gnuhampshirefarm

2011-04-19T12:22:00.002-05:00

This little girl was born today, 4.19.11, dam Jangle who is black/white spotted but sired by an HST ram herself last year. Jangle is a larger ewe lamb of '10 and I had no clue what to expect. Well, here you go, a beautiful ewe lamb with exceptional markings, short tail, very sweet. I think her name will be JangALang. This teeny tiny ram lamb (left) was born yesterday. He is so small. His mother is tiny also. I will wether him and hopefully he'll make a great pet for someone. Not sure of his name yet. I was thinking Lilliput because of his size :)

2011 Shetland Lambs as of 4.17.11

2011-04-17T20:14:00.003-05:00

It's been soooooo long since I last posted pictures that I've forgotten about formatting and have spent way too much time trying to get these posted. So it's the best I've got for today. I am abounding in HST marked lambs.....Head Socks & Tails. Some are only partial so, but the year's crop of lambs is outstanding. Little Shari (at the end) is by far the best yet!!

GnuHampshire Primo DOB 3.29.11 Moorit Smirslet Sokket Single Ram Lamb GnuHampshire Smooch DOB 3.31.11 Moorit Smirslet Sokket Twin Ewe Lamb

GnuHampshire SWAK DOB 3.31.11 Moorit Smirslet Twin Ewe Lamb

GnuHampshire Dexter and Davis DOB 4.2.11 Twin Ram Lambs

(above pic and below)

Dexter: Moorit Smirslet Sokket very crimpy fleece Davis: Moorit Krunet

GnuHampshire Jagger DOB 4.2.11 Moorit Krunet Single Ram Lamb

GnuHampshire Sundown DOB 4.5.11 Black Gulmoget Single Ewe Lamb

GnuHampshire Drake DOB 4.5.11 Moorit Smirslet Sokket Single Ram Lamb

(below) GnuHampshire BlackNBluett DOB 4.8.11 Black Smirslet Sokket Single Ewe Lamb

GnuHampshire Vernia DOB 4.9.11 Moorit Smirslet Sokket Single Ewe Lamb

GnuHampshire CoCoCrazy DOB 4.14.11 Moorit Krunet Single Ram Lamb

GnuHampshire Shari DOB 4.15.11 Moorit Smirslet Sokket Single Ewe Lamb

Where Have I Been!!

2011-02-22T09:55:00.004-06:00

It's been forever since I've posted. So much going on. We still have not sold our farm. We all know what's going on in the real estate world. But I am hopefull 2011 might prove to be the right time. In keeping with that mindset, I have a young Tatra for sale. Her name is Gita (short for Margita). She was born 7.31.09. I had kept her as she tested well for LGD, and has lived outside with sheep most of this time. But her hips are not good enough to use for my breeding program and she is now living her 'adolescent' stage and is way too playful with the sheep. I have Shetlands and she is taller than them. She is only about 85 lbs. and is very loving with people. I think she really does like people more than sheep. I've had her in the house for a few weeks at a time and she's done just fine in here with 2 other females. She is spayed and ready to go. I think she'd make an excellent all around FARM dog, but not with smaller livestock. And no chickens. She's eaten chickens. Even though she was fine when inside the house, I think she prefers to live outside 24/7. I believe she'll develop into a fine guard dog as she matures. All the commands she knows right now are sit and stay. If anyone is interested, please contact me.

gnuhampshirefarm@fvi.net

As to the sheep, I have 13 ewes and 6 rams. I need to find homes for them also. I do have one person/acquaintance in WI who might be interested in the entire flock. Or I'll be placing them individually. I believe all 13 ewes are pregnant and this year I started breeding groups early, so I suspect that around the middle of March we will begin lambing. I will post pictures when we start.

Entire flock for sale

2010-07-29T13:46:00.003-05:00

Due to unforseen circumstances and a lot of soul searching, I have decided I need to sell off my entire flock of Shetlands. This was not a choice I made quickly, easily or without due diligence. But our life is taking different turns and our farm is for sale. We just cannot keep the sheep any longer. If you have any interest in some or all of my flock, please contact me as soon as possible.

Sheep Available:
SheltrgPines Crescent Moon, HST ram
Kimberwood Hunter, HST ram
Big Don, white ram
Buck53, black sponget ram

BluffCountry PrimaDona, HST spotted ewe
BluffCountry Spring, HST spotted ewe
BluffCountry Debutante, HST spotted ewe, horned
GnuHampshire Sunny, gulmoget ewe
GnuHampshire Janalam, black sponget ewe
GnuHampshire CoCo, moorit ewe

2010 lambs:
GnuHampshire Dom, HST ram
GnuHampshire Dell, HST ewe
GnuHampshire Surely, HST ewe
GnuHampshire Jingle, brown spotted ewe
GnuHampshire Jangle, black spotted ewe
GnuHampshire Prima Vera, HST ewe
GnuHampshire Lilac, moorit ewe w/white spots on head
GnuHampshire Lavender, moorit ewe

Please contact me at gnuhampshirefarm@fvi.net for details. Discounted prices to good sheep homes. They are wonderful sheep, healthy and deserve a great place to live. Large discount for groupings.

Thinkin' We're Done.....

2010-05-27T14:59:00.004-05:00

Here is LASTLY, yes I called her Lastly....better than just Last. Ewe lamb born yesterday 5.26.10. Moorit with those white flecks on her. Cute little thing. Decided to call Spring's girl SURELY....leaves lots of possibilities for her offSPRING being called Surely -----. She is the most adorable and the HST lamb with the most white on all four feet along with a very cute tuft on her tail. SURELY she is the cutest!!

Saturday 5.22.10

2010-05-22T12:08:00.005-05:00

Here's part of the flock, heading out back to graze. We had a lot of haze this morning, now hot and mostly sunny. I have 5 teens here helping to muck out the barn for the season (yay!!) and pull thistle weeds from the pasture.

Lambs out having fun leaping and playing on the tires and slide.

Here's Jangle and Dell before they went out to pasture.

From left to right, Prima Vera, Fritz, Dom and Dell

Wow

2010-05-22T09:45:00.002-05:00

Last night we had to go out but I knew Spring was in labor. So we came home to find this incredible ewe lamb born. No name yet but she is gorgeous with white on all four feet, and tail too!

Saturday 5.15.10 Brings more lambs

2010-05-15T11:50:00.016-05:00

Had the chance to watch this guy getting born this morning at 10:30. His mother is my Gooly Girl. She looks white for all intents and purposes but she's got gulmoget markings on her legs as her mother is my gulmoget ewe, Sunny. Sire is SheltrgPines Crescent Moon. I was still surprised to see the HST pattern. The other white ewes gave white lambs, one just this morning also. Anyway, I'm calling him Gamble, and we shall see if the gamble pays off! Gooly Girl w ram lamb Gamble DOB 5.15.10

Here's Fruity (one of the above mentioned white ewes) with her ram lamb DOB 5.15.10. Haven't named him yet.

Pictures of other lambs.....but I realize I forgot to get Prima Vera....maybe I'll get time later today. Here is CoCo Crispy, ram lamb DOB 5.13.10 (GnuHampshire CoCo x SheltrgPines Crescent Moon). He's got a tiny puff of white on his forehead.

Jeorge, DOB 5.12.10. He is the cutest little guy.....looks like his mother did last year, she was my last lamb born and tiny. He's tiny too but has the same sweet face.

Black Beauty, DOB 5.8.10. Usually she runs away from me, today all lambs were pretty mellow while I was out there.

Lammy Poo Poo's Laverne (Shetland mix) DOB 5.7.10

Bop and B Bop, DOB 5.6.10 and yes, they are just incredible to watch. I'm in love with these patterns. Also Shetland mixes.

Lavender, DOB 5.4.10 sweet but shy girl

Lilac, her sister DOB 5.4.10 finally playing with the other lambs. She's moorit, not black as I first thought.

Here's Dom and Dell, DOB 5.4.10 in one of their quieter moments.

Another shot of Dom and Dell, showing their markings.

Jingle and Jangle, DOB 5.2.10. These two get into a lot of mischief, especially Jingle (brown/white).

Finally a few pictures of Samson, DOB 5.2.10. He's already taken to coming up to me and pawing at my knees.

A bit better picture altho I am not good with the camera and don't know how to manage light exposure.

2010-05-12T12:45:00.011-05:00

Today brought forth JEORGE, ram lamb of GH Jeanette x SheltrgPines Crescent Moon. The little man is doing just fine. Lambs out on the pasture; Here's Jangle and Prima Vera

Jingle

Jangle

Samson, not a great shot for the color/shading but shows him well enough. We have to see how his tail looks over time.

Samson (front) with Jingle and Jangle.

Lavender (moorit) with Dom (moorit/white) and Dell (black/white).

Dom, a very spunky guy.

Twins, Dom and Dell and their different fleeces.

Bette Davis with her twins, Bop (white ewe w markings) B Bop (darker ram w markings) and Laverne, Shetland/mix.

Colorful Bop and B Bop.....they are about the cutest ones!

More lambs

2010-05-08T12:19:00.011-05:00

This morning brought forth another ewe lamb, I'm calling her Black Beauty as her mother is Black Pearl. Pearl struggled and struggled for a VERY long time. Gosh I hate to interfere, but she was tiring out. So we got her into the barn and my husband held her head and I could carefully help pull this girl out....one leg inside, the other bent in an awkward position, jammed next to her head. But she's fine, up bouncing around and none the worse for wear. DOB 5.8.10.

Yesterday 5.7.10 Lammy Poo Poo had her ewe lamb, out in the field. I had gone out to call the girls into the barn in the early evening. We were going out and I put them inside the barn. I have a sick dog so had to move the one dog who's been out with the ewes into the front pen with the rams and lock the girls up at night. Without even looking, I called my 'sheepy girls' and they all came running, including Lammy Poo and her very recently born lamb. I had really thought she might twin, and went looking out in the pasture in case she just ignored the second one, but she only produced one large sweet girl. I'm calling her Laverne. DOB 5.7.10.

Here are some nice pictures of other lambs that I took this morning while waiting for Pearl to drop. This first one is Bette Davis's ewe lamb, Bop. She is so incredible with a matching pattern on her legs, eyes.

Here's both Bop and B Bop. B Bop is very handsome too, he's got a lot of darker colors on him vs. his sister and has this very cool symmetrical pattern on his chest and front legs. These two just make me smile.

Here are the three trouble makers of the bunch so far.....I'm sure that's because they are the oldest and race around, stick their noses in where they don't belong and just have fun! Prima Vera, along with Jingle (brown) and Jangle (black). Seems like they're always together.

Here's Sunny and Samson inspecting poor Pearl while she was in labor. They're all so nosey!

Finally another shot of Prima Vera alone. Yes, her tag slightly pulls down her ear but it's fine. Should be standing back up in no time.

2010-05-07T08:19:00.003-05:00

Bette Davis had her twins yesterday, late last night. She is not a Shetland :) She's a Barbados mix, a tall girl but very sweet. She was the cutest lamb herself, I could not refuse to buy her. She was bred to Crescent Moon, the darker of my Shetland rams. Look at what she produced! The lighter lamb with brown back end is a ewe, and the darker one is a little ram. They look more like Shetlands though, than previous lambs of hers, all bred to Shetlands. I'm calling them Bop (ewe) and B Bop (ram, for Boy Bop). Decided this year all lambs (except Prima Vera cuz that was just way too cute to name her that with her mom being Prima Dona) will start their names with the first initial of their moms. BTW, Bette Davis did indeed get her name cuz she's got Bette Davis Eyes!!!

How cute is she!!!

2010-05-05T09:48:00.001-05:00

Born last night, just way too cute for me.

A good day to be born!

2010-05-04T23:54:00.014-05:00

Lacey lambed today, tonight(ok it's past midnight by now). I was lucky enough to watch 4 lambs being born today. That makes it a good day. Both are black and the first one has markings on her head. The second one would not make herself available for a good picture. Tomorrow will bring better shots. It's late and I'm tired. (Justalit'l Lacey Grey Blettet x SheltrgPines Crescent Moon HST Moorit Smirslet) But before Lacey dropped her 2, BluffCountry Debutante had her twins! See what I mean, a good good night! Ram lamb came first, I think he'll be a fawn as he's light already. Perfect eyes, and all four feet white. Next came his sister, black and white spotted. She has more black on her face and I couldn't get a great shot of her face either but again, it's late and I'm tired.

(BluffCountry Debutante HST Shaela Smirslet x Kimberwood Hunter HST Fawn Sokket/Yuglet)

I thought I'd send along these latest too....no, I didn't fix the red eye yet, but here's Prima Dona and her ewe lamb, Prima Vera. Sunny with her gulmoget ram lamb. He is a spitfire, out romping and racing around already.

And the spotted girls out of Janalam. Ms Brown/White is a screamer, all day long.

Emmett, 2009 Puppy

2010-05-03T09:50:00.004-05:00

Here's a couple of photos of one of the 2009 puppies, Emmett....he lives near me and is a very nicely socialized dog. His owner takes him everywhere. Looks a bit like his Grandfather, Quincy in picture one here by the water. Below is the picture most of us know only too well, our dirty white dogs enjoying the mud!!

Better pictures

2010-05-03T09:38:00.007-05:00

They're all out and running free today, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.

Gulmoget ram lamb with head markings, very handsome boy.

These little girls are very sweet together. Black/white spotted and Brown/white spotted.

More lambs today

2010-05-02T22:08:00.006-05:00

Twin ewe lambs DOB 5.2.10 (Kimberwood Hunter- HST Fawn Sokket/Yuglet x GnuHamsphire Janalam black sponget) . This is the first time I've had to assist at all with lambing, ever; both big girls and the first one was simply stuck in place with her head and one leg sticking out.....forever. A few gentle twists even though I was reluctant to interfere, and she finally slid out. She's the black and white lamb, more spots, smaller eye patches. Her sister, brown and white, came shooting out within a minute. Both are the bounciest, leapingest (is that a word?) lambs, up on their feet and springing all over the place. Just adorable.

Gulmoget ram lamb DOB 5.2.10 (SheltrgPines Crescent Moon HST Moorit Smirslet x GnuHampshire Sunny Gulmoget) He's a spunky little character :) Already roaming away from his jug and giving his mother grief. He also has a teeny blaze of white on his forehead.

Hopefully I can get some good outside pictures tomorrow. I'm just glad everyone is fine!

2010-04-28T14:57:00.002-05:00

YIPPEE!!!

We finally have a lamb! A sweet little ewe out of BluffCountry Prima Donna and SheltrgPines Crescent Moon. Ah, it's good to be watching this take place.

2010-04-07T12:43:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures taken today in the barn. It's wet and damp so I kept the girls inside today. All 2010 lambs are by HST Rams, SheltrgPines Crescent Moon (Moorit Smirslet) and Kimberwood Hunter (Fawn Sokket Yuglet). Stay tuned for lamb pictures when they arrive. A few ewes are farther along than others; we may well go into late May for some!
First picture above is Sunny (gulmoget) Lacey (grey blettet) and McCoy (musket).

This picture show Spring in front (fawn/white smirslet/sokket HST) with Janalam standing by door (black sponget) Debutante by door (shaela smirslet HST) and one white ewe.

Spring (left) and Prima Donna (right-fawn/white sokket yuglet HST)

Here's the big girl Lammy Poo Poo who is obviously NOT a shetland, and Bette Davis a Barbados behind her, with some of the other ewes.

Finally, one of the ram lambs from '09, Buck 53. He is small still but quite nice and his horns look to be pretty good. He is black sponget and he's FOR SALE. $200.00

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T20:32:00.007-06:00

Here are a few puppy pictures, all the siblings of the '09 litter. Will try to get them all soon. But this is a start. I like how they all look and seem to be doing. This is Ania, lives in Whitefish, MT.

Here is Margita (Gita) who lives here with me. She's eaten a few chickens and been too playful for the ewes right now. This is one very sweet girl though and she's very very gentle with me.

This is Dunaj Jr., the male puppy I kept. He's living out with my rams for now. The spots are snow on the lens as I took this during a snow storm. He is also very sweet except when it comes to eating and then he is very protective of it from the rams, not with any people but only the intruding sheep.

Here is Basha, the house dog with our 3 lb. chihuahua Tiger Lily. Basha is a big lumbering puppy who likes to push Rosie around. Rosie is from the 2008 litter and is living in the house now too. She is much less assertive but both are push overs for the little rat dog :)

Finally, here is Halina (AKA Bella) who lives in Madison WI.

Such a strong similarity with their faces, body types and pigmentation. Thanks to all puppy owners for sending me updates with pictures. Maybe this week I can get some more pictures also of the dogs here. Busy time.

Outside Dogs

2010-01-14T11:32:00.006-06:00

Finally got a chance to take some pictures this morning of the dogs who live outside with the sheep. This first one is Gracie, she's 6, doesn't have good eyes or hips for breeding, but has turned into a very respectable dog and is pretty good with any of the sheep.

This is my male, Dunaj (Jr.) who lives with the rams now in the front. Moving him away from them for a few weeks worked well in that I could re-introduce rams who had previously lived here without him being so protective of that area. So first the other sheep went back in and then after some days, he went back in. Seems to have done the trick. He's a nice big boy; we'll see what the future brings for him. He's just over 7 months.

This is Margita, also 7 months old. She's in the barn with Grace and all the ewes. She's big too. She's more submissive to me than her brother Dunaj. Both of them love to be petted and touched. But they both are quite relaxed around their sheep too and I'm hoping that one or both of them turn out to be good LGDs.

The Girls

2010-01-11T17:37:00.008-06:00

Well, I FINALLY bought a new battery for my old camera and figured it was no longer even holding a charge, maybe it was time! Ya think??!! It's just not be high on my list of priorities. But I wanted some new pictures of the dogs and before I know it, lambs will be here too. These were taken this past weekend. We moved breeding rams back into the ram pen and all the ewes are now back together. I was looking over pictures that people have sent me of the puppies from this past litter and figured I should post some of my own. These are only the house dogs. I'll work on the ones outside later this week.

Basha (2009) on left. Bella, her mom (2007) in the middle. Rosie, same mom as Bella (2008) to the right. Rosie has spent most, but not all of her life, outside with the sheep. But she is not relaxed with them and so I made the call to bring her inside. She's adjusting quite well but still learning the ropes of being an inside dog. Bella and Rosie are more similar in type than I would have imagined.

Here's Basha again. I think of her as a beauty, but she almost looks like she's sporting a bit of a black mustache under her nose. Looks funny and now that I've seen it, I keep seeing it in her pictures. But she's a sweet girl. Her pigmentation is good.

Here's Rosie, a bit shy but each day is learning how to live in the house. She likes to chew all the dog toys, which is making Basha more interested in them also.

And finally Bella. She's stepped up into top dog position now that Q is gone. Rosie and Basha play together all the time. Bella is the queen. Just chillin' out.

Almost Christmas

2009-12-18T09:42:00.005-06:00

I am 3 months behind in blogging. It's what happens when you have sheep festivals and dog festivals and church volunteer obligations. And life. Wow, so much has gone on. First, today brought joy......my one dear sweet barn cat, Tootsie showed up. She goes AWOL for very long periods of time (longest was about 9 months we figured). She is quite vocal and friendly so while she may actually come home to the barn each night, she's not been there in the mornings or any other time of day. We once caught her at a truck machinery spot about 1/4 mile away. We saw what we THOUGHT was her and turned the car around and it looked like her, but she would not come up to me. That was reassuring in and of itself tho as I knew she was still alive and had not become coyote appetizer. But that was months ago. Each time we drive by that place, we look for her. And this morning she was greeting me in the barn and let me hug and cuddle her for a long time. Just like the prodigal son. Yet as I left the barn to come inside, I realized that it might be the last time I see her. Such is life with barn cats.

Updates: Early October we hit the road in the RV to Sun Valley Idaho for the annual Trailing of the Sheep. It's a sheep festival which celebrates the winter migration of flocks and re-enacts the path that sheep farmers have taken for many decades. Our dog club participates and every other year it is the site of our annual meeting. This year we took Basha and Tesia (4 month old puppies at the time) plus Tiger Lily the rat dog. They did quite well never having traveled like that. Besides the aromatic scents throughout the RV often, traveling with puppies was easier than I would have guessed. They were good girls.

Seeing everyone in Idaho was just great. I also got to hook up with 2 dogs I had previously owned....Cubby and Buddy. Cubby was my dog from a litter of Tatra Mixes born in 2006 by Brandy (owned by Andrew Tokarz) and Quincy my male Tatra. Cubby was the puppy who from day one would lay on his back in my hand, just totally relaxed. When I needed to place Buddy in a good home that could care for him (in 2008) due to hip dysplasia, I sent Cubby along too. It was the right thing to do, they were BFF. I could not separate them. They are now owned by a loving, caring couple in Oregon who take them with to work as therapy dogs. Here's a picture of me and Cubby this October in Idaho. What a delight to see him again.

The trip was also one of the saddest times.....my big boy Quincy, died at home while we were away. Unexplained, unexpected. Best guess is that he had a fatal arrythmia, and went very quickly. Still difficult many days realizing he's not here by my side protecting me. I always felt so safe with him. Even with other dogs in the house, it's not the same. I trusted him in a very real way. I have yet to establish that trust of totally guarding me in the same way with the girls left in the house. Here's one of the last pictures we took of him, joining us on our trip to MN for the Twin Cities Polish Festival in August.

Life moves on. Been very busy since that trip to Idaho. We left Tesia with club members when we left Idaho. She had been the puppy I picked out for my new house dog. Good, solid temperament, all around nice girl. Basha came back to me after placing her at 8 weeks. The new owner realized having a rambunctious puppy was not all it's cracked up to be. Living with Basha was easy enough but she knew me and responded well to me. So I decided if our friends wanted one of the puppies, Tesia would be the easiest to adjust and she'd do well anywhere. Wasn't quite so sure with Basha. So that was a bit melancholy leaving Tesia behind but I know she's doing well and keeping those new owners on their toes.

All puppies are large.....I have not weighed my 3 recently but my guess is that they're close to 70 lbs. and very well proportioned. They have good correct coats and each has a slightly different look. Basha is drop dead gorgeous in her face. She's the smallest of my 3 but still a good sized girl. Margita (Gita) is very large and has a blockier face. She's out with Gracie and the ewes. Dunaj Jr. (doon-eye) is also very handsome and lives with the rams out front. He was way too frisky with the small ram lambs from this past year and so putting him out with the big boys solved that problem immediately. Even tho Shetlands are small sheep, the rams are tough enough not to take any bad behavior from a puppy, despite the fact that the puppy is as big as they are.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, my husband built me a hay feeder in the barn, 24 ft. long! This is awesome. I have always fed on the ground and while it was not the best, it was just what I did. But I never liked this method. Now I've got a place where all my ewes can feed up off the ground and stay cleaner and drier. The ones outside (rams in front, one small breeding group out back) still eat off the ground, but that will be a project for 2010. Look at the great job he did in building this in one day. It's very nice. Even the smallest ewe lambs from 2009 just put their front feet in and all can reach. So all but the tiniest of lambs can feed from here. It's got a nice ledge on the bottom also for grain should I want to feed the girls that. Right now I have the larger breeding group of 10 ewes in here. This is all I can do for today. Christmas is fast approaching. Thought I was finished shopping but realized last night I have one more GC to get. We are enjoying watching our 2 grandchildren grow and thrive. They are delights. It just makes you smile to see them. Sorry, I don't post pictures of the kids on the internet. But trust me, they are priceless.

We have so many blessings to be thankful for; our family, our friends, our faith. Here's hoping you all enjoy a very Merry Christmas and a great start to 2010! I'll try to be back soon :)

Basha Baby

2009-09-28T12:27:00.004-05:00

Here's a picture of Basha. Basha originally was sent to a new owner, who unfortunately had to return her to me. His life and her life were not in sync and so she came back to me. (This was my oldest son John.) It was, however, very fortunate for me that it worked out this way. I had kept 3 of the puppies from this litter. Dunaj Jr. is living with the ewes, chickens and cats. Margita is (was) living with the ram lambs. She's having too much fun with them and was just moved this morning. Tesia is a house dog. Basha's been here for 2 weeks now. She is absolutely gorgeous altho this photo does not necessarily reflect that. She had a lot of fun out in the mud and I had to take this picture of her. She's been walking a little funny. Today all 4 of these puppies had a visit to the vet for their rabies shots. While there, we did an x-ray of Basha's hip, just to see what was there. Well, much to my delight, they were excellentand also very well angulated! Because she is such a beauty, I have decided to keep her and see how she turns out down the road. I may place Tesia with a club member out in Oregon. My husband and I leave for Idaho soon and while there, we will determine if Tesia goes to her new home or not. But Basha stays with me now. She's been very sweet and wonderful. And who knows, maybe the dog that was returned will turn out to be a wonderful breeding specimen over time.

Labor Day Already

2009-09-07T19:52:00.009-05:00

It's been forever since I've posted a thing. Been so busy. Had a great time in MN for the Polish Festival in August. Will post those pictures too but first some updates on the dogs here at GHF. This first guy is Dunaj Jr....named for his father(doon eye). I think he is quite handsome and he is turning out to be very mellow. His hair appears to be a little wavier than his sisters' here but time will tell. He is a very sweet boy. He is out with all the ewes, the chickens and the barn cats. So far, so good!

This is Gita, short for Margita. She is living with the ram lambs. She had TOO much fun one day with a chicken, so this is where she'll stay for a while. She is a bit pushy with them too but they do turn and butt her off, so let's hope that continues and she relaxes even more.

This is Tesia (Tesha) the house dog. She is very mellow, I am surprised by it. She was always a middle of the road girl but has become quite nice. Doing well with overnight sleeping and housebreaking but spends so much time outdoors during the day that we are not really doing the housebreaking routine as in the past with other dogs.

Dear Sweet Bella, the mom. Her figure is back but her coat is thin, poor girl. Yet she is happy and perky and a wonderful dog. Glad she's back to normal.

Now an exciting thing happened this past week. I got back from the mill my first ever processed fleece. I am thrilled with it, yet am not quite sure what I'll do with it all. I have to put it into 4 oz. balls for selling and hopefully I will actually do that soon. And I have some cute sheep ornaments/statues I want to make and that will be fun. I have 15 boxes like this, assorted colors. Very cool. I am determined to take a class this fall or winter to learn to spin and who knows where that will take me down the road. For now this is wonderful to see the final results of what is produced here on the farm .

2009-08-19T13:41:00.003-05:00

OK, it's been FOREVER it seems that I posted something. We had our huge Corn Fest Party here at the farm on August 8th....a day filled with family, friends, food and fun. How blessed we are to have such wonderful people in our lives. Took us a few days to recover from that.

Then we switched gears and prepared to pack up four dogs and truck up to the Twin Cities for their revival of a Polish Festival. Herm, I and the dogs took the RV and headed north. Quincy travels very well, but the two puppies were another story. We take one of the large crates and mount it above the cab of the Class C RV, perfect fit. They cried in there for about 20 minutes, then settled down very nicely. The little rat dog, dear Tiger Lily, is a perfect angel in her teeny crate and you practically didn't even know she was there.

We had a fabulous time at the festival. Terry (another dog club member) and I, along with 3 of the big white dogs, went to KARE 11 Television studion on Saturday morning for a short but fun spot on TV. What a hoot that was. Here is the video from that morning. It's very short and I'm only the last 30 seconds or so of the tape.

Tried to embed the link but not having luck. Here's the actual link, check out the video on the right.

http://www.kare11.com/news/local/mornings/saturday/saturday_article.aspx?storyid=822109&catid=21

What a wonderful weekend we had. Our club booth members were terrific, the weather held out for us pretty well and the dogs were the best. We literally had thousands of people come over to see, pet and ask about the dogs. We hope we can go back again.

Here's a shot of Q snoozing in the RV......such is the life, eh!!

Puppies are 8 weeks old!

2009-08-03T08:35:00.002-05:00

Here is my big guy, Quincy, the grandfather of our litter of puppies, trying to relax on the dog room floor but Ms. Purple and Teal see to it that he doesn't get much rest. He has been extremely tolerant of the young dogs. While he can be very protective of me, especially behind fences, he's always shown great restraint and patience whenever there has been a puppy around.

Details of the litter: as of today, I am keeping 3 of the puppies. 2 are living with sheep and one will become a house dog/pet. 4 of the puppies have already moved on to their new homes and 2 more leave within the next 2 weeks. That leaves one girl left and I continue to get inquiries regarding her. We shall see where she ends up!

People are always asking if I am sad to see them go. The answer is NO! First reason is that I believe the homes where they've been placed are good ones or I would not have accepted them as new owners. But the work load with so many puppies is very large.....when I walk they are constantly underfoot and they eat like there's no tomorrow. It has been an incredible adventure but it's time they all move on. Also because I am keeping a few, the empty nest is really not. I'm already myself dealing with housebreaking issues and beginning training. It takes a lot of time.

Official Registered Names of the Puppies:

Puppy 1 Yellow girl - Margita (she's here out with sheep) will call her Gita

Puppy 2 Pink girl - Danuta (means Little Deer, she's so tiny) hope to place her in MN

Puppy 3 Blue boy - Marek (call name Emmett) family pet IL

Puppy 4 Purple girl - Tesia (she's my house dog)

Puppy 5 Teal girl - Anka (may go to NY)

Puppy 6 Green boy - Dorek (call name TBD) family pet WI

Puppy 7 Red boy - Dunaj (named for his father, out with sheep here)

Puppy 8 Rose girl - Basha (call name Arcee) family pet IL

Puppy 9 Green girl - Halina (call name TBD) family pet WI

Puppy 10 Black girl - Ania family pet in MT

Here's a big HELLO to niece Katie, who reads my blog. Great seeing you on Saturday :)

Monday and WE'RE SIX WEEKS OLD

2009-07-20T20:06:00.007-05:00

Today was Quincy's day to officially meet all the puppies, up close and personal. He can be a bit ferocious across the fence with strangers here at the farm, but he's always been extremely tolerant of all small animals. So he just plopped himself down out back by the tree with them and I took these pictures. Quincy was my first Tatra and will always be my big baby. Here he is with two of them right on top of him practically. They were sniffing his muzzle big time.

Ms. Teal (or Turquoise) could not get enough of him. How funny!

She just lingered the entire time and didn't stray too far from him. I think she will make someone a very nice pet, especially if they already own a dog.

This is little Ms. Teal again, snuggling up to him. Most everybody else could have cared less at this point.

So Sunday the 26th brings temperament testing. By late that night, I should know which puppies will end up with what homes and new owners. Wish us luck, it'll be a long day :)

Saturday 7.18.09

2009-07-20T20:00:00.007-05:00

So, they are all eating up near the house and I don't have to always deal with pesty bugs near the back of the yard. They are eating dry kibble now and just drinking water. Yeah! Here's two of the puppies cleaning each other (we may say they're kissing) after eating. This was so sweet.
Here's Bella coming to break up a fight that was getting loud. She's been such a good mother. Still will let all of them nurse, which is very gentle and caring of her.

As she leaves to retreat back to her privacy, sure enough, Ms. Light Green is there trying to climb up and join her. She's quite the outgoing little girl.

Puppies at the gate. You can't have a litter without getting one of these shots with them all clamoring to be set free!

July 13th

2009-07-13T18:43:00.005-05:00

So I got out the REAL CAMERA instead of always taking pictures from my phone because it's always in my pocket. Here are some shots from today.

Please don't ask me who is who....but, I am thinking I need the help of someone and I can take some individual shots with labels so there's no mixup :)

On another note: I am culling my flock of Shetlands this year more severely than in the past. And so a buyer is on his way to pick up maybe 8 of them tonight. Some older ewes and some of the lambs. These are going without papers, but it's always a bit sad to see animals you've taken care of leave your home. I wish them a good long life!

2009-07-13T15:39:00.005-05:00

These just came in from the friends who came to feed the puppies on Friday. Yeah, I need to take my camera out there and some more close ups. But thanks to Ginny, Kel and Chris, all were taken care of while I was out picking up a ram in MN.

Bella sitting atop her dog house in the adjacent kennel. It's her favorite place to be, besides in the house.

Sunday 7.12.09

2009-07-13T11:07:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I wanted to see how they'd do out of one bowl, with softened kibble and then put harder kibble in the other when they were done. They pigged out and clearly they can't be comfortably fed out of one of the bowls, despite the fact that they are huge bowls. Back to splitting it up. They finished one and moved over to the other. The one with spots on her was not bugs or dirt, it was kibble imbedded in her hair. Nice.....but they are great today.

July 11, 2009

2009-07-13T11:01:00.004-05:00

These pictures were taken on 7.11.09. I've been very busy lately. But they are eating and growing and doing very well.

Here they are coming towards the house and me, first in front is Ms. Green, as always.

They got almost all the way up before I went inside and then turned around and went back to the shade of the tree and the shade of the kennel.

4 Weeks Old, Teeth Are In and They're always Hungry

2009-07-07T10:50:00.011-05:00

Yesterday puppies were 4 weeks old! Hard to believe how fast the weeks have gone by and all that's happened. They have teeth now, all of them. They all got wormed for the first time yesterday and nobody liked it :) And they all got their nails cut again as they grow so fast. We have now changed over entirely to regular whole milk, still with some baby rice cereal in it and last night at dinner time I switched 1/3 of the solid to pulverized puppy chow so their bodies can adjust to it slowly. Each day I will add a little more of that and soon there will be no more rice cereal only puppy food in the warm milk. Then it's on to larger pieces and less milk, changing over to eventually to no milk and only water, then reducing the water until they're eating just dry food. This all takes place within the next couple of weeks. By 7 weeks, they will be eating only dry food and taking in their own water.

Here they are sill clamoring after the last bits of milk in the bowls.
Then some begin to clean each other, it's very sweet to watch.
Got to get every bit off the face you know!
Just a little cuddling while licking faces.
One dirty wet puppy. Nothing I can do, they are dogs and just roll around in the dirt and food.
These two were sitting right at my feet, doing their grooming.
Then of course, you know what comes next, they poop.
Bella for her part, does clean up some of them but she's getting tired of that job.
And then she's off, ready to get some away time in the adjoining kennel and they fall asleep until next time. They're beginning to romp with each other, pouncing on some toys out there, drinking from the water pan, acting like growing puppies. Life is good.

July 3rd

2009-07-03T21:00:00.004-05:00

Well, we got the wooden gate barrier put in today. It's high enough so puppies can't climb up it and for now Bella has some help with old wooden spools as jumping off points. She could clear it if she didn't have her teats hanging down. As time goes on, she'll be able to....and puppies will be able to get on those spools too, but that's a bit down the road yet. She enjoyed some time today in the adjacent kennel, one that she likes. And it wasn't too hot today.

Here she is standing and you can clearly see the 2 puppies reaching up to nurse. So she needs to be able to get away from them at times. Here they all are at the gate after dinner tonight. Everyone is eating out of the bowl very well. We will be done using any of the goat's milk formula tomorrow and totally just using whole milk. Monday they will get wormed as they will be 4 weeks old. Gosh, the time has really gone by fast.

And finally, day is done. She decided to lay down and was swarmed by the continually hungry puppies. She has done a very nice job of mothering. She works hard at licking and cleaning up their faces after eating. All ten of them immerse their faces in the food bowls and are covered in wet. They they climb all over one another getting it on their backs etc. Some are sticky. And they're outside so rolling in the few dirt patches in the dog run. There actually is a fair amount of grass there but of course, they find the one or two bald spots. So be it, they are dogs!

Puppies are just fun, no question about it!

2009-07-01T17:59:00.010-05:00

OK, so I just wanted to go out and see how the puppies were doing. They're very quiet and sleep most of the day. I let Bella out of her jail for a bit and I sat with them. They all came scurrying over to me and it's hard to resist their little faces. I can see some looking more like each other vs. another set that are different. We'll have to wait and see what time produces. But here are some more pictures. Yes, they really are this cute!

Puppies are bigger than you might think, pretty frisky today.

Doing a bit of wrestling with one another.Just moving around following my call.

Uh Oh, Mom entered the kennel. Making a mad dash for her. Everyone went back to their own thing then.

At least all 10 are in this picture.Bella cannot get far away from their wants and needs.

Yes, they are big enough to sit up and suck.

She finally resigned herself to the job at hand

and sat down. In a few days, we will put the barrier up for

her to get away from them at her discretion during the day

and keep her with them fully during the night time.

One Less Chicken

2009-07-01T09:19:00.006-05:00

Ah, so it finally happened. Rosie took out a chicken yesterday! She has been known to chew some feathers off backs of some of them, but it was never fatal. I had been watching her and spending a lot of time outside with animals, but then came in to work on the blog. And an hour later, I went out to check and sure enough, one of the hens was dead. So even tho Rosie is working out well with the sheep, she was not the dog to leave with chickens also. This brought a dilemma as to where to put who.....so I made the choice to move Rosie out to a smaller front pasture with the rams and wethers. She's been living with them so that's not an issue, at least so far. And then move my ewes and lambs back into the larger pasture out back. And I decided to move Gracie (6 year old Tatra) back with them. I had moved her into that pasture previously but she didn't react well. Was very nervous. Yet that was a few years ago. She just seemed so much more relaxed when she lived out front, regardless of what sheep were there with her. This time I have 3 month old lambs with their moms. But I took a chance and put her back with the ewes and chickens. The only problem was the other dogs in the adjacent yard barking at her because they really don't see her up close. She's always been out front. Now she is just across a fence. But they calmed down well enough throughout the afternoon. And for her part, Gracie was just the calmest girl. She was calm with the sheep, she was calm with the chickens and she even was calm with the one cat. The other cats kept their distance.

A little history: Gracie was imported from Poland, but has some eye issues and one bad hip. She lived in the house as a pet for the first 2 years of her life. But after I put Quincy outside, I decided she might also belong outside. Yet she would run up and down the fence line, barking all day long at the sheep on the other side. It was relentless and drove me crazy. Finally, after about a year of this (yes, a year!) I decided to move her by some sheep and just see what happened. Well, nothing could have surprised me more, she was fine with them. Maybe all along she had wanted to be with them vs. across the fence barrier. Duh!

Grace is inside the igloo with chickens near. Sheep are in the pasture off to the back right.Gracie asleep in the igloo.....what a good girl!

So the dog that I thought would be nothing but trouble has turned into a very decent girl and watchdog. We have coyotes here more than we ever thought possible (although not every night) and she's done her job well over time in never having one challenge her or the fence line. She's very relaxed and often does not even bark at people driving up. In fact, often she does not even wake up for it during the day. Just goes to show you that you never know what a dog will turn out to be if not given the chance. I am even hopeful that with her calm personality, she might be an example for one of these puppies as they get older and get placed with sheep. Good old Gracie Girl!!

Rosie out front now...she would not sit still nor go by the sheep as I wanted a nice photo!

So Rosie is not a chicken dog! That's ok. She's still doing a fine job with the sheep and not all dogs can be trusted with all livestock. Besides, she's still young and has that teenage streak in her. Maybe in another year.......we shall see!

They Made It Through The Night

2009-06-30T08:42:00.002-05:00

Well, we survived the night! Actually it was a great day to put the puppies out yesterday. Not too hot and it never rained as promised. Very cloudy but a good day. They hung out under the tarp for most of their time out there and I did have to place them inside the pig hut at night, but apparently they stayed put as I found them all inside it and cozy warm this morning. As you can see, we have great success now with the large pan and eating formula/milk. Adding a bit of regular milk and will gradually change over. Also visible here are their new collars/colors. The details:

# 1 is now yellow, female

# 2 is now pink, female

# 3 is now blue, male

# 4 is now purple, female

# 5 is now turquoise, female

# 6 is now dark green, male

# 7 is now red, male

# 8 is now rose, female

# 9 is now light green, female

# 10 is now black, female

So for the full day they've been outside and free to move about, I can see that # 9, the light green girl is one of the first to always come over by me. Climbs up on my leg already, very social. Purple girl #4 is a close second here. All the others are much less inclined altho I suspect that will change drastically as they become familiar with the pan of food. I use a spoon to clang on it, sort of like Pavlov's bell, and a few are beginning to respond already. Give it another day or so and they'll all be running when I approach. I am grateful for such a good night!

We have SUCCESS AT LAST!!

2009-06-29T15:39:00.003-05:00

OK, they've been fighting this a bit. But today, just now, they all inhaled the milk from the pan nicely. Well, as nice as crazy hungry puppies can be. Now it's just a matter of converting them over to whole milk slowly and then adding pulverized food, then less fluid, etc. This weaning turnover happens so quickly, within 3 weeks or so. But I'm THRILLED they all took to this bowl outside. Yippee!!!!!!

MOVING DAY

2009-06-29T14:39:00.014-05:00

Oh my, I bit the bullet and moved them all outside today. All they do is pee, pee, pee and so it's time. The fresh air will do them good and they're old enough to handle the weather, be it cool or hot. I put up a 12x16 tarp (hopefully it won't blow away) over the back end of the kennel they're in. It's secured in a number of spots with a slant for drainage and let's hope it works. Never did that before. But it's gonna be hot outside and there are so many, they need a place of shade where there is good air flow, not just the pig hut. And....this will also hopefully block the view from any hungry hawks. No, I'm not kidding, that's a reality. I'll leave Bella with them for a week then I will put up a wooden barrier by the adjoining kennel so she can hop in and out at her convenience but lock her with them at night. So keep your fingers crossed for a good week.

Bella was good as always tending to their needs. I first moved them out this morning (using the 2 bins to carry five in each) for about 15 minutes out in grass and sun. So little miss light green on the left seemed the most adventuresome today. Very interesting!Later I made the choice to go for it, bought the tarp and set up house. Here they are inside the pig hut, yiping, squirming around. Bella was beginning to dig a spot in the pig hut.Gabi and Rosie look on, I'm sure wondering who the heck are all these guys making all this noise?Here's the crew chillin' out in the shade. No they didn't crawl out there themselves, I moved the babies to be near their mom. One dish of water for them for now, and one of them even stuck her face in and licked some. Yahoo!! Will try formula (again) later this afternoon.

Father's Day picture

2009-06-25T10:03:00.003-05:00

Been very busy here. Puppies all went for a 2 week wellness check on Tuesday morning. Put them into 2 rubbermaid bins and trucked them off. Everyone has gained weight nicely, we have no heart murmurs, no umbilical hernias, no problems with anything. It's just incredible! Back home to oppressive heat and so we're running the AC, which we rarely do. However, these guys do not need to get overheated at their age. Bella is feeding them as best she can but they all get supplements twice a day still. I'm changing their collars often as they grow. We now begin to introduce formula in a saucer. Nobody much wanted that this morning, and I had a mess all over me, tipped saucer many times, puppies turning up their noses at this strange new way to eat etc. But we'll keep offering it to them and soon they'll get the hang of it. Puppy # 10 was the only one who sort of took to it, but she's the largest and almost expected. Here is a picture taken on Father's Day. Had the party here and 10 people decided to hold puppies and get this snapshot. Very cute. Oh yeah, puppies are now peeing big time without stimulation from mom. So we are changing bedding often as 10 puppies making 10 puddles many times during the day just makes for a smelly mess. Soon they'll go outside 24/7 and that's a GOOD THING :)

Saturday pictures

2009-06-20T12:09:00.003-05:00

Here are four of them piling on top of one another. Eyes are open and they're moving around very fast within the confines of their whelping box. Next week (around the 23-25) they will move to living outside 24/7 with Bella. I have 2 huge kennels with shelter and one will be for puppies and Bella can get some relief by moving over into the adjacent kennel whenever she wants. Probably won't post now for a few days as we're very busy here this weekend. Hi to Kathe and Lisa who visited from MN yesterday. You were wonderful houseguests and we can't wait go come visit you this August! Just a quick shot this morning before I'm off to bake and clean etc. Hosting Father's Day lunch here tomorrow. All ten are over 2 lbs. Doing fine. Will do a wellness check on Tuesday morning. Don't expect to hear anything except that they're all great!

Number 8 on her back

2009-06-18T11:15:00.002-05:00

Last picture of the day. I found #8 lying there so peacefully with her sister # 4 across her neck. Just too cute to pass up.

Being weighed

2009-06-18T09:50:00.015-05:00

So here's how we start the day. They are getting 2 small supplemental feedings per day. Bella is doing her part but we just want steady gains. All puppies HATED the powdered formula so I switched back to the goat's milk pre-made and had a hard time finding enough of it. I first weigh all puppies each morning and then one by one they get their little bit out of bottles. 9 out of 10 puppies have reached the 2 lb. mark this morning. The last one is close behind. My beautiful scale came with a nice matching bowl but they have outgrown that one. So I move up to another size and pretty soon, I'll have to change that too.Number 1 puppy really did not pop her head up too much but scrambled around the bowl. Ms. 2 was moving a bit and I had to snap this photo quickly. I am not the best photographer. But these were all taken with my iphone.

Well, he was moving around and this slightly blurred picture is the best I could get for Mr. 3.

Ms. 4 posed beautifully for me this morning. One of the rare moments.

Number 5 was quiet enough, at least for this picture, then she started moving all over. I was lucky to get this one shot. Number 6 was pretty good for me and I've taken a liking to him. Hmmmmm, will this be the male I keep? Don't know yet. So Mr. 7 was nice enough to hold still while he felt the need to get out of the bowlWell, number 8 was quiet enough that I could get this decent shot of her.Here's 9, she was more interested in climbing out than being weighed. I have to hold the bowl or they tip it and fly out. OK, well 10 was climbing out of the bowl. She is a large girl and by the time I get to 10, there's the smell of formula in the air, and she's looking for it. And, here they are after being fed (supplemented a bit by me) and put back with mom. They still attack her as if they are starving. Pushing and shoving, it's the strongest first and all others, move over!

Tuesday night whew!

2009-06-16T21:55:00.003-05:00

So as you can imagine it's busy here trying to watch and observe these 10 puppies. All seem fine, all have gained weight. 3 are now over 2 lbs. Amazing. They are not gaining by leaps and bounds but steadily. Here is a photo of them in the box while I'm changing the bedding in the whelping box. They are now big enough to really fill it up, except I kept spreading them out and they kept piling on top of one another. There's just so many!! I will have to find another bin to hold them while I clean every day. Many now have little slits for eyes as they are beginning to open. For the most part, they're not terribly loud, except when I move them when they are so comfortable in their sibling pile up. And their pigmentation is coming in on all the muzzles and some with the pads of their feet. Fascinating to watch. OK, it's late enough and I'm tired from working outside today and keeping track of all the dogs, sheep and chickens. Oh yeah, my husband too. I hear the dryer buzzer sounding...time to go.

Additional Pictures from 6.11.09

2009-06-13T10:20:00.008-05:00

We are having such fun with the litter of Tatra puppies. Some personalities are beginning to show. Nobody likes having their weight taken and I can only imagine how they'll feel having their nails cut tomorrow. I am truly amazed and grateful that all are gaining weight and doing so well. It's interesting now to observe their pigmentation, who's developing the black muzzles first and so on.

Bella was excellent while we took so many pictures. She was certainly attentive to us handling her puppies but just watchful, not upset. She's such a good mom!
Ah, the good life!

I'm pooped from all the excitement!

Yes, it IS this much fun having all these puppies here!!

Individual Puppy Pictures 6.11.l09

2009-06-13T09:56:00.014-05:00

Took these photos of individual puppies on Thursday 6/11/09 but did not have time to post them until this morning. Friends Ginny and Kel came by and he's a good photographer and snapped the shots while we held them. The puppies were squirming around so these are the best shots we could get. All have been gaining weight steadily and that's awesome considering the size of this litter. I've had to change their color coded collars a few times to account for the growth factor. Tomorrow I had better cut their little nails because they are sharp and we don't want them scratching Mom Bella as they nurse. Enjoy the pictures! Please disregard the owner's double chin in pictures :)

2009-06-11T09:45:00.002-05:00

Got through the 2nd night just fine. Mom Bella is really doing a nice job, I am so pleased with her mothering skills so far. Keeping them clean and apparently pretty well fed. I did do a little supplementing yesterday and will for while to make sure all are gaining equally but they seem to be doing great! What fun it is to watch and listen to them. All the little twitching going on, all the wagging tails, all the little yelps. Bella is consuming huge amounts of food already and this will continue as she tries to keep up with the demand. But she's also being very sweet to visitors, which we had a few yesterday. Everyone kept quiet while observing but there were no growls or barks, just her lying there looking up at all of us. She is such a sweet dog and she's proving me out by her demeanor.

2009-06-10T10:53:00.003-05:00

Here we are again, seems all they do is eat, which is very good. All except one lost a little weight which is expected. I will closely monitor their weights to make sure they all gain. I'll supplement with goat's milk formula if need be. Mom Bella is doing a very good job so far of cleaning them and overall care. She is such a sweet dog and is turning into a very sweet mother! Maybe later today I can get some shots of each one. Lots to do as I've put off misc. work to handle puppies and whelping. But who cares when there's puppies to watch! Something fun is to watch all their little fat tails wag away as they're nursing. It's the cutest!

2009-06-09T15:02:00.001-05:00

POLISH TATRA PUPPIES BIRTHDAY! June 9, 2009
Well this has been quite the day! Here they are again, all snuggled together and looking pretty content. 2 Red collars and 1 Green collar are the boys. All the rest of those are GIRLS!!

Here's my Bella Busta looking all back to normal (well except for all those large hanging pink teats now) but her slim outline is nice to see. Almost didn't recognize her there for a few weeks.

And back at the milk bar.....

It's now time for the human to take a nap! Maybe tomorrow I can get some closeups of each puppy. Until then.......

2009-06-09T08:14:00.000-05:00

Our dear sweet Bella Busta finally had her puppies. Actually, she wasn't late she was right on time but she was in labor for a full day before the big event. She was quite calm through it all and here is a shot of 10 (count the feet) Tatra Puppies!! Someone is hiding under Mr. Green. 7 Females and 3 Males. More later after I get some sleep. She seems to be doing just fine. I don't do as well with no sleep.

2009-06-03T15:34:00.000-05:00

Just in case the stork comes early, we did a little shaving and getting ready for the big event.

2009-06-01T11:10:00.001-05:00

PUPPIES SOON

Just got back from our vet visit after x-rays with Bella to see how many puppies we might be having. Well, it looks like a full house! 8 for sure, more likely 10 after a 2nd picture taken and as always one or two could have been hiding. So now it's into puppy watch mode and preparing for the main event. Looking at June 9-14 for whelping dates. Wow!

And just some general sheep pictures

2009-05-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

Grazin' in the grass is a gas

Baby, can you dig it?

Finding a little shade

I call 'sheepy girls' and they all come running.

Straight at me picking up speed!

I love how they come for me.

Finally took some more lamb pictures

2009-05-14T17:37:00.000-05:00

Here's some pictures taken today. The lambs are just so big, except for little Jeanette...who still has the most adorable eyes.

# 50 ewe and # 51 ram lamb

# 51 ram lamb

# 52 Spring's ram lamb, horns are barely visible

# 53 Buck 53....ram lamb
Didn't get a picture of # 54 white ewe

# 55 moorit ewe and # 56 white ewe with brown spot, twins

# 55 Cocoa

# 57 (not yet tagged) Jeanette

# 58 white ewe with gulmoget markings on legs

Polish Visitors from Minnesota

2009-05-01T17:54:00.000-05:00

Today we had visitors to the farm. This is the 2nd year that a group of Polish friends from MN stopped by to visit the big white dogs while on their way to Chicago for the Polish Constitution Day Parade which is tomorrow. I told them about the Polish Tatra dog and their use as a livestock guarding dog. There were many photos taken of the house dogs and the other two living outside with sheep. I've established a warm relationship with this group, just wish they'd have more time to relax and enjoy a longer visit. Maybe next year!!
Click on the picture for greater detail. You can just see Gracie way to the left, in the front pasture with the rams.

Spring's Ram Lamb

2009-04-28T17:08:00.000-05:00

Was outside taking some pictures with visitors this afternoon. Before they came I got these nice shots of #52, Spring's ram lamb. He is a large lamb and very friendly.

Here I am with this teeny tiny ewe lamb born yesterday. We are naming her Jeanette.

Updates and new lamb today

2009-04-28T10:29:00.000-05:00

I put Sunny (gulmoget ewe) in a jug yesterday as she had moved off by herself and wanted to wait last night but alas, I went to bed. Woke up to find this good size single ewe lamb. She has gulmoget markings (large patches of dark shading) on her legs. Dam is Sunny and sire is Big Don.

Here is the tiny ewe lamb born yesterday (dam is Black Pearl and sire is Big Don). She is so small. But has the most interesting eyes. Seems to be doing well.

Chewing some hay

Here are some of the lambs checking out Harriet, one of the cats.

Some of the lambs playing around the log pile today.

More lambs having fun.

Finally another lamb

2009-04-27T09:10:00.001-05:00

Found this little white ewe born today as I began my morning chores. She is quite tiny, but looks great. Mom is Black Pearl and sire is Big Don. She has very dark eyes, and like most of the white lambs born this year, color in her hoofs and maybe a little shading on her legs. Too soon to tell but that's my guess. I was not expecting Black Pearl to lamb now, she didn't look it but to tell you the truth, I've been watching some other ewes more closely waiting for them. So this was a surprise today. But a wonderful surprise!

2009-04-22T20:04:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of Dunaj (doon eye) and then one of Bella and Dunaj. Dunaj is a very large very nice looking Tatra male. He works on a sheep co-op in Lemont IL. He is a Polish import. Bella is from a 2007 litter between my two dogs, Gabi and Quincy. Hopeful for puppies in mid-June.

(I know I already posted pictures of these 2 on the first posting but trying to make it easier for some to view.)

New chickens

2009-04-15T12:42:00.001-05:00

The Rhode Island Red’s name is Sweet Baby Ray (AKA... Cranky), the Light Brown Orphington is Chipolte (AKA....Peeps) and the yellow Washington is Terriyaki (AKA......Sunshine). The previous owner was only thinking of BarBQue sauces.

New adult additions to flock

2009-04-15T07:42:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I picked up two adult ewes. A flock in IL is being dispersed, so I picked these 2 girls to come and live with us. The black face is Lambchop and the brown is McCoy. They've done well overnight and will be isolated for a bit, but are eating and adjusting to their new digs.

Lacey's girls

2009-04-15T07:37:00.001-05:00

Last night Lacey did not come over for their all stock treat and stayed off to the side, so I suspected I'd wake up to find babies, and I did! Both are ewes. Sire is BluffCountry McDreamy. The white one has a brown spot on her left hip. The brown one has a TEENY little fleck of white on her forehead. Both seem to be doing great! This same mating last year produced BIG DON, who has superb horn placement. Way to go Lacey!

Success with Polish Tatra Breeding

2009-04-14T17:56:00.000-05:00

Since our first posting, we have had successful breedings with Bella and Dunaj. I anticipate puppies to arrive some time after June 10th. Stay tuned for updates regarding the dogs.

Daisy's Lambs

2009-04-14T17:40:00.000-05:00

We have both a ram and ewe lamb from Daisy. The ewe is white with a small brown patch on the tip of her left ear. The ram is a bersugget, with tuffs of white on the underside of his tail also. Sire is Big Don, out of BluffCountry McDreamy.

Spring's Lamb

2009-04-14T17:31:00.000-05:00

Here's Spring with her ram lamb. He is quite the explorer and has wandered all over yet always returned to her. Of all the white lambs born so far, he is the most white, with pink nose and lighter eyes. Sire is Big Don, out of BluffCountry McDreamy.

First Lambs

2009-04-14T17:17:00.000-05:00

Our first lambs were born at last, one ram and one ewe. The ewe has a small patch of beige coloring on the back of her head/neck. The ram has tighter, shorter fleece. Born to Cher, a black ewe from Big Don, an excellent ram out of BluffCountry McDreamy. DOB 4/9/09

And so I begin

2009-04-07T18:18:00.000-05:00

After much thought I decided I'd better get with the program and start a blog, for my dog friends and for my sheep friends. It's the fastest and easiest way to do things I am told. Today is the first day of the blog.

I have been spending hours in Lemont IL breeding my female Polish Tatra Sheepdog Bella with no great success so far. She is not ready, the poor girl. Soon, I hope. Daily there are signs. And I will continue to bring her there until we achieve success!

Here are some pictures of both Bella and Dunaj (pronounced Doon Eye)