Buckling
We bred some of our does to freshen in the fall instead of the spring and the babies are just arriving. Recently, our doe, Clown, delivered twins, a doe and a buckling. The doeling was so big I had to help pull her into the world. The buck is the smaller guy. Go figure. Both are doing well and starting to explore the goat shed.

Hondo-Festiva

We’ve been hearing a lot of coyotes lately. For the first few years, they were very scarce, but lately, there have been a lot more. Our dogs, Spencer and Hondo, are very watchful and let the critters know in no uncertain terms that they are to stay in the woods! Hondo, especially, watches everything. He even watches airplanes and birds fly by. In fact, he is so watchful that he hopped up on top of our old Festiva’s roof to sit and survey the surrounding area! (I’m glad he chose the old car, not our Subaru!)

Hondo-watching

The other day I was watering our big steers and heard a noise above me. It was Hondo, up ON THE ROOF OF OUR STOCK TRAILER, watching the pasture below! Will says he had even climbed up on the hay bales and hopped into the loft of the new barn so he could watch the pasture. Now THAT’S a watchdog! — Jackie

13 COMMENTS

  1. Tami/TX

    I used to have a commercial dairy goat herd and routinely had does come into heat during the spring/summer and I could breed to keep a steady flow of milk to sell at a cheese factory. They don’t display so much heat signs in the warmer months, but often do cycle.

  2. Holly,

    Dogs can be funny. My first Lab’s father was one heck of a duck and goose retriever. One day on the blind, his master discovered his Lab bringing in a goose the man had not shot. On turning, he saw a pile of ducks and geese behind him….that he also had not shot. Then behind the dog came an irate hunter. Seems the Lab had gotten bored with the slack hunting and had gone off and retrieved birds from others’ blinds!

  3. Ralphy,

    Yes, I know coyotes are tough. I don’t think Hondo is old enough to really attack a coyote but he sure gets mad when they come around and tears off to bark savagely at them. (But he does like Spencer right behind him.) In New Mexico, we had two older Labs and a collie. When the coyotes came around the whole “pack” would rush out barking. Pup, our male would bowl right into them and coyote hair would fly! Wab, our spayed female would just stay back and bark. The collie would stop at the fence and bark. AND our cat, Pedro Gonzales, would charge after them. But stop at the fence. We sure didn’t want Pedro to “catch” a coyote. It was funny to see all four go “chase” coyotes off, though! (Pup never got a bite and, of course, had his rabies shots up to date.)

  4. MayKits,

    We “think” Hondo is Australian Shepherd/neighboring dog? as the people he came from have an Austrailian Shepherd mom dog. The Papa? Who knows? Sometimes I think it was a wolf! He has yellow eyes and looks you right in the eye like a wolf does. Just kidding about the wolf cross but we sure don’t know about the papa.

  5. Interesting having dairy goats kid at this time of year. Meat goats breed year around…….. Dairy goats…….. They are seasonal. Fall through about Feb. Gestation 150+/- a few. I have raised registered dairy for 12 years. I went with bottle babies (ALL (and I mean ALL) dairy goats should be bottle raised) from December until September…….. I am ready for this break. I have 24 does, 3 bucks and then the “heathens”.

  6. Our Hunting/farm/watch dog took off yesterday to work for a “guest” hunter……pointed, flushed and retrieved pheasants for him. Glad it was someone we knew…..others might not have returned him! A good dog is worth MORE than his/her weight in gold!

  7. It’s good to see Hondo taking ownership. The question is, is his bite as good as his bark? Coyotes may not be all that big but they’re tough buddy!

  11. Wow, that is some awesome watching. What breed(s) is Hondo. I love reading about your farm and the activities on it. Thank you so much!

  12. Hondo does look like a great dog. Tell Will to get busy with the cement mixer. I’ll expect to see some results soon.

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