rachels.haven's Journal

rachels.haven

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Not all LGDs will guard or tolerate hogs. Many consider hogs as predators. Which in the southern states is what hogs are.
I wish she were thinking she was guarding. Unfortunately it's mainly whenever they shuffle and root too close to the fence, then she goes crazy on them, biting, barking, and snarling through the panel, sometimes making contact and ripping at their ears...then when they get back she puts her face or foot in and pulls out whatever they were snuffling and eats it-poo, rocks, mud. She's become very food aggressive as she's gotten older to the point she will try to go from pushy to escalate towards going crazy on me if I don't stop trimming completely and really enforce things while I'm trimming hooves even if she's on the other side of a fence (see, I'm not completely dense, never get in the way of a big dog with a one track food mind). This last time I've decided it will be better to just put her away out of sight and earshot when I trim. I'm probably going to have to lock her up when I feed and when all the goats are scarfing right after the hay feeders being topped off with new hay too. The other day she tried to prevent the goats from eating hay and she will 100% eat things she's not supposed to eat like oodles of alfalfa pellets and beet pulp pellets until she gets the runs just so she can prevent the goats from getting any. I'm not sure mouthfuls of hay will go through okay. If she keeps up I'd think it could cause an impaction/gut obstruction, or bloat.
And this dog is still fat and getting plenty to eat-less fat than before because her belly isn't below her knees and she can walk for more than five minutes at a time but she still has a droopy belly, good luck finding her ribs, neck fatter than her head so collars are kind of a loss, kushy, kushy, kushy. Not a starving dog. She just seems to think she just has to eat ALL of everyone else's food to the point it's stupid.

So she's a little crotchety and screwy. Other than that, great dog, as long as there's no food involved. I'm guessing it's age related, (although she's only 6-7?).

On the other hand, Riker's been picking up weight and growing in hair great though since I switched his food to Inuckshuck Marine/Purina Sensitive Skin and Stomach and started soaking it (insert complaint of choice about price here, any of them will do...). I'm feeding him as much as he'll eat now, separated far from the above dog of course. And suddenly he's MUCH taller and longer than Bailey. He still thinks he's a small dog though and I wouldn't mind if he put on another 50 pounds of weight and width but I'm not worried about him anymore diet-wise. He'd better not be allergic to birds though because he's moved onto flat out hunting and eating them as if he's a giant cat.

LGD's appear to be a little odd.

Yes, no pigs for Bailey.
 

Baymule

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I’m laughing! Bailey is such a screwball! She reminds me of my Paris, another screwball. Bailey is more than food aggressive. She is flat out food insane! I’m laughing, picturing Bailey going into total meltdown over goats eating and she’s not.

Riker sounds like he’s making progress, that’s good news about his food allergies. I had a dog that ate birds. He’d leap in the air and snap them up. Riker is catching his own dog treats!
 

rachels.haven

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This morning I woke up after an all night morning (still going on) to one of my project saanen doelings in heat so after chores I went and got my box and attempted my first AI. She was just past standing with all signs saying it was the right time and everything went textbook and was very easy on all parties involved. The doe enjoyed extra breakfast and didn't mind anything as long as I didn't try to put her back with the dwarf buck that couldn't reach her and as a result was being very rough and mean/frustrated. Any resulting kids will be DNAed, but I think I'm going to get some more straws. I have plenty of lamancha, but I'd like more dwarf straws, and Dan's nubian is still here and her buckling counterpart may wind up at some point sold since he only has one doe to breed. He's sweet though, so as long as he stays that way and can settle her he can take up space and hay in the buck pen for now.

bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

And Shaun says today's he is two.Thankfully he did not help and is instead enjoying leftover blackeyed peas and turnip greens from Thanksgiving.
 

farmerjan

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Congrats on the AI breeding. Although I have done hundreds of cows over the years, I would not have the slightest clue how to do a goat... I am sure you do not go in like to do a cow....

2... can't believe the youngest is that old already... I remember when you "sprung it on us" that you had a 3rd child.....
Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving... think of all that you have gone through in the past couple years... bet you are so thankful to be away from the crazy Mass nuts..... how are the 2 older boys doing? Dangerous Dan still his "wound up self" ? Aiden ??? How is your husbands' sight situation?
I know you are flat out busy with the growing up family but miss your frequent posts.
 

rachels.haven

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I'm sorry about going missing. Life has mostly slowed down so there's not much to write about.
The loss of visual acuity Mark had been experiencing dissipated like clouds after a rain over the course of a few weeks after changing meds. He was on a generic (as per insurance's iron will) of a medication called Travaprost and Travaprost has much more of a preservative in it that causes basically clouding and yellowing of the eye. Kind of a cruel joke to take people going blind from glaucoma and try to force them to take a med that makes them go blind from a preservative chewing up their eyes. We now pay out of pocket for name brand and it's not cheap-grossly overpriced-but it's worth it. I'd sell the goats before letting that man suffer like that. He passed his driver's test and I'm considerably less concerned about him driving at night (that's still my wifely duty though, as per my decree).

Dan has 0% slowed down and still seems to take apart and/or break apart everything he touches and is into everything. And still wants a cow. I'll let you know if that ever changes. He also brings home all the sicknesses. He and his classmates must be running around licking doorknobs or something.

Aiden is going to a neurologist this week for his issues. Or we will all start having issues.

Today I worked 11 of the does on a new trimming stand I got. I took blood by my self (DH asked me to fire him as the yearly goat holder and he had me get the stand), did feet, bose, cdt, and I forgot to bolus everybody. We seem to be doing okay though. Only a few have showed signs of copper deficiency on our current mineral and soil, and they were treated as needed. Dan's nubian is a pill. She should kid this year. yay. More working with Spot the Noober, aka, the 200 lbs sack of lead that will bite your back and butt when she's not laying on the ground to avoid going anywhere. 12 more does to do tomorrow and I'll ship the samples monday.

I'm certifying to do OS40 this week for the does that do kid.

Eri, the 8 year old ND goat did not settle this year, poor dear. I'm giving up.

I did get a few more special dwarves for my master plans. Very selectively picked dwarves, and so far I am not disappointed in their temperament.

I'm so happy the no longer baby, now toddler is 2! We're on the path for a little more emotional independence. He hasn't gotten the hang of talking yet, but "says" the words without closing his mouth. Not sure what the deal is with that, but he's getting out enough everyone understands him, which might be why his talking has only progressed that far. Thank you for the birthday wishes! My parents had us all go out to pizza ranch to celebrate his and his aunt's respective day apart birthdays today and he enjoyed the outing by jumping up and down in the booth the whole time, playing over the seat with Grandma and Grandpa, who just enjoy being quietly silly.

We are building pig forts so they can live in their new electric fenced pens and not in my goat barn. I'm also probably going to be adding a mieshan/kune cross gilt to our pen as an experiment. The moms are cool looking. Worst case, if she grows up skittish or mean she will be a fancy feeder pig. The two registered AGH pigs I got had their papers arrive and are friendliying up. Mr. 37 is skittish, but for a boar that's probably okay. My unregistered guy is up for sale even though is temperament and legs are superior and he's everything I think an AGH should be except he's going to be related to 2/3 of our AGH sows. Honestly you can work with that boar barefoot and in shorts if you want to, he's so calm and laid back (and not too food driven yet fat on air). I hope someone buys him. I'd like all my pigs to be like him, just not that inbred.

Kidding starts around January 9th, so hold on!
 

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