Baymule’s Journal

[Mini Horses]

Its just until her fence gets replaced -- then about 20+ acres happen! THEN hay buying almost stops

 

[Bruce]

 

[Ridgetop]

You can sure see Eve's Dorper heritage in the color on the lambs.

Buford barked at the babies, I scolded, he wrinkled up his face in a toothy grin. He is now sitting at the fence, staring at them. Fascinated. Protect? Play? Eat? Who knows, it’s Buford.

Male Anatolians LOVE babies! Put him on a leash and take him in with them. Correct Anatolian behavior is to drop down about 10 feet from mama and lambs and remain laying there until mama allows him to approach closer. He should hold the down and wait for about 10 minutes at a time with you praising him for good behavior. Keep him on the leash so you can pull him back if he gets too close or over excited. Then take him back out of the pen. Repeat this training several times until he understands what is expected with newborns. If the mama charges him, pull him back to a distance that she is ok with. Sometimes Anatolian males are so protective they think the mama is a threat to the lambs. If Mama charges them to protect her lambs from them, sometimes males will snap at the ewe or try to attack her to "save" the lambs. Now is the time to teach him proper newborn lamb behavior.

Erick told ne a trick he uses to teach the dogs that newborns are delicate and to be gentle. He puts on a glove and drapes the afterbirth over his hand and shows it to the puppy. Naturally the puppy will try to grab it to eat. He snatches his hand back crying as if in pain and then praises the puppy when it stops trying to grab his hand with the afterbirth and is gentle about sniffing it.

We made a mistake with Bubba by not training him this way. Instead we were excited about the lambs and were nosy in the barn. The ewes were in jugs and when he got up to the bars they would charge the sides. This made bubba think they were a danger to the lambs, and he would get frantic to get in and "rescue" them. He would snap and growl at the ewes which only upset them more. We corrected our behavior with Bubba, and trained Angel the way Erick said to. She is fine with lambs.

Proper training is imperative because if not done, Anatolian males have been known to try to steal the lamb from the ewe. Bad results for the ewe and lamb. If you are going to pasture lamb, he needs to behave with newborns correctly.

 

[Baymule]

30-50 seems like a heck of a lot on 2-3 acres of pasture.

Yes, that is why I’ll be working on fence.

 

[Baymule]

I took Buford in the pen on a leash today. I petted the lambs and told him Mine. I’ll do what you said on the next session.

 

[Baymule]

And yes, Eve’s black head Dorper daddy sure marks her lambs.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I took Buford in the pen on a leash today. I petted the lambs and told him Mine. I’ll do what you said on the next session.

Correct Anatolian behavior is to drop down about 10 feet from mama and lambs and remain laying there until mama allows him to approach closer.

Yep - male Anatolians LOVE the babies! This is one of my favorite pictures of Cowboy... He knew that baby needed extra and he was willing to give it!

 

[Baymule]

I hit LOVE about a hundred times!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

He literally laid down at the gate of the pen and belly crawled as far as mama was comfortable. He knew that baby (remember Dallas?) needed a little extra love and he was there to give it. Miss that boy...

 

[Baymule]

Yes, I remember Dallas. Cowboy was one in a million.