Chicken Scraps Blog

Fiona is our latest addition to the farm.  She is a gorgeous chocolate (or red) merle, ABCA Border Collie puppy from Hill Top Farm in IL.

Ever since we got our first dog, Mama has periodically wished for a cat which would like dogs.  I used to have a hard time believing all she said about how her cats and dogs loved each other because my only experiences in that line involved excited Schnauzers, my stressed out, deaf kitty, and (later on) our whip-thin black cat, Flavia, who hates dogs, and Kep, who loves chasing cats. Then Flavia retired from working and the rats (which are always more or less present on a farm) began multiplying way  too fast, so we finally got two young kittens.  They were six week old brothers from Shepherd's Hill Farm and are the most wonderful cats.  They are sweet to each other and people, and I think they will be great ratters.  (BTW, there is one kitten left from this litter who needs a home!  Contact me if you are interested in adopting him.) Dickon (left) and Chauncey (right) The first time one of the dogs (Flossy, I think) walked up and sniffed the ...

     So, you have a young heifer, or a cow which has never been milked before, and want her to be your family milk cow. You grab a bucket and head out to the barn to do some milking, and, lo and behold! she kicks you over and tries to break out of the stanchion the second you touch her udder.  What went wrong?

Have you ever tried to herd a 16 m/o dairy bull?  It can be interesting, even when he is comparatively mellow, like Barbacoa.  Any bull that is sexually mature is potentially dangerous, and the closer they get to 18 months or two years, the more dangerous they are. Now, if you have to somehow move that beast from one pasture, past a 5 month old heifer, through the yard, into another pasture, what is the easiest way to do it? You call a high drive Border collie! Yesterday I tattooed our bull for permanent ID before we sell him, and had to get him into the milking stanchion.  While we didn't get the dragging him into the stanchion adventure on video, my 10 year old brother, Justice, did get some neat footage of Cleone moving him.  As you can see in the video, she is no expert, but that is my fault, not hers.  I simply don't know how to train a herding dog to the high level of skill that many reach, so while she is a great helper for me around the farm, ...

As of May 2nd, Fenella is now officially a yearling! She is a very pretty little horse with a great temperament.  Spirited, yet very friendly and easy to train, she will make a great horse someday.  Recently my brother has been doing a lot of shooting in the back pasture, and she has become quite desensitized to the sound of firearms- to the point that she either ignores his invasion of her pasture, or comes over to fellowship with him and observe his target practice.  This has been encouraging to me, since I have considered training her for mounted shooting, or at least laying the groundwork for someone else to do so.

This blog post is a bit late, but now it will be more informative.  :) In July, when we took a family vacation, we also picked up Cleone, my first registered Border collie. I have been wanting for some time to begin breeding Border collies, and finally my hope is on the way to becoming a reality.  Our family vacation was the perfect opportunity to research a wider range of breeders, and find just the right puppy.

Chip is a really great little POA gelding.  Actually, he's not so little- 13+ hh, which makes him the perfect size for both children and small adults. Visit our farm website for more info about Chip:   feldmanfamilyfarm.weebly.com Here is a video (taken 11/27/15) of me riding Chip, in the pasture at home, and on the trail to a friend's house.

Recently, Savana went out to the pasture with me to take some (much overdue) pictures of Fenella.  She is growing "like a weed", and progressing well on her training.  She is rather mouthy, and will sometimes nip, but I never let her get away with this, as I detest nippiness. She is so sweet and easy to train.  I am beginning to want to keep her for myself, as Fannie is getting older.  Maybe there is some way to grow more grass...

My filly, Fenella de Festina Lente was born in early May.  She is the first foal I have ever been able to handle and train, so I wanted to be prepared.  As the time was drawing near when Fannie was due to foal, I began researching various training methods, trying to come up with a plan for training the foal right from birth.  I knew that I wanted to begin its education as early as possible and not wait until it had formed bad habits, or developed a fear of humans.  Very quickly I decided that I wanted to imprint it, if possible.  What I read about imprinting just made sense to me.  After all, it is reasonable that what an animal is exposed to on a regular basis from the moment of birth should seem normal to it in later life.  I did not want to be too extreme with my imprinting; rubbing the baby with noisy clippers and plastic bags just seemed like a little much, and I didn't want to stress Fannie too much.  So when Fenella was born, I simply rubb...

Jesse El Rubio Acuarela de Benji Saturday, May 2nd, was an unusually busy day for us on our small farm.  There was a lot of work to be caught up on outside; from dosing a sick cow who was off her feed, to fixing a small pen in the front pasture.  I let Fannie out into the yard as usual to graze, after she ate her usual portion of Gestolac feed, with a special herbal tea added to it.  As I checked her bag, I thought she couldn't possibly be far from delivering her foal.  After all, she was bred to Jesse el Rubio , son of El Chino de el Batey, on May 4th, 2014, and now it was May 2nd, 2015.  According to my research, horses have a gestation length of 316-360 days, so she was a bit over due.  Her udder had distended to nearly twice it's usual size now; surely she must be close. Photo taken 4/28/15

Fenella de Festina Lente was born Saturday, May 2nd, 2015.  My 16 year old sister, Savana, took these pictures for me on May 4th.  Fannie grazing peacefully in the yard, with Fenella sleeping under her watchful eye.

There are few things so frustrating as having a full bucket of milk kicked over, just as you are stripping out those last few squirts, and dreaming of the yogurt, cheese, or just plain creamy milk you are going to enjoy.  Even worse is when she kicks you in the nose first, then plants her dirty foot squarely in the bucket.  A kicky milker can cause all kinds of problems, and be downright dangerous.  Frequently, kicking is only a symptom of other issues, such as extreme nervousness.   A nervous cow is a dangerous cow. She is liable to hurt herself and other cows or people.  She may try to jump or charge through fences, and likely will attempt to break out of the stanchion if she is frightened.  This is not an article dealing with nervousness, but I will say that the cure, so far as I have experienced, is twofold:  1).  Lots of gentle, but firm handling, feeding of treats, and desensitizing her to common things she perceives as threats. 2)....

Sometimes it is helpful to be able to just set a bucket of milk on the ground in front of your calf, and walk away while he feeds himself.  Since calves don't naturally know how to drink from a bucket though, they have to be taught.  Last night, as I gave Chipotles his first lesson in bucket-feeding, it occurred to me to have Evan record it on video, so that others could perhaps profit by it.  Enjoy!

Here is a video tutorial I took with Charlie on pick-up day , designed to go along with my 5 Basic Commands blog post.  Enjoy!

Note:  At the bottom of this article I have a video of teaching these commands.  In the video I am working with Fragoso (later named Charlie), from the January 2013 litter of "Great Labenees" puppies. Passepartout.      There aren't too many animals cuter than a puppy.  I mean, look at the photo!  It is all too easy to fall in love with one, and buy it simply because it's cute, and hilarious to watch.  But once you bring him (or her) home, the work begins. Socializing Emaline with the puppies.      First, to have a good dog, he must be socialized.  Basically, this is gently and carefully exposing him to new people, places, animals, and things, and teaching him to respond properly, without fear or aggression.  The goal is to teach him to accept new things, and to be a friendly dog.  Once you begin other basic training, you can also use these scenarios to teach him to obey under pressure...