size matters

Well in the case of space for outruns that is. I decided to remove my small pen and enlarge my field area. I used the fencing from the pen to continue fencing off my property line and I only need about 80' more to finish it off. There is a few strands of barbwire that was there when I bought the place so I can now keep the sheep and goats out there for the day without them getting loose. Walter the wether goat is the only one who likes to explore anyway and he doesn't go far if he does get out.

The telephone pole marked the corner of my small pen which was 60' X 60'. I called it a rectangular pen and I said that to Vergil one day that my pen was rectangular and he said how can it be rectangular if its 60' x 60'? Well he got me there but I swear it did look like a rectangle instead of a square! 

I had to leave a barrier up by the telephone pole wires so the sheep/dogs don't get hurt running into them. So I took some of the scrap house siding and made little panels out of them. 

This is the only escape route now. This tree fell last month onto my property. It's about 20' in and smashed down the barbwire fencing there. I need to remove it and the brush and bushes around it so I can finish fencing. I'm just glad it came down before I finished my fencing.

The sheep are liking the larger area. Not much left to graze on but they are finding something.

This is my ram lamb. I hope he's done a good job with my ewes. I should have lambs beginning of March. He's Dorper/Katahdin

The "Old Man" of almost 12 yrs.

The "Oldest Man" of 13 1/2 yrs and still trying to fetch a frisbee

I haven't been able to use my good (and I use the term loosely) camera since June. I lost my battery charger and regular batteries only last about 2 pictures for some reason. I finally got one the other day and found pictures I hadn't uploaded to my computer, from June. Everything was so green then! These were taken on the closed golf course behind my house where I go walking almost everyday.

I need to find someone with a good enough dog to hold sheep for me out here so I can do some good outruns with Crue. He can only go about 75yrds on my little piece of land. Out here on the golf course we can go 400 +yds or more. Not that he's ready for that yet, but he is doing really well. He's started driving a bit also and is really listening to me.

I like this picture of my dogs walking on the golf course trail.

I can hardly wait till spring again!

Team work

We were redoing the kennels so all the dogs were out running around for hours. I think Seth got bored.
Meg will stare at sheep, goats, guineas, chickens, tv, for hours at a time. She was just laying there in her glory staring at all the livestock for hours and Seth decided to use her as a buffer for his game. It's called "hold the birdies"

Meg didn't care as long as she could just lay there and play the game without having to move. At one point he was pushing them right into her but she was so intent on watching the chickens IN the pen she didn't even notice all the birds bumping into her.

I've taught Seth that putting the guineas away, or getting them unstuck from behind a fence, can be done by just continuing to push them around until they've had enough pressure on them and they'll fly over the fence. Seth loves this job and I guess after  having fun at the  TN Hold Em game he decided it was time for them to go home.

You'll note that even though this bird took off right over her she still doesn't bother to get up.

Just one more and my job is done!

And then there is my house protector. Some people buy those plastic owls decoys to put on their houses. I prefer the more natural means.

This is Phoebe the Pea Hen

the grass is always greener....

or in this case the guineas.
Meg is now 10 yrs old so she pretty much does as she wishes. I don't work her anymore (much) so she works herself. She would be content to either watch hours of sheepdog videos or watch the livestock in the yard. I never knew she would work birds until I saw her moving strangely one day, like in slow motion. Then I saw a flock of guineas in front of her. With sheep she is very pushy and fast but with the birds she was very very slow and kept a distance. The other day she was obsessing on them through the fence like usual but then I noticed something funny. One guinea was out right by her but she paid him no attention at all. The one's behind the fence were much more interesting for some reason. Meg is a strange one.

She does look at the sheep and goats too however. Nobody likes Walter, the whether goat. NOBODY. Walter thinks he's boss of everyone. He runs the sheep off, he butts the guineas and chickens away and he snubs his nose at the dogs.

Meg does not like that.

And this has got to stop!!!! 

I'm really getting tired of cleaning up guinea poop!! I try to make sure they roost on the chicken house, but sometimes they sneak up here or on the dog kennels. They are messy, stinky birds!