Chicken Scraps Blog

Don’t Give Up on Your Failed Guard Dog - Hobby Farms Looking through an old Hobby Farms magazine today, I ran across this article.  It so clearly shows the wrong mindset of many farmers who buy a Great Pyrenees, and the disastrous results that can follow.  Remember, Great Pyrenees are large, powerful dogs, with natural guarding instincts, so not giving them the training and attention they need can cause major problems.  Thankfully, there are people out there who care about these magnificent dogs, and are in a position to help them.  And this is also the reason why I make potential owners fill out an application form, and talk to them over the phone or in person before I will reserve a puppy for them.  Such great dogs deserve to be set up, and trained, for success.

     A newborn kid's first needs are fairly simple, if it is healthy and strong.  It basically just needs to be dried off, kept warm, and receive milk as soon as possible.  If it is born on a hot/ warm day, then you probably don't need to worry about warming it up, and the mother usually does a great job cleaning it off.  Getting in there and handling it right away can be helpful though, so that it learns to accept human interaction more easily.  This also helps the doe learn to accept you messing with her baby.  (Hopefully, she will already be tame and not mind, but you never can tell until you've been through a kidding or two with her.)     Quick checklist: Warm and dry kids Bottle-feed, or make sure they get hold of a teat and are nursing Dip umbilical cords in povidone iodine, and/or goldenseal Check for obvious defects (extra teats, bad mouths, etc.) Give doe 1 quart or more of warm molasses water Below is the video I took of our first care of Nelly&

Tonight I went out and snapped a few more photos of Bluebell and Blossom.  She is currently with Blossom during the day, then separated at night.  We milk Blossom in the morning, then they go together again.

  Please note:  Bluebell has been sold.  This posting is for reference only.  Buttercup has been bred to a miniature Jersey bull, and is due next spring. Well, Blossom finally calved.  It was beginning to seem that she would never give that baby up!  And now I like the calf so much that I'm wishing I could keep her.  But...  Two milk cows (Blossom and Buttercup, who was just bred) are enough for us, and we have a limited amount of grass.  So here is some basic information on Bluebell. Full-blooded Jersey heifer Born March 11th, 2014 AJCA Registered (OA) Sire:  Peppy Dam:  Blossom