“Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.” ― Ann Landers

What an emotional roller coaster!  Yesterday we drove Daisy to her new foster home with Texas Great Pyrenees Rescue.  She was a bit nervous around the other dogs at first, especially since they all ran up to us at the gate.  With a strange dog coming into the goat pasture, they were just being protective (as they should).  The Alpha dog, Thor, greeted her with some loud barking.  He was only putting her in her place; he didn't hurt her, but because he's as big as a small horse, it was still a bit intimidating.

After Susie, the rescue foster mom, assured Thor and the other dogs that Daisy was ok, Daisy immediately went over, greeted the goat herd, and than ran around exploring the area and making friends with the other dogs.  Susie has chickens, but they're in a large run behind a good fence (Daisy isn't the only dog that chases them), so Daisy had free range to run several acres of the goat pasture, complete with a pond for her to play in.  Susie remembered that we said Daisy liked to play in water, so she led us over there, and Daisy jumped right in for a swim.

My husband and I were so happy to see her playing and having room to run again!  It was just such a sense of relief and peace, to know that not only were we able to avoid taking her to a shelter, but she was now in a place better suited to her energetic personality.  Susie explained to us that they have an adoption process where they carefully match dogs to owners based on the owners needs for a guardian dog and the dog's personality, so Daisy would be sure to go to a family who had goats for her to guard, space for her to run, and either no birds, or fencing that would keep her away from the birds.

The most difficult part was hearing Daisy whine for us as we walked away from the field.  However, we stayed for a few minutes after leaving the goat pasture to fill out paperwork and talk with Susie, and I was relieved to see that Daisy didn't pine for us too long.  She was running around the goat field again before we left.  As we drove away, I got choked up, and even my stoic husband had to wipe away a few tears.  Susie said she'd keep us posted on how things go with Daisy; I pray they go well.

Daisy, a little nervous when we first arrived, with one of the other dogs coming to greet her. 

Feeling more confident as she checks out the goat yard.
 

**UPDATE - As of early November 2013, after working with experienced livestock guardian trainers and a pack of successful LGDs, Daisy was ready for a new home.  She was adopted as a team with one of her friends from the rescue, and they are now the proud guardians of a sheep farm! 

All For the Love of Daisy

The past month or two, we've been learning one of the hard lessons of farm life.  Namely, that just because you love an animal, doesn't mean you should keep them on your farm.  Sometimes it's not in your best interest, or the animal's. 

Last winter as we were acquiring chickens and goats, we also purchased an adorable livestock guardian dog pup.  It was love at first sight for the whole family, and Daisy quickly became an important part of our farm.  The first several months we had her, she was just what we were looking for - she followed us around the farm without being on a lead, she left the chickens alone, and she looked after the goats at a surprisingly young age, keeping the coyotes and other predators at bay.  From the day we got her, the only time we had issues with coyotes was the night she spent at the veterinarian's after she was spayed.  The coyotes cleared the back fence, and my husband and brother-in-law had to go out (gun in hand) and and chase them away.  With Daisy there, we never even saw them come into the back pasture.

Unfortunately, as Daisy became a 'teenage' puppy, she wasn't so good about staying on the farm, and she would go under the fence sometimes to play with, and other times fight, our neighbor's dogs.  She showed far too much interest in another neighbor's geese, and then she started chasing our chickens and guinea fowl, almost killing guineas on several occasions.  She loves people, would jump up to greet them - regardless of the old 'knee to the chest' trick and would rarely respond to the firm "Down!" or "Sit!" that we would give. We had to keep her in a dog run next to the goats, and on a leash whenever she wasn't in the run, just so she wouldn't kill any birds or harass the neighbors' animals.  We tried several different training techniques - none of which seemed to work (treats occasionally would motivate her).  It seemed that not being able to run free the way she had before made her bad behavior worse, which made it difficult to handle her.  Because of this, walking her became an overwhelming job, so much so, we worried about the kids handling it.

I'm on blood thinners and bruise easily, so when walking Daisy, what was pull, tug, jump, and run soon became lots of bruising for me, to the point I actually got an infection in my leg from all the bruises.  That was the proverbial straw, and we went from doing a traditional re-homing search (Craig's List, newspaper ads, talking to friends) to looking at all possible avenues.  We got a few calls on the ads, but I think I might have scared the people who responded away by being candid about Daisy's behavior when they asked me questions.  I just didn't want someone to think they were getting a perfectly behaved dog, and then have them either give her up to a shelter or possibly abuse her when she misbehaved. I know she has the potential to be an amazing guardian dog - she just needs someone who has the time and experience to train her properly, and who's a little more tough physically than yours truly.

We finally reached out to the Texas Great Pyrenees Rescue (http://www.txpyrs.org/TGPRescue/index.jsp), and were approved to surrender her to them as of tomorrow.  Obviously, we have mixed emotions about this, but when I talked with the Rescue representative on the phone, my fears were put to rest.  Daisy will be in a safe environment, doing what she loves best, with other dogs that can help her to become an even better guardian dog.  I know it's the right decision for her and for us. 

The movie below is dedicated to Daisy - our big, rambunctious, beautiful girl!  I hope with all my heart she's placed in the right home and can be a happy, carefree dog again. 

Greenhorn tip:  Leash train a puppy very early on - no matter how good she is at following you.  Obedient pups can grow into, curious, independent and even defiant dogs.  Without a doubt, there will be a time in the future, even if it's just a routine trip to the vet, where having your dog leash-trained is imperative.  For the dog's safety and yours, make sure she's at least somewhat comfortable being on a lead.

Chicken Crazy Christmas

What hobby farm would be complete without chickens? We wanted fresh eggs and a colorful flock of birds, so we decided to get a few chickens shortly after moving onto our farm.  We thought it would be fun to try a few different breeds, because we didn't care about breeding true, and we could determine which breeds we liked best.

Our oldest daughter had wanted chickens for ages and had researched a variety of breeds.  She even created a power point presentation for her Dad and I about which chickens were her favorite based on whether they were good egg layers, meat birds, brooders or multi-purpose birds.  All of the kids were excited when we found a reputable breeder that sold most of the birds we wanted, and we began working on a place to house the chickens.  In this age of computer tablets, cell phones, and gaming consoles, I love that I have kids who were as excited about getting chickens for Christmas as they were for anything electronic!

Our friends, Brad and Kerry, very generously gave us a used chicken coop, feeder and waterer.  They also let us borrow their daughter to help us clean, repaint and make minor repairs to the coop.  Brad and Kerry have plenty of first-hand experience with chickens, and they were able to help us laugh off our undue concerns, while giving us reminders about things that were worth worrying about, like taking precautions against common predators like hawks and coyotes, and even neighborhood dogs.

I had taken care of friends' chickens when they went on vacation - that's a hilarious story unto itself - and it seemed fairly simple, but after reading several articles and books and watching some YouTube videos about raising chickens, I was worried our chickens would come down with some obscure disease, and I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to help them.  Many people out there would laugh, and think "How hard are chickens to take care of?"  After 6 months of chicken ownership, I can now say, not terribly hard - if you don't mind cleaning up after them.  It takes a minimal amount of time to feed and water chickens and gather eggs each day.  However, clean up is a must for healthy chickens.  If the idea of cleaning up chicken poo and straw, shredded paper or other chicken bedding is something you can't handle, you probably shouldn't own chickens (unless you plan on hiring someone else to do the dirty work).

Preparing for our chickens!  Have I mentioned how fantastic the December weather is in Texas?

We had a great time at the breeders, asking her all sorts of questions about the chickens we were choosing, and some best practices for general chicken care.  We broke the cardinal rule of never naming an animal that might end up on the dinner table, so there is a chance these chickens might only be egg laying pets. The chickens we selected are listed below:

Kate:  A beautiful Silver-Laced Wyandotte
Goldie:  An equally beautiful Gold-Laced Wyandotte.  We knew we wanted Wyandottes, because they're great multi-purpose birds and generally make good mothers.  We've been surprised by what beautiful birds they are, and what calm personalities they have.
Ella:  A spunky Black Astralorp, who though very friendly with people, quickly established herself at the top of the pecking order.  She even challenges our rooster on occasion.  Astralorps are also good multi-purpose birds, and Ella's a good layer, but the main reason we picked her was simply because we wanted a black chicken.
Lady (short for Her Lady-Munch-Alot):  A New Hampshire Red, who, when we first got her, was a veracious eater who made a shocking amount of noise whenever she ate anything. Thankfully, her eating habits have mellowed with age.
Lapiz (yes, we know her name means 'pencil' in Spanish, but it's also the name of an anime character the kids like) : A Red Sexlink who is an excellent layer, but is often feisty, flying at people and pecking them when they get into the coop for anything.
We had wanted one or two Rhode Island Reds for egg laying, but the breeder we went to only carried New Hampshire Reds - she said they played nicer with her other breeds than Rhode Islands.  We've found our New Hampshire Red to be an excellent alternative.  We tried our Red Sexlink as the other alternative.   I'll admit fried chicken and nuggets occasionally come to mind when she pecks at my hand without any provocation, but she likes the kids better than me, and she lets them pet her, even when she's in the nesting box.  She might be moody, but she's a good layer, so we'll keep her. (:

Our chickens on their way home last December, and browsing in the yard last week.

Sebastian:  Such a great rooster he gets three full paragraphs!  I love my hens, but my favorite chicken by far is our rooster, Sebastian.  He's a Speckled Sussex, and possibly the sweetest rooster on the planet.  Because we were getting a barnyard mix, we weren't sure what breed of rooster we wanted.  As we wandered through the chicken barn at the breeder's, while most birds would scatter as we came near, Sebastian started following us.  He kept running up and making the kids laugh with his antics of cocking his head and trying to pull on my shoe laces.  He was calm (until he was being chased with the chicken net), easy to hold, and was beautiful to boot.  Although we hadn't even thought about Speckled Sussex as a breed we wanted, it didn't take us long to decide he was our rooster. 

Now that he's fully grown, he's still as sweet as ever.  He looks after his ladies like both a protective, loving nanny and a strong, fierce bodyguard, but he's also great with people, including small children (my one-year old goddaughter loves him!), and he even tolerates the dog.  For several months after we got him, he was the strong, silent type, not even attempting to crow.  We honestly wondered if he ever would.  One early spring morning, I was outside feeding animals during one of his first attempts to crow.  When I heard it, I honestly thought one of our goats was injured and screaming out in pain.  When he made a second attempt - which was only slightly better, and I realized it was him, I thought, "Wow!  I hope he doesn't sound like that every time he crows, or we're in for some painful wake up calls."

Over the course of a few days, his crow greatly improved, which was lucky for us, because he went from being a completely silent rooster to the most vocal roo in our neighborhood.  He crows when the sun rises, he crows whenever he sees any of us step out the back door, he crows when you bring him a treat or when he wants you to bring him a treat, when you're out working with the other animals, and sometimes just because he can.

Baby 'Bastian and Big Boy 'Bastian

The chickens have been a lot of fun, and the hens have all been pretty good layers.  We were rewarded with our first egg the morning after we brought the chickens home, and we've enjoyed farm fresh eggs ever since. There are some good things about raising baby chicks, but there's also something to be said for the 'immediate gratification' of getting pullets old enough to lay eggs.

Our first egg - a bit cracked, but still exciting!

Our chicken adventures have just begun.  Several weeks ago, we purchased a bunch of chicks that we are raising now as well, and their stories will be in future posts.