Riddle:
You have a bag of chicken feed, a fox, and a chicken. You come to a river that you can't swim across, but there is a boat. The boat is only big enough for you to take two (2) things with you at a time. How do you get all three items across the river?
Yeah... that's the life we seem to be living lately.
One of our goals is to have goats, as you all have read. However, a couple of weeks ago, a neighbor told us he had seen coyotes in the fields. Seeing as we have deer free-roaming and a water source running around our entire subdivision, I'm not terribly surprised. I am however frustrated.
This means we have to get a guardian dog.
For those who are newer than us to this, a guard dog is different than a guardian dog.
A guard dog imprints on you and your family, protecting you as if you were theirs - which, admittedly, we are. Let's not kid ourselves. Our three dogs allow us to feed them and, in their world, we should be grateful for the privilege. (With one pup named Princess Buttercup, who were we kidding anyway?)
A guardian dog imprints on the livestock, protecting and caring for them as if they were theirs, or their family.
We've never had a guardian dog and weren't really sure how to go about this, but we also didn't want to lose any goats because we had underprepared.
Es no bueno...
(Thank you, Four-Years-of-High-School-Spanish. I have finally put you to use. For those wanting to know where the escuela is, you're out of luck.)
Guardian Dog Research
Quickly, I did a loooooooot of research (which I now understand why anyone under 18 thinks they know everything since their version of research involves Starbucks and a bunch of clicks. They don't even have to read anything, in some cases. They click a button and it'll read it aloud. Next decade, maybe we'll all just have to slather knowledge on like butter, rub in in like lotion and poof, you know everything.)
Anyway, I tracked down this one person who breeds non-registered Great Pyrenees dogs. (The research available said they were fantastic guardian dogs, especially with goats.) On our drive home, Big Daddy and I phoned the breeder up and chit-chatted about a few details. The breeder asked us what animals we were going to be adding, and we started our short list, "Goats, chickens, maybe rabbits.." I said.
"Yeah, you'll have to get those first," she said.
"The goats?" I asked.
"Nope," she said. "The chickens. You gotta get them while she's still a pup. When they can still put her in her place. Otherwise, she'll eat chase 'em...might even kill 'em."
Say what?!
I had been spending weeks and weeks, pouring over every book on goats I could get my hands on. I have signed up for Facebook groups about small farms. I have read blogs about the virtues of every goat imaginable. And now, I had to get chickens first.
It's not that I don't like chickens. I actually do like them. In fact, we were planning on getting them.
Eventually.
Suddenly, I felt as if I'd studied for a math test for weeks, only to find out on the day, it wouldn't be for another two weeks, but the science one was in ten minutes.
Chicken Research
Over the next two days, Evelyn Wood had nothing on me. I sped-read everything I had skimmed before. I searched. I googled. I got a freaking headache from all the chicken knowledge I had stuff in my brain that was now pounding up against my skull.
From my research, we picked out Wyandottes and a backup of Buff Orringtons. Websites were filled with how they were good egg layers, friendly, and - most importantly in an urban area - quiet.
Great Pyrenees Breeder Research
Last Saturday, we drove up to Northeast Tennessee to see about a pup. We learned a few difficult things:
We'll be back up in two weeks to claim her. We needed to get some things in order before we were descended by a playful puppy who needed to be trained.
Plus, our housemate, Rachel, needed to buy the pup some toys... don't let her kid you, she's a sucker for puppies...and dogs...and any animal that doesn't resemble a snake.
Chicken Breeder Research
On our way back home, we decided to stop at the Poultry Hollow in Carthage, TN. The owners have over 55 breeds of birds...and they have pigs, and dogs, and sheep, and goats, and sneaky donkeys (as the sign coming into the place tells you.)
The owner was patient with us, knowing that we were starting out. We told her what our goals were, what we had to work with, and what we gleaned from our research.
She looked at me with the patience of mother with a backward child. If she had reached out to patted me on the head, I wouldn't have been surprised.
She lead us towards the ISA Browns, mainly because they are excellent layers and they were friendly. We watched her box up a few for a small family that had come to extend their small brood with a new variety. The beaks poked out as the little girls jumped back.
By the end of the day, we had spent a good hour talking with the owner, and not just about chickens. She has a fair amount of animals I hadn't seen up close, including a white turkey.
But as we drove away, we knew we'd gotten some good advice and at least weren't going to overwhelm ourselves.
So, for us, the pup comes first, then a few hours, then chickens, then a few weeks later, the goats. In the meantime, we start building new habitats for them all.
Whew!
Oh, and if you want the answer to the riddle above, it's more simple than you think...
First, you take the fox and the chicken feed across. You leave the fox and take the feed back with you. Then you take the chicken and the feed across.
That's it.
Sometimes, you have to go backwards to go forwards.
If you like this blog, feel free to share it with others (the copyrights still apply!)
Also, sign up to follow this blog so you'll get them fresh off the presses!
You have a bag of chicken feed, a fox, and a chicken. You come to a river that you can't swim across, but there is a boat. The boat is only big enough for you to take two (2) things with you at a time. How do you get all three items across the river?
Yeah... that's the life we seem to be living lately.
One of our goals is to have goats, as you all have read. However, a couple of weeks ago, a neighbor told us he had seen coyotes in the fields. Seeing as we have deer free-roaming and a water source running around our entire subdivision, I'm not terribly surprised. I am however frustrated.
This means we have to get a guardian dog.
For those who are newer than us to this, a guard dog is different than a guardian dog.
A guard dog imprints on you and your family, protecting you as if you were theirs - which, admittedly, we are. Let's not kid ourselves. Our three dogs allow us to feed them and, in their world, we should be grateful for the privilege. (With one pup named Princess Buttercup, who were we kidding anyway?)
A guardian dog imprints on the livestock, protecting and caring for them as if they were theirs, or their family.
We've never had a guardian dog and weren't really sure how to go about this, but we also didn't want to lose any goats because we had underprepared.
Es no bueno...
(Thank you, Four-Years-of-High-School-Spanish. I have finally put you to use. For those wanting to know where the escuela is, you're out of luck.)
Guardian Dog Research
Quickly, I did a loooooooot of research (which I now understand why anyone under 18 thinks they know everything since their version of research involves Starbucks and a bunch of clicks. They don't even have to read anything, in some cases. They click a button and it'll read it aloud. Next decade, maybe we'll all just have to slather knowledge on like butter, rub in in like lotion and poof, you know everything.)
Anyway, I tracked down this one person who breeds non-registered Great Pyrenees dogs. (The research available said they were fantastic guardian dogs, especially with goats.) On our drive home, Big Daddy and I phoned the breeder up and chit-chatted about a few details. The breeder asked us what animals we were going to be adding, and we started our short list, "Goats, chickens, maybe rabbits.." I said.
"Yeah, you'll have to get those first," she said.
"The goats?" I asked.
"Nope," she said. "The chickens. You gotta get them while she's still a pup. When they can still put her in her place. Otherwise, she'll eat chase 'em...might even kill 'em."
Say what?!
I had been spending weeks and weeks, pouring over every book on goats I could get my hands on. I have signed up for Facebook groups about small farms. I have read blogs about the virtues of every goat imaginable. And now, I had to get chickens first.
It's not that I don't like chickens. I actually do like them. In fact, we were planning on getting them.
Eventually.
Suddenly, I felt as if I'd studied for a math test for weeks, only to find out on the day, it wouldn't be for another two weeks, but the science one was in ten minutes.
Chicken Research
 |
| Black-laced Wyandotte |
 |
| Blue-laced Wyandotte |
Great Pyrenees Breeder Research
Last Saturday, we drove up to Northeast Tennessee to see about a pup. We learned a few difficult things:
- The pup should glom onto the animals and not us. This meant no human food and no bringing her in the house. As the breeder said, "You can turn them into pets afterwards, but you can't turn them into guardians later."
- You can't bring her inside the house unless you want her to lose all her coat and be incredibly uncomfortable. Great Pyrenees have coats so thick that if you do bring them inside, they will likely plot your death in the afternoon. They get overheated and love being outdoors. Seeing as I don't want to sleep with one eye open, the pup stays outside.
- Getting chickens would have to happen before or with the pup. "She'll get big quick," the breeder said. "Give the chickens as chance to tell her to back off."
 |
| Our new Great Pyrenees addition |
We'll be back up in two weeks to claim her. We needed to get some things in order before we were descended by a playful puppy who needed to be trained.
Plus, our housemate, Rachel, needed to buy the pup some toys... don't let her kid you, she's a sucker for puppies...and dogs...and any animal that doesn't resemble a snake.
Chicken Breeder Research
On our way back home, we decided to stop at the Poultry Hollow in Carthage, TN. The owners have over 55 breeds of birds...and they have pigs, and dogs, and sheep, and goats, and sneaky donkeys (as the sign coming into the place tells you.)
The owner was patient with us, knowing that we were starting out. We told her what our goals were, what we had to work with, and what we gleaned from our research.
She looked at me with the patience of mother with a backward child. If she had reached out to patted me on the head, I wouldn't have been surprised.
 |
| ISA Brown |
 |
| The infamous white turkey |
But as we drove away, we knew we'd gotten some good advice and at least weren't going to overwhelm ourselves.
 |
| Calf that seemed very interested in my camera |
Whew!
Oh, and if you want the answer to the riddle above, it's more simple than you think...
First, you take the fox and the chicken feed across. You leave the fox and take the feed back with you. Then you take the chicken and the feed across.
That's it.
Sometimes, you have to go backwards to go forwards.
If you like this blog, feel free to share it with others (the copyrights still apply!)
Also, sign up to follow this blog so you'll get them fresh off the presses!
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