Spring is 58 days away. This is really my first winter here, though I moved in March of 2011, but last winter was so mild with temperatures hovering around minus 10 and so little snow in comparison with the over 2 feet we currently have, it hardly counts. I have learned some things that need to be amended for next winter. 

I find it impossible to open the gates for example. I am not sure how to alleviate that problem, other than dig my way out all the time. The main gate to the farm has to be kept free of snow or no vehicles will be able to move in or out. I have a snow blower, but hate to use it because there is no exhaust emission control and it blows bad exhaust in my face. I come in smelling of it..gross!

I understand fully why there are granaries and feed storage buildings, and why hay storage areas have roofs, as do most wood storage places. A simple pole shed would be adequate to keep the heavy snow and ice from the tarps. It makes it impossible to get underneath to get at the hay and if they hay is exposed it becomes too heavy and frozen to the ground. The dogs need better dog houses too. In minus 20 or higher it is not so bad for them because they are livestock guardians with very thick downy undercoats, but their feet get cold, especially Harley's. I do not know what his first 2 years were like, but when I rescued him, he was only 69 pounds and should have weighed double. Maybe he was not fed enough and it affected his body. He is such a great dog that he deserves to have an insulated and heated house for this frigid land. 

So, in preparation for next winter, a roof over the wood, a pole shed for hay and a feed storage unit all need to be in place to make life easier for all, plus a hot water faucet to provide warm water for the waterfowl to swim in and the goats and rabbits to drink . They do not do well in the cold and warm water helps them keep hydrated. In the meantime, I am counting down to spring....only 58 days!

Jade and Jenna, the Maremma sisters, are almost 5 months old. Ofcharka just turned a year in December. Already the puppies are as tall as Robbie, the border collie, but should never grow as large as Ofcharka. Female Maremmas are lighter and smaller than the males and Ofcharka, being a mix of 4 livestock guardian breeds, is humungous, so he will always be bigger. He is very shy though, still. When the pups are with the big dogs now, it is sometimes hard to tell them apart from Harley, the full grown male Maremma, because they are getting so big. 
One thing the dogs love to do is to be up high. In natural settings, the guardian dogs find vantage points where they can run full surveillance of their domains, so that is usually on high ground. They can often be found on the top of the large bales of hay, curled up sleeping during the day, but one is not to think they are oblivious to their surroundings, for if there were any need for their protection, they are up like a lightening bolt and working immediately. The puppies and Ofcharka cannot jump onto the top of a large round bale, and they think themselves quite special now that they can climb on to the top of the small haystack of square bales. Even Sally the cat and Robbie joined in on this day. They are simply beautiful, those big doggies!

Nigerian Dwarf Goats are the absolute sweetest natured creatures. The four new ladies to the Fat Ewe Farm are miniature Nigerians, just over a foot tall at the withers. The black and white one has beautiful blue eyes and I think the cream one does too, but have not been able to see her eyes in all lights. She may have blue and gold eyes, that is with blue centers and brown surrounding iris areas. That is how they appear. The goats were bred to a black and white miniature Nigerian Dwarf Buck, who did not come along to the farm. Nigerian Dwarf goats are a small dairy breed, but their milk is richer than the large dairy goats, similar to the Pygmy goat milk, which can have 11% butterfat compared to 3% for the average dairy goat. These girls, at one year old, are smaller than the six month old standard bred Nigerian Dwarf doeling that was born on the farm to Daphne, a beautiful full size Nigerian Doe. They are friendly little ones and obviously have been grain fed, because whenever they see a bucket they begin to call out. Ruminants on the Fat Ewe Farm are not grain fed. After doing much research, it seems the stomach of a ruminent is designed to process rough forage and grain can actually make a goat sick unless given in small amounts like candy. They do digest the entire whole kernels, unlike pigs or humans, that have single stomachs. For treats, the goats sometimes get rabbit pellets, which do have grain in them, along with minerals and vitamins and alfalfa. Rabbits and goats require similar diets. Goats are browsers, related to deer in their eating habits and rabbits also browse, preferring leaves, berries, shrubs, bark and flowers to just grass. 

What have you got there Jenna? It seems you have something that is very very interesting? May I see it? Jenna? Hello? Hey, Jenna???

Well, it turns out Jenna did not want Robbie or anyone else to see what she had, so like an ostrich, she hid her head and something in the snow bank. Upon close investigation, it was discovered that Jenna had an egg, not a frozen egg, but a nice fresh egg. She stole it from the hen house and hid it so she could eat it up without being discovered, only Robbie, being a highly curious fellow himself and of course, always interested in a mystery, especially if it might involve food, wanted to see. 

Jenna was seriously reprimanded for this transgression, but I have feeling that will not be enough. She is extremely intelligent and the most intelligent dogs are sometimes hard to train because they are so independent in their thinking. Jenna may find the next few eggs not so much to her liking because they will be filled with cayenne pepper and hot sauce. Let's hope she learns fast. 

Jenna must learn that if I give her an egg, which I sometimes do, it is different than her stealing one. When I give the dogs eggs, usually they are cooked and mashed with the shell, but on occasion, when one is broken or cracked, I will further break it out of the shell and let them have the contents. All the dogs need to learn the difference between taking and giving. Her 'serious reprimand' was the removal of the egg (shell left) from her and a scolding. A smart dog needs little else than his master's disapproval, though may need it reinforced quite a few times, in order to learn. 

For example, when I have food and eat in front of the dogs, they must sit at a distance from me and not expect to eat. This is pack leader behaviour. Then when I have had my fill, if there is food left, they will also eat. I never feed the dogs food I am eating though. I will deliberately eat in front of them and order them to stand down. If they approach I reprimand, similar to the pack leader growling with teeth shown and ears erect. I cannot put my ears erect, but sometimes do show teeth, especially to puppies. Last year when I butchered a bear, all the dogs were around me, but none approached. You can imagine the chaos and fighting if this hierarchy was not early established. 

Eggs can be blown out and filled with any combination of bad things, hot sauce and flour with cayenne, being a very common one. I have done this for a hen who was eating her own eggs, plus put a golf ball down for her to peck all day long. It does not really hurt them, but they think twice about eating eggs in the future. 

There are also roll away nests that collect the eggs where hens and dogs do not have access. When all else fails, that is an option. 

So, if I give a dog an egg, it is because I am the pack leader and they are allowed to have it. Stealing just cannot be permitted. I was training Anna, my rough collie whom I loved so much, to collect the eggs in her mouth and bring them to me. Maybe if Jenna shows an interest, she can be trained to do that, but Maremmas are not noted for that type of trained behaviour because of their thousands of years of breeding to think independently. 
Thanks for asking Moab.

Bil arrived on the farm, along with 8 little ladies, the day before yesterday. He is a very gentle, easy going good looking guy, just like his namesake, but right now, he is also stinky, not like his namesake. Boy goats get that way when they are breeding, called being 'in rut'. They actually pee on themselves, right in their faces and yes, folks, lick it up. The urine stains their usually beautiful coats and the hormones in the urine give the billy goat and irresistible scent, at least to the goat females. The rest of us are not so up on that as an attraction. Of the 8 girls that arrived with him, he has bred 5. The other 4 are miniature Nigerian Dwarfs bred to a Miniature Nigerian buck. These goats will kid in May. The ladies of The Fat Ewe Farm will kid a month later in June. Many farms breed their goats early for winter kidding, but with the frigid temperatures of northern Alberta, the goats must be kept in the barn and be involved in intense management for early kidding or the kids will freeze. For The Fat Ewe Farm, it is so much easier to allow the does to kid naturally in the pasture in May and June when the weather is warm and there is no danger of hypothermia. That does not mean that attention can be elsewhere, for when a doe has 3 babies, she needs a little help getting them cleaned up and breathing, especially when they arrive with no time in between. Anyhow, we are pleased to welcome Bil to the farm. Welome Bil, you handsome buddy!

The new goats have arrived including a wonderful gentle and stinky billy. He will breed the Alpine dairy goat, producing a small dairy goat called a kinder, hopefully female. He will also breed the 2 Nigerian Dwarf nannies and the Pygmy nanny, plus he as bred 4 of the ladies he arrived with. 
The other 4 goats are miniature Nigerian Dwarf doelings, a year old and they are bred to a pure miniature Nigerian Dwarf  buck, who did not come along. When the Angora goats arrive, goats that mohair is derived from, if the Angora buck breeds the other goats they will likely produce varied degrees of mohair on their kids. Any goat produces cashmere, which is the downy fluff that insulates them for winter. This has to be combed out, or rather teased out and varies in fineness and in the amount produced. Pygmy goats can produce a good amount of cashmere for their size, but not all do. Cashmere is not a goat breed, but any goat with the propensity to have a very wooly down undercoat. Dogs, particularly double coated breeds like the Maremmas on the farm, and the border collie, also produce a spinnable fibre from their down undercoats. Getting the dogs used to being brushed makes for an easier time teasing the fibre from their coats in spring, when it is naturally shed, as happens with the goats as well. Pure Angoras do not shed their coats though, and must be shorn. The new Billy is named Bil, after a good friend. Both are rather handsome guys, but our friend is not a stinky goat, thank goodness! Welcome Bil!

Rooster or Hen??? 


Oh boy. Telling the difference between and rooster and hen when the chicks are young is not so easy with all breeds. With some, there is a marked difference in several aspects; colour, pattern, comb and the hangy down things called wattles. The legs are thicker and there is a cape of feather on a rooster that is not prominent on a hen. The broody hatched chicks 4 months old and a practiced eye and experience chicken farmer should be able to tell the sexes apart. There is a bit of a problem, an anomoly, with cross bred chicks though....one does not know what they are supposed to look like so there is nothing to compare to. Telling the Australorps apart was simple because the roosters grow a much larger comb than the hens , even at a very early age. The Orpingons were similar, but these cross breds are difficult. It is almost time for the rooster to go to the butcher shop, before the testosterone starts toughening the meat, which will be in a few weeks if their hormomes are on schedule. So far, they all stay, but that will only be until their sex can be determined for sure. Then, sadly, it is the fate of a cross bred rooster to be utilized for his caracass, sometimes feathers, but certainly not wasted. They cannot be sold - no one wants a cross bred rooster, so there is only one thing that can happen. Thank you little roosters for your lives and thank you Creator for thinking up chickens in that fantastic mind of yours. I am grateful to both.