Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[Mike CHS]

I plan on capturing this thread to be able to look back on so I'm posting another picture of Maisy on patrol. We have introduced our herd dogs but keep them away from Maisy when she is on the fence line.

She accepts them as ours but we have kept direct contact down to a minimum for now. We have had a couple of neighbors at our house that had dogs with them and one she accepted almost too fast I thought but the other had her in a pose that we had not seen until now. Head high and body stretched out and her hair standing up high.

We had mentioned awhile back that we had a lead on a Maremma but lost the contact info and the ad had been pulled. He emailed this morning to see if we were still interested and I had to say no. She has some issues although minor they are something I would rather not deal with and upset a pretty good balance right now. Once the next paddock is finished it will be a better time.

 

[Mike CHS]

We have been around sheep and LGDs for several years now but obviously none of our own until now. I shouldn't be surprised how fast the sheep accepted the LGD and vice versa. Maisy was not bonded to the sheep but she kept watch over them just the same. Teresa was in the pen this afternoon so we could get some better descriptions and tag numbers for our records. I was outside watching and after Teresa left the pen she went up to the rear of each of the sheep to smell each of the 10 sheep almost like to make sure they were still the same sheep. They all have settled any pecking order issues and the only time now that the sheep get flighty around Maisy is when she jumps up and runs to the opposite end of the pen to check something out.

 

[Southern by choice]

happy about the butt sniffing!

( geesh the things we say on this forum )

 

[NH homesteader]

 

[luvmypets]

happy about the butt sniffing!

( geesh the things we say on this forum )

Not to mention the kind of pictures that get posted on birthing threads. Any non-farmer would be very... hm how do I say this, disturbed?

 

[Baymule]

It looks like Maisy is going to make you a good sheep guard. I love the butt sniffing LOL!!! It is true, LGD's sniff their charges butts and lick their mouths and faces. Mike, my sheep scatter when Paris runs to see something she sees as a threat. Paris is not chasing them, but they still run when she runs.

 

[Mike CHS]

We know it's normal but it usually happens when one of us is among or near the sheep when she rounds the corner and we are over run with sheep that seem airborne.

We still have a lot to learn but this white creature is sure making it fun so far.

 

[Mike CHS]

I've mentioned our lean-to before and I didn't get a real "before" picture but this lean-to on the side of our garden building has two of the 4x4 posts sitting on top of a cinder block as you can see in the picture. The only one in the ground is on the far end. We are partially enclosing this section to make a creep feeder for the sheep and later divide in two to make a milk room adjacent to the goat pen. I'm not used to this cold weather (I know I'm wimpy) and progress was slow today (but it is Sunday after all)

The side where the 2x4s are was covered in rotted OSB and all of the nails were exposed on the inside. We got the end posts set in concrete today and will replace two on the side tomorrow and finish closing up the partial walls. This will also have heat lamps (the safe ones) for some of these cold nights.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Well Mike everyone has to 'Catch their Breath' every now and then.......especially as Busy as ya have been....and how is the Lambing going?....ya may need an Oxygen tank....

 

[Southern by choice]

Are you running your goats and sheep together?