Bully Update

Chase was allowed to return to the big pasture today.  And all is back to normal.

Bully

Chase is the least liked horse in my pasture.  By the other horses, not humans.  Even though he is  the alpha horse, he is not welled loved by the other horses.  More often then not, he is treated like an outsider.

There is good reason for that.  He is a bully.  Yes, sadly, bullying exists even in the animal kingdom.  He bites and kicks and lives up to his name chasing horse's all over the pasture.  As what happened today when I put the miniatures in the big pasture with the big horses.  Chase took immediate offense to the presence of Pixie and her baby, Blossom.

I had introduced Chase to Pixie's baby a few weeks back.  They had already been acquainted over the fence and so I sent him in alone to her pasture to meet the newest herd member.  All had went smoothly and I thought nothing of sending them into the big pasture today, however Chase decided his pasture was full enough with already having to share it with three other horses, a flock of sheep, and a pesky billy goat. So he did his utmost to chase the new intruders out.  His antics upset the other horses and suddenly I was having a stampede in my pasture.

Even the sheep went into flight mode.  I tried hollering at Chase but he wasn't listening, so finally I opened the miniature pasture and everyone went running into there.  Including the sheep.  In the smaller confines I was able to subdue Chase and safely collect Pixie and Blossom and put them out in the big pasture by themselves.  However the mini pasture really isn't big enough for four horses so I sent Aussie back out into the big pasture with the minis.  Now Aussie is the complete opposite of Chase.  He is our big sweetheart.  The gentle giant.  All the horses love him.  And he knows exactly how to calm an upset horse and show them he can be trusted.  Pixie was still in a state of panic when I sent Aussie in after her and began running once again.

But Aussie, my big loveable boy who only wants everyone to love him, only followed at a safe distance.

Unil Pixie realized he was not trying to harm her or her baby and finally came to a stop.

I allowed them relax and return to grazing before I sent Sierra into the big pasture as well.  Next to Aussie, she is our other super sweet horse and wouldn't hurt a fly.  She entered the pasture and nonchalantly walked up to Aussie and began grazing without even noticing Pixie or her Blossom.  When Pixie looked up and saw her she instantly panicked and went into flight mode again.

But the only reaction she got from  Sierra was a curious glance before returning back to grazing.

At which Pixie relaxed immediately and all was well in the big pasture once again.  As for Chloe and Chase?  Well Chloe was allowed to join them later and as I predicted did not care one iota about the presence of Pixie and her baby.  The more the merrier.  Besides she was part of the click.  Chase however, is in detention and being kept in the mini pasture with the pesky billy goat as his only companion until he learns to get along.

    I'll end this post by letting Sierra tell Chase exactly what she thinks of him and his bullying.

Growth

 The wild raspberries along the driveway are almost ready for eating.

I can't wait.

Our driveway is also full of these pretty purple flowers.  I have no idea what they are and have been telling myself for the past couple years to find out.

And if you ask it on Facebook, you shall be answered.  They are Crown Vetch/Coronilla Varia wildflowers.  So glad I asked, when I looked them up I discovered they are very toxic to horses.

My neighbour's corn is really beginning to sprout.

So are mine!

I love the look of corn fields that go on forever.

Also in my garden, the onions have sprouted!

Farm Girl planted some lilies last summer and they have bloomed so pretty!

Please ignore the countless weeds also sprouting wildy around it.  Weeding the flower bed is on my to-do-list.

Working Dogs

There is a popular blog that I read which had an incident with working dogs that caused a lot of responses, some not all what the author of the blog liked hearing. She wrote a follow up post regarding her working dogs that had me concerned.  In it she defended their actions (or excused them) based on their breed.  As if what they had done was okay because they were only doing or behaving the way they were bred to do.  I agree with her to an extent.

All dogs are bred for one thing or another, most dogs however no longer are used for those purposes and are used as family pets only.  However, there are some dogs that are still utilized exactly for what they were bred for and they are referred to as working dogs.  Some of these dogs are used specifically and only for working purposes and some are both working dogs but also treated like pets.  It is this latter group that the line between working and pet can often get blurred.  But no matter whether it is solely as a working dog or as a pet, that dog needs to be trained.  To leave a dog to it's natural instincts is a dangerous thought.  Actually, in my opinion, anyone who thinks it is okay to leave a dog out in the field "working" without ever having any formal training, should not be allowed to own those dogs.

Consequently, it is these same people who are too frightened to get between their dog and whatever item/person/animal it thinks it is rightfully guarding off or attacking.  Again, if you are too frightened of your dog when it goes into attack mode, you should not be allowed to own that dog.  Obviously, that breed of dog has too much power for you to control.  Control is the key word here.  You must be able to control your dog.  Whether it be a working dog or not.  It may be a inconsequential victim this time, but next time it could be a lot worse and you could be facing charges if not something a lot worse.  Your dog is your responsibility!  If you cannot control your dog then you should not be allowed to own it.  That requires repeating because so many people don't get that!  Yes, I know, shocking!

All dogs should know the commands stay, come, lie down, and leave it.  There are a ton of more commands out there but these are the ones that all my dogs must learn and obey. These commands are the ones that are going to keep her safe as well as any of her unsuspecting victims.  If they do not know these commands, then I can guarantee you are going to have a problem.

All dogs would love nothing more than to be left doing what instincts tell them to do, but we all know that is not in the dogs best interest.  In the case of a LGD that urge to leave them to their own instincts is even greater because their instinct is to do exactly what you want them to do.  Guard your flock.  However, these breeds don't know a coyote from your neighbour's cute little Pomeranian.  If it walks or moves and is too close to the flock in their opinion, that cute little Pomeranian is going down.  Which you can pretty much guarantee is followed by a lawsuit.  Which is really nothing compared to the horror you will feel knowing your dog has killed your neighbour's beloved pet.

Of course in the case of LGD you are not around the majority of the time to help your dog identify the correct intruder so there will be mistaken identities no doubt about it, but if you do encounter your LGD and your neighbour's cute little Pomeranian locked in a death bite, you should be able to call off your dog with a simple command or two. Dog's enter into what I refer to as the "red zone".  That is when attack mode moves into kill mode.  When that occurs it is next to impossible to pull your dog off it's victim.  Even more reason to work with your dog, teach her those vital commands, and have complete control over your dog.  Only then can you really love and appreciate your dog to it's fullest.

It's True

It was the water line going toward the barn. :(

And goats do eat thistle.

Water Problems

We've had this small puddle slowly forming in our backyard since winter.

We are not on a well here but actually on town water so I initially thought the water line had bust but this puddle is in the backyard and I'm pretty certain the town water is coming from the front yard.  Then Oldest's boyfriend thought it was our septic needing to be drained and cleaned.  Since living in the country is all new to me, I naturally had to look up what he was talking about after which I had my doubts since the water didn't smell nor did I think it was close enough to the house.

Even further from the bathrooms which are the far window to the right of the house above.  But not knowing what else it could be, I called up the septic people today and they came out and took a look.  The guy had worked on my house before we lived here and new where the septic tank was, and it wasn't there.  In fact, it was close to the house as I had researched, near that pile of wood in the right corner in the above photo.  He scratched his head trying to figure it out and then asked if there was any water going to the barn.  Why yes there is, I said.

It was his guess that it was the water line from the house to the barn that has formed a crack.  The septic tank was nowhere near here.  Relieved that it wasn't a troublesome septic tank, I now must worry if it is the water line to the barn and how much that will cost to repair.  I went into the dungeon basement and stared at all the pipes running every which way down there.

I vaguely recall the owner before telling me which valve was for the barn so reached in among all those pipes and cobwebs and shut it off.

After which I went to the barn to see if I got the right valve, which I did.  But it also shut off the water to the hose outside the drive shed which fills the miniature pasture, and the backyard hose, as well as the front yard hose.  If he's right and it's the water line to the barn, it's going to be fun hauling water to the barn until it eventually gets fixed.

On a side note while we are talking about water problems, I am certain everyone has heard about the flooding in Alberta.  My daughter who I refer to as Farm Girl, is in Alberta working there over the summer.  She is safe and sound but not unaffected by this horrible natural disaster.  The stables where she worked were flooded and she along with the rest of the town of Banff were stranded as the highways east and west of them were either flooded or damaged from mudslides.

Naturally, as her mother, I was pretty freaked out by the images I was seeing over the news and internet.  I did not want my baby stuck in a place that was experiencing such a horrible natural disaster.  I wanted her home with me.  There is no worse feeling ever then not being able to help.  She however kept reassuring me she was fine.  Her home had not flooded and she was warm and dry.  Heck, with all her free time she even managed to do some sightseeing along with a group of co-workers.  This event certainly is not what I wanted for my daughter's first big adventure away from home, but she is handling the situation very well.  So I am taking a cue from her and relaxing and not worrying so much.  

http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2013/06/homestead-barn-hop-116.html

Week 8

By this time, I thought our broilers would be ready for slaughter.  I haven't weighed them but am thinking they look too small yet so have decided to hold off for another few weeks.  We love chicken in my family and a small broiler just won't do the trick.

Manure Anyone?

I'm not 100% sure why chickens love manure other than the wonderful worms, bugs, undigested food that can be found within.  It supposedly makes a difference in the way they taste and their level of vitamins and nutrients.  But as I have yet to eat one of my chickens, I can't attest to that.  But unlike so many farms where they use rotational gazing with chickens, they will often rotate along with another livestock such as cattle or pigs.  I have neither.  I do have sheep, but they are on the opposite pasture along with the horses.

Not wanting my chicks to be missing out on any valuable nutrients, I brought them some fresh yummy manure from the mini pasture.

Initially, they came rushing from the cool shade of the coop believing I was tossing them yet another scoop of their favourite grain.

But then they were like, "What the heck?!  This is nothing but sh**!"  And promptly turned their beaks away.

I figured I owned the only chickens on the planet that didn't think fresh manure was the equivalent to a chicken delicacy.  But then I remembered this was their first time ever having a taste of it and should rightfully be wary.  

It took some braves souls (and a swarm of bugs around the manure) to finally lure the chickens into investigating this new food.

I believe the verdict was good.

I'll be definitely adding manure to my chickens diet from now until slaughter.