Chickens!

So at last yesterday this arrived -

Stan and Tommy immediately came to investigate and Stan appeared ready for action – Tommy took a closer look at the boxes and disappeared off to his bed – he does not like work!

We had spent a long time preparing the space where the chicken house was to go as I wanted them to able to roam around the area close to their home as well and this had to be separate from the dogs.  We had also invested many hours in shopping around to find the best house including pricing wood and planning to build ourselves.  In the end we settled on this one which was the right size and very good value  from the Aquatic and Pet Warehouse in Swadlincote.

Stan tried to convince me that arranged like this the bits made a good sleeping shelter from the breeze…. I was not convinced and set about reading the instructions for assembly.

Stan worked hard testing each section as it was built up.

He even drank out of the water containers to see if they were working properly – he even tasted the chicken food!

While all this work was going on Tommy was catching up on his beauty sleep!

 

When all the hard work was done Stan stood guard and waited for the new additions to the family.

We set off to visit Sunnyside poultry where Ian helped us select six lovely girls to live in the new house and surrounding chicken pen.  If you need to know anything about keeping poultry Ian is the one to ask – he is very friendly and helpful.

Our new girls made the short trip home in a dog crate.

They were popped inside the house and left in peace to settle in over night.

Early this morning they were allowed out to explore their new home.

Already they are showing that they all have individual personalities and you will get to hear much more about them as time goes on.

 

 

 

 

It could be hatch day….

Well we have done loads and loads of reading and after all our research we now know that the quail could hatch today…. or tomorrow…. or the next day or anywhere up to 26 days from when they went under heat!

Google can answer most questions the only problem is you get so many right answers!

This morning they still looked like this -

In just a few days we could be looking after these little guys – hatch day is less than a week away now!

Stan and Tommy are now just waiting…..

The boys waiting to meet the babies

 

A little warning for those of you with fluffy ears :)

If you – like Tommy have fluffy ears you need to take care, especially if like him you have little bits of dreadlocks hanging from your soft fluffy ears…. make sure your soft fluffy ears do not come to any harm.

This is especially important if you have a shoe fetish which requires you to rub your soft fluffy ears all over any abandoned shoes you happen to find lying around.

It is VERY, VERY important if anyone on your house has shoes with velcro……

Tommy had a good look at these trainers this morning….. but it ended in tears when his ears met the velcro

Tommy wants to warn you all to stay away from this type of footwear…

 

Sorting stuff out

We are having a sorting and tidy up day today – not sure the dogs approve – they prefer hiking days or snuggle days or just belly scratch days!  Still I want to get house as straight as I can before chickens and quail need looking after…..

The boys would rather go out to play but sometimes we have to do other stuff!

In just a few days we could be looking after these little guys – hatch day is less than a week away now!

Tommy’s vet visit

Now Tommy is feeling better I thought I would share with you his visit to the vets….

He went last Thursday to be neutered as I feel very strongly that all dogs should be and it is the duty of a responsible owner to get it done to avoid unwanted puppies arriving in a world that already has far too many unwanted puppies, who end up is rescues and pounds and often killed as there are too many of them.

It is a simple process and with our local vets feeling strongly that it should be done to reduce strays it is affordable as they work hard to keep the cost as low as they can.  We went to Easipet in Burton and it cost under £50.

The evening before Tommy had his tea as usual but then nothing to eat after 8pm.  He could drink in the evening but his water bowl was removed in the morning as well.

He hung around us in the morning look unhappy – trying to remind us he needed his breakfast.

He seemed to sense it was not a normal day and hid under the chair to see what would happen….

Things looked up a bit for him when we got to the vets though as he got a cuddle from his friend Nicky the vet who he loves very much!

I brought him home at tea time and he had a quick toilet stop before being helped into the house and onto the sofa where he napped, and napped and napped with his get well card from Easipet close by and me next to him for a snuggle…

Stan stayed close by to make sure no one disturbed his pal. 

Later on Tommy had a much smaller than usual tea and then popped his head out of the back door to see if he wanted to nip out – he decided it was far too tiring so gave it a miss for once.

He settled down for an early night – for once not in his crate where he usually sleeps as he needed to sleep in the head collar to make sure he didn’t chew his stitches and I was worried it would catch on the doorway of the crate – I leave the door open over night and he does pop in and out a few times and I didn’t want him to knock himself. He seemed to get the idea and lay on his bed as soon as I took it out of his crate.

He stayed settled there until morning when at 5am he woke up and began to cry very pitifully.  I went down to him and it seemed he had woken up and was confused by the head collar as when I removed it he stopped crying immediately and gave me a big cuddle and some licks.  We didn’t put the collar back on as he seemed to understand that he had to leave the stitches alone.

Now we are a few days on he has made a very fast recovery and this morning we went for a walk in the snow which he loved.  The effect on Stan seems as though it will have a longer lasting impact as he was very upset by the whole affair and still is really but more on that later – I now need to go and have a snuggle after the cold snowy walk.

 

 

 

 

Tommy I do love you – you are a hero

Tomorrow my Tommy will be taken to the vets to do a very brave and responsible thing….. he will be giving up his boy bits to help reduce the numbers of unwanted puppies in the world.  Many, many, many puppies die every year just because there are too many and there are two things we can do to reduce this -

1. Don’t buy puppies – adopt instead – this will reduce the number of breeders breeding unneeded and unwanted pups that will die.
2. Be sure your dog can’t breed – it is rubbish that bitches need to have one littler, they can die having pups you know and owners of male dogs should make sure they are neutered BEFORE they nip off out to make babies!

Tommy will be going to Easipet in Burton and I know they will take great care of my baby as the team are really fab.  This is what it says on their website -

Welcome to easipetcare

Low cost vets in Burton upon Trent!

 ”Hello and a very warm welcome to easipetcare. My team and I are the first vets to offer pet owners in Burton upon Trent a true low cost veterinary service whilst at the same time offering the highest level of care.

It has been our absolute passion to provide the pet owning public with gold standard primary veterinary care at the most affordable price. We were very lucky to be regularly featured on BBC TV and radio where pet owners so kindly said we were their preference for caring, affordable veterinary care.

No appointment is necessary – our highly trained staff are ready and waiting for you. You’ll be amazed at our parking… there is so much of it… right outside your easipetcare clinic in Burton upon Trent!

We would be delighted to offer you our veterinary services.”

It is a bonus that they will be kind to my pocket but even more important is how kind they will be to my Tommy and I know they will be great with him.  Still I’ll be giving my baby a big hug before I leave him.  Look out for updates on how he gets on over the next few days.

If you live in the Burton area you may like to see how committed the team at Burton Easipet are to ensuring price is not a barrier to getting this essentil job done – this is again from their website -

Neutering

Special offer- All dog castrations £45 and all bitch spays £70! Please call the clinic to book your dog in!

This really is one of the fields in which we at easipetcare excel. Our dedicated and caring team at easipetcare have neutered over ten thousand pets in the last few years. We don’t believe you’ll  get a more experienced team or a better price. All surgical procedures are by appointment please – so please give us a ring and let’s choose a day to suit you.

Neutering your pet really does make them happier and healthier, and it really does stop problems later on. If you would like any advice at all, please pop in and have a chat – we are here to help.

We can neuter dogs from 5 months of age and cats from 4 months of age. Female dogs can be spayed at any time, as long as they are not in season. There is no need to let them have a first season before spaying. There are upper age limits to neutering, but we do recommend that pets over the age of 8 years have a pre anaesthetic blood test, which is an additional cost. Please speak to a member of staff for further details.

Stan and Tommy offer their services

Stan and Tommy have decided to get together and offer personal tutoring.  They learnt to read only a few months ago but they are fast learners and now offer courses in English, Maths, Science and advanced biscuit tasting.

Here Tommy is getting ready to give a year 10 science lecture.

Stan assists Steven with maths problems

Both dogs give moral support as Steven does an assessment.

Tommy gets in touch with his inner artist to help Cathy out with her sketch book.  See those boxes behind them? That’s just a few of the great things we have collected for the Border Collie Trust Easter auction!

 

The reward for all their hard work?……. You should be able to guess……..

 

 

 

A treat or few from their friend Dalton at Wagg of course!

 

 

 

 

Tommy’s mishap!

Yesterday was a bit traumatic for Tommy – late in the afternoon I had an appointment to walk one of the dogs that I pop in to see and take for walkies while their owners are away.  I gave both my boys a dog chew, settled them down and told them I would be back soon before heading out of the door.  I had a nice walk – around Swad Woodlands, before heading home.  When I pulled onto the drive I had been gone about an hour and quarter, maybe an hour and 20 mins.

As soon as I got out of the car I knew something was wrong.  I could hear Stan making a dreadful racket inside the house which pretty much never happens.  Usually when I get home there is peace until I walk in the door which sometimes causes Stan to do a spot of excited terrier yapping to welcome me in.  This was a much more stressed noise – lots of high-pitched barking.

I quickly unlocked and opened the front door and there was Stan at the end of the hall jumping up and down rapidly on his side of the baby gate that keeps the dogs in the back half of the house.  He was clearly very upset about something and Tommy was no where in sight.  Tommy could however be heard and he was crying and screaming as if he was being killed!

I had am image of him trapped on something flash into my mind, I was thinking his collar must have caught on a door handle.  I ran to the gate, opened it and shot through calling out to him that I was coming.  I rushed through the kitchen and in to the dining room and there was my baby…. Stood in the middle of the dining table screaming his head off.  As soon as I approached the table he leapt into my arms – nearly knocking the wind out of me as he is no longer a light weight!

I have a thing about wanting people to push their chairs in when they leave the table.  This time one had been left out and Tommy had used this as a step to get onto the table and see what he could find.  What he found was a very slippy surface and this caused him to panic.  He couldn’t turn around and get down again the way he had climbed up or he would slip about.  He couldn’t use one of the other chairs as they had been pushed in.  He couldn’t jump off for some reason known only to himself.  So he had got himself into a right state waiting for me to rescue him!  I have no idea how long he had been there before I found him but he was very upset so I will be nagging even more at people to push their chairs in after meals!

Tommy seems to have suffered no ill effects from his adventure.  He is still happy to go into the room and also has been briefly left alone already without showing signs of stress.  Hopefully he won’t go climbing again though.

 

Volunteer Fayre in Cannock

Yesterday saw me and Tommy nipping off to Cannock to meet one of our other volunteers, Jane, to spend the morning at a Volunteer Fayre explaining how people can get involved and help us out as part of our volunteer team.  We had a lovely time and got to talk to some very nice people who were keen to hear from us and the other groups there about what different opportunities there are for people who want to become volunteers.

This was our stand where we had examples of what people could do to help raise funds and lots of lovely pictures of the dogs.

Tommy as always worked very hard and was keen to ensure no one just walked past our stand so he greeted every person by walking up to them and standing at their side waiting for a stroke.

He soon got very tired and decided to have a nap – in the middle of the floor right where people were walking! The public were very kind and stepped carefully around him so he could get some rest!

After his nap Tommy did some tricks as usual – here he is showing people how to guard a bunny using Ninja stealth! He was VERY relaxed about this event!

At the end of the event Chase CVS had very kindly provided a tasty lunch which we had politely declined as we thought it would not be good to stay with Tommy along but the staff said he was very welcome so while Jane and I munched the sandwiches and got the chance to talk to other organisations who were seeking volunteers Tommy tucked into a small sausage roll as a treat for his good behaviour.  Thanks Chase CVS – it was lovely.

Should you want to know more about volunteering with Border Collie Trust please visit the website and look around to find out more – specific volunteer info is to be found in the “Support Us” tab.  Or join us on face book to see what is going on…. https://www.facebook.com/groups/BCTGBfundraisers/

 

 

Tommy growing up

Well the appointment has been made – some personal bits of Tommy’s body will be removed later this month.  Has to be done – all responsible owners should ensure that there is no chance their dog can produce puppies.

There are far too many born every day which is why so many are destroyed. If you do want a puppy please adopt one of the many unwanted ones which would otherwise end up killed as they are unwanted – don’t buy – adopt – this will make you a hero and a lifesaver.

Our baby is now growing up….