One Hour Dog Owner

I was planning to introduce you to this handsome boy today.

Ever since coyotes returned to our area, Dan and I have discussed getting another Livestock Guardian. I've checked craigslist from time to time for such a dog, made a few inquiries on occasion, and finally found this fellow - a 2 & 1/2 year old working Great Pyrenees needing to be rehomed. He worked with cattle, pigs, chickens, formerly goats, didn't mind cats, was known to go after coyotes, and was excellent with human children as well. He sounded absolutely perfect for us. They told me he needed good fences, because if he thought something was threatening his territory he'd jump the fence to go after it.

Saturday afternoon, I drove 45 minutes to go buy him. What a sweetheart! I fell in love immediately. I brought him home, gave him a drink of water, and left him in my goat showing pen next to the goats to get acquainted. I went inside to change clothes before taking him around to see the property and meet all our critters.

The goats all ran away but Waldo was interested.

When I got back outside he was gone. I couldn't believe it! I frantically started looking around and finally saw him down in the woods at the back of the buck browse. He'd easily cleared two fences to get there. He did not respond to my calls; why should he? He didn't know me, I was the lady who took him away from his home. I tried to follow but lost track of him.

I jumped in my car and drove the back roads looking for him. I didn't see him. I came home and called the city police, county sheriff's office, and talked to animal control to give a description and my number in case someone found him. I also emailed his former owner to give her a heads up because I have no doubt he's going to head for home.

I can't even explain how I feel about the whole thing: worried, foolish, uncertain, like beating my head against a wall. Is there a name for all of that? I'm hoping he'll show up at his former owner, but then what? Could be really be taught to stay here? Would we have to surround the entire property with electric fence? Should I try to give him back and see if they'll return my money? Maybe I should just wait and see what happens. One thing I can say is that we certainly don't seem to be doing very well when it comes to dogs.

One Hour Dog Owner © August 2014
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Homestead Goals for the New Year

Did anyone stay up till midnight last night to see in the new year? We didn't because critters don't care what the calendar says and expect to be fed on time, at the crack of dawn, no matter who's celebrating what. Actually, the middle of winter has always seemed an odd time to acknowledge a new year, to me anyway. The main thing is to remember to write "2014" instead of "2013" on anything that needs a date.

Still, it's a useful time of year for goal setting. For us that means taking time to evaluate what we did the previous year, and then looking to what we hope to accomplish next. Keeping our primary goal of self-sufficiency in mind, we write a list of various subgoals, mostly what we see as the next logical steps. Not all of these are actual projects. Some goals are simply decisions that have to be made, others are reminders of the direction we've chosen to go. There is no specific time table, we just keep a steady pace as time and money allow. What we don't finish this year will find its way onto next year's goals.

House

• finish the master bedroom (all that's left is the floor)
• replace windows in corner bedroom (purchased last August)
• finish installing new siding on that side of the house (after the windows are in) 

Outbuildings

• finish chicken coop -That's the easy part. Convincing the chickens to use it is another matter.
• finish emptying out the coal barn - that means finding new homes for hay storage, Dan's workshop, and our garden tools and equipment
• tear down coal barn - hoo boy
• build new goat barn in coal barn footprint - progress on this will depend mostly on finances, also on home-time for Dan. (This is one I don't anticipate finishing this year.)

Fencing

• finish doe browse in the woods

Critters

• Goats - continue working on my goal of developing a dual-purpose homestead breed (or cross breed as the case may be.) So far, I'm very encouraged with the addition of Kiko genetics to my dairy breeds.
• Chickens - focus on Silver Laced Wyandottes. We like them so far (good personality, intelligent for a chicken, good eggs and meat, good rooster, and beautiful). If I get a broody hen this summer, I'll just give her SLW eggs to hatch.
• Dog - now that coyotes have returned to our area, we're seriously discussing getting another dog. Dan was devastated by Kris's death and hasn't wanted another dog. No decisions but it's on the table. Finding the "right" dog would be key.
• Other - pigs  (but then, we've said this for several years now)

Food Self-Sufficiency - This is not so much an annual goal as an ongoing goal. Since each growing season presents it own problems and challenges, specific sub-goals change from week to week and month to month. I always learn something each year, and every year I hope to do better. Specific areas I need to do better in include:

• Garden
• Mulch - my ongoing challenge. If I can get the garden well mulched during winter, I'm saved a lot of weed grief and dry soil during the summer.
• Winter gardening - this year's winter garden is small, partly because of October's dry spell, which mean a delay in germination. Deer have demolished things like my beets, so deterring these is on my list. Maybe row covers(?) Overall, I need a better plan here.
• Indoor seed starts - have always been a challenge for two reasons, 1) room and 2) sun. My plan is to turn my defunct compost worm bin (insects and rodents took over), into a cold frame this spring. I can use some of our old windows for that. 
• Irrigation - the rainwater tanks are a blessing, but it's awkward to wrestle with the hoses and sprinkler. We have some ideas to help with that, and maybe we can experiment this summer.
• Preservation - Seasonal eating has meant I need to preserve less. 
• Tattler reusable canning lids. I'm gradually buying more as funds allow.
• Refrigerators and freezer. Since at this time we are unable to make our own electricity, losing it would cause problems. A temporary outage would be inconvenient. A permanent outage would be difficult because our Southern heat and humidity are huge detriments to food storage. At the very least I need to be mentally prepared to deal with problems.
• Homegrown goat vitamins and minerals - I need to make it a daily habit during summer to gather and dry something every day. Last summer's challenge was all the rain, making dehydrating bulk items especially difficult. Air drying on screens still sometimes resulted in mold, but my electric dehydrator can't hold much. Not sure of the solution yet.
• Field crops - due to circumstances we will likely not be planting a large area of field crops (by large I mean a quarter acre. )
• I still plan to plant beds in the garden, because I believe that something is better than nothing.

Well, written out like that it seems a long list. Fortunately not everything is a a "to do" project.

How about you? What do you hope to accomplish this year?

Homestead Goals for the New Year © January 2014

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

A "Yay! I'm Back Online" Update

This is sort of like an "Around The Homestead" post, except it contains some non-homesteading news, like getting back online from the comfort of my own home! And many thanks to Cecilia!

To fix my old computer I tried a new ethernet card and a new modem, but the problem was internal damage due to the lightning strike. It still works fine, it just can't get on the internet.

I did purchase and am now using a data surge protector.

My saddest news is that we lost Kris. The official diagnosis was Lymes Disease. This is caught from ticks, which is unexpected, because yes, he did have tick protection. Ticks have been terrible this year and Dan and I had found ticks on both him and Kody. One day he was following the goats around, the next day he couldn't/wouldn't get up. It's a good thing Dan was home because I never could have carried his 80 pounds to the car to get him to the vet. Dogs have a 90% chance of full recovery if it's caught within one week. He rallied a few days after he started the antibiotics, but several days later he just seemed to give up; wouldn't move, wouldn't eat, and then he was gone. It was a real blow to both of us. Even so, Kris always seemed to have something wrong, i.e. he never seemed fully healthy the entire 5 months we had him and I was always treating him for something. We can't help but wonder if there wasn't more going on with him than we'll ever know. :(

Consequently we are preparing to order guinea keets!

Our best news is that thanks to Workers Comp and the Texas Workforce Commission, Dan recovered almost everything he lost working for that trucking company. We weren't expecting it, so it was a blessing indeed.

Blueberries have finished.

Figs have come in.

I'm harvesting figs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cantaloupe.

We've gotten over 4 inches of rain since August 1st. This is after 9 inches of rain in July.

Between that, harvesting, and preservation, the garden is a mess.

I have two new goats, more on that later.

Baby Chick is now Chicken Little. More on that later too.

We've put the last two kitchen projects on hold to do outdoor projects.

Bathroom too.

We'll resume indoor house projects when the weather turns wintry. Or maybe sooner with all our rain.

August is wood month. We had one of our two ancient oaks topped of it's many dead branches, and this will be firewood for this winter and next. To me it's always sad to cut a beautiful tree, but this one is dying and large branches were falling randomly. Fortunately never on the house, a vehicle, or anyones head.

I need to acknowledge a blog award I received from Cranky Puppy right after the lightening strike. I am always honored to be thought of for awards, but I'm so far behind right now that I think I will need to make this blog an award free one.

Thank you to all of those who continued to visit and comment while we were offline. Posting was sporadic and I made few replies and return blog blog visits. I will slowly be able to start doing that; I'm curious what you all have been up to!

A "Yay! I'm Back Online" Update © August 2012 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Goodbye Kody

Some of you probably remember when we got Kody, our Great Pyrenees pup. He was an unexpected addition to the homestead, when we agreed to take him from a gentleman whose wife wasn't too keen on having such a big breed dog. Kody, now 6 months old, has grown into a very handsome fellow. He's been a good companion to Kris and being a livestock guardian breed, we'd hoped he would fit in well.

He's also been a high energy dog, happy, loveable, playful, even a tease, and with a keen eye for anything amiss. His only "fault" was that he loved to chase. Chasing Kris was okay with us, but chasing chickens, goats, and Riley was not. He received many a scolding for this and spent quite a bit of time in by himself in a stall for "time out." He's also a smart dog and caught on quickly, but being a puppy, had frequent slips in his self control, especially if we weren't watching.

The chickens were terrified of him. When Mama Hen hatched her chick, the dogs were moved in with the bucks, just to keep Baby Chick safe. Chickens of course, go where they want and some of them made their way into the buck pasture, the braver ones. Even so all was well (except for chasing Buddy) until last Sunday.

Sunday afternoon Dan discovered Kody running around with a dead, mangled chicken in his mouth, one of the Barred Hollands. While we didn't witness his killing it, it is highly likely considering his continued chicken chasing. In addition, he would now associate the taste of chicken with the birds, a very bad situation indeed. Kody had to go.

When Mr. M gave Kody to us, he asked that we call him in the event we ever needed to get rid of him. Dan did just that and within the hour Mr. and Mrs. M were here to pick him up. Mrs. M had agreed to take him back without hesitation, giving this sad situation a happy ending for everyone except the chicken.

I'm not sure which Barred Holland Kody got. I had two, which were identical. If I had my druthers, I'd rather lose Mrs. Mean, but it's not like I had a choice. I'll just have to watch and see how the reamining one interacts with the others. If she chases the Buff Orpingtons around relentlessly, then I'll know that Mrs. Mean lives on.

Unfortunately I have no updated puppy photos to go with this post. I'm still having computer issues so I haven't taken a lot of photos lately. I ordered a new modem, which should be here this week. Hopefully I can get back online then! You'll be the first to know if I do.

Goodbye Kody © July 2012 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/

Around The Homestead

I haven't done one of these in awhile, but here are my updates and other bits since my last "Around The Homestead."

Growing Stuff

Buckwheat

I planted buckwheat in the spot where I've had several unsuccesses at growing anything else. First summer it was a small vegetable garden. The next year I planted strawberries, an almond tree, and comfrey there. Unfortunately, wire grass all but strangled everything out. Last summer we covered it with black plastic, which disintegrated; what a mess. The buckwheat seems to be the best solution so far. In addition to the seed (groats), buckwheat makes good green manure, goat feed, and deer distraction because the deer love it (in fact I'm surprised they haven't found it yet.) According to Dick Raymond, planted thickly, it will choke out the weeds. We'll see if that includes wire grass. One thing, it certainly is better looking than the mess that was growing there before.

Weather Stuff

With all the rain, the front of the goat shed has been mud pit. I don't like that kind of situation, especially after Jasmine had so much trouble with hoof rot. It's caused by anaerobic bacteria which thrive in wet, muddy conditions. It's also associated with copper and zinc deficiencies. I finally thought of a tent gazebo we had packed away, and decided to see if I could make a "porch" in front of the goat shed.

I'm hoping this will keep the ground from getting any muddier. The straw is to give the goats something dry to walk on. Trouble is, the chickens love to rearrange this stuff all over the place.

Goat Stuff

With Jasmine gone, Surprise is not too crazy about having Gruffy for a companion.

She constantly complains about him and they've been going at it in the manner of goats, pushing, shoving, and head butting.

In one of their scuffles, one of Gruffy's scurs broke. Scurs are the remnants of horns that still grow after disbudding. He broke the other one in a tussle with our wether awhile back, so this is the second time it's happened. I don't know if you know this, but cayenne pepper powder is excellent for stopping bleeding. A good coating over the bloody scur works wonders. He was not cooperative however.

It takes two of us do do anything with Gruffy: vaccinations, hoof trimming, or treatments. I usually pin his neck between my knees (below actually because he's only 18 inches tall). That has worked well enough, except this time. He did not want that scur messed with. He tried to take off running, dragging me to the ground. I held on with my knees, but he kept running. He couldn't actually drag me away, but it didn't stop him. The best he could manage was running around in a circle, with me in the middle, my shoulder as the pivot point. After 2 or 3 turns Dan managed to grab him and we switched places.

Community Stuff

Dan and I pretty much keep to ourselves. That's just us and besides, we're busy. One day though, he was out in the pasture playing with the dogs when a man in a pick-up truck stopped and commented on our fence. He wondered if Dan hired out to do that kind of work (which he declined). Anyway they got to talking and the fellow told Dan his wife calls us a couple of hippies. That really took us aback and we wondered why. Because we have a large garden? Because we do a lot by hand? Because I wear my hair in a long braid down my back? Because we're not diligent about mowing the lawn? Because we'd rather let the weeds grow than drench everything with Round-Up? ;) Back in the day, I would certainly fit the hippy description (a little of my story here). But Dan? Never. He's been as square as they come from day one. [Que background music, "It's Hip To Be Square"] We were kind of hoping to be an inspiration to others, you know, to do something similar. Then again, maybe not.

Puppy Stuff

"We'll get up when it's time to eat."

I wanted to mention that the gelatin is still helping Kris, though he has set-backs on occasion. While Kody is growing at a slow, steady pace, Kris grows in spurts. We can almost see it. Those days he's mopey and limps, and I up his dose of gelatin. Usually the next day he's fine again, playful, happy and active.

Kitchen Stuff

Here's what I decided to do with that blind corner opening between the base cabinet and shelves...

I covered my blind corner with a lacy curtain

It's one of the lace curtains I'm going to use for the windows. Some of you suggested that the cat might find this spot and he has. He goes in through the curtain and then sits there and meows for me to let him out by opening the cabinet door. Like I have time for cat games.

Winter Wheat

I showed you how we got half of our harvest ("Winter Wheat 2012"). The rest was a problem. A lot of it was knocked down, by what(?). A lot of it was dragged down by vetch. It was impossible to scythe, so I used my hand sickle for some, then we decided to let the rest be. Á la Sepp Holzer, the stalks are forming a thick mulch mat and it will reseed itself. I'm interested in seeing how this turns out. There should never be a loss on a homestead, just a different purpose than originally expected. Successful permaculture seems to take some work to get established, but it certainly works for you once it is. Hopefully this will be one example of that.

I reckon that's all for now, except for this....

Parting Shots

Riley

Around The Homestead © June 2012 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Kris's Turn. Poor Kris

Kris, who has perfected the "poor puppy" look. :)

We've had a poor Jasmine post. Now we have a poor Kris post. Fortunately he has not broken his leg (or anything else), but he did start limping, which alarmed us. Upon taking a closer look, we discovered that his elbow was enlarged. He got to where he would lay around most of the day, not moving much and looking forlorn (a look he has perfected, BTW). Diagnosis? Probable elbow dysplasia.

Kris, 5 month, & Kody, 4 months

I say probable, because even though elbow and especially hip dysplasia are common in large breed dogs, and even though symptoms can be seen in puppies as young as 4 to 10 months, a true diagnosis can't be made until the dog is 24 months old, according to the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. X-rays are commonly used to diagnose, also cat scans. Treatment is surgery and anti-inflammatory drugs. Arthritis always sets in, apparently even with surgery.  Rather devastating news for a puppy barely 5 months old.

I still have to get my photos from the other side of the fence
Otherwise I'm mobbed by wiggles and puppy kisses

Heredity and diet are considered key factors (fat dogs are more prone to it). Besides the medical regime, I wondered if there wasn't something else we could do. I presented the question to the Holistic-Goats group.

A response came back quickly, about a Golden Retriever who had been diagnosed with dysplasia. Her owners started giving her a couple tablespoons of unflavored, unsweetened gelatin twice a day, simply mixing it in with her food. The results were reported to be amazing, and the dog continues to be active and pain free 7 years later.

Pet me! Pet me! Pet meeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I had run across similar information when I was researching for Dan's arthritis, and in fact mentioned it in my "Honeysuckle For A Good Cause post. In particular, I had found an article by biologist and researcher, Ray Peat.

"For a long time, gelatin's therapeutic effect in arthritis was assumed to result from its use in repairing the cartilage or other connective tissues around joints, simply because those tissues contain so much collagen. (Marketers suggest that eating cartilage or gelatin will build cartilage or other collagenous tissue.) Some of the consumed gelatin does get incorporated into the joint cartilage, but that is a slow process, and the relief of pain and inflammation is likely to be almost immediate, resembling the antiinflammatory effect of cortisol or aspirin."     Ray Peat, Ph.D. "Gelatin, Stress, Longevity"

The particular substance responsible for this is a simple, nonessential amino acid, gylcine.

Traditional diets were richer in glycine than modern diets today: head cheese, fried pig skins, pork ears and tails, chicken feet for soup broth, fish head soup, pork chops, chicken drumsticks, etc. All of these are rich in collagen, which is what makes gelatin what it is. Today's highest sources, (per 100 grams) are gelatin powder (19 grams of glycine), followed by pork skin (11 grams), and pork meat and products (4 grams). Another good source would be homemade bone broth, also called meat stock (how to make it, click here), though I don't have numbers on that one. The highest plant sources are raw spirulena seaweed, sesame and sunflower seed flours, and soy isolates, all 3 grams of glycine per 100 grams of food substance.

Dogs would ordinarily get glycine from eating skin, tendons and cartilage, something they do get from a raw meaty bones diet (which my dogs get as much as our budget allows). As a treatment, the use of gelatin in dogs is known to be effective not only for dysplasia and arthritis, but also canine epilepsy. For more information, read this article, "Gelatin," at The Epi Gaurdian Angels website.

Kody and Kris, enjoying their raw meaty bones

I started Kris on plain Knox gelatin on a Friday, 1 packet twice a day. By the following Tuesday, (5 days later!) he was running, jumping, and playing with Kody like he used to. The swelling in his elbow was gone and felt exactly like the other one. What a blessing! I will say that buying gelatin as Knox brand packets at the grocery store is not an economical way to do it, so I found a bulk source online (but you can check with your local co-op or bulk food store). Much cheaper that way.

Kody & Kris, BFFs

Guess who else this has helped? Yup, Dan. The honeysuckle tea brought great relief, but had to be sipped all day, every day. Within a matter of days after starting the gelatin, he had excellent results. Mixing a heaping half tablespoon in juice or water twice a day is a super easy way for him to get this on the road.

I've also started Kody on it and me too. The long term goal would be to incorporate more glycine rich foods into our diet. Since pork is so high in it, it's got me thinking about our goal to raise pigs. Maybe even learning how to make head cheese (something I never thought I'd do). So. Does anybody have a gelatin based recipe or two they'd like to share?

A happier, tail wagging, Kris

Kris's Turn. Poor Kris © May 2012 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Drizzly Day Doggies

A rainy day in the goat shed.

'Nuff said.

Drizzly Day Doggies © May 2012 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/

In Which We Become A Two Dog Homestead

The other day I took Kris to the vet for the last of his last puppy shots. He weighed in at 43 pounds (that's double what he weighted a month ago), and was pronounced healthy and handsome. Except for getting into the car (he hates being put into the car) he actually behaved on the leash, for which I was very pleased. Afterwards I brought him home and then went out to do some errands.

When I got home at lunchtime, I found a message on my answering machine. It was from the receptionist at the vet's office. A gentleman had come in shortly after I left and had a Great Pyrenees puppy he needed to find a home for. He loved it dearly, but his wife wouldn't let him keep it. If he could just find a good home with plenty of room and love, he'd give it away. She immediately thought of us.

Long story short, meet Dakota...

.... called Cody for short (or should I spell it Kody or Koty, you know, for "Kris & Koty". What do you think?)

We were in no way considering another dog, but at least had to think about it after the vet's office called. I definitely would have said no if the breed mix had been wrong (I have a thing about genetic instincts), but he's not a mix, he's a full-blood Pyr. The gentleman who gave him to us is elderly and not without health problems. This was his dream dog and he was heartbroken to part with him.

A little homesick 

Weighing in at 27.5 pounds, Cody (Kody? Koty?) is 3 & 1/2 months old, one month younger than Kris. They got along instantly, but not without adjustments. There have been a few squabbles over food and toys. Both are used to being an only puppy and Koty (Cody?), doesn't understand why he's here and is still waiting to go "home." Because of that he was a little hyper the first couple of days, and there was a lot of barking and whining and running around any time he saw Dan or me. He's used to being a house and couch pup, not a barn dog. He's settled down wonderfully and except for chasing an occasional chicken, he's making a smooth transition to being an outdoor dog.

What do the other critters think? Surprise (of Most Annoying Goat fame), has been tolerant of Kris but Cody (Kody?), she has no use for. He's been booted (butted) out of "her" stall a couple of times now. He seems to do a better job of staying out of the way of goat feet than Kris however. The chickens have been much alarmed by the new presence and spent the first day in the chicken yard fussing. A couple days later they are still keeping their distance. Riley has yet to even acknowledge him, but then he has yet to acknowledge Kris. He is The Cat after all.

Right now we're just trying to be calm and consistent with both pups, especially Koty (Cody?), who has some settling down to do. Even though he's been homesick, he needs to learn the ground rules from the git-go. Kris has learned these better than we realized and will hopefully be a good example.

So that's our latest news. Updates soon. :)

In Which We Become A Two Dog Homestead © May 2012 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/

Puppy Report

Kris, almost 11 weeks old

So our cute "little" puppy is becoming a gangly, all-legs puppy. At his 2nd puppy check last Friday, he'd grown from 14 to 22 pounds in just three weeks.

Kris, running after Surprise

He has taken to following the goats around and seems to particularly like Surprise. She, on the other hand, has no use for him whatsoever, and presents him with the top of her head anytime he comes up to her. Fortunately he doesn't know that this means "mind your own beeswax" in goat body language, so he tries to lick her ears. Sadly, she has no appreciation for puppy kisses. She does seem to like his puppy food however and makes a beeline for it when it's time for Kris to eat. Of course, this is something she is not allowed to have.

There are two schools of thought regarding the training of livestock guardian dogs. Old school is for the puppy to have virtually no human contact for several weeks, to allow bonding with the stock. More current thinking is that the tendency to guard is more about genetic instinct. Some dogs naturally make better guardians than others, even within the LGD breeds themselves. This line of thinking says the puppy needs to be kept with the stock, but also needs human socialization. It needs to know basic commands, be leash trained, and be able to be transported for things like vet visits. Folks who raise LGDs now, say the instinct to guard livestock just "kicks in."

We had a go-round with "kennel cough," which was worrisome. Fortunately we caught it before it developed into pneumonia, but Kris had to come stay in the house while he was coughing and congested. After that he came in at night and on rainy days; something he did not like. I can't say that I blame him and am glad he's an outdoor dog, but we felt he needed to use his energy for getting well, not keeping his body temperature up in the cold and wet.

The goats have been slow to appreciate him.

For the goats, it was initially us against it

Of course, he wants to play in ways they don't. Still, they're beginning to tolerate him. Of the chickens, he's decided to keep a repsectful distance.

Watching Mrs. Mean parade by

But then, he's seen Mrs. Mean giving "what for" to the pullets. Other than that, he's a happy little guy, all puppy.

Of the dog next door (which prompted us to get Kris), he is being chained up outside again. He has a much sturdier collar, but he has taken to barking at our chickens and goats. He must remember all the fun he had chasing them. Every critter on our side of the fence ignores him, but when he gets worked up, he fights and struggles to get out of that collar. So far it's held. We are seriously thinking about putting up a wood privacy fence there, just so he can't see and be tempted.

Jasmine, Surprise, & Kris

Anyway, that's the puppy report. :)

Puppy Report © March 2012 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/

Around The Homestead

Updates and tidbits since my last Around The Homestead.

Fencing the blueberry bush. Last blueberry season, I had an ongoing battle with the goats. My goal: to save as many of the blueberries as possible. Their goal: to eat as much of the bush as possible, blueberries included. You can read all about that here. (The sprinkler worked the best BTW). This year, I hope we're better prepared.

Blueberry bush corral

While waiting on the kitchen floor, Dan took advantage of some nice weather to fence the bush off. He made it from more downed pine trees, like I did my garden terrace beds. I'm curious as to how well this will work because goats are sneaky. Blueberry harvest is in July for us.

Speaking of things that goats like to eat...

Acorns! I'd seen them eating these from time to time, but since we have millions of acorns all over the yard, I wondered why I couldn't rake them up for them. Initially I was hopeful these would be another source of protein, but of that, they are not very high. They are a good source of fats and carbohydrates however, and considered an important part of winter deer diets. My goats love them. And of course the ones I serve are much more desirable than the ones they can forage for themselves. With the pasture dormant, I'm glad to have these as a supplement for them.

Eggs. I'm getting 5 to 8 eggs a day.

Everyone seems to have started to lay again. The pullets are laying most frequently of course. My older hens are going into their third summer and while they are starting to produce less, the eggs they do lay are huge! The tallest one in the egg carton is one of theirs. Sometimes I can't even close the lid and none of them have been double yolked!

Freezing Eggs. Besides eating a lot of eggs and giving them to my daughter-in-law, I've started freezing them again. This year though, instead of using an ice cube tray, I'm freezing two per muffin cup.

Freezing eggs, 2 per muffin cup, beaten well

I also decided to try spraying the inside of the cups with a non-stick spray. This worked very well and I found the frozen eggs easier to remove from the pan. The individual ice cube size ones are good for many baking projects, but this makes sense too, for scrambled eggs and omelets.

Chicken Fuss. Now here's an odd thing. I was hanging laundry on the line the other day, vaguely aware of a chicken fuss in the background. I didn't think much of it until Cowboy, our rooster, showed up at the clothes line. Well, he's not supposed to be out and when he is, he's usually in the company of some of his ladies. That morning he stood there by himself, clucking at me like crazy. By then, there was some full blown chicken squabbling going on at the coop, I decided I'd better go take a look. Turns out Mrs. Mean was hogging the hay rack in the goat shed and the others wanted it. No big deal (to me anyway), so I headed back to the clothesline. There was Cowboy, standing by the gate into the chicken yard. I opened if for him and in he went, off about his business. Now, you don't suppose...? Nah, I mean, do you think...? Could a chicken actually ....? Well, call me crazy but it actually entered my mind that he came to get me to do something about the fuss! There I said it. Like I said, call me crazy.

Ride 'em (?) Cowboy

Actually it seems this rooster can not only think, but reason. I've seen him pick up little bits of leaves and cluck like he had something tasty for the ladies. The first one who came running would get jumped, for, you know. It's as though he's figured out a way to get them to come to him, rather than having to chase them all over the place.

Kitchen Cabinets. Painting them has been another "while we wait" project. I'm pleased that the color matches my wallpaper so well. The overall look of my kitchen will be lower portion in green.

Sneak peek with knobs and cup pulls

I like that the wood grain shows through as well. We've been doing the prep and painting in the kitchen, because the existing floor is going to be covered anyway. As each piece is finished, it's moved into the dining room. By the time we clear everything out of the kitchen, it will be time to begin installing on the new floor.

Kris. And of course, a picture of the new puppy......

Jus' hangin' out

He actually is starting to follow the girls around, though he always comes running when he's called.

I reckon that's it. Always lots to do around here and we love doing it.

Around The Homestead © March 2012 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/

I'm Not A Dog Person, But.....

[CLARIFICATION: The post title is in no way meant to convey that we do not like dogs. It simply means that for pets, we prefer cats. :) ]

A few days ago, I happened out onto the back porch and my attention was immediately drawn to a chicken fuss. I looked, and saw a brown animal running behind the bushes. Thinking it must be Billy, our wether, I wondered why he was running around like that. Then I saw it run the other direction. Of course I had to investigate and quickly realized it was in fact a big brown dog. It was in the buck area, chasing chickens. The boys were trying to hide in the undergrowth of trees.

I took off running, wondering what I could grab to fend it off, throw at it, or use to clobber the living daylights out of it. Dan keeps a rifle and a handgun in the house, but I've only had lessons once and and at that moment, regretted not insisting on regular practice. I definitely would have shot that dog. As it was, I grabbed an old bed rail that was in use to hold down tarps.

I was fighting mad by the time I got there. When the dog saw me, it ran to the opposite corner of the fence. The goats came to me when I called and I let them out the back gate. As I stomped toward the front, hefting my mighty bed rail, the dog watched from his corner. At the front gate I called the chickens, who came running too. I shooed them out the front gate, and the dog was trapped in the buck pasture by himself.

I looked at him. He looked at me. He looked just like my next door neighbor's dog, except they keep their dog collared and on a chain when he's outside. This dog had no collar. I decided my best course of action was to call animal control. As I scanned the area to reassure myself that the dog was fenced in alone, he turned, hooked his front paws over the top of the fence, and hoisted himself up and over to the other side. This is a 4 foot fence, and I've never seen a dog do that. I watched it run around the trees and into the next door neighbor's yard and onto their porch. It was mid morning and no one was at home.

I went to do a check on the goats and count beaks. The boys (especially Billy) were upset but fine. Of the chickens I could only account for 11. I went back to the buck pasture for another look, and saw that the dog had come back and was standing on the other side of the fence. He took off when I yelled. Next I walked the perimeter of the front pasture. My neighbor from across the street came over to tell me he had seen the whole thing, if I needed a witness.

I found a couple scatterings of feathers on the ground, but couldn't find the missing chicken. I spent the rest of the day outside, keeping watch. The dog paced his own yard and ran around in the luxury of his freedom. Dan got home about the same time the dog's owners did, and he went to talk to them. Fortunately they were apologetic rather than defensive. They have been responsible with this dog and we realize it was an accident. Still, accidents can result in dead livestock, because unless a dog is bred for working with livestock, it will (no matter how nice, well trained, or sweet) chase down small livestock to the death. It's not necessarily malicious, but instinctive, because dogs are after all, predators by heredity.

Dan and I had a long talk that night, which resulted in taking a course of action we had discussed previously, but not pursued until now. Meet Kris ...

This is the photo that was linked to the ad.

He's a 7 week old Bernese, Pyrenees, Anatolian mix. His father is a registered Bernese Mountain Dog, and his mama is a 50/50 mix of Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepherd. All three of these breeds are classified as working dogs, the Pyrenees and Anatolians bred specifically as livestock guardian dogs (LGDs). Bernese Mountain Dogs are used extensively in Europe and some places in the US as general purpose farm dogs.

We've been thinking about getting a dog for a long time, ever since Charlie (my llama) died. We've been told that at one time, there were coyotes, bobcats, and black bears in the area, but no one has seen any of these in over a decade. Our current predatory problems are stray dogs and hawks, deer too, if one considers how well they prey on the garden. Since our acreage is small, I don't necessarily need a guardian to stick to the goats like glue, but we do need a dog that we can trust with our livestock, will live with the goats, and has strong guarding instincts for the property in general.

I am hoping that this will be a good genetic mix for us.  Genetic instincts seem to be key, and cannot be trained into or out of an animal. Purebreds are way out of our price range, so breed mix was something I considered carefully. It was also important that both this puppy's parents worked with livestock. Personality is a factor too, but this would be harder (for me at least) to discern with a puppy.

Neither Dan nor I have had dogs around since we were kids. Still, this seems to be a necessary addition to our homestead.

What, is that

Introductions were supervised

The chickens kept their distance

Cattle panels make a great puppy yard, both for their sake & his.

My missing chicken eventually showed up at the coop, Billy remained skittish for several days, and we haven't seen the neighbor's dog since.

I'm Not A Dog Person, But..... is © February 2012
by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/