flour and %50 Organic AP Flour both from King Arthur Flour and they came out as a very tasty but dense loaf. The dense nature had more to do with my neglected sourdough starter then the flour I am sure. I should have fed my starter for a few more days before trying to use it. Still the loaves are very tasty, at least to the adults in the house, the kids don't care for the flavor of sourdough yet.

For those not familiar with sourdough I have found that the Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin "Baking with Sourdough" by Sara Pitzer a wonderful resource to begin your adventure in sourdough. On the most basic level a sourdough starter is created by catching "wild" yeasts in a mixture of flour and water. These living yeasts feed on the flour and in doing so produce gases that cause a dough to rise. Like any living thing your starter must be cared for and fed regularly or risk killing it off. The more you use your starter the healthier it will become.

The chickens gave 17 eggs today.

Slow start...

Even though I call them "chores" I don't really feel that way about feeding and caring for the animals. I enjoy my time in the barn with the livestock and often find myself lingering about just watching the animals and giving scratches to those that enjoy them. But then there are the times like this morning...

I had a slow start this morning as I woke up with a head cold and a mild headache. I was warm as I snuggled in bed with McKayla beside me. The thought of getting out of that warm bed to go out to the cold barn was not much of an enticement. But by 8:45am I knew the animals were all waiting for me so I dragged myself out of bed, stoked the fire and bundled up for the cold (22F).

It is the transitions that I don't like... once down at the barn I was happy to see everyone was fine and waiting for their breakfasts. With the temps being below freezing most of the day I am having to lug water to all the animals 2-3 times a day. This latest cold spell has at least not frozen the water pipe to the barn. So, I only have to bring the water from the outside corner of the barn inside to fill the water buckets. It takes about six 5 gallon buckets each time I bring them water.

As much as I just wanted to cuddle on the couch today and knit, I had things in town to do; the bank, recycling center, feed store, and the grocery store.

When we finally returned home it was getting dark. I got the kids settled in the house and groceries (at least the cold stuff) put away. Then I donned my headlamp and went out to the barn to do the night chores. I was surprised as I walked down to the barn to discover our LGD, Emie, standing in one of the raised garden beds! It has been a few months since she has gotten out of the pastures so I was shocked to see her there. She went right down to the gate so I could let her back into the pasture. After everyone was fed, I grabbed the electric fence tester and headed out to see if the electric fence was working properly. It tested between 4000-5000 volts... right where it should be. Hummm... not sure how she got out this time. I just hoped she would still be in by morning.

The hens gave 13 eggs today.

Baby Bunnies

First thing I checked on this morning before doing all my chores was the baby bunnies born sometime yesterday afternoon. I moved the layer of rabbit fur from the box and found them still wiggling about. I gently moved a few around to try to get a better count and discovered at least 7 kits in the box. There maybe more as I didn't dig down in the pile. I guess as they get older I will know more.



I am still a little worried about Purslane nursing them enough as this is her first kindling and, at least when I am around, she is not in the box that often. Only once today did I see her get the box and rearrange the nesting material but I didn't see her settle down to nurse.

At evening chores I again peeked into the box, this time using a flashlight, and I still saw the kits moving around so hopefully my fears are unwarranted.

Oh, Emmie, our LGD got sprayed by a skunk last night so the whole barn smells skunky today. A 125 lb livestock gaurd dog is not the kind of dog you can bath so I will just have to wait for the smell to fade away by itself.

The hens gave 14 eggs today.

It's a boy!

Finally, Riona (our Irish Dexter first freshener cow) delivered us a bull calf today... only eight days overdue!

I noticed her off by herself being restless about 10:30am this morning. By 11am she was beginning to have hard contractions. I went out into the pasture to be near her but not too close and watched for about 30 minutes. She was having contractions about every 2 minutes or so. I had to go back up to the house to check on the kids but returned 45 minutes later (about 12:15pm) to find that she had progressed enough that I could see two little hooves had emerged!

As this was her first calf I am sure she was a little confused with what was going on. She kept walking around, especially during contractions. I'm sure it helped with the pain and moving the calf along in the process. She was being pestered by our 8 month old bull calf, Chuck. He followed her around everywhere. By 12:45pm Riona was lying down during her hardest contractions and again Chuck was right there licking her head. After she got up and down a few more times I noticed that Chuck had figured out that Riona was lactating and was using her as a milk bar while she was pushing... how rude! I decided it was time I got more involved then just watching from a distance so I moved in to keep Chuck away from her (well at least her udder). It was only two more good pushes and at 1:03pm the calf was delivered!

As I expected, and the main reason I wanted to be with Riona when she calved, was that as Riona got back to her feet our boss cow Cherry Blossom (Chuck's mom) moved in between Riona and her calf. CB loves the babies and would have prevented Riona from returning to him if I had not been there. So while I was checking the calf over Riona moved away about 30 feet and watched.

Since Riona delivered him lying down he never was hung head down during the delivery. This is an important thing as when they are head down hanging from mom during delivery the fluid in their lungs is expelled through their mouth and nose. So, immediately after he was born I cleared his nose and mouth of any membranes and lifted him by his back hocks and hung him for 3-4 seconds. Then I rubbed his rib cage to stimulate him to breath and took a peak to see if it was a heifer or bull calf. Meanwhile CB had been licking him off or trying too with all my fussing with him. So, I picked the slimy little guy up and took him over to Riona, who seemed very pleased to have him back and started cleaning him off right away.

I let Riona bond with him for about 15 minutes all the while scooting off Cherry Blossom and Chuck (who was still trying to nurse from Riona). We were all on the far side of our five acre pasture, it was cold outside enough that we could see our breath and the calf was starting to shiver so I picked the little guy up (thank goodness for mini breeds as he was only about 40lbs) and headed to the barn. I had hoped that Riona would follow me up but she didn't budge a bit. So, up at the barn I got the calf settled into the dog crate that had straw already in it (from our canine visitors earlier this week) and covered him over with a heavy towel. Then I grabbed a lead rope and went back down for Riona.

I needed to keep Riona and the calf away from Cherry Blossom and Chuck, at least for a few days until they bonded well, so I moved Riona into the female alpaca pasture. This has the added benefit of having the largest area inside the barn with lots of dry straw to help keep the little guy warm. Once reunited Riona was very pleased and become quite protective of him with the LGDs and alpacas, not letting them come close to check him out. I stayed out in the barn with them until I was comfortable that everyone was going to get along. Also, I wanted to stay until the calf got up to stand and nurse for the first time. That happened about 2:15pm.

I returned to the barn to check on things around 3pm. The calf was resting at first but after a few minutes got up to nurse again. By 3:30pm Riona had past the placenta which the dogs quickly disposed of for her. It might seem a bit disgusting to let the dogs do this but it is part of their "job". Livestock guardian dogs instinctly remove anything from the pastures that would produce a scent that would attract predators. This is especially important around vulnerable newborns that would be easy prey to coyotes.

My final check down at the barn was at 9:30pm. He was up and nursing again... strong little guy. I am a bit worried about him getting chilled tonight but hopefully he will stay in the barn and not wander outside. I am not sure Riona would know to bring him back inside.

With all that went on today I also had to deal with totally frozen water lines to the barn. I had to tote water from the house at least three times today. It will be a long winter if I have to do that everyday. Hopefully this weekend Neil can figure something out to insulate the hoses.

The chickens gave 15 eggs today but after I collected them I forgot them outside and they froze.