Chicken ping pong

Formerly a sheepdog....now a chicken dog....

Just kidding....Maid is still my main Open dog. She loves to help me put away the chickens at night. That used to be Tess's job but Maid took over that duty. I let the chickens out to free range and then Maid puts them away at night. She has learned not to rush the chickens as they will scatter. She is quite an excellent chicken dog. Additionally, she works the geese, ducks, turkeys and guineas.

 

Maid checking out my new chickens, They are Gold Spangled Spitzhaubens, a rare breed of chickens. These are two show hens, Thelma and Louise.

Bye Bye Baby

Maid was a super foster mom for the lamb. She took care of the lamb for a week. She cleaned the lamb and snuggled with it. The lamb was happy  to have a mom who doted on him.

 

Lamb taking a nap after his bottle. See how Maid is smiling!!

 

Maid would stand guard or would snuggle with the lamb. She would not let any of the other dogs near the lamb. rain ignored her warning growl and went to see the lamb. For her efforts, she got a huge tumble by Maid, then shrieked and went running to her bed. Nikki went to the barn as she was not going to give up to checking out the lamb.  Nan hid in  the bedroom. I stayed on the couch until the lamb needed to be fed.

 

But all good thing must come to an end. A pet home was found for the lamb and he went home tonight. She was a lady who moved from the UK and had sheep. She wanted a pet lamb and knows all about raising an orphan. She took him and I think named him, "Hope"

 

Maid followed the lamb out to the car and looked perplexed as her baby was being loaded. I told her that he got a new mama and as she drove off, Maid stood in the driveway, staring down the road for a few minutes. It was sad but she did a tremendous job is raising the lamb.

 

Good dog, maid...you are one of a kind!

 

Be Kind

Maid and her new baby...lamb, that is...

If you raise sheep, you are going to have the bottle lamb now and then. This lamb's mom had one bad side and hardly any milk on the other so we pulled her lamb for a while. During the day the lamb will go back to mom and at night, in the house. He is being bottle fed and is a large lamb.  He was cold when we brought him in  and we put him in front of the fireplace to warm up. He is in Maid's dog bed and she loves her dog bed. She was surprised to see something in her bed so she dashed up to chase off the intruder and put on the brakes when she realized it was not another dog. She carefully approached the lamb and sniffed it. She licked his bottom and then his face. For some reason, she has taken to heart that she must be the guardian of the lamb. If any other dog goes near her lamb, she runs and put herself between the lamb and the other dog. If the other dog doesn't move fast enough, she give a low growl.  Then after the other dog has left, she goes over and gives the lamb a little lick on the head. Then she gives the lamb a good sniff and settles down about five feet away. When I go up to the lamb, she fawns all over me, like a new mom with pups. I pet the lamb and she wags her tail.

 

I've been bottle feeding the lamb. Maid is right next to me and when I am down, she cleans him from top to bottom and licks the milk off his body. The she cleans his head really well and he nuzzles her and she wags her tail When she is satisfied that he is clean, she lays in the rug in front of him being a guard lamb dog! How neat is that.  She even does diaper duty.

Now, who would have thought that Maid would be a lamb's mom?

Certainly, not me!