April 20, 2008
Git along little doggy
Today it was time to move the little calf up with the rest.
It was also time to give the cows new balage. Even though the grass is coming on strong, they need to have lots to eat. Three of them will calf in July. They follow Gary on the tractor as he brings the bale in.
Once unwrapped and untied, the bale is ready to go inside its feeder. Meanwhile the cows have been eating it the whole time!
This is how a cow says "Thank you" to Gary!
Hank loves the cows.
He likes cow pies too. Mmmmm. Yeah, we think that's digusting too. :)
Down off the hill, away from the cows, Liddy runs around with Annie's kids.
The kids are playful and it's hard to get them to stay still for a picture.
But Murphy is always ready for the camera.
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March 16, 2008
Weekend activities
After a month of trying, Gary gets the trailer up the hill to the pig pen. We will deliver them to the butcher later today.
Time for Liddy's stitches to come out. Gary held her while I snipped.
When they were all out, I covered the incision with Zinc Oxide. Her coat is taking a longer time to grow back than it is taking for her incision to heal.
Murphy supervised from outside the stall.
Annie, who shares the stall with Liddy, watched from the corner. According to my notes, she is due to kid this week. At this point, her bag is much larger than her belly!
I spotted a duck checking out nest sites under a toolbench in the barn. I never found an egg, but this shows they will be laying soon.
Turkey hens play on our homemade critter carrier (it fits in the back of Gary's truck). They do stuff like this all day.
Hank sits on the hill and watches them all.
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January 20, 2008
Welcome to the barns
It's cold. So cold eggs freeze before I can pluck them from the coops.
The cows are in the barn and wait for some grain.
Liddy the pygmy goat is very very pregnant (due in about 2 weeks) and has been moved into the barn until it gets warmer outside.
She is very big. Huge. Here's another view.
The pond is frozen over so the muscovies stay in the barn by choice. In fact it is hard to move them outside.
There are 8 Old English bantams running around the barn too. Here some of them sneak a drink out of a goat waterer. They do not like the cold one bit.
In fact here is a hen all covered in hay in a manger. Can you see her? Pretty cozy!
The cold doesn't bother Hank too much. He's ready to wrestle anytime anyplace.
Posted by roosterh at 5:25 PM
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August 8, 2007
It's hot (or why weeds are good)
Outside the barn we have a large patch of weeds. It's unsightly but it does have a purpose.
The birds and their chicks all love to hang out in the cool depths on hot days.
Two chickens and chicks. They really get swallowed up in there!
These ducks were in there - they came out to see what I was doing.
This turkey hen and duck hen sat on the same clutch of eggs. During the incubation time, they would steal from each other's piles, back and forth, every day. They are heading towards the weeds too.
Goosegoose usually hangs out under the crab apple tree by the hostas. Those hostas provide a lot of shade.
To beat the heat, the turkeys pant. If no one is around, the toms will split up and each find their own spot of shade and take a nap. Periodically they will get back together and browse in the grasses under trees. One tom prefers to hang out in the barn in the middle of the day which I don't understand - even in the doorway it is much hotter inside the barn than out.
And Hank - well he just pants all the time. This is his favorite spot - from this hill he can overlook the goats and sheep and all the chicken coops to make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing.
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July 7, 2007
Bird pix
This hen hatched her chicks while sitting on a pile of baling twine stored in a washtub in the barn. 11 tiny balls of fluff.
This is a hefty number of babies to look after, so after an afternoon in the grass, I placed the hen and her precocious chicks in a coop. Now I will feel better knowing she is protected by crows, hawks and other birds who may threaten her babies.
The English Bantams have 2 chicks too. They are so tiny! Can you see them?
Many baby ducks!
The turkeys have moved outside and enjoy hunting for bugs.
The turkeys and their chicken buddies are good at getting into things, like these planters I just filled.
Here's an action shot of Hank approaching as I was taking turkey pictures.
The calves are growing fast!
Luther takes a nap by the hostas.
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April 3, 2007
Dry Spell
I am talking about the blog, not the weather! Although the blog has not been busy, Gary and I have!
First off, the website, the blog, the whole kit and kaboodle has been moved to a new server. I have implemented a new photo gallery system so you should be able to click on pictures to see more.
Hank went to the vet. He only peed in the exam room once and tried to bite 2 people, but it went well. *sigh
Turkeys strutted. And strutted.
We went snowshoeing. There was a lot of snow.
We sold the goats.
Gary rode the mechanical bull at the Ithaca Chili Fest. And won. Again! second year in a row.
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August 15, 2006
Hank's first kill
Do you remember the hen who made her nest in the potatoes? She hatched out 6 teeny tiny babies. I moved her to a tractor on the lawn, underneath some poplar trees.
The other morning, very early, the dogs were going nuts. The coyotes have been active lately, and the screech owls are calling from the hedgerow in the field, but this morning they were after something different. It wasn't until I went outside after sunrise to feed the chickens that I knew why.
When I stopped at my potato hen's coop, Hank ran to a poplar and started climbing the tree! He pulled down a young oppossum and began shaking it. He held it on the ground with his paws, shook it a few times, and looked at me. I called Gary over, we declared the oppossum dead, praised Hank over and over, and Gary placed the critter in the back of a truck.
Ever hear the phrase "playing oppossum?" Well guess what? Later when Gary went to check on the truck, the oppossum was getting ready to climb out over the tailgate! He made it and took off for the woods. Hopefully to go bother someone else.
Meanwhile Hank has discovered the baby rabbits in the field and has become quite good at catching them. It is a hard thing to watch. Once he catches them he will lay down with the poor thing and lick it and lick it and start tossing it in the air. "Where are the rabbits George? I want to hug 'em, and squeeze 'em, and love 'em and pet 'em."
Posted by roosterh at 5:56 AM
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April 24, 2006
April Pix
Piling on for breakfast
Our first set of triplets, 2 does and a buck. They are Nala's kids and are 96%.
These are the last 2 does to kid
Murphy and Chance, the first calf born here
Chickens
Chickens chickens everywhere
Crow faces off hawk above the flock of chickens
Chance, the Itchy Cow
Hank
Galanthus
The geese allowed the crocus to grow this year
Posted by roosterh at 7:40 PM
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March 27, 2006
Pink Hats Rock!
Spring is almost here. Almost. It's enough that Hank can find the many gloves and rags that he has stolen from Gary over the past couple months, and recover them from whereever they have been hidden.
It's been a constant fight between Gary and Hank, and Gary's many gloves, boots and rags. Surely, Hank must think, Gary has plenty to go around.
Last weekend I decided I needed something. A pink spring hat. Yup I admit - it's fugly. I would not appear in public in this hat (although one could argue that this picture on this website qualifies as appearing in public). But it is pink and springlike unlike my brown winter hat and my navy hat. I put this hat on and I feel better - it's pink! even though the animals look at me funny and the turkeys and goats want to eat it.
And Gary? He hates this hat.
He hates this hat so much that he wished today Hank would find it and stash it with the many things he has tucked away over the winter months. But even Hank leaves this hat alone.
He should leave this hat alone - it's pink! and it's spring and I can be fugly if I want to!
So Gary left us alone and changed the oil on his truck. He has to use a ladder because his truck is so big. And his hat is brown.
Posted by roosterh at 9:10 PM
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March 14, 2006
Hank's Family tree
Many people are asking about Hank and coincidentally I found some photos of him sent to me by his breeder,
Elaine Reynolds of Oklahoma, and Tish of Black Sheep Homestead, upstate NY, who adopted Hank's brother Rooster. Here is mom Cherry, aka Cimarron Cherokee, a pretty red tri from Sharlyn Dalby (who, Tish tells me, is the daughter of Dolores Butcher, who is known as rather a grande dame of the ES breed).
His poppa is Cimarron Rustler (Rusty). He has his own page. This picture is of Cherry and a pup or 2.
Marcia's Molly is the dam of
Partlow's Bud, who sired both Rusty and Cherokee's sire, Dalby's Laddie, so she is Hank's and Rooster's double-great-grandma.
Molly's mom Marcia dropped me a note just today to comment on Hank's good looks. So I will embarrass him by showing his baby pictures. No bathtub pictures though!
Hank is a good-natured dog, always smiling. He is eager to please and help out, though sometimes he helps out too much! But I don't know what I would do without him.
Here is Tish's Rooster, brother of Hank. (Tish I swiped your pic from the album in case you deleted it!) Be sure to visit
my first entry about Hank, when I went to Tish's and picked him up.
Thanks to Tish, here is
Hank's pedigree.
March 15 is Hank's first birthday. Happy Birthday, Hank!
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March 5, 2006
A Sunny Day (lots of pictures)
After snowing for the past 3 days, Sunday dawned clear and sunny. About time! It was a perfect day. I cooked and cleaned in the morning while Gary worked outside. I came outside and goofed off by taking tons of pictures. Then I went to pick up a load of feed and by the time I got back it was time for chores. We took a quick fourwheeler ride before going in for dinner.
Lots more pictures to follow:
Even though the temps are cold, the turkeys are still in full-spring mode. Here is Luther strutting his stuff.
And here's my handsome Murphy. He and Luther had a little disagreement a couple days ago, and both have a few nicks and scars. Murphy's pride is a little beaten too.
My youngest turkey hen follows me everywhere.
The ducks enjoy the sunshine in the doorway of the new barn.
My chickens do not like the snow. Luckily Gary has plowed the drive and the snow has melted enough that they can walk on it.
The kids in the barn are growing! We have some warmer temperatures predicted finally, so we can move them outside and prepare for kidding, round 2. The roosters jump into their pen to search for grain and scratch through the hay. And provide some entertainment for the kids.
Here is Nala and her 3 kids plus another kid on the left. We ended up moving Nala to her own pen this afternoon. The other goats beat up on her too much for her to get a good meal. And with 3 kids, she needs all she can get!
One of Nala's kids enjoys some hay after being moved to the new pen.
Here is one of our young bucklings.
Annie is due the first week of April. She only started to look huge this week.
Many people at my workplace often ask me about the
kid who came to work. Here she is with buddy Cinnamon. I couldn't get them away from the hay for a better picture.
Erin was also born last spring a little after our frozen girl (no, she doesn't have a name yet!)
Hank samples the hay.
Here is Liddie the pygmy. That must be some hay, everyone's too busy eating to pay attention to the camera.
Matty and Mae nibble at a white pine. We throw them into the pens with the goats, sheep and cows. They like to eat something green once in a while.
One of our cows is bred and is really starting to look huge. Here she shows us her best side.
Stand too long at the fence and other cows are sure to get curious! This is another red hereford, coming in for some pets.
Hank pets her too.
The big pigs slept in the sunshine most of the day.
We tried moving big mama pig again today, but were not successful.
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January 4, 2006
Coyote howls are not romantic
Not when you have a bunch of pregnant goats out in the fields, it's 2am, 20 degrees, and you'd rather be warm in bed and sleeping. And when the coyotes come in close, their howls make the roosters crow, the geese honk, and the dogs bark.
And bark.
And bark.
At last Hank has found something he is really really good at.
Posted by roosterh at 4:22 AM
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December 17, 2005
Today's snowman
It did not take Hank long to dismantle the snowman. He was done by 5am the next day. All the dogfood had been removed, the baling twine strung out across the yard and the hat I found inside Hank's mouth.
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November 12, 2005
Cold mornings, warm afternoons
First order of business Saturday morning after chores: fix that shed! It was a very cold morning and we thought the ground was frozen enough that the tractor could get traction without digging up the fields. Wrong! Still we used the tractor behind the shed and pulled it up and over with a chain. Then we tried using the tractor in the front to square the building and try to get the posts back in the same holes, but had no luck. The tractor could not move well in the mud so we left it like this.
The cows are undisturbed by our work.
Hank has discovered ice and it keeps him amused for a while. I hope the poor guy doesn't bury these treats like he does to others, I doubt he will find the ice as easily as a bone.
Although the morning was very cold, it quickly warmed up to short-sleeve weather. In a rare shot where he is not strutting, here is Murphy dust bathing in the sun.
Chicks are getting bigger. Soon they can be integrated with the bigger birds.
About noon, and everyone has had their fill of breakfast. It is now naptime for about everyone for the next hour or so.
Napping goats. They alternate between snoozing and chewing their cuds.
Seeing everyone sleeping makes me sleepy too! But we have potatoes to dig and chores to do.
Posted by roosterh at 8:11 PM
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November 7, 2005
Of Storms and Dogs ... and Dogs
Last night we had a strong storm blow through. The wind was strong, lightning was everywhere, thunder plentiful and Hank the wonder dog was scared. He does not like loud noises very much, and although he barks a mean bark, he is usually running the other way at the same time.
We really had no damage. Surprisingly, empty rubbermaid tubs that we use to move hay around stayed put. Metal roofing pieces, 20x heavier than the tubs and stacked for winter storage, did not and were scattered. Branches were everywhere.
Oh, wait. The branches are from Hank. Hank the wonder dog likes to drag them out of the woods and he leaves them everywhere! So hard to tell what was storm-driven and what was dog-driven.
In fact, Hank has been so busy today I will devote a whole entry to him.
First I have to mention that the other day he chased Toby the donkey waaaay up the hill. And when I dug up 4 bushels of potatoes Saturday and he dug along with me, potatoes be damned. But this morning he took it to another level.
Gary walked up the hill, pre-dawn, to sit in the treestand to hunt deer. I kept Hank and Blue in the basement until I knew Gary was long gone. But Hank's penchant for going through dirty laundry to chew on soiled socks proved that his time in the basement would be short. Once I thought Gary to be out of range, I let Hank out (and put all the socks away). BUT little did I know that Gary used a new buck lure this morning. And he doused a rag with it and dragged this rag along the ground his whole walk up to the stand. I think it is about a mile away.
Hank knew.
In fact, Hank followed Gary all the way to the tree and rolled in a special spot where Gary added more lure. He rolled, he dug, and he rolled some more. Then he looked for Gary. But instead of finding Gary (he was watching from his perch above) Hank instead found a group of deer, not too far from the tree stand, and drove them all away with his barking. He barked and ran away, barked and ran away, my brave dog. Then he ran back down the hill to return to me, unaware of his newest adventures.
During the day Gary split firewood we had been curing all summer, and stacked it neatly in new piles. Did you know that when you keep wood on the ground over the summer, mice will build their nests in it? Hank did. Not only did he look for the mice nests in the old piles, he decided to jump up on the new piles and dig threw those. The 3' pile of logs were quickly flattened. And Gary stacked the wood again.
Hank is certainly a wonder dog. Or as Gary puts it, I wonder if he has a brain - dog.
Posted by roosterh at 8:19 PM
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October 30, 2005
Indian Summer
We are in the midst of an Indian Summer, I think. Daily highs are close to 70. The basement chicks enjoy some time outside. At one point during the day, 2 of the turkeys took a nap next to them.
Hank is growing. The other night he spent a lot of time next to the pond barking at the geese who were swimming around. But he has been pretty good, and helps to put the chickens away at night.
Posted by roosterh at 3:44 PM
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July 24, 2005
Dropped the first pig off
We dropped the first pig off. He was a couple weeks older than the others. The chute Gary built worked well with one pig, although I have my doubts about how it will work with multiple pigs. We will see! Gary had placed some pig food in the back of the truck to tempt him to get up there, and the chickens enjoy the leftovers. They are an excellent clean up crew. Murphy, of course, looks on.
On our way back from the butcher's, we stopped at an auction. I broke down and bought a couple turkeys as well as a mille fleur hen with 5 mixed breed chicks. I am glad we did not stay longer since there were some nice sheep there as well as some pigs. Pictured here are the turkeys, a broad-breasted white tom and a Royal Palm hybrid hen. The BB will be Gary's dinner I am afraid, they are not bred to live very long. :( Hank looks on.
Murphy and Hank have a love/hate relationship. Hank loves to tease Murphy and Murphy hates it. This picture shows Murphy trying to sneak up on Hank to give him a quick peck on the butt, as he loves to do.
Posted by roosterh at 7:08 AM
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July 16, 2005
Hank's Booty
As I have pointed out before, Hank has a habit of finding things, and leaving them by the door for us. Today's take includes a piece of firewood, a wood chip, a feed scoop and one of my boots.
As I was taking that last shot, he ran in and stole -
The feed scoop. He's something else.
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July 3, 2005
Sunday morning pictures
It took the geese a year to discover the pond. Now I can't get them away from it.
Bugsy is the mama of our
Buck #1 for sale.
Tucker is the sire of most of our kids this year.
Look at that face!
Edith is Nala's girl from last year. Edith had a single buck this year.
Hank plays with his favorite toy: a turkey feather.
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June 27, 2005
Catching up with pix
Afer our work yesterday we retired inside for a bit for some icy cold beverages. Hank was left sleeping in the shade under a truck. I guess he wasn't asleep for long: in that time he amassed quite a collection of entertaining things to chew on. Pictured: Gatorade bottle, 2 shoes, one rubber boot, sheep fleece from the other side of the driveway, and a cardboard box.
The sheep got shorn 2 weeks ago and I forgot to take their pix. Here is Mae. During the hot weather, they lay close to the ground, even in the shade of trees. They are active very early in the morning and again in the evening, grazing on long and short grasses. When I took this picture it was only 6am, and Mae is hunkered down for the day already.
Matty is hunkered down and ready for another hot day too. We keep them in portable
Kencove fencing. I like them over Premier because they have step-in posts, very helpful in our rocky soil.
I added some fencing from Premier to one of the coops. They get so hot during the day that I like to have them out in the shade of the long grass. I planted some large plants (Weigelia, purple millet, fountain grass) to provide some shade, but they haven't taken off yet. I need to contain them because the roosters in this group do NOT play well with others, and Luke the turkey and Murphy the turkey will also fight.
Some other plantings include canna lilies, given to me by a co-worker. I am trying to beautify a spot where we get a lot of runoff and pooling. I used some old egg baskets to mark the spot for my husband. See the tire mark from the tractor? ;-)
Here are some juvenile muscovies, taking a dip in the pond.
I am not sure if I mentioned that the geese have taken over guardianship of some of the scovy babies. They have their watchful eyes on the babies throughout the day. They are very
mean protective so this works well for the babies.
Posted by roosterh at 7:39 AM
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June 10, 2005
Look what Hank found
We have some starlings nesting inside the barn. One of the babies fell out. Look at that mouth! No wonder the parents keep so busy feeding their babies. I got on a ladder and replaced this baby with the rest.
Posted by roosterh at 8:03 AM
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May 29, 2005
Weekend Project: Movable Goat Shed
We needed a new goat shelter. Each shed we build we improve on its design just a little bit. This one we truly wanted to be able to move.
The entire shed rests on 2x10 skids. The holes were drilled with the intention of using them to anchor a chain.
Hanks snoozes through our construction. We had just finished chores (feeding goats and chickens) and chasing everything wears him out.
Framed up and ready for roofing. We are using painted metal roofing, 8' long. We made the she a little shorter than what the metal sheets would cover, so about 10' wide covered by 12' roofing. It is 6' deep.
Token artsy shot. It was a very nice day.
Roof is on and we start doing the walls. While all of our other sheds are board and batting, this one uses plywood to keep its weight down.
Almost done. Yes Murphy has to be in every picture, and he usually is -- I just cut him out ;-)
We ended up not using the holes for the chain and placed this 2x4 across one side. If you use one chain in these holes, it will draw up and tighten and bring the skids together. Not good! You could use 3 chains, and use one on each side to create a loop and the third chain to bring them together and attach it to the tractor, or you can use this method.
Done and ready to move.
And Hank wakes up just in time to help.
The boom is attached and we start dragging shed into place.
Close call by the house.
Hank is an eager helper.
Going down the hill was less eventful than I thought.
And the shed is in place. We need to put up some (more) fencing and move goats around. We are always doing fencing.
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May 27, 2005
Trials of Meat Birds and Puppies
Someone was curious about the affect chicks had on the lawn. My tractors are about 9' long on average and between 3-4' wide. They vary by height too. I move them about every day to give the chicks inside access to fresh grass. The pullets are a lot nicer to the ground than the meat birds. The meat birds eat a lot, so they produce a lot of waste. They also sit a lot, more so than other birds. The grass gets matted but as long as I rake up the waste matter, the grass will grow. It is better to place the birds on unmown grass first, imo, and then mow after they have used the ground and you have raked. If the forecast calls for sunny skies, or at least no rain, sprinkle some lime in the area. This changes the pH of the soil to combat any nasties left behind as well as neutralize the Nitrogen of the chicken waste. This picture was taken off the deck in the early morning. Two tractors are meat birds and the one to the right is full of pullets. There is also a dog house and an old goat pen in the background.
Yesterday I mentioned how big the feet of the silver cockerels are. Here you can see the chick is mostly feet! These birds are from Reich Hatchery in PA. They were affordable, fast and friendly to deal with.
These are the chicks that I just placed outside on Monday. Even in the warmth of their lights in the basement, they had the tendency to pile on top of each other when sleeping. Outside it is no different. These birds dive right into the mass of bodies as if it were a feathered football game.
The problem with that is when you have chicks pile on top of each other, the one on the bottom usually gets smothered. This has happened to us every single night they have been outside. I am tired of pulling dead chicks out. Last night I went outside a few times after dark to stir them around to ensure there would be no piling. But it didn't help.
Good thing Reich sent extra birds.
Hank has taken to chasing birds around since yesterday. He especially likes the little ducklings. I have read that in training these puppies, we are bound to lose a bird or 2. Frankly I am tired of losing birds.
Posted by roosterh at 11:02 AM
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May 23, 2005
Weekend wrap-up
Saturday the sheep were to be sheared, but we got tired of chasing them and they remain big and wooly. I will need to get someone to come out to the farm which is unfortunate because it can get pricey, especially for just 2 sheep. I reminded Gary that next year we will have help rounding up the sheep, but this year our help slept in the back seat fo the truck (Hank).
Weather was threatening and cold and we nixed the sawing plans for Sunday. We sent 3 piglets off to their new home and worked in the garden before going to scout out a farm that was on the market and visiting with Gary's family. The farm was not for us, and the visit to the in-laws was short. Back to home and back to work.
Gary had moved the goat shed a couple days ago and to it we added some combo panels. The plan was to house Hank in here while we were at work. He would be next to the goats and have a nice area to sleep I mean play in. (Did I mention that Hank loves to sleep??) Well we should have tested it out before using it for real Monday morning -- Hank can slip right through the openings quicker than jumping through a fiery hula hoop suspended in the air. So the poor pup is housed in a chicken tractor today. I gave him plenty of chewy toys and an old fleece coat of mine to cuddle with. I hope he doesn't hold grudges.
Work with him is moving forward. He is free to run whenever we are home. If he gets tired he has figured out he can go to the front porch and lay down, or to the deck. There is no laying down when I am tending to the chicks! He loves to chase them through their fence and lick their tails! Although it is hard for me to watch him scare the chicks, I see it as a good opportunity to teach him "Down." He is catching on, slowly but surely.
This morning I moved the remaining 35 meat chickens outside into their own tractor. I have one tractor left! The tractor I used today is quite large and can house this many birds for a little bit until they grow larger. Also since it is supposed to be a touch cooler this week it will be good to have a couple more chickens in there for more warmth. The cooler weather and impending rain make me nervous for their heathy futures, but last night I was reading Joel Salatin's "Pastured Poultry Profits," and in it he says that every week past 4 that you hold the chicks in the brooder you run the risk of losing birds and you lose money as well. Even with the cooler temps their growth rates are suppressed.
Posted by roosterh at 6:59 AM
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May 21, 2005
A Dog Named Hank
We have christened the puppy Hank now although Digger or Crockett (after the original host of Victory Garden, one of my mom's favorite TV shows) may be btter choices. I planted some bushes and ornamental grasses to provide some shade for my newer chicken coop. Hank was eager to help me dig.
When I stopped digging he would start. I was afraid I would hit one of his feet but we managed to avoid each other. Tish tells me that "This line (Butcher) is known for being the kind of dog that will pick up the hammer for you if you drop it while fixing fence, they are THAT focused on being your right hand. It's a beautiful thing :-) "
Some folks are stopping by tomorrow to pick up a couple of the pigs. We put the rest outside in their house. This is where Squirt had been housed, and then Hank was in here for a day yesterday. Now the pigs will have it til fall.
I wonder how long all that green lush grass will last? Pigs actually prefer to dig in the dirt rather than eat the grass. After the first few big rainstorms we get, they will be sure to dig out a mud pit to bathe in. We are due for rain every single day next week.
So here is the before shot of all that grass. I'll be sure to take status shots so we can see all of it disappear. ;-)
Blue watches the pigs too. Dogs are fascinated by pigs. Blue doesn't really care too much for Hank right now. She is a blue tick cross and about 11 years old.
Posted by roosterh at 5:58 PM
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May 19, 2005
English Shepherd puppy
Yesterday was so bad. But then at the end of the day I received a phone call from Tish in Watkins Glen that dogs we had both bought from Elaine Reynolds in OK were waiting for us in Elmira! Tish was great and she went and picked up both dogs and kept them overnight.
These boys are brothers. Tish named hers Rooster. Mine is named Norman but his name may change, who knows.
Farm collies, or English Shepherds, are good all-purpose dogs. They can have herding ability as well as some guardian instinct. I am hoping this puppy will grow up to help us move goats around.
Tish has 4 kids and they were very excited about the puppies, and very sad to see Norman go. Here is Sophie with Norman.
Sophie with Rooster.
Tish went to the same livestock auction I did a couple weeks ago. She got a bunch of ducks there.
Her turkeys started strutting today. These are midget whites.
Tish also raises sheep!
Love this fleece!
Here are some interesting links about the breed:
Posted by roosterh at 8:38 PM
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