Chicken Scraps Blog

I've mentioned that we had to bottle feed the whole last litter of puppies because Inez got a bad case of mastitis from a severe scratch on her teat, received in a fight with an old feral tom-cat.  (The cat paid for it- we found it laying out in the front of our property.)  Well, it appears that she has successfully injured herself again- this time a different teat. The injury (after being thoroughly cleaned and had aloe vera put on it)

 (I'm not completely finished with this post, but didn't want to delay any longer.  I will hopefully get the rest of the info I need within the next few days and will then update it.)  Lately I've been texting and making calls, checking on the puppies from the last litter.  They are now 5 1/2 months old, and are doing very well.

Here are a few pictures I took this morning at milking time... They aren't the best since they were taken with the front facing camera on my tablet, which is designed for video, not still pictures, and really didn't like the lighting.  Oh well- they show a little of how cute he is! What have I got in my pocket??? Of course- my little bu ddy! Fragoso has decided he doesn't like the texture of the nipple on his bottle, so has gotten much pickier about when he will, and will not drink it.  I guess that's a good sign, as it shows he isn't as hungry as he used to be, which means he must be getting more from Inez.  This morning I decided to experiment (well, it wasn't really an experiment since I'd done it with some of the last litter of puppies too).  Mabel wasn't too thrilled about the grunting, slurping, hungry puppy, so she kicked quite a bit.  That's why I kept my hand in front of him as a shield.

That's right- today was the day!  The puppies are opening their eyes!  I could tell it would be soon, and now some of them can see!  (Well, that is, they can see a little bit.  It will take a few days for their vision to clear up completely.) Peekaboo! I also made a discovery- Passepartout is really Bernadette! We have 2 black females , and one black male , not the other way around, as I originally thought.  The only way I can account for this mistake on my part, is that when I first checked the puppies, I counted Fragoso twice, and missed one of the females.  Still, it is quite amazing (and humbling) to discover that I was wrong about the sex of one of the pups for over 1 1/2 weeks, and never discovered it until today.  With moving and doing almost all the chores by myself, I've been pretty busy.  Oh well... I guess I just need to slow down a bit. Star and Bernadette. I know this is a really bad photo, but it was one of the few which showed her ey

Today the pups are six days old.  They are all eating (or rather drinking) great, except Fragoso, who seems to have a hard time getting and keeping a good place since he's quite a bit smaller than his siblings.  I was having some trouble bottle-feeding him, because it didn't seem like he was getting much.  Finally I discovered that the hole in the nipple was too small- should have checked that a long time before.  Anyway, he's doing better now.   Fragoso  I finally got around to putting together a decent box for them and now Inez is spending about 98% of her time in their nice big plywood box on the deck feeding the her puppies.   Sprinkling baking soda between the layers of bedding.  (Helps keep down on the smell.) Finished product.  (The darker colored places are stains, the blanket is actually clean.  The yellow powder is sulfur, which keeps fleas away.) Inez likes her new box.  :)  She is also enjoying raw, grass-fed beef liver, f

Here are all the puppies either having breakfast, or sleeping.  They are growing amazingly fast, and little Fragoso is already putting on weight from the bottle feeding.  Enjoy! Feeding Fragoso.  He's getting 3-5 bottles per day, in addition to being with Inez all the time. Check out that round belly!

Well, it appears that I got the wrong breeding date for Inez, and was a little behind schedule.  This morning at 4:30 I heard tell-tale whimpering and whining under the house, and knew I had an early-morning job on my hands.  I found Inez, comfortably ensconced behind the AC unit, with her 7 new puppies.  She is now contentedly nursing them in a big box on the deck, which is a much more acceptable place.  Once again, the sire is Maverick, our neighbor's beautiful and sweet Chocolate Lab.  There are 7 puppies total:  1 black male, 2 white females, 2 black females, and 2 white males.    The puppies will be available to good homes for $210 each, with first shots, health certificate and pedigree/ bill of sale.  They will also be de-wormed.  To fill out an application form, please visit this link:  Puppy Form 2.pdf   For more pictures (from the last litter) visit this link:  Puppies For Sale!   Thank you! Parents This is Maverick, the puppies' sire. And this is In