# goat people... suggestions welcome and needed



## MissFitFarm (Jan 5, 2014)

we are going to have 25-30 degree drop in temp tonight, this is way below normal, goats aren't used to this. Don't have blankets for them. we don't have temps like this. -15 tonight and all week.


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## Hens and Roos (Jan 5, 2014)

Can you add extra bedding for them to huddle down in and/or pile up straw bales to provide a wind break.

Good Luck, I hope more come in with ideas for you as we don't have goats


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## MissFitFarm (Jan 5, 2014)

I used up all my straw bales putting x-tra bedding for the goats chickens and horses.. am thinking of piling up the snow around all the building for added insulation... got plenty of that.


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## elevan (Jan 5, 2014)

Piling up the snow is actually a pretty good idea.  It's a lot of work but it would do the trick to insulate the building.  Make sure that they have plenty of hay to eat as this will help keep them warm too.


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## MissFitFarm (Jan 5, 2014)

I'm a chicken... I moved them into the barn with 3 dog boxes filled straw and pine mixed. don't like the billy with the does right now but..... and I moved one of my home made hay feeders filled to the max in with them too. am hoping they will buddy up in the dog boxes. They just said going down to -40 tonight. So worried about them all. The horses blankets were soaked from the wet snow we had all day and now below temps before they had a chance to dry.... I piled snow as high as I could on the chicken houses, every one got x-tra hay and straw bedding. Tarps blocking the biting wind as much as possible. Heat lamps secured in hen house. Dogs brought in. all I can do now is pace the floors and keep my fingers crossed.


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## 20kidsonhill (Jan 7, 2014)

Keep them too closed in with not enough air circulation can be worse for them than the cold, if they are out of the wind and have a dry place to lay down with enough to eat they will be okay.


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## MissFitFarm (Jan 7, 2014)

they got plenty of air, I put them in an outside stall (3 walls a front half door and a roof ) when I went out to feed this morning the Goats were shacking real bad. don't have ant ideal how to help them gave more hay and grain and am just hoping no one gets sick. the horses were fine and I have 5 hens inside the house now cause they have frostbitten combs. I had petroleum jelly on them but I guess I didn't have enough. I am so wore out from all this cold and snow, I just want it over without any more damage to my critters.... cant wait till  Friday!!!!!! 40o  Have I said I HATE WINTER?


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## alsea1 (Jan 7, 2014)

Dang. That all sounds so stressful.
Animals are pretty tough though. Its amazing what they can deal with.
As long as they can keep dry and get plenty of hay to eat they should do okay.


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## Southern by choice (Jan 7, 2014)

MissFitFarm said:


> they got plenty of air, I put them in an outside stall (3 walls a front half door and a roof ) when I went out to feed this morning the Goats were shacking real bad. don't have ant ideal how to help them gave more hay and grain and am just hoping no one gets sick. the horses were fine and I have 5 hens inside the house now cause they have frostbitten combs. I had petroleum jelly on them but I guess I didn't have enough. I am so wore out from all this cold and snow, I just want it over without any more damage to my critters.... cant wait till  Friday!!!!!! 40o  Have I said I HATE WINTER?



  Been worried about all you folks up there. 

_Jodief_ had a great tip... make sure they have water, keep it going although I know its freezing... they will eat more hay. If you have alfalfa give them that too. I think Jodie said less grain.


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## Sweetened (Jan 8, 2014)

Something to remember is shaking, shivering, is also a way of keeping warm.  Shivering indicates your body is attempting to generate heat by shaking muscles around organs, thus expending energy (which is why more feed is required to keep warm).  

I have also, recently, stopped feeding grains to warm animals up after someone I trust told me roughage, so grasses and so on, are what stimulate warmth in ruminants, NOT grains.  Hydration is also important.  As a person who is perpetually dehydrated, I can tell you I have terrible problems with cold and frostbite in my hands because there isn't enough fluid to cushion my muscles from freezing, thus my muscles are targetted first.  The best thing i did was by a submersible water heater.  Even when we were -58 F, it kept the water clear and thawed.

Goats apparently take well to sweaters, I would love to get one on them this time of year, but I feel like they'd get it dirty and caked with hay and straw so quickly it'd just be a mess.

I don't know where exactly you live, but I have gone with colder fowl breeds.  We have muscovies, but won't do them again since they're idiots and don't lay on their feet.  Most of my chickens tuck their heads under their wings, but they all have cushion, rose or pea combs.


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## goatboy1973 (Jan 11, 2014)

We fill our hay feeders to the max also. The absolute most important item for goats in extreme cold as well as any environment is a good clean source of drinking water. Extreme cold presents a unique situation and some livestock producers neglect this simple and very important part of the daily intake of a ruminant. Make sure your water source is accessible, free from ice, and clean, otherwise you will see a decrease in food consumption and an increase in urinary calculi in male goats either wethered or intact. We use tank de-icers and use an axe for breaking ice around the pond. We always go around the perimeter of our pond anyhow and break the ice to insure that the goats will not attempt to get out on the ice and fall through and drown. As far as the nutrition goes, I have a special mix for winter that I use for extreme cold and it is as follows: sweet feed, crushed/powdered corn, alfalfa pellets, beet pulp, 1/2 quart jar of molasses. I mix this mixture in an electric concrete mixer for home use, but you could also mix this feed in a 55 gal barrel with a drill fitted with a paddle bit made for mixing paint or by hand but by hand will not get as thorough a mix though. The sweet feed, alfalfa pellets, and corn are all equal parts and this is meant for short term use as the high sugar content and high calcium content is not good for long term use in goats. If you feed this mix to male goats make sure that a good mineral mix with AC is available at all times. The hay will help the goats' rumens continue to work at a high rate which produces heat from within by breaking down all that fiber. The sugars and corn from the mix is a great energy source and the beet pulp is an excellent source of energy and vitamin C which helps maintain tissues and healthy immune systems. The alfalfa pellets are a great source of protein which has to go along with the high energy source you are feeding to help balance the diet. Remember, the best feeds in the world are worthless without a good clean source of drinking water.


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## goatboy1973 (Jan 11, 2014)

Extra Saw dust or wood chips mixed with straw and a draft free enclosure go a long way to keep your goats toasty warm.


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## MissFitFarm (Jan 14, 2014)

well I'm back the goats, horses and the chickens all made it through arctic blast 2014. hens with frostbite but other than that all is well. Had problems with my internet due to the extra cold temps supposedly... anyway seems to be working ok tonight.  hope you all did well. I gave everyone lots of extra hay and the goats got a alfa clover grass mix. had dog water bowels for them and was constantly filling them but had to be done.... just glad the extreme cold and the snow is gone.   now I have a VERY DETERMINED BROODY HEN in the house cause she is literately starving herself.  I am giving wet bread many times a day and will give crumble tomorrow, and scratch the next day I hope. still aint got off the nest, no matter what I do so a member of BYC has some extra chicks and I am already going up to her place this weekend to get some hen so I'm going to take 3 of her extras and try putting under the broody. see what happens.


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## Southern by choice (Jan 14, 2014)

Hi MisFit!  We had less than 72 hours of that craziness. The lowest we got was windchill of -6 but we are in NC... that is COLD.Brrrr
We didn't lose anyone but sadly lots of my birds got frostbitten combs. Mostly the birds that roost in the trees, they are stubborn and go in for nothing. But many of my hens in the buildings did too. Mud here and lots of flooding.  Glad you all survived it... doing the countdown til spring.


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## MissFitFarm (Jan 15, 2014)

Hi Southern . I had 10 hens with frostbite. 5 were bad enough that I brought them in 
 
Our lowest temp was -45 with windchill and -30 without. was ready for it to be over before it started. I cried for my girls... 
found the smallest goats shaking that day, gave extra hay and kept an eye on them but they were fine an hour latter.


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## Southern by choice (Jan 15, 2014)

-6 was bad enough. I couldn't handle those temps.
I am really upset too about my birds. 
Beginning to think I'm not far enough south.


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## MissFitFarm (Jan 15, 2014)

Southern by choice said:


> -6 was bad enough. I couldn't handle those temps.
> I am really upset too about my birds.
> Beginning to think I'm not far enough south.


I'm with you..


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## MissFitFarm (Jan 16, 2014)

This winter is becoming THE WORST EVER for me. sick of it. I REALLY need to move!!! I have a broody hen that is starving herslef, I cant break her no matter what I do and I have tried allot of things, she needs babies, and I cant find any, wrong time of tyhe year!!! I lost a hen last night, water pipe froze and I was out in this cold from 5 pm till 11:47 pm dealing with that so I could water the horses!!!! made it through those sub-zero temps only to have tings go to ----in a hand basket at 20 degrees!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW I was ready to become a city slicker last night. 
 Ok sorry I just had to get that off my chest! I'll stop now.

 Good Morning all


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## bloonskiller911 (Jan 16, 2014)

sorry about your awful night.  everything looks better in the daylight.


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## Southern by choice (Jan 16, 2014)

Yep, we are not dealing with what you are but we have terrible flooding... my main coop building flooded. All that brand new bedding we just put down... soaked... all has to be shoveled out. $$$ 20+ bags worth... the other buildings are ok thankfully. Loafing shed also flooded... land is gone just water everywhere. Oh and we got a dusting of snow last night a few hours after a downpour.  We are going through round bales like crazy... there is no straw here due to the rains for the past year so hay has to go everywhere. Ok I'm done too! 

It'll get better... right?


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## Hens and Roos (Jan 16, 2014)

Sorry to hear of the cold weather issues you both are having , hopefully things will start looking up .  We have had the flu here all week- my DS(12) all week so far, me yesterday and my DS(8) as of last night.  DH and DD are the only ones doing okay-but they were sick before.  Out to do chores now.


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## MissFitFarm (Jan 16, 2014)

Hens and Roos said:


> Sorry to hear of the cold weather issues you both are having , hopefully things will start looking up .  We have had the flu here all week- my DS(12) all week so far, me yesterday and my DS(8) as of last night.  DH and DD are the only ones doing okay-but they were sick before.  Out to do chores now.



 looks like I have to do this one at a time, I cant figure out how to do a multi quote. 

 Thanks for the hugs,  right back at ya, hope you all get to feeling better real soon. Be careful with that stuff I heard on BYC that it is very bad this year.


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## MissFitFarm (Jan 16, 2014)

Southern by choice said:


> Yep, we are not dealing with what you are but we have terrible flooding... my main coop building flooded. All that brand new bedding we just put down... soaked... all has to be shoveled out. $$$ 20+ bags worth... the other buildings are ok thankfully. Loafing shed also flooded... land is gone just water everywhere. Oh and we got a dusting of snow last night a few hours after a downpour.  We are going through round bales like crazy... there is no straw here due to the rains for the past year so hay has to go everywhere. Ok I'm done too!
> 
> It'll get better... right?



 this is some bad weather, we have no flooding but we have an inch of snow on the ground... and still snowing... sorry about you disappearing land. I hate it when new bedding gets wasted, that stuff aint cheep!!


It better get BETTER don't know how much more me or my critters can take  .


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## MissFitFarm (Jan 16, 2014)

bloonskiller911 said:


> sorry about your awful night.  everything looks better in the daylight.



thanks, but in the daylight today I have to permanently  fix water lines ( if I can ) DH is a truck driver and the only time  he can fix things is weekends, I have to deal with things all on my own till then!!! and I have to figure out what to do with my dead hen. 
 The only things on this farm that are liking this cold and white stuff are my LGD's o and my lab pup...


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## Bossroo (Jan 17, 2014)

Hens and Roos said:


> Sorry to hear of the cold weather issues you both are having , hopefully things will start looking up .  We have had the flu here all week- my DS(12) all week so far, me yesterday and my DS(8) as of last night.  DH and DD are the only ones doing okay-but they were sick before.  Out to do chores now.


Please don't take this flu too lightly ... I had it for 7 ( real bad for 5 weeks) weeks now and still am stiff  and sore plus have a runny nose and a cough now and then.


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## Hens and Roos (Jan 17, 2014)

Bossroo said:


> Please don't take this flu too lightly ... I had it for 7 ( real bad for 5 weeks) weeks now and still am stiff  and sore plus have a runny nose and a cough now and then.



Thanks , I'm being very careful- moving very slow and just doing enough to take care of the kids and animals. Realistically I can't move fast or do to much- no fever or cough just tired.  My DS(12) has walking pneumonia, his sister had it before Christmas and my DS(8) has a stomach flu.  DD helps out when she get home from school.  We're getting more snow and colder again for a few days or so!


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## Harbisgirl (Jan 22, 2014)

Seems you all have too much weather and we don’t have enough. Here in California it is dry and 70 degrees. Sounds nice but it is awful. We only got a few inches of rain last year and now this year we have had zero rain. Worst draught in recorded history. Every day we are breaking new records for longest stint without rain, and high temps. The water companies have put restrictions in place – no longer allowed to water anything outdoors and we’re told to restrict indoor use to 50%. They have water people driving around fining people who are using water outside. Luckily we live out in the country and are on a well so they can’t get us. I suspect food prices in my area will be high this year because all of the fruit trees are starting to bloom which means they’ll be setting fruit when winter decides to show up, and will kill everything off. And meat prices will be high too - there is no pasture and hay is ridiculously expensive, so cattle ranchers are putting their animals down so that they don’t starve to death. We’ve had over 150 wildfires just in January..  It’s a scary time over here in sunny california.


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## Hens and Roos (Jan 22, 2014)

Wow- this weather has been so strange this year- we see on the news how it is a challenge for everyone!


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## MissFitFarm (Jan 25, 2014)

I hope everyone's weather lets up, and SOON !!!! I am so sick of this stuff and the cold, it's the worst. We had our drought last year hay was stupid high and everyone struggled to keep livestock feed. It's no fun worrying about your critters starving due to things beyond your control.


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## taylorm17 (Jan 25, 2014)

Harbisgirl said:


> Seems you all have too much weather and we don’t have enough. Here in California it is dry and 70 degrees. Sounds nice but it is awful. We only got a few inches of rain last year and now this year we have had zero rain. Worst draught in recorded history. Every day we are breaking new records for longest stint without rain, and high temps. The water companies have put restrictions in place – no longer allowed to water anything outdoors and we’re told to restrict indoor use to 50%. They have water people driving around fining people who are using water outside. Luckily we live out in the country and are on a well so they can’t get us. I suspect food prices in my area will be high this year because all of the fruit trees are starting to bloom which means they’ll be setting fruit when winter decides to show up, and will kill everything off. And meat prices will be high too - there is no pasture and hay is ridiculously expensive, so cattle ranchers are putting their animals down so that they don’t starve to death. We’ve had over 150 wildfires just in January..  It’s a scary time over here in sunny california.


 
Seriously!!! If I magically appeared at your house right now, I would just start to burn and die!! Over here we are joking at the barn I work at saying I can't wait until Friday it is suppose to be up in the 30's WOOHOO!!!

We put Vaseline on my goats ears and the chickens combs and stuff. We also bring the goats in the garage at night and don't even let them out of their barn during the really cold days. They always have lots of hay a very fluffy bed, and what we do is give them hot water, not only do they gulp half of it down, but it doesn't freeze very easy. It keeps them warm really well and they LOVE it. They sometime just sit with their chins in it and we have to wipe their face off before they freeze. Actually the other day a mouse was trying to drink the warm water and fell in. Since it was frozen, we didn't see him and could get the ice out, so we gave the goats a new bucket of hot water. Then we were able to empty the frozen one out and the poor mouse was frozen in it!


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## moffitthill (Jan 26, 2014)

I don't know if this will help... Creating a safe warm spot ... I run an outdoor HD electric extension to a multi outlet surge protector (cover the outlets without something plugged in them) that sits right outside the stall ... a heat lamp (cord up outside stall and use a heat lamp hung at a safe height... I also have now added one 4x8 insulation cheap non-flammable sheet I easily cut in half to 4x4 for two stalls ( I have Dwarf goats, you may want to do a full sheet or whatever works for you -- can configure for your space) and placed on the ground in front shared corner of the two stalls (so cords can go under side into lil space dug out under for cords and both reach surge protector)... on top of this I laid out a flat outdoor plug-in heating tape on each with cord running under(type you wrap around pipes under trailers/crawl space to keep pipes from freezing) and put cheap landscape cement squares on top of the tape that is laid out flat. Also, I put screw end PVC in a square around it to keep it from possibly shifting but I think that was overkill as the Dwarf aren't moving the squares -- might need for larger goats). Heats the stone kind of like their own radiant floor heat but doesn't get so hot that there is danger of straw catching. They snuggle up there on the stone and under the lamp. I still bagbalm the nose and ears and under the tail, etc (skin, edges and "delicate" places). Remember to safely place, cover, wrap as necessary any electricity current and/or connections. And assure heat lamp warms from above at a height that is safe. I have corded heated water buckets but if you do not... you could probably place one on corner secure to no tip and heat from stone on bottom may help deter freezing water source. I found that even though the light had always been there that one in particular did not like the new thing in the stall... so I found with mine that if I placed straw only on and around the stones... they weren't cautious of the new thing in their environment and used it more readily and now it is the place to be when not eating/drinking   I also broke up alfalfa cubes a bit and tossed that way on top of straw before I fed them... they HAD to step onto it and realized it was safe new thing. I of course close door. Wet and cold will do damage before anything and I want them dry when it is so cold... but I am luck bigger barn so plenty ventilated overall.
I usually put my goats in the one side of my mother's heated dog boarding kennel during scary weather (they follow me like Heidi  for a bit of grain) but this is lasting much longer and she is going to get busier soon and may need that additional side for her business. I dont have a low ceiling for heat generated from lamp to keep from rising so much. So I got creative and made a radiant heated floor  that just needs to be plugged in when needed. So they are warmed both over and under.  Just enough to keep from danger on ears and such and a lil extra for overall warmth.
My sister has purchased the AKC black 5x6 panels and gate panels at Menards for a dog kennel and made a 5x6 (she put panels for the sides of the enclosure on their sides so 6 long and 5 high to get the extra 5 sq ft space for each panel and used first pen made to create one outside wall for second pen with a corner and walls to make another pen that just needed a front with gate. She zip-tied tarps taunt on all outer sides and tops to hold in heat that rises with a pvc piping zip-tied down across securely and can hang the heat lamp from pvc and keeps tarp from sagging. Filled with straw... It doesn't make it toasty but keeps it above freezing dangers. She uses the same panels with the 30 something inch garden fence cut to fit each panel so always there and zip tied well so no sag for her lil Dwarf babies so no heads stuck in fence until old enough to go to new home or with others in pasture (that way she didn't have to invest in the much more expensive fencing for a really large acre pasture and could use 1x2 page fencing instead). The panels attach together with clamps and are easily taken down and stored until needed again.  They are a godsend in this weather now as she can make additional "indoor" spaces safer from the elements.
Definitely worth the investment as powder coated and will last a very long time.  I use the same panels for babies lined with garden fence (small small openings and lasts longer than chicken wire) so they can come out from under enclosed barn overhang that leads to stall area, still get sunshine to grow and do so safely as I make dig deterrent and cover the fencing that sets out of overhang. Again, easy up and down.
Just a couple ideas that worked for us and might work for you.


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## cwine18 (Jan 26, 2014)

We live in ohio we got 8 1/2 inches in 2 days


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## MissFitFarm (Jan 28, 2014)

Sunday night I was getting the critter houses ready for lock down Monday due to wind chill advisory until Tuesday at 1 pm, so extra bedding, moving hay feeders inside ect.... I was out well after dark doing this. 
 I heard my Ridgback's kill call and went running to her alone with my 2 GP's, Aussie, pitbull, and blk lab. Bear 1 of the GP's beat me there and a fight like I never heard before was on!!!!! when I get there Boots ( the ridgeback ) and Bear are playing tug of war with a coon and the other dogs are darting in. 
  Please don't feel bad for the coon as it has been terrorizing my chickens for a week.
 anyway I got the dogs off the coon and put it out of it's missory. 
 The dogs didnt have a scratch on them. and my chickens have slept sound since. 

I LOVE MY LGD'S EVEN THE LITTLE ONES... lol


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## taylorm17 (Jan 28, 2014)

Greats story. I'm sure your chickens and you feel well protected! Once my dogs found a baby dear while we were in my back yard camping out. The girl is the big hunter, but we never trained them to be, they are just great hunters. (if you went hunting with them, they would point you to the kill, you kill, they retrieve it, and would probably run off with it and have a nice little dinner for themselves!) Anyway, the momma dear was nearby and we were all around them. My brother went over and picked up my dogs. FUNNY PART. The baby dear (still had spots) was still trying to BITE my dog! Then we shewed the little dear away and they still live in our back woods. We only have about 6-7 and he is still kind of a little buck!


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## mkeawsh (Jan 28, 2014)

MissFitFarm said:


> Sunday night I was getting the critter houses ready for lock down Monday due to wind chill advisory until Tuesday at 1 pm, so extra bedding, moving hay feeders inside ect.... I was out well after dark doing this.
> I heard my Ridgback's kill call and went running to her alone with my 2 GP's, Aussie, pitbull, and blk lab. Bear 1 of the GP's beat me there and a fight like I never heard before was on!!!!! when I get there Boots ( the ridgeback ) and Bear are playing tug of war with a coon and the other dogs are darting in.
> Please don't feel bad for the coon as it has been terrorizing my chickens for a week.
> anyway I got the dogs off the coon and put it out of it's missory.
> ...



My Buddy - GP - was 8 weeks old and guarding four of the myo doelings I was fostering, when a coyote came down out of the woods.  Buddy lunged at it and it turned and streaked back up into the trees.  It stopped, turned and quietly disappeared.  Buddy in the mean time kept facing the woods but turned to check on the girls.  He thought they were too close, so he came down, herded them further away and then went back to the tree line, staring into the woods for another 45 minutes.  He would keep turning to check to see where the girls were.  They were browsing and did not have a clue what this pup had done for them.   Buddy is now 2 1/2 and is so diligent about protecting my goats, 53 chickens ( I can not tell you how many hawk attacks he has thwarted) and my new pup - AngelEyes - that the pup finds him boring and plays with the goats. 

I LOVE MY LGD TOO!!


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