From March 2018

I came across this story, from March 2018. Taffy was the star, as we searched for the chickens that woke us up with their squawking!

"5:00 this morning, still dark outside, Taffy and I wake up simultaneously to the loud sound of a chicken clucking/screeching outside of the bedroom window. The sound is traveling towards the road... I figure a fox got in somehow, but there are other birds to check on.
Boots and jacket on, flashlight in hand, we dash outside. I remember that the Bielefelder roo and several hens had not seemed willing to go into their coop the night before, and I hadn't followed up...
Taffy is off like a shot, pinpointing where the chicken left our fence and (likely) crossed the road...as we could still hear it cackling but the sound is getting fainter. It seems to be a lost cause (except that Taffy is still intent on the now-distant location).
We start looking for the others, and my heart sinks when I can't find any of them. Taffy has found them, though. They are huddled next to the fence in a corner, far away from where they should be. She is whining and wanting to make them move (they need to be herded back to where they belong, don't you know...), but she waits for me to pick up the roo, carry him to safety inside the barn, go back for the others, carry them inside as well. Taffy is usually quite beside herself with concern when I have a squawking chicken in my arms, but I think she knew this was different.
She dashes back to the fence, and I have a small hope that the other one simply flew over in the darkness and will be back, but...I call her in and we try to get a few more minutes of sleep.
Once the sun is up, Taffy gives one insistent bark and fixes her eyes on me until I get out of bed (she is good at this)... Outside the window, I can see the stray chicken frantically searching for a way back inside of our fence. Right next to the busy road.
Taffy does not get to join me in retrieving the stupid hen. I won't risk her life next to the traffic... But Taff is the hero of the day, for sure.
No chickens were lost, and who knows what may have actually spooked their tiny bird brains before day. Taffy may have scared something off that put them on the run in the darkness.
First thing after the lost bird was back to safety and away from the road, I let Taffy out, and she dashed along the entire inside of the fence-line, making sure all was well.
It's a good way to start the day. Proud of our girl! "

Photo is Taffy. March 14, 2018

Two Good Pigs

Two very good pigs. This is bound to be a tearjerker...since I am already crying as I type.  There may be no-one left to read this, after several years of not posting, but...it is what it is.

This is how it played out. I can see no coincidence in this.  Only God providing a way for piglets that otherwise would have been orphans.

Belinda and Olivia were both due to farrow on Monday this week. The day came and went, no piglets.

Tuesday, no piglets.  Wednesday, not even a hint of nest building.

Thursday morning, I noticed that Belinda was lying in her shelter, with one piglet nursing. Several hours later, still only one, but she was having some inconsistent and futile contractions.  More piglets, or afterbirth should have been delivered by then.  My bet was on more piglets, since she was still quite round.

By 3 that afternoon, I dug out some gloves and checked things out inside of her... I could feel one tiny leg, too far back for me to maneuver it in any direction.

The vet was an hour away, but he headed toward us. I was supposed to keep trying to maneuver that little leg so that I could find the second leg, to get the piglet into position, but could not get farther than my wrist.  All the tangle of piglets or poor presentation was much farther back than that.  We all needed a break, and Belinda let her one little piglet nurse while we waited for the vet.

The other good pig, Olivia, had spent all afternoon arranging and rearranging her nest, with every available piece of bedding. She was set up like a queen and soon began having her own litter.

Three of Olivia's littles were nursing by the time the vet arrived. We bypassed her stall to get to Belinda's outside shelter. The vet said in an off-handed sort of way as he looked in at Belinda "Not to make you feel bad, or anything, but this is why they use farrowing crates." I know enough about this great vet not to take offense at things like this.

He crawled in with Belinda, finding the same little piglet stuck and with no room to move backwards or to rotate. It was a scene from Jim Herriot's "All Creatures Great and Small", vet on the ground next to my pig, trying to save the litter.

At one point, he looked at his own hand in disgust, and said "Smallest hands in my graduating vet class, and I can't get far enough in to make a bit of difference!!!"

All the while, Belinda was being restrained by me, working through contractions, breathing heavily but become more and more exhausted. I kept the straw away from her nose, my knee against her back, my one hand on the bottom of her jaw, my forearm across her head so that she was not flailing as the vet worked and tried again.

We talked about how it was amazing that the piglet blocking everything was still alive. I said (in wonder as this came out of my own mouth) "Then we can't cut him apart to get him out of the way, can we?"

We talked about a C-section. It would have meant calling another vet, waiting until they could arrive, paying a hefty fee that my farm program could not afford.

We talked about how that piglet would not be able to fit through her pelvis, even if the jumble of waiting piglets could be reconfigured and maneuvered into place.

I asked him if Belinda or the babies had a chance if we left things to progress, and he said "No".  Who knows how long she had been in labor before I found her and her piglet, at 10 am.  I suspect she was exhausted already by then, and contractions had already started to ease up when I found her.

He remarked on what a good mama she was, as she allowed her one live piglet to continue nursing through all the man-handling that was going on, to save the rest of her babies. Read his comment with the appropriate amount of dismay as he saw a good pig with no hope to nurse her entire litter:  "She's a really good momma, too". 

There were a few swear words, from the vet who takes it as a personal challenge to save the last salvage-able.

And then I said something else that I never expected to consider. "If we put her down, can we save the babies"...   He looked at me.  Took a moment, then said "Yes!" 

Olivia was in the stall, with 3 of her own. We never have pigs farrowing at exactly the same time, especially if both pigs are several days overdue. I thought she must be resting between shifts of piglets being born, and mentally tallied up how many she could nurse.

The vet looked at me again, ascertaining whether I was serious. And I had to be.

Belinda could not deliver those babies. I could not sit by and let a live litter inside of her die with her.

Jeff went and got the new shiny gun, which had only been used for target practice before then...

Our vet got the necessary equipment out of his truck. I got out of the way and had the piglet triage set up...a box of straw, lots of paper towels, ready for piglets to be handed to me and made to breathe.

I put Belinda's little boar back with her, to get as much colostrum as he could, just in case Olivia would not accept him. It was rather heartbreaking at that point, good mama sow with her one baby for one last moment, and the knowledge that she would not raise her own litter.

I vaguely remember Jeff asking the vet's advice on where to shoot for the quickest end. The vet said "I don't know! I've never had to SHOOT a pig". That made me chuckle...maybe nerves.

The shot sounded...the movement stopped...I could see the vet with his knife ready and had to look away.

In no time, piglets were being handed to me. The big one who had blocked the birth canal was taking his first breath.

Two very small ones were handed to me, one was lifeless, one was gasping.

Another was handed over, squirming.

Then the last, with umbilical cord still attached to a bit of placenta, dead.

I started handing piglets back to the men, asking them to help me stimulate the weak ones as they struggled to breathe.

Coffee and Karo syrup were administered to one that seemed an unlikely prospect.

All in all, FOUR of those six that were pulled from inside of her were squirming in the box when we slowed down to take a moment.

I checked on Olivia. Still three piglets, nursing. And hope started to take over, as I saw that she had delivered the placenta. It is unheard of for Olivia to only have 3 piglets. But if she was done farrowing, she would be in a deep sleep for hours, while the piglets nursed.

This part, I was glad that I'd put on gloves earlier... I took that afterbirth, and each of Belinda's live piglets was bathed in it. Olivia took no notice.

Olivia's three piglets were glossy, big, beautiful. Three of Belinda's were small and weak. Only two of Belinda's latched right on to nurse. One of those was the little boar who had her all to himself while the others were waiting to be born.

While our wonderful vet was getting his things together, I brought out warm colostrum for the 3 smallest, and hoped...

We stood there for a few minutes, watching Olivia to be sure she did not turn on the piglets who were not her own. I thanked him. I don't think he accepted it. He was still disgusted at himself for not saving my sow.

Colostrum once more for the tiny ones, before I headed to bed a bit later. All 8 were alive, with Olivia blissfully asleep.

This morning, I woke up with tears in my eyes. 6 am... Trudged out to the barn. Olivia sprang up to get her breakfast.

Another miracle! All 8 were alive and squirming in the warm nest that she left behind.

In any litter, the first 24-36 hours are when deaths may happen. I will hold out hope for all 8 to survive, in this unplanned, foster litter, with a sow who (at great surprise to me!), only had 3 of her own this time. I had prayed over that mama, and her babies, and asked that God protect the lives of the little ones inside of her, even as I could not have known what the outcome for my sow would be. 

What are the odds that two pigs, overdue by 4 days, would be in labor at the same time... That one mother whose life was forfeit would still give life to 5 of her 8 piglets, even as her own life was lost. That one mother who usually has a large litter of her own, this time had a very small litter and ample room for someone else's babies. And that...at the very moment when one sow lost her life for the sake of her litter, the other was in no state to refuse the new little lives that were introduced to her own litter, and the orphans nursed all night without being rejected.

The odds were great, but our God is greater. That's all I can say at this point. The timing was impossible, but, there it is.

Jeff is digging the hole for Belinda to be buried in. I will be fighting tears all day. A 7 year old sow has adopted five piglets that are not her own, and has no idea what a hero I think she is.

And once again, I thank you for reading, as I put my thoughts into words and work through my own grief. It has been a long time since I felt the need to write for the blog, but today it was time.

Laura

Lord Wilbur, Lady Olivia Dumpling

First photo:  Lord Wilbur

Second photo:  Lady Olivia Dumpling

Meet OWH Lady Olivia Dumpling, bred by Erica Solis (Emancipation Acres), owned by Josh and Mandy Whitlock (Wandering Peacock Farm) owned next by the Bradley family, now owned by....Dykstra's Farm.

There is a bit of sentimentality involved, for sure. 
Lord Wilbur, who came to live here in December, is also a sentimental addition, and he will be reunited with Lady Olivia at some point in the future. 

The breeders (and most of the previous owners) of these great Guinea Hogs became friends who answered so many of my questions as we were starting out.   Most of them have stopped breeding hogs at all, for various reasons.  It feels odd to me, to have looked for the wisdom of many breeders for the "formative" years when I first started out, full of questions, and to find myself in that position now with new breeders (as the "old" breeders seem to be fading out of the pigture)  

Yes, the incorrect spelling was intentional....!

I admired Nancy Gaedke's breeding program (Wilbur was originally from her, Olivia's parents at Emancipation Acres were from Nancy, my own Big Bea was from two of Nancy's hogs which were owned by Roundabout Farm at that time). At the time that we bought our first guinea hogs, Nancy's breeding program near Madison was the most local, and we saw quality hogs after quality hogs at the places where we inquired for piglets for sale.

Erica (breeder of Olivia) was someone I purchased Kune-AGH piglets from multiple times, and...she had American Chinchilla rabbits, a breed that I had been trying to find. Olivia was born on Erica's farm near Madison.

I came to know Josh and Mandy (owners of both Wilbur and Olivia) through the AGH Facebook page and then later through purchases of hogs from them. My girl Cameo was a "Wandering Peacock Farm" guinea hog.
When the Whitlock's were moving off of their farm, I saw Wilbur and Olivia and knew they were for sale, but I had arrived to buy other guinea hogs. 

I never really expected to see those two hogs again, as the fate of hogs doesn't usually involve longevity...  

But here they are, several years later, well-taken care of by the Bradley family, and remembered with fondness by the Whitlocks.

They are, true to their "heritage" hog status, still able to breed and thrive for many years to come.  Their litters have shown to be just what we have been breeding for all along.

I am probably too sentimental, but somehow, these two hogs being here on our little farm seems like just the right thing.  

The quality that went into their breeding and their care for the past 6 years...shows. :)

When it rains, it pours!

There is an old saying... Something like "A watched sow never farrows"...
Or..."A watched doe never kids". That's not quite right, is it? :)
Well, I was gone for 4 hours instead of three. Dazzle was due Friday with her kids. Madonna and Camille were due yesterday with their piglets.  Three of the sheep are due any day now.  (So far we have four lambs and 9 fainting goat kids!!!)

I came home to two freshly delivered fainting goat kids, and a hog in the beginning of labor with a piglet born already, with the other hog ready to start popping them out at any moment. 

What was unsettling was...the hog who wasn't in ACTIVE labor at the moment was really interested in the little goats that still smelled yummy and fresh.  And she was trying to work the hog panel divider free.  Another panel anchored in place, some feed bags shoved between, and the heat lamp moved away from the hog (who was literally salivating and watching every move of the red and white goat kid!!!), and all seems well.  I fastened that second panel even better before heading inside for the night.

Madonna the sow went on to have 7 piglets, all doing well when I closed things up for the night.  Camille the salivating sow decided to hold out on me some more, since I thwarted her plans to have a mid-day snack.

"A watched pot never boils"... Sheesh!  These animals have no respect for the many, many times I've checked on them, expecting labor to be in the end stages.  I've been in the barn a lot this past week or so.  We have bottle lambs for the first time, still with their mothers, but needing supplementing with formula every 4 hours.  Plenty of time to obsess about which pig or goat or sheep will be pushing out babies at any given time.  

Happy spring....!

Laura

New kids on the block

There is a children's book that my sister and I loved. "Millions of Cats". The old man went in search of the most beautiful cat to bring home to his old wife. He found this one, and that one, and then hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats. And he brought them all home to show his wife, because each was more beautiful than the last. 
That is how I feel about the goat kids this year. I will keep ONE. And the choices keep getting more difficult with each kidding!
Wendy and her twins (bucklings). 
Zaney and her triplets (buckling, doeling, doeling)
Savvy and her twins (buckling and doeling)
Fern and her twin doelings. 
Now Pixie seems to be in labor, and I am in love with one of Fern's daughters... I don't know how they can get any better than Fern's girls...or the ones before them. 

Laura

Bessie

This beautiful girl. My first real farming adventure and one that can never be duplicated. 
I learned so much from owning Bessie, my Dutch Belted cow. Other milk will be forever ruined for me, because of the pure white, absolutely refreshing milk. Pale yellow butter was a favorite from what she provided, rich garden soil...a calf almost every year. I hated to rehome her, but it was necessary. She was here for 4 years. I never in my life would have expected to love a COW as much as I loved that obstinate girl.
Today I received word from her new owners that she died peacefully in the pasture on Monday. She was a lucky girl to have those extra years at Hoffman's Little Acres. 
Rest easy, sweet Bessie, and thanks for all that your presence meant to me as a new "farmer", when you first came here to join our little hobby farm.

Laura

Sully the Shaggy LGD

Meet our temporary resident, "Sully". 
He is a Komondor cross, livestock guardian dog, about 9 months old. 
Neutered yesterday, picked up by me after the baby goats were born yesterday afternoon... He settled into his temporary kennel with a few mournful howls. 
Sully should not have been running in the snow the day after surgery, but as I walked him around the perimeter of the small "pasture", he seemed to need something more than a little stroll. 
He is still a puppy, but...when he saw the goats and sheep, he immediately went over to investigate and make friends.
I think he has real potential to live up to the guardian nature of his parents!
He will be available to the right farm home, after he recovers from surgery and is able to show us his true potential.

Seeing daylight

Very slowly, we are fulfilling the prediction of this farm's previous owner. He was a woodwork and cabinetmaker, and the barn was his workshop. It probably saved the building, because it had a use.

When he visited, he remarked "It looks like the barn is reverting to it's original purpose".

We have taken out soggy drywall, rat infested insulation, put in stalls and areas for better livestock care.

Yesterday, Jeff worked on this. From the foundation, we can see that there was once a door here, where there has been cedar siding for decades to cover up that opening. One one side...the goat pen with the pregnant mamas. On the inside, the double wide stall that will be perfect for when these goats start having their babies.

The only thing between an easy walk-through was...the siding.

In the third photo, you can see daylight peeking through the edges and corner of what will become a working door. In a doorway that has been boarded up for several decades, or more. Another step towards making things "user-friendly" :)

A photo of pregnant Zaney and her tiny 2018 daughter, just because...that's what this project is about. The next generation of Dykstra's Farm animals and how best to care for them.

And currently, in the dirty bedding of the double-stall, which will become the goat nursery...our barn kitty and her son (son on left). Nice and cozy.

Laura

The end of the story

The end of the New Year's Eve story...  As told on the Dykstra's Farm page on Facebook.  

"The outpouring of concern for Bea and her little ones has been a great way to start the New Year. Thank-you, everyone...
A difficult farrowing from Bea was unexpected (although an unplanned litter in the middle of winter would have had it's own challenges even if it had been her normal healthy litter).
The little survivor did not last the night. I was starting to let myself feel hopeful, as he learned where the heat lamp was and chose to go there, and as he and Bea worked out their piggie communication. 
I should probably have remembered my first thought when he was born, that this piglet was not going to survive for long. 
Hope is always a good thing, and it was worth giving him that chance."

And you know...we have NINE fainting goats due to kid in early to mid March.  SEVEN babydoll Southdown sheep pregnant and also due in March.  

One sow who is pregnant and will be bought before she delivers (you guessed it...due in March).  Two hogs who are staying, also due in March...  One sow bred for April piglets who should be leaving for Lincoln Park Farm-In-The-Zoo in...leaving in March.  

The barn will be alive and hopping with little ones, and preparations for more little ones, and then preparations for visitors and customers to come and see those babies...  

A winter litter would have been cared for with extra attention.  The danger of a heat lamp in a barn filled with straw would have been risked.  It does seem empty out there with no babies to check on.  

The timing wasn't right.  The cause of a poor litter needs to be discovered and treated.  

We will be overrun and hopefully not overwhelmed with babies in a few short months, and there is plenty to get ready before then.

Laura

"Small Fry" update

This is from late afternoon on New Year's Day...

So, update on the little guy. He is almost 24 hours old. If he makes it through the night, I will feel better about things. 
Today, he was stepped on, followed his mother away from the nest and got chilled, stepped on again (as she tried to maneuver him back to where he belonged). He was sassy with his mother, buried himself under the straw in the nest, nearly got stepped on again.
And...he and Bea have developed the baby-and-sow communication, which is all sorts of quiet and loud grunts, growls, and snorts. He talks to her when he is ready to nurse, or when he is nosing his way through the loose straw behind her back. She does a grizzly bear growl if he tries to trundle around her nose and behind her head. 
All of this is normal, but it's endearing to hear, all the same.
This is the first time I've rigged up a heat lamp behind a piece of cattle panel, and he knows where that source of warmth is when Bea walks away for water or food or potty break. 
But what I've also seen today is an adventurous little guy who does not always listen to Bea's urgent mama noises, and that may be his undoing. 
Here is the family... Sire "CC Bag of Chips", mom "RAF Anna Suey" who I affectionately call Big Bea, and the one little guy who almost fades into the nest material next to his mother. I hate to think it, but...if he doesn't make it, the pairing of Chips and Bea will be one that we try again, on timing that is better for the little ones and when Bea is not fighting any sort of infection.
When I peeked in on Bea and baby, just a few minutes ago, he had the whole milk bar to himself and was sampling every spot. Fingers crossed that he'll be doing well in the morning.

Laura

One left after just 12 hours

Mama is doing well and is up and eating like normal. My heart sank when I went out to check on the babies. 
They would normally be quite visible, nursing or lined up sleeping along her belly after a night of binge-drinking. 
Twelve hours after farrowing, this little guy is the sole survivor. His more vigorous sister must have burrowed farther under her mother's enormous jowl for warmth, and was crushed. :( 
It is not unusual to lose one in the first 24 hours, before they learn what their mother's noises mean. She is always keenly aware of where her babies are, even during the difficult delivery last night, I could see her finding them and working around them in her own discomfort.
Because the birth was unusual, we will send out some samples to our vet, who will send them on to a lab, so that we can treat our sweet Bea in case of infection or anything else, and be sure that her next litter is the usual success. 
Not to put a damper on anyone's New Year's Day. This isn't the usual outcome, but...it is part of the process here on the farm. With three pregnant pigs out there behind the barn, there will be many more productive litters born here in 2019.

Laura

Happy New Year's Eve!

Bea and Chips would like me to share with you how I am spending my New Year's Eve... I am the midwife in a cold barn for a litter that was not supposed to happen. All because two obstinate and determined pigs worked a gate loose and fell in...lust. 
Bea delivered two live piglets (and a few that had died at different points in gestation), in 3 hours...not her usual large living litter in record time. And she is shivering and having a difficult time of it. 
One baby is smaller than I expect them to be in order to survive. He's the little one snuggled under her chin. I am making sure that he does not drift off there and miss out on the milk that he so desperately needs.
Truly the litter that was not meant to be. The gilt (female piglet) is vigorous and nurses enough to get Bea's contractions started up again. 
We'll see if the rest of the litter arrives with the fireworks before midnight. Healthy and vigorous would make me happy. Then we'll deal with the cold and how to keep the winter litter warm enough.

Laura

Playing 'Possum

Someone said to me the other day "You should put your stories in a blog".  And I realized...I have a blog.  And I have been neglecting it.  And stories on our Facebook farm page(s) are easy to copy and paste here.  

So, if you're on Facebook, I keep up with the page "Dykstra's Farm".  Also "Evening Song English Shepherds" has so many dog and puppy photos from the past year or so.  "Evening Song Fainters" is for our fainting goats, because customers like to check there to see what baby goats are new, and what the adults are like.  If you're on Facebook, any of those will have the stories that I will try to keep up with sharing here.

And now, today's unexpected story, also found on "Dykstra's Farm" Facebook page:  

It isn't dead, just playing "possum" at the bottom of a handy feed sack... But it would have been very, very dead.
Found by Remy, by the chicken coop. I came home after dark and he was barking. He met me in the barn and then left to bark some more. Feeling annoyed, I went out to see why he was barking without reason. There was something in a brush pile and he was making little dashes at it and then retreating. 
Lightbulb moment for me. Remy has "arrived", as a valuable and worthy farm dog. No longer letting Taffy decide what is worth going after, he cornered this one all by himself and held it there.
Inside the house briefly for a flashlight, I debated about letting Taffy and Star out, and decided they needed to investigate and back him up. 
Remy led them to the brush pile, and Star barged in impulsively to pull out this white opposum. Taffy was lightning fast in taking control to claim it. She has a hatred of possums, ever since the first one in the old willow tree that she could not get 
It would have been dead, but they all paid attention when I told them to leave it, and I carefully scooped it into an empty feed bag to move to safety. The three dogs were praised highly and wriggled with glee.
It has a second chance tonight, but...if they find the same one again, I won't be choose to be so lenient. Opossums hanging around by the barn or the chicken coop are not welcome.
I set it free at the other end of the (small) property. 

Hopefully...it will not choose the same brush pile for shelter in the future.

 

Laura

Puppies!

Well, there's been a long enough silence.  

Taffy and Remy went about their business and made 9 beautiful little pups.  They were due this Thursday, but made their appearance on Labor Day instead.  

Three males, six females.  None will be Remy's color.  But there are several that will be Taffy's mini-me's, like in other litters.  

This is Remy's first litter.   Way to go, proud Papa!  They make beautiful babies together, as we had hoped.

Now if only proud Mama would let Papa anywhere near the pups, to deliver kisses to his offspring.  

 

Laura

Another "Canine Good Citizen" prospect

So, the beautiful Miss Star... We've been in Canine Good Citizen class for the past 4 or 5 weeks. She is still not fond of the car ride, and prefers not to be on a leash. She is nervous and drooling (nerves), with a certain breed puppy in the class that is being handled by a young boy. 
Star performs admirably but without spunk or enthusiasm. She is easily shut down when this other puppy is boisterous, or when there are new things in the room, or when the big noisy fan is somewhere that it isn't supposed to be... :) Rules, and English Shepherds.
So today... Remy was on the back step pining away for Taffy. Taffy was tired and snappy and wanting the extra attention from the resident male to stop. 
Star engaged me in some crazy puppy play as she threw herself against the hay bale I was feeding to the pigs, then dashed around in a frenzy, then threw herself at my feet before crashing into the hay bale again.... 
And then I had an "Aha!" moment. I called her to me. She ran to me with her usual joy and sat without being told, looking back at me with her sparkling eyes, ready for more. 
I told her "down" and she plunked down with a big smile and stayed while I walked away from her. With the next "Come!", she joyfully dashed back to me and wiggled with glee. 
For Star, in class, being in the "down" position and then being left behind is when that little puppy broke free from his young owner and leaped on Star. No wonder that command makes her nervous. But just her and I...in the pasture while the other dogs were distracted. Perfection. 
I knew she could do it. And leash-free, a bonus! 
Now to just work on tolerating the distractions at class. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

 

The engagement period! :)

I'm watching a rather beautiful courtship. (Hopefully this isn't too crude or personal to share.) We've taken Taffy to her suitor both times in the past, so seeing this play out in front of me is quite intriguing. 
Taffy is right on schedule. Remy knows that her perfume is becoming more intoxicating, but is being quite the gentleman. He will check in, but when she is done letting him be close, he is fine with that. He is playful without being pushy, and eager without being rude. I was surprised.
Taffy is more private than usual, sitting down or lying under the table. She seems rather shy compared to her usual "I'm in charge" attitude. She is just starting to respond to Remy's invitations to come and play, after several days of wanting to be left in her quiet spot and not playing with the others.
Somehow, both dogs seem to have become more beautiful during the past week. Remy trots with more confidence, Taffy's eyes and coat seem more radiant. 
Maybe silly on my part, but I don't think it's my imagination that they are courting each other.
I've watched pigs (seedy bar-room scene!) and goats (silly blubbering) and rabbits (bam, and it's done), and this is quite different. 
Hope no-one is offended. I will be careful not to post success in a way that is crude.  If all goes well, Taffy and Remy's litter of English Shepherd pups should arrive at the end of August.  There are quite a few friends and acquaintances that have been waiting a while for this particular litter.  So exciting!

Laura

McHenry County Farm Stroll, photography session

Our little farm has been invited to be included on the McHenry County Farm Stroll. Like the connection to Lincoln Park Zoo, this invite came about in the normal course of the conversations we've had with friends, and moved along quickly from there.

The Farm Stroll is held at the end of September... 11 or 12 farms in McHenry county will be featured and will be open to the public for tours. We've tried to set things up so that it is easy to take friends or groups of people through to see the animals here, so...there is work to be done, but the basic planning is already under way!

The photography session was delightful, and photographer Judy Thornton graciously shared a few of her favorite pictures with me.

JT Originals owns these photos, and has given me permission to share, but please do not download or forward the photos. Thanks so much.

This is a little glimpse of what our happy animals looked like as they interacted with their photographer.

 

Laura