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

A late-comer!

Just when it seemed that our lambing days were over for the year, a quick check of the barn this afternoon revealed...yearling ewe "Easter" in the middle of delivery.

This delivery unfolded much like Easter's own, just over a year ago.  The lamb's head was out, but there was no breath, no movement, and labor was seeming to go on forever.  

And then I saw an eyelid twitch.  Another long wait.  

The lamb's tiny jaw moved.  And more waiting.

Easter did a fine job, but I suspect that her birth canal is built a bit like her mother's.  Last year, when May gave birth to one very large lamb (Easter) after a rather difficult and drawn out delivery, I had the vet come out to check her.  He announced that there was a sharper curve or angle that the ewe needed to push the lamb through, rather than a straighter birth canal that would be typical.  

This year May had twins, and there was no problem at all.  The "problem" is only when the Southdown ewe from this line is having her first or second baby, and it is larger than twins would be.  It is something to watch in the daughters of these two girls.

And then, Easter gave that tremendous shove, difficult to watch, obviously more difficult to endure on her part, and the little lamb was lying, apparently lifeless, on the straw.  

Easter was not too pleased with me, but I quickly stepped over the low fencing and vigorously rubbed the little one.  Made sure her nose and mouth were clear.  And...she gave a tiny breath.  I realized that I had been praying to God and begging the lamb to breathe, for about as long as I had been out there watching.

Another miracle birth!

I had to leave, to pick up our son from high school, and when I returned, it was obvious that the little one had not been nursing yet.  Easter snorted and tried to even growl at me (which is funny, from a sheep).  

The plugs in her teats were still in place, so there had been no colostrum to warm up the baby, so far.  It is cold, windy, and damp out there on this particular April day.

I held Easter still and positioned the little lamb's head to where she could taste the milk (squeezed out right onto her tiny nose) and then guided that nose to the nipple, where she finally got the idea.

Mama Easter is doing great.  She may snort at me or stamp her front hoof, but I will be over-vigilant with this one.  It might be because the 2 week old lambs are so much larger and already very boisterous, but this little one somehow seems more fragile than usual.  

She is tiny, but such a sweet surprise.  

Laura