OUR ACCIDENTAL PUPPY MIRACLE. AND WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY

As many of you know our dog had puppies on the homestead a few weeks ago. As many of you don't know, this was not planned.

I had wanted to breed her in the future, coincidentally the dog who performed the act was in fact the sire I already had in mind! Lucky me huh? 

 Miss Panda

Or not. At least they are full breed so they can be sold to help pay for mama to be spayed. And hopeful;;y begin the savings for an ACL surgery our other dod badly needs. Here are my girls.. Mama is Dollie (left) and my older girl, Dixie Mae (right) who is the one needing surgery.

Don't get me wrong I love puppies, but since my female dog is quite young to be having a litter, I was scared for her. And she is proving to be a realitely attentive mother. Although she does sit on them from time to time.... I can only imagine what's it's like to have seven babies.. Yeesh. 

Anyway, as this wasn't planned and I hadn't much time to think ahead. It was hard to tell if she was pregnant originally. Taking her to a vet for an X-ray seemed an unnecessary intervention for something she can instinctually handle. Nonetheless the last few days of her pregnancy were slightly stressful.

She was bred twice. I know you're probably wondering how the heck this was an accident, and I'll touch on that story later. But I will say this, if you've ever had to wrangle two, prime aged pit bulls, you are in for a chore my friend. 

The first time the two were found stuck together was June 30th. Shortly after, I believe only 5 days later it happened again. Since the average gestation for this size dog is 63 days, I assumed we would see puppies by August 31st. They came on the 29th. Seven fat and noisy puppies. 

Unfortunately the last puppy to arrive, number eight, didn't make it. She got stuck with what remained of the after birth, and mama being so tired couldn't gather anymore strength to push. 

Dogs are very intuitive, being so I, believe Dollie knew the pup had already passed away. She didn't show much interest in her or our attempts to revive her. She simply went on tending to the other seven. 

At least next time I'll have already done this. I'll have already learned how to help birth a pup and felt their first breaths. Next time a puppy gets stuck, I'll have a more direct route to a resolution, instead of a shot in the dark. 

If we ever breed dogs on purpose.. There are a few things I would do differently.

First I would create a birthing kit. Being equipped with some medical essentials to help mama throughout birth was very helpful. Granted, I had the things I needed, they just weren't properly organized... so yes there was a little scrambling after I had noticed she'd already dropped the first pup.

Second, creating a better whelping box may have helped. She had just enough room in her oversized kennel (with the top removed) but as more puppies came it started to seem cramped. After all the mess was cleaned she was happy in there for a bit. Now it is even more cramped than before, since these puppies are growing like weeds, we have to either make mama get in or just bring the puppies out on a blanket to her. Its simply too hot to nurse 7 pups all confined like that.

Thirdly.... babies stink. Especially puppies. We have a relatively small house, luckily its still warm enough to have windows open. But they need a better place to grow...that is not in my house. At almost 3 weeks old they are beginning to go everywhere! I am in the process of buying a large round play pen for them to have outside. Having the luxury of planning your litters is better in regards to weather since its far too cold to have them in our separated garage at night. For now they are fine, as some have already found their forever homes, so I won't have tons of puppies for much longer.

I'm cherishing their fat, adorable yet stinky butts while I can. I love babies, what can I say? And watching them nurse with mama? Gah, my heart melts every time. I'm in love.


Savoring the puppy breath..

Q

PASTURED CHICKENS: WEEK 3

It has been a hustlin' bustlin' last two weeks on the homestead! We checked a few things off the task list and are happy to say were making progress early this Spring! The most exciting of which was getting the rangers outside into their new pasture pen!

When we began this portion of our meat project it was our dream to pasture the broilers. In order to provide them with the most natural and peaceful habitat in their short lives this was non-negotiable. It is imperative that they are safe, well fed/watered, and provided enough space to grow, flourish, and play. The latter of which they wasted no time beginning, the second we released them into their new pen it was an immediate frenzy of pecking, flapping, and hopping about.

These littles will be roughly 4 weeks tomorrow! I admit in my excitement I forgot which day I actually purchased these kiddos, my pregnant brain just can't remember. So rough estimates it is!!! This month flew past me, especially these dudes first two weeks on the stead. Glad to say they have settled in well and now that they're past the funny fluffy phase and into the ugly feathering phase, we don't have to spend as much time caring for them. By now they're fine with their daily water/feedings, a heat lamp at night, and of course my mama bird checks every 5 minutes. Seriously, I check on them A LOT! Honestly sometimes in the morning I stand by the window, coffee in hand, just admiring them, one reason I demanded the pasture be visible from the house. Ok, I'm not obsessed and before you warn me not to get attached let me tell ya something.

Broilers are for meat, no one knows this better than me and the homestead fund. Case and point as to why I check on them so darn much! These birds are an investment, not some hobby backyard flock. My family is grateful for their presence and purpose on our farm. We show them thanks by caring and watching over them for about 11 weeks. They have roughly 8 weeks left. At that time, we will again give them thanks by showing them a peaceful and quick exit. Which reminds me! I need to get to work on making some home made kill cones for that day when it comes.

For now these feathered fellas are plumping up on natural organic diet provided from a local feed company, running around like crazy, and thank god I haven't seen a hawk in months! Luckily my fab farming friend Lexi put together an awesome roof to protect our little investments!

Shopping for a butcher kit!

Q

RABBIT GESTATION: TRIALS. ERRORS.

Disclaimer: This post contains photos of rabbit genitals, read on if you dare!!!

Any day now we will see if in fact ole Chester rabbit got our first doe pregnant. If she did conceive that means she's on day 28 of her cycle and those kits could be here any day!

So I thought I would spend a little time talking about a rabbits gestation cycle and give you some insider tips from our rabbit experiment!  

Firstly, when I began this rabbit endeavor just a few months ago I didn't have a clue..... Literally, I had no idea about rabbits other than that they do the horizontal mambo aaalot! And I can cheaply raise their offspring as a sustainable meat source?!? Fuh get about it! I was hooked to say the least. It was all Spencer could do to hold me back from going out any buying them the instant I knew possible. I prevailed.... For a little bit before eventually buying our rabbits. But I digress, I have learned so much in these last few months that I feel it won't be long before we're in a consistent pattern with the rabbits.

Lets talk testicles... Rabbits testicles that is.... I am such a newb that these necessary entities never once crossed my mind until handling Chester at home for the first time. It was at that moment when I turned him over and was horrified at what I saw...

Initially I was filled with confusion as to the looks of those.... things, was this normal? Does he have an infection?!? Wow those are really red.... Is he even a male, or are these huge rabbit labias.... sorry too much info.... Anyhow, after my initial awe had passed my friend Sheree suggested we use that all too powerful tool, the internet. Needless to say I learned a great deal that day, yes this was normal, no there's no infection, redness is normal, and no Quincy rabbits do not have labias....

Well there you go!

Rabbits, like most mammals carry their testicles on the outside of their bodies, unless they are under certain stressors. Their fight or flight mechanism always leans towards flight as speed is their only mode of escape, in these times flee rabbits can pull or tuck their testicles up inside their bodies to protect them.... weird huh?

Well you learn something you everyday!!!

As I mentioned before, my rabbit, Snow, is in her 28th day of a 31-day gestation cycle and I just saw evidence of either hair pulling or shedding in her and Belle's pen this morning. So tomorrow I will pull Belle out into a clean separate enclosure and put a best box in with Snow. I'll fill the next box with hay, she will will add to it by pulling her hair to make a nest in prep for her kits. 

Update:

Unfortunately, Snow did not kit this past weekend....

So as was planned we have bred Chester to our second doe, Belle. She will be due to kit anywhere in the first week of March, since she is a larger rabbit breed their gestation can last anywhere from 31-35 days, where as smaller breeds kit between 28-33 days, every woman is different!

Since I was flabbergasted at having no kits on the homestead this month I decided to do another experiment to ensure our does get bred. As I have stated before, I'm basically a novice at these obsessions I blabber on about, and being such a newb when I bred Chester and Snow I did as I have seen many of my fellow homesteaders do on YouTube and other blogs. And that is let the buck cover the doe a few times, maybe 3-5 times, then remove the doe once again (Did I mention it is always smart to breed them inside the bucks pen? Does can become very territorial of their home and may become to stressed refuse to mate, so always take the doe to the buck..). Well for whatever reason they did not conceive and this mama is baby bunny-less (sigh)

Back to the experiment...

Since it was time to breed Belle I decided to monitor their breeding session closer. It occured to me at about the time he was mounting her the first time that this is only the second breed he has ever performed.... Chester was only 6 months old when I brought him home, old enough to breed but did he even know what he was doing??? I quickly realized that no he did not.... Rabbits don't have the most romantic mating ritual to begin with but poor Chester didn't have a clue....

He was mounting her face, her side, and the correct way.... But was anything happening!!? I finally got the rabbits to turn around so I could assess the situation and it looked as though Chester meant well and was very excited but was just not properly engaging the doe...

So I figured, heck! Lets let em shack up for the night and Belle can show Chester how its done! Hes just a young buck and I think he may have just needed some time for romance and practice. We are now anxiously awaiting some early spring kits and making all the proper preparations. A word from the not so wise, when breeding your rabbits keep a close eye on their water. Pregnant and nursing does need roughly twice as much water as their counterparts. Make sure you're checking often. Keep their water bottles full and make lots of bedding available to them, especially the closer they get to kitting time. I myself am out to the barn checking on animals all through out the day in order to ensure their proper care, usually once in the morning like 6 or 7, once around noon, and at least once more before dinner, and maybe once again before bed. After all that is why I dropped hours at work, to give in full time to my homesteadin' country gal routine.

I can't wait to get this rabbit journey underway and really begin maintaining a sustainable meat source.

Dreaming of Rabbit stew..

Quincy