Last year we built two feeders for our ewe flock using the plans on Premier's website and with panels purchased from Premier. Today we lost a ewe lamb in one of the feeders. I feel it is because of the size of the holes in Premier's panels. We have had one ewe lamb who notoriously has been caught in the panel, she is not the one who died. We have had to cut the panels to release her several times. This time it was a different ewe lamb and this time she died. I think if Premier were to change the size of the holes in their panels so that they are not perfectly square it might not be a problem or at least less of one. None of my crossbred lambs have ever been caught in the panels. It has only been my Shetlands. Maybe the Shetlands are too smart for their own good?
My Reason(s) for Missing MFF......
1 Comments Published by Kim Nikolai on August 16, 2008 at 8:26 AM.
I had to miss the Michigan Fiber Festival this year. I'm a little bummed that I will miss seeing many of my friends that I only get to see each year because of the festival. But there was a reason for missing it this year. Emily had puppies on Thursday. Even though it isn't a completely happy event I have to admit that her puppies turned out adorable. You see, it was an accidental breeding. When I traveled to WY in June to see a friend and deliver some sheep to her I left Emily at home because she was coming into heat. I was also traveling with Rabb and because my friend Susan also had two intact male Border Collies at her house I thought it best.
Emily had 6 puppies in the litter, all males. The father of the litter is Kaiser, my son's Pit Bull. I've been worried about what to do with these puppies since we knew of their impending arrival. First immediately after the "accident" we looked into "morning after" shot(s) and learned that here in the US they had been taken off of the market. Then we considered aborting the litter but in order to do so we had to be certain she was pregnant. We did an ultrasound on her at 26 days and confirmed that she was indeed pregnant. But even before this when I got home from WY with Rabb, I allowed him to also breed her thinking if she had to go through a pregnancy maybe we could also get some pure bred pups in the litter. So when I got the results of the ultrasound I couldn't have the abortion done. We then talked about putting the pups down if they were crossbred. I knew I couldn't personally do this but my DH said he could. I thought differently because of the emotional bond between him and Emily. The ultimate decision is I can't allow it. So, I've contacted a friend of my daughter who has connections with someone involved with the Pit Bull Rescue organization. She is going to help us we hope in finding quality homes with people who can responsibly raise these puppies.
BTW, we do have hope that these puppies will inherit the excellent temperaments of their parents. Emily has a calmer personality which is different in my opinion of the majority of the Border Collies that I've come across. And even though I haven't met many Pit Bulls I've lived with Kaiser for the past 2 years and I know for certain that he isn't aggressive towards people. That doesn't mean he wouldn't be if someone were to become aggressive toward us though. He has fit into our family quite well and we are all very comfortable with him being part of our family. I only wish my son would allow us to have him neutered........
Emily had 6 puppies in the litter, all males. The father of the litter is Kaiser, my son's Pit Bull. I've been worried about what to do with these puppies since we knew of their impending arrival. First immediately after the "accident" we looked into "morning after" shot(s) and learned that here in the US they had been taken off of the market. Then we considered aborting the litter but in order to do so we had to be certain she was pregnant. We did an ultrasound on her at 26 days and confirmed that she was indeed pregnant. But even before this when I got home from WY with Rabb, I allowed him to also breed her thinking if she had to go through a pregnancy maybe we could also get some pure bred pups in the litter. So when I got the results of the ultrasound I couldn't have the abortion done. We then talked about putting the pups down if they were crossbred. I knew I couldn't personally do this but my DH said he could. I thought differently because of the emotional bond between him and Emily. The ultimate decision is I can't allow it. So, I've contacted a friend of my daughter who has connections with someone involved with the Pit Bull Rescue organization. She is going to help us we hope in finding quality homes with people who can responsibly raise these puppies.
BTW, we do have hope that these puppies will inherit the excellent temperaments of their parents. Emily has a calmer personality which is different in my opinion of the majority of the Border Collies that I've come across. And even though I haven't met many Pit Bulls I've lived with Kaiser for the past 2 years and I know for certain that he isn't aggressive towards people. That doesn't mean he wouldn't be if someone were to become aggressive toward us though. He has fit into our family quite well and we are all very comfortable with him being part of our family. I only wish my son would allow us to have him neutered........
