Chicks Are Out.

Jen asked on Facebook what we do with the chicks so I figured I'd hook you up with our system. 

We have a wire panel fence and inside on the bottom of it is a layer of chicken wire. This keeps the chicks in the panel fence. Around the outside of the panel fence we have an electrified electric mesh fence. This is to keep critters, like cats, out of the pen.

 The shelter is simply a piece of plywood leaning up against the side panel with two rebar posts on the ground side to make sure it stays there. There is a light, outside the panel that shines under the plywood shelter. The second piece of plywood is on the outside of the panel fence and keeps the wind out of that side of the shelter. We only get wind in one direction here normally so this works. 

On the top of the front right corner of the panel fence there is a fence post with a black garbage bag tied to it. This is a crow/raptors deterrent. It works. It works really well as long as you move it every two days or so. 

The plastic owl, his name is Fred, sits on the back corner of the panel fence. He's a good crow deterrent too. He's broken so he head no longer moves, what is with curious cows and owls anyway?, but he still works.  

Chip, the big black dog, loves the chicks and watches over them like a mother hen. He will not warn us if something happens to them though. He will sit and watch a raven or crow eat them. His, self proclaimed job is to  keep them all in the electric fence later when they are excape artists until they grow too big for the holes. He does this all day long for as long as it takes. He tried to teach Tucker this when he was a puppy but Tucker thinks this is boring. 

Tucker, the big white dog, is a LGD. He's half Manama and half golden retriever. This makes him an wonderful kids dog and a fantastic bird dog. He hates Ravens, crows, Hawks etc. He even barks are airplanes. He paroles the chick pen several times a day, sneering at Chips affection for the chicks, on the look out for raptors. If he sees one he chases it off. We've seen him do this repeatedly until we have very few problems with raptors here.  They were our biggest killer of chicks until we got him. 

Right now he and a sneaky raven are duelling it out every morning. The sneaky raven steals eggs out of the hen pen and Tucker chases him off at least twice a morning. 

The trick to keeping raptors off the chicks seems to be movement. So my chair is also out there and moved around every time I go out. When they get get big enough to move around in the electric netting we have way less problems with the raptors as long as we move them to every day to second day. Three days is too long. Something has to move every day or two or the raptors will attack. 

The chicks will live in this fence just like it is in the picture for about a week, then we will open up the panel fence in the morning and let them graze in the electric fence during the day. At night they get shut up in the panel fence again. We add more electric fencing the 3rd week and normally by then they aren't using their heat lamp at night much and we only do have it on when the temp drops a bit but better safe then sorry. When they are big enough not to be a easy catch for the raptors we start moving them around daily on the grass with a different shelter and no heat lamp until butchering day :) The fence post garbage bag goes with them always as does Fred. Fred normally has a lawn chair in the pen and the fence post gets moved during chores every day, even if we move the pen that day. Some of those sneaky Ravens/crows will get used to the pen moving but they don't like the bag moving. 

And there you have it. :) Hope that answers all your questions :)

Have a great y'all!! 

Critter Friendship.

Daisy and Chip snoozing on the driveway. 

Dog Tails.

During breakfast the other day we heard a huge ruckus under the trailer. This is what we found. Tucker was stuck! He'd somehow gotten under there and had a electrical wire wrapped twice around his back leg. Papa had to push him back around that pole and untangle him! Tucker weights a fair bit and it was a tough push. Here are some more dog pictures from recently. Tucker is taller now then Chip.

I had to talk to them as Papa was in the pig pen lighting a fire and they both wanted in with him but they had to be happy with me instead. Here is what I normally get..

Can you tell which direction Papa was in?? Lol. Loyal mutt. 

 

You Never Know....

What you'll see on our yard!!  

Sometimes it's kids playing a rousing game of soccer, or chickens eating grass, full grown cows munching around the trampoline, or little pigs rooting in the dirt. There are almost always laying hens and children, dogs and toys. A couple of weeks ago it was calves as well..

Everybody loves Papa. 

Patch; still a little wild.

J3 and Milton.

Calf and beer.... such is the homestead life!! 

Calf, Papa's shadow (also know as Chip) and beer... 

Ah it's the homebrewing/homesteading life!! 

Early Morning Visitors Part 2. Unwanted Visitors.

The unwanted visitors, there is something dead type, are a pair of ravens that attacked the chicks their first morning out on grass. Papa and I woke up to 10 dead chicks in the pen, chicks everywhere; under the porch, in the bushes, everywhere, and Tucker laying beside the trampoline watching the ravens eat the dead chicks. Yeah it turns out Tucker has to be loose to be 'on duty' for ravens anyway. He does fine with coyotes while tied or crated, but apparently must be loose to bark at ravens. He does chase them off, we've seen him, but not while tied... strange mutt. 

Papa and the kids and I spent 45 minutes rounding up chicks, found 4 more that had been squished in the panic, and got them all back in the pen and fed. Over the next few days we lost several, I think 4 or 5, more... probably from too much stress. It's a terrible way to wake up on a beautiful Sunday morning. 

We had to re-plan our day as we'd planned on going to church and out for lunch and then to a car show that afternoon. We'd already told the kids we were going to the car show so Papa packed up the kids and took them to see the old cars and I grabbed my book and went out to sit on the lawn.. and it was good that I did. Those brave ravens came back again and again and again!! I moved myself around the yard and that kept them from landing. 

We've had troubles with ravens before but not in several years. We found that if we tied a black garbage bag on to a movable fence post and moved it around in the pen when we did chores the ravens wouldn't land. We also move our chicks every day or every second day and the ravens really don't like change so they will not attack. 

We've never ever had raven troubles the first night the chicks are out until now.

So we made this guy known as Scare Steve. He's a scare crow but he looks like and is tall like our friend Steve and the kids named him :) Tucker DID NOT like him and barked for ages until Papa brought Tucker into the chick pen and 'introduced' them. 

So far, it's been 10 days now, we are keeping the ravens away with a couple of proactive activities. We are moving the scare Steve every couple of days, we are moving the feeders/waterers/ wheelbarrow in the pen every feeding or almost every feeding.. so two or three times a day! We are spending a LOT of time outside which they don't like and we are hunting them. Well Papa is :) We are still having raven scares every day. In fact the kids and I moved the chicks across the driveway today into a new pen and within an hour the ravens were checking them out. The scare Steve is not yet in the new pen but it will be tonight. The kids are outside doing P.E. and that should throw the ravens off until Papa can get the scare Steve and the feed trailer into the pen. I'm also seriously wondering if I should get a couple of Papa's old shirts and change scare Steve's shirt every day or two. Papa and I also sleep with our window cracked so we can hear the chicks in the middle of the night. 

 Papa figures the chicks would dress out about 3 lbs right now so it shouldn't be too long before they are too big for the ravens but until then we will be doing everything in our power to keep them safe. The ravens will not go after my laying hens so at least we know there is a size where the chicks should be safe. 

General Farm Update.. January 2013

It's been a while since I did a update so here you go.

Maggie is home now and her and Isabel seem quite happy together again. We have not yet had her preg checked but the fact that she's not gone into heat since she's been home and the waddle in her walk makes us think we should have a calf arriving in the next several months. Isabel has also not gone into heat since we had her AI'd and we are hoping she too is bred!! IF Maggie was bred the month she went to the Bull's place we should have a calf in March. If Isabel is bred she should calve in August. Isabel is still giving about 5 or 6 gallons a day. Lucky pigs and chickens.. I just wish I had the energy to make cheese!!! Maybe soon :)

Chip is getting less exercise now that Tucker seems to leave him alone more and is no longer loosing weight.. Papa thinks he is about 120lbs. One bonus from bringing the ski doo home to give the kids rides is that Chip follows it around, Papa is ON IT!!, and gets some exercise. He has made himself a new bed under the floor of the new house and seems to revert to puppy hood with numerous naps and unawareness. He's only 3 so I'm not sure why or even if he's changed or if Tucker is just so much more active that I've actually noticed how inactive Chipper really is.

Waiting for Papa's return one snowy day! 

Tucker has a annoying habit of chewing on bike helmets, gloves, baseball gloves, odd shoes and whatever he can get his mouth on. Other then that he seems to be fitting right in. He's about 5 months old now and quite large. I barely have to bend to pet him. He has learned to stay off the porches and to sit if he wants attention but he still has a ways to go. He tried to follow us out the driveway the other day and Papa had to chase him back a couple of times. He is very bright though and that works in his favor.

Laying hens are laying eggs again!! YAY!! Some days we get a dozen other days only 1 or 2. I'm sure I have an egg eater in there somewhere but finding them is the thing. We've lost a few older hens, as we do every year, which is life. We haven't got a hen under almost 3 so it's no wonder we loose one here and there. Most of them are between 3 and 5.

Pigs.. Well we finally butchered the last two butcher hogs 10 days ago (and had bacon for breakfast YUM!!) and got the sausage done 2 days ago and Papa smoked a side of bacon yesterday to see how it was. It was YUMMY!! Anyway that means we have 8 growers (5 months old) to butcher next year left, two proven sows and one gilt. Papa picked the friendliest gilt and kept her to breed. She is not purebred and is multicolored so it will be neat to see what her babies look like. The pigs just got a new large straw bale in their pen and Papa forked a bunch of it into their barn so they are happy pigs these days with the warm weather and something to play with.

Papa slicing bacon for breakfast! Check out that pan behind him!! 

As for the rest of the place it is surviving winter well. Papa has mornings to clear snow with the bobcat and he's made great big piles of snow every where for the kids. The kids have tunnels and caves and trails and all sorts of fun stuff out there in the snow. The snow on the entrance side of the roof has not come off in almost 2 months.. it's been too cold for it to move. The other side gets more sun and has come off once in the last month. Right now there is A LOT of snow up there and we are awaiting the BOOMING THUNDER OF FALLING SNOW!!! Papa has taken the bobcat and cleaned out the snow on the ground on the entrance side so it won't pile up and make a mess this spring. We thought the snow would fall today as it is 4C/40F here today, I even kept the kids inside because I was that sure, and so far nothing, but it is overcast and normally the snow goes on sunny days. It's already cooling off here so I think if it is still warm tomorrow it might fall then. If not it will wait until our next beautiful sunny day.

The snow by the front door... this actually fell this morning but only the part hanging down. 

Some of this fell but not all of it. Every warm meltly day on the farm we have red patches... butchering spots that show up as the snow melts.. looks terrible but you get used to it. Isabel was waiting to be milked and she was watching me with interest as I took the pictures. 

 As for a house building update.. there isn't really one. Between butchering, holidays, sickness, and work we've not had much time. Papa is waiting on a few quotes for trusses/i beams for the floors between the two additions. 

I almost forgot the cats! They are spoilt as per normal. The two kittens we got this summer have learned how to get up on Midnight's perch above the back porch. There is a bit of a ledge up there and they all 3 fit nicely and make good use of the heat coming through there. Hunter, the orange male, is still giving Tucker a hard time which is good for Tucker. I have no idea where he sleeps but I would guess in the large addition in the spare bales there. His brother showed up 2 nights ago after having been MIA for almost a year. They look a lot more alike then I remembered. The brother (what did we name him? I'll have to look on old blog posts.) is a bit more rough and tumble then Hunter and Papa says his eyes are goopy. If he sticks around we'll have to do something about that. I've only seen him once, that I know of they do look a LOT alike!, and I'll be surprised if he stays. Here is the original post on the two orange cats.. whom we were told were females but both were males. The one that stayed was renamed Hunter.. I wonder if the other just left before we knew they were males?? Anyway the 4 regulars are very friendly to each other and we often see them all 4 on the Travel-all's hood when it's warm. I hope the return of the other male doesn't mess that up! Anyway that's the farm update. Hope you enjoyed hearing about life on our place :) 

New Neighbors.. of the Fowl Kind.

See it?? 

It is a grouse sitting in a spruce tree. 

The spruce tree is at the end of our driveway. 

It's not our tree actually it's Mr. M's but our driveway goes right by it.

I discovered our new neighbors one day while I was walking back down the driveway.. 

I'd gone out to take pictures of Papa bringing Maggie home.. I wanted one of him walking her down the road home.. I never got the picture I wanted as Maggie decided to NOT follow him and we chased her the whole way! Anyway.. I was walking back to the house with the camera and I was a TAD distracted as I was also taking the opportunity to train Tucker to stay on the house side of the raised beds and NOT follow me down the driveway, when something EXPLODED right beside me.. 

Yeah.

 I knew what it was the minute my heart went out of PANIC MODE. 

Grouse are known for this little trick. It must have been less then 3 feet from me and I panicked it and it panicked me and Tucker took the opportunity to come a bit closer.. 

I yelled at the dog and marveled a little at myself.. I had NOT dropped the camera you see! 

I gave myself a mental shake and turned around to see if I could find it and calmly took a picture. 

My heart didn't actually stop racing until I got inside. 

I walked up and down the driveway several more times that day and saw two grouse in all. 

Over the next two weeks we saw 4 in all, sitting in the trees, walking across the driveway like they owned the place. Chip barked at them. Tucker went to sniff them out and got yelled at. 

I think they may have been attracted to the area by our hay pile.

Then one day they were gone.. moved out. Found a better place to camp I guess.

Anyway now that they are gone we kinda miss them.. they were fun to watch. 

Even if they did like to get your heart rate a boost! 

Fall Update. 12

Well I realize that other then my Thankful Thursdays post I've not posted very much lately. Partly because we are busy but I'm also working through some things in my life and blogging seems to be more on the bottom of the list then the top. But I've got a bit of time right now so I thought I'd update you all a little. As most of you know I blog for myself and my husband, my family; near and far, and my kids. I blog as a memory keeper. I back it up onto my computer and keep it for later. Sort of an online scrapbook. And bonus the relatives like it too as they can share our days with us :).

I also try to be a very positive person so I very rarely post anything negative  I don't want this to be a place to complain. Actually I try to never complain on Facebook or the blog and rarely in person. It's a personal preference of mine. Though I realized the other night my Bible study ladies probably hear more then they'd like. I'm sorry. I'm working on it. God isn't finished with me yet. :) Love you girls!!

Anyway now that I've got that off my chest I'll update you on our life at the moment.

Kids first :)

Baby G is almost 11 months old, she is still nursing several times a day and is so focused while she nurses I wonder how hard she'll be to wean. She is a habits girl and changing her habits is always neat to watch. You can just about see her thinking and readjusting. She is standing up and balancing and cruises on the couches or whatever but has only taken 3 steps. I expect she will be walking soon. She has quite the personality and chatters away at you, cocks her head and waits for you to chatter back. She is learning signs and already does please.

J3 was 2 in July. We were so busy this summer that we waited to potty train him for several months. It took about 6 weeks but he's now mostly trained. He still will not tell us when he has to go but will go several times a day and will stay dry for hours. Good enough! He gets a 'choc bar' (a mini one) if he tells us he has to go so we are working on that slowly. He is talking a lot more and stringing words together nicely. He loves animals and being outside. He gets upset when ever R does school because then she's not playing with him. They are best buddies and play together very nicely. He is learning that soon he will be the 'big kid' in the living room with Baby G and they are working on staying in the living room during school and playing nicely together.


R is 4.5 and loves to do school. I made her a work book with letter printouts and she is learning her letters and how to write them. This will be all the school besides crafts and coloring she will do for awhile as Papa says she is too young to do more. I think she needs to play more as well.  Next year she will be 5 and might do grade 1 then. She is really enjoying the little work books we got her from Walmart that she does dot to dots and colors in. She has a baby doll that she plays with, dresses, naps, etc and I often enjoy hearing her teach her doll things. She has been a great help in toilet training J3 as she would really get excited for him which made him excited too. She loves to snuggle and read books and play all kinds of games. She also enjoys computer games like purple place and jump start preschool.

E is almost 6 and grew like a weed this summer. Both her and R went through 2 sizes in the last 6 months. Mostly they grew taller, though E is almost at 40lbs which makes her excited as she can almost go into a booster seat. She is enjoying school and amazes me with her memory.  They are starting math drills and she did her page in 2 minutes! She really loves science Paces and, I think, she'd finish one a day if I let her. We are working on her writing neatly as she didn't have the control last year but does this year. She enjoys our new puppy Tucker and likes to mother him. She's been experimenting with laughs and is making us all laugh at the same time. She loves to tell stories.

L is 7.5 and loves to draw and do Kung fu. He is a very active child and needs to stay active outside or he drives us all crazy inside :) He is the first in the wrestling match and the last one out. I can always tell when he's walking in the house because that extra bounce in his step makes the trailer floor thump just a little. In the kids games L is often the monster or creatures of terror. He loves it and plays his part really well...too well sometimes and scares us! He is the fastest kid in school and loves his social studies paces the best. He is also the neatest writer of the three. Surprised me!

J is almost 9 and wearing my boots! He's grown 2 sizes this summer as well and I think will soon be wearing his fathers shirts. He can haul totes, 5 gallon buckets half full and 3 gallon buckets mostly full! He and L have been in charge of the laying hen chores and firewood for the last year and it has really beefed them both up. He is finding school a bit long this year as he often works for over 3 hours a day, but he is working on being diligent and working hard to get it done during school hours and not 'free time' hours. :) He loves to read and do crafts and experiments.

As a group the kids are enjoying pretend play, chicken teams (apparently the chickens need teams like `the dirty bum team`and the `commanders`) swinging, playing with Tucker, enjoying home church and their kids church. Singing, jokes, and stories are often heard.

Me, well since I sat down to start this blog post I've; sat in the bedroom with J3 until he fell asleep as he's not been napping well, given out school assignments to J (x2) and L and E, sent L and E out to get a garbage can of sticks for kindling and 5 pieces of firewood, helped R with her 'school' assignments, checked out a cool home school newsletter and got some ideas for fall leaf projects, wiped a bum, turned the oven on to bake my bread, gotten J3 up from his nap and fed him his treat and put him on the potty, helped J with his assignment, drank a little bit of coffee until I saw that a bug had committed suicide in it, switched to the computer for faster typing :) Today I've managed to get Baby G's new size clothing sorted out and put away, putting some aside for a friends much rounder baby girl, made two meals and what I call directed traffic.. in other words.. boss people around :) I THINK I know what supper will be ( movie night as Papa is gone to the city for a course. So leftover chicken breast, crackers, apples, carrots and popcorn.) My kitchen is mostly clean and my fire is still going :) BONUS!!! lol fall is always a remembering time for me.. I MUST remember to keep wood on the fire! And I have made some plans for tomorrow.

Papa is busy these days too. Between work, sleep, farm and family he keeps pretty busy! Never mind the house and keeping our car and Travelall in great working order. This weekend he has a course in the city Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I may have to brave church alone.. with 6 kids. ( Church itself isn`t the problem. It`s getting the cows milked, chores down, kids ready and breakfast ready and eaten that is making me rethink my Sunday plans. Normally Papa does chores and cows and helps with kids ready when he`s done. I think I can do it alone.. I just have to get up really early! :) ) Anyway, Papa`s back is doing really well and he is normal again.. as much as ever anyway.

House building is coming along. Papa was sick last weekend which set us back a little. I`ll post some pictures soon.

Farm. Cows. Norma Jean goes home next week and after that we are planning on bringing Maggie and the two steers that are at the neighbors home for the winter. Well the biggest steer will go into the freezer :) We`ve made a deal with a friend of ours for the AIing of Isabel. Star has learned some cow manners from the two milk cows but is still very tame and easy to handle.. perfect!! She is still getting some milk every day but that will stop with Norma Jean going home.

Pigs. Well... we butchered the biggest pig in the back group and we are really enjoying the pork on the table!! We also sold 9 weaner piglets so far and 6 more are going early next week. We have 9 more 200 to 300 pound pigs in the back to butcher. Two are sold and whatever we don`t sell will go in the freezer. YUM!! We hope to only keep 10ish weaner piglets and the two purebred sows over the winter.

Layers. The hens are molting and nit picking and generally doing everything but laying eggs, though we did get 12 yesterday and 5 today! so hopefully soon we`ll be enjoying eggs in great number again.

Dogs. Chip is now 3 years old and I don`t know if it`s the puppy or what but he has taken a great disliking to a particular van and it`s people who come twice a week. Papa actually met them on the road the other day on their way here and hopped in the van with them to `deal with`Chip as Chip had growled and snapped at the man the last time he`d come. Chip behaved and has done much better since! He likes to play with Tucker and the two of them are often seen rolling around chewing on each other. Tucker is fitting in well and the kids enjoy taking him for walks and feeding him. Now that it`s colder at night he has a blanket that goes over his crate on the front porch and gets a warm breakfast :) He`s gonna be a big dog!!

Cats. The two kittens we got this summer have made themselves right at home and seem to be a great addition to the place. They are both about the same in friendliness now and we are enjoying seeing them playing and goofing off at all hours. They will wrestle with Tucker which is super cute! Hunter, our oldest cat, the orange tabby is semi friendly and is a very good mouser. He sits on the raised beds and waits.. and gets quite a few mice! Midnight, the about 1 year old black male which someone dropped off here last spring, is the strangest cat ever.. he lets those kittens suck on his belly fur like they are nursing.. and yes we checked.. he`s a full male!! He takes care of those two like they are his own. I often see the cats and the puppy playing tag in the dark. Hunter really likes to attack Tuckers leash if he`s got it dragging behind him :)

Well that`s life here on the Griggs Family Homestead. Well no not really.. homesteading wasn`t talked about.. we still do quite a bit of that in our daily life. My breads ready to come out of the oven. Papa has bacon curing, the kids recently made sauerkraut and there is normally some kind of milk product in the fridge. Papa`s beer fridge is freezing at night now but it`s still got home brew in it. Apparently it needs a place inside.. or a system like the milk fridge. We still eat what we raise and can make for ourselves as a large part of our diet. We are getting into winter mode and staying home more, doing school daily and having a lot of fun together doing projects like our recent Great Clothes Swap! or our Get the toys in the bus so they don`t get buried in snow  project. Or our Canning adventures, De-cluttering 101, The Great Surprise Puzzle,Move The Baby Day and many many more. 

A couple of things we will be working on in the next few weeks are
*Getting the rest of the firewood to the winter pile.
*Winterizing the trailer and animal areas.
*Getting the kids 1st term supplemental work done.
*Shelves in the dining room area for the school stuff.. to the ceiling.
*Shelves in the entrance area for shoes and boots as we outgrew ours.
*and many many more..

I`ll try and blog a bit more of our adventures but for right now I`m outta here.. time to go try out that great looking bread on the oven top.. hmm.. movie night.. ah.. yup!

A Life Update ~July 28th/12~

Well I haven't sat down and just updated for quite some time so I thought I would take a minute to do so.

The homestead is busy these days, moving chicks(meat birds), and cows around on fresh grass. Feeding critters several times a day. Milking two cows takes a bit longer then one. Checking sows and the one gilt for piglets. Keeping up with the watering and sprinklers, the tall uneaten grass and the raised beds. Playing in the kiddie pool and riding bikes and doing school with the kids. Actually I don't ride a bike, the kids do and I push little Miss G in the stroller. And then there are outings; to town, the beach, church and friends houses. Never mind the sweeping and vacuuming, dishes and meals, bread and cheese. We keep busy and we like it that way.

Then there is the unexpected.

This last week I went out to do chores and check for piglets and found a dead sow. Just laying there it the bush. I thought she was about 600lbs but Papa says no more like 800! Full of piglets, I think there were 7 or 8 inside her, a couple weeks from due as the has no hair and their eyes were still shut. 4 year old purebred Bershire bred sow. Just dead. I called Papa. We brooded a little. It's such a disappointment to find such a animal dead. We raised her from 8 weeks old. The night before she was following Papa around waiting for a scratch, begging really. This would have been her 3rd litter. Papa said there were. Some white barnacle looking things on her liver and that was all he could find that was strange! We cut her up into chunks and froze them. Chip will eat good this winter. Half filled a small freezer. What a waste!

But mostly we are doing good here on the homestead. The kids are back to school part time, homeschooling of course, and they each finished 2 PACES yesterday, their 1st two of the year which was exciting. We also have a new science course that we've started and they LOVE! Apologia science Flying creatures of the 5th day. We found that L and E were starting to forget stuff like how to write letters or numbers and sounds of certain letters after their almost 3 month break so we started some verbal review and now are starting school part time just to keep them learning and remembering and busy :)

Papa is back to hobbling about with a sore leg. Praise God it doesn't seem to be his back this time though his sciatica is still the thing most affected. He is seeing a new chiropractor in town who is also a bit of a physical therapist after our normal chiropractor didn't seem to be helping anymore. The new chiropractor says its in the muscles, not his back like last time, and whatever she's doing it seems to be working. His mobility after just one appointment was better then he'd had in weeks and it lasted until his next appointment and he got more mobility after the second appointment. We are both really hoping and praying that this does not turn into the 4 month painful drugged fall that he had last fall. I will keep you posted.

J spiked in growth again this summer and turned his winter chubby-ness into several more inches and size 5 boys feet! He is gleefully awaiting the day he is taller then me! J has made several new friends in our homechurch and completely enjoys our times with them. They are all homeschoolers to and I think it's good for him.

L got a sketch pad for his birthday and spends hours drawing in it and making up stories to go with his pictures. He tans very nicely and looks very brown with his hair bleached by the sun. L is really enjoying his school work and flys through the pages with precision. Adding is still a strong point along with very neat printing.

E is doing very well. She's been off her puffers for a couple of months and doesn't seem to have any problems with the summer pollen! She is eating like a skinny person and staying skinny much to her dismay. She is trying to gain 5lbs so she can go into a booster seat and sit in the back seat of the truck! I think she might just get there about the time J grows out of it!

R is our bubbly little girl. She got some new school books for her birthday and begs to do school with the others with her little books. I let her for a few pages a day. She and J3 are becoming fast friends again during the school days and I enjoy listening to the communication between them now that J3 is older and talking more.

J3, I'm pretty sure, has past R in the weight department and the way he's going will likely be as heavy as E in no time! We started toilet training him 3 days ago just after his 2nd birthday. He's taken to it quite well and only had one Opps yesterday. He loves the animals and we often see him hanging on Chip, who loves him!, or packing a kitty around. He also loves to be doing what everyone else is going and I rack my brain several times a day for little chores for him as he likes to be helpful when we are choring. He goes and does his chore then runs back to me and says 'mom mom' (his version of yes mom) and waits impatiently for the next chore!

Baby G is acting more like a toddler and less like a baby these days! Crawling, climbing, trying to cruise on the couch but it's too high so she cruises on Papa laying on the floor or a box or a kid or whatever she can find. She is eating 3 large meals a day and sleeping about 11 to 12 hour nights with a couple of day time naps. She is still toothless but by the looks of her gums when she gets her teeth she will get a few!

Anyway I've got to go! Papa is up, Baby G is up and it's time to get started on this wonderful day called Saturday :) Have a great day and God bless :)

Calf~Dog Bonding!!

Star and Chip asleep together out on the front lawn.. must have been quite the night!! 

The white bucket is Star's milk bucket.. Chip licks it out at least once a day :) 

Chick Update :)

Looks like the chicks had a good night. Papa checked them before we went to bed around 10 and they were spread out and doing good. The main thing you watch for with chicks this young is that they don't get too cold and bunch up.. they will pile on each other for warmth and the ones on the bottom will die! I realized at 1am that our temps hit 0C so I went out to make sure they were warm enough. Chip the fearless dog came with me to protect me from cougars as there has been one spotted on our road! I figured he was better then nothing even if he's yellow and tastes like chicken :) *off the Robots movie for those of you who haven't seen it ;) If nothing else he'd make enough noise to wake Papa up if there was something out there. The moon is almost full or full and I barely needed my head lamp. The chicks were happy and spread out. Peeping softly. I didn't even go all the way in.. happy chicks! As I headed back to bed I realized I'd been so focused on checking chicks and cougars that I hadn't even looked at the full moon! Tonight I will take the time to enjoy the moon.. and worry less about cougars :)

The little chick with the scab on his back is doing wonderfully! Can't hardly tell which one is him! We do have one with a bit of blood on it's beak that is looking poorly and smaller then the rest! It's absolutely  amazing how fast these guys grow! In just a few short days they will have full wing feathers and double in size! Even now they are showing the first white of wing feathers!

Here is a Blast From the Past :) 2009

 E at age 2 holding a chick :) 

J at age 5.

L at age 4 :) 

R at age 1. 

And a Link to my chick blog that year. 

~Two Way Street~

I find it amazing how different perceptions change your out look on life. Every morning I take a quick walk down the driveway. It's short, our driveway, but big things have been coming to me on these short walks. On the way down the driveway I can hear the road traffic, horns are often heard, but mostly it's just the rumble of trucks and the whine of car engines or the sound of some truckers jake brake. I can see the mountain and when I reach the end of our driveway and step on to the road we live on, a quiet country road that parallels the highway, the wind hits me on the face and brings with it the smell of ADVENTURE! I'm not sure which part of the walk out appeals to my adventurous self or if it's the whole of it but it does. On the way out my driveway I feel like I could just keep walking and find the adventure that is waiting, and start to live that adventure. I have no idea what that adventure might be. Good, bad, just different? I suspect it's not a God driven wish for a new adventure, but man or self driven wish for adventure. I stand in the road and look one way and then the other. I smell the wind and it flows my hair over my face. There is always wind on this road and some how it smells like a new adventure that calls to me. A fresh adventure. An unknown adventure. A new and wonderful or new and terrifying adventure. A happy or sad adventure. A long or short adventure. 

I smile and I turn back down my driveway and look at our house and home, farm and yard, family and love and I keep walking. Down the driveway towards my adventure. I stop to check the puddles for run off and the earth for the tiny bits of green that will mean flowers or plants later on. Flowers and plants that I planted in this soil. Soil I dug and prepared. The soil of my home. I see green grass, the first small shoots standing impossibly green beside a stump, in an area we prepared for grass, by clearing, burning, picking up sticks and planting. An area that a few short years ago was useless bush, now thrives with grass and health. I see Chip. Waiting half way down the driveway. Eager to see me though I've been gone only minutes. He seems to sense my feelings and is happy that I turned back his way. I feel the lack of wind and hear the calf Star bawl for her morning milk. I can still hear the highway but it's no longer calling me. Midnight the little cat is sitting watching. I reach the raised beds, which Papa and I built and filled, seeded and harvested, protected and dreamed about. Chip lunges, eager that I've reach the allowed spot and runs to greet me. I remind him of his manners and he sits so I can pet his head.

There are memories all around me. Every piece of the land I can see I've stepped on, worked on, battled with, watched my children play on, enjoyed and mulled over.  I hear the rhythmic thump thump of the milking machine as it pulls milk from Isabels udder while I walk. Chores go on without me. I see the house, that on going project, and I picture in my head what it might look like... it's always different and that is part of the adventure. I see the trailer and I think of my children. Sleeping inside. I am swarmed with memories.. My biggest adventure!!  Soundly asleep in their beds, giggling madly in their beds, running across the house to 'see if they can get up yet'. Every day is a grand adventure. I see my adventure, and their adventure, in their eyes every morning, and I hope they can see the adventure in mine. The highway noise is fading, almost gone, the wind is gone, the house calls to me, the cow in her stanchion, the children in their beds, the empty spot where the car sits when Papa is home from work. 

 I smile that secret smile as I walk by the empty spot where Papa parks his car. He is not my adventure. He and I are. He and I are one! Are not separable. We are in this adventure together. There is no adventure without him. He is me and I am him. I remember the kiss, the one he gives me before he leaves for work. On the forehead in bed as I sleep, on the mouth at the door. The smile. You know the one. The one that says I am yours and you are mine and I love you. The knowing look he gave me as he left for his side of our adventure, while I stay home with my side of our adventure. Sometimes we wish we could switch. Share a bit more of the others adventure. We cherish the part of the adventure that we get to share together. Everyday is an adventure. 

My adventure is calling me. The calf bawling for her milk, the pigs grunting good morning, the thump thump of the milking machine marking off the time until chores are done, the chickens clucking in their pen as they walk the fence line in hopes of a bucket of food, the excited whimper of Chip as he tries to convince me to throw his stick, the mew of the cats as they beg for milk, the sound of the birds in the trees, the children waiting asleep inside, and the thought that a new day has started. A brand new day. 

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22 & 23. 

Today is a brand new day with no mistakes in it. *

I know inside there are chores to be finished, coffee to drink, breakfast to make, kids to wake and kiss, smiles to exchange, dreams to hear, life to live, diapers to change, babies to snuggle, fun to be had, training to do, schooling, dishes, laundry, WORK to be done. Just like I know outside there are sticks to pick up, grass to seed, house to build, animals to care for, land to clear, firewood to haul, races to be had, toys to enjoy, challenges to face and all of this are ADVENTURES TO BE ENJOYED!!! 

Go out and make the most of YOUR adventure!! 

*Anne of Green Gables.. actually the quote is 'Tomorrow is a brand new day with no mistakes in it.'

Mr. Suspicious!!

Chip is a great dog, he good at his job of barking when strangers drive up, he is quite convincing when I am outside but haven't told him it is ok (some people are even scared of him which I myself find funny as he is such a wimp! Look here for the best Chip story ever!), he enjoys hanging out with the kids and the cows and chickens. Pigs are a bit challenging for him as that electric fence really does bite! When the pigs are loose they have no fear of him after only a little time has passed..they know he is all bark and no bite!

 The thing Chip does best, besides drool all over Papa, is be suspicious! If our neighbor guy is gone for a bit and then goes back TO HIS OWN HOUSE Chip is suspicious. He barks and carries on like the aliens have landed and are stealing all the dogs! Sometimes. The next time the guy will be home for three days before Chip notices and then the aliens have landed! Some mornings we hear furious barking, he's really getting into it, from under the porch, (remember there are dog snatching ALIENS out there!) because our other neighbor has started to (become an alien dog snatcher? Nope. Come walking up to the house at 7am? Nope! [Chip hates people who walk up the driveway they are sneaky and quite and they wake him up from his nap!] Nope!!)  our neighbor has the audacity to, to, to PLOW HIS OWN DRIVEWAY! Mow his own lawn or MY GOODNESS....start his 4 wheeler!!! REALLY!! Those aliens really are hard at work this morning!!

Chip will be 3 this fall and he is showing some signs of maturing.. Our neighbor, the one with the lawn mower, plow and 4 wheeler, takes a walk everyday with his wife and his little dog.. or just him and the little dog. Every day without fail.. never misses a day. Sometimes several times a day. When Chip was in his 1st year he would cause SUCH a ruckus every SINGLE time Mr. R took his walk. We'd have to go out and talk him down EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!!! He also tried to go visit the little dog who was also just a puppy then. She came on the yard once or twice and they did the sniffing thing. She stands about Oh.. 7 inches MAX off the ground as a full grown dog now so it was pretty interesting for both of them. He didn't know dogs came in that size and neither did she! Mr. R would call her and mostly she'd obey and go to him but once he did end up coming into the yard to get her. I think Chip went out on the road once too.. but we soon cured that. In Chips second year he would hit and miss.. some days the dog snatching aliens where out in full force and other days he was too busy napping. Lately he's been more missing then hitting and I for one am grateful. Mr.R still takes his little dog out several times a day for a walk but Chip has decided it is no longer worth his notice.. UNLESS... they decide to ride his bike ( Mr. R has a little basket on the front for the dog).. then the aliens are OUT and are going to GET him!!!!
  J got a chunk of rope out yesterday and attached it to Chips collar and started to work with Chip a little bit. Chip has never been leash trained, actually normally he FREAKS if you attach anything to his collar. But yesterday he did really well. Maybe he is maturing after all!! I have a funny feeling though that Chip will never outgrown his suspicious nature :)

*Star* ~Bottle Feeding~

J holds the calf bottle for Star while L, E, R and J3 and I look on. 

Star was born at about 90lbs which completely and totally put L, E, R and J3 out of the running to bottle feed her. She's strong. J could barely keep that bottle in place while she drank!! He dropped it several times to his chagrin. She's a rough little thing (she bumped Papa on the nose and made it bleed!!) and both Papa and I have been trying to teach her some manners!!

 It involves quite a lot of kicking on my part and a bit of learning to stay off the human on hers!! 

No joke! 

We fed her with the bottle for less then a week before bucket training her. She drinks quite nicely from a bucket now at 2 weeks old. She's getting about 2.5 gallons of milk a day and an arm load of hay! I love watching her eat the hay.. she has pieces sticking out every which way and she chews every bite very exaggerated. 

J3 loves her and comes to me several times a day and asks 'Calf?' and we go out on the front porch to visit her. Star trying to suck on any feet that get too close (sometimes succeeding!) and J3 staring at her and petting the kitten. Chip is normally on the stairs pacing excitedly so I go pet him for a bit. He's not normally allowed on the porch as large dog + small child = large dog, sprawling and crying child, but we've let him up a couple of times when the kids aren't out and let him gaze on Star too.. he's as much of a sucker for baby animals as the rest of us :) 

ABC's of The Griggs Family

A is for action..with 6 little pickles we see lots of that :)
B is for Baby G, cuddly and sweet.
C is for cows, big black and whites.
D is for dog.. Chip is his name, Papa is his game!
E is for E******* our 5 year old princess :)
F is for fresh!! Fresh air, fresh eggs! Fresh out look on life!
G is for Griggs! Yup that's us!
H is house, building for years :)
I is for Isabel, our new black and white!
J is for three, Papa, and the biggest and littlest boys.
K is for kids which we have 6 of so far!
L s for L*** the only non J named boy :)
M is for Mommy... Who try's to keep life running smoothly!
N is for North, the place where we live.
O is for odd, which we are for sure!
P is for pickles and pigs, littles and bigs.
Q is for quarrel, something we try never to do.
R is for R*** our 4 year old princess :)
S is for snow and sunshine, never really in balance.
T is for Travelall, our big yellow truck!
U is for united!
V is for Victory in Jesus!
W is for work, good thing we enjoy it!
X is for x a lent! Which the kids are doing in school :)
Y is a question we get rather a lot of!
Z is a zed or a zee, you see?? :)

Jen over at Our Pecuilar Lives, button on side bar, is blogging the ABC's which gave me this idea :) It started out at a reminder list of what I would do if I blogged the ABC's and turned into this fun post. I probably will not blog the ABC's, but if I ever catch up I might :)

New Kitten!

She is a cute little fur ball that showed up next door one day about two months or so ago. She moved to our house about a week later and still goes over to visit next door fairly often.  She was a kids kitten. They pick her up any which way and run, ride, jump and she takes it. She didn't much care for Chip at first but has learned to love him and they are often seen sniffing each other or sitting together in the sun. J was carrying her when she 1st came and Chip came over to see her and she ran right up his face and sat on his head!! Jumped off his head and poor Chip really didn't know what he'd done!! He is such a softy. Papa has dubbed her midnight and we are hoping she stays around long enough to give us a batch of kittens or two :)

The Papa Monster.

This is a Chip story but it doesn't start with him. Everyone who reads my blog knows that Chip LOVES Papa. If there are 15 people on this place you will find Chip with Papa. I imagine if there was 100 people on this place, Chip would still be with Papa. This story is about Chip but starts with our car.

We bought our car 3 years ago, for $300. I remember it was 3 years ago because R was a baby. Still in an infant seat and we drove Papa out of town to pick up this car. I was unimpressed. With the drive out there and ANOTHER cheap car. We've had a few cheap cars and they never do as well as hoped. Until this one. In fact we still have one in the front waiting for the day it will be towed away! They all seem to leave in better shape then we get them but none of them are 'long term cars' they tend to have some issue that we either can't find and fix or is not worth fixing. This one though has had no real problems. We did name it the 1st month or so we had it but whatever it's name was it was quickly replaced with 'Papa's Black Car' and forgotten. It's served us well, driving Papa to work and back and to the city when he was in school and gets pretty good gas mileage. It works like a $3,000 car in a $300 car body. The most we've done to it is put tires on it and keep it full of oil. It has/had a small oil leak that Papa has fixed several times only to find out it's not the right place and it still leaks. It's smell is a real put off when it's hot as it the oil drips slowly on the engine and burns when the car is hot. It's such a tiny bit that it's not a problem.

Last week this $300 cars alternater finally gave up. Not really a big deal. It happened at work so Papa took it out right away and took it to a local place to see if they could rebuild it. It was a Wednesday so the kids and I had stopped in on our way to AWANA and that's when I found out about it. I was a bit worried I'd have to go get Papa at work at 10pm when they close, but he assured me he could just take the service truck home. NICE!! I thought no more about it. I will next time!

That night after the kids were all in bed I decided to watch a bit of James Harriot and I'd just gotten into it when Chip started BARKING. Normally he barks only if somethings happening and then stops. This time he BARKED AND BARKED AND BARKED. Ok so SOMETHING was going on out there. My 1st thought was someone was coming to pick up something out of the outside fridge/freezer. Happens all the time. Not normally so late at night and Chip knows them all pretty good and he doesn't  bark at them if he knows them. Hmmm. Moose?? So I pause my movie and head out to see what is the big deal. I got to the door just in time to see the service truck about half way down the driveway. It had totally skipped my mind that Papa would be driving it home. Chip was enraged! I've not heard him BARK like that in ages. He was even growling, still hiding between the porch and the house mind you but he was in full guard dog mode. So I helped :)

"Chip, it's going to get you!! Watch OUT Chip, it's an alien and it's going to eat you up!" I was laughing so hard I'm surprised he believed me. But he did! The BARKING got LOUDER and hoarser with more growls and his hair stood up on end. Papa parked the truck in his normal spot but Chip was SURE this evil truck was going to GET HIM!!! Papa was laughing and I could hardly talk I was laughing so hard. I started telling Chip, "Papa's gonna GET YOU!!' Poor Chip never even heard the Papa part. Papa was out of the truck and I'm sure Chip though his nose was lying to him. This was not his beloved Papa.. this was some strange thing that was going to eat him.  Papa went around the back of the Travelall then JUMPED out  were Chip could see him and said "RAAAAAAAA." Chip was INSTANTLY under the porch. Tail between his legs and quiet!! Papa and I laughed so hard tears ran!! Poor Chip!

Papa called him after a minute and he came out slowly with his tail between his legs. Normally Chip BOUNDS to Papa in leaps and beware anyone or anything that gets in his way! This time Papa had to call him several times before he would come out and a few more before he made his way all the way to Papa. I had to encourage him from the house. Then when Chip got to Papa he slobbered all over him and Papa rubbed him all over like he likes and all was forgiven!

The car's alternater was beyond rebuilding and so another was ordered and put in that same day. Papa drove the car home that night. I'm sure Chip was relived. He greeted Papa in his normal fashion, trying to climb into the open door while trying to lick him anywhere he can reach before Papa can get out. I do wonder what will happen the next time Papa has to bring the service truck home :)

After Papa read this he reminded me that Chip didn't just dive under the house with his tail between his legs.. he YIPPED really high pitched first!! LOL!!

Fun In The Snow With The Sled.

The kids checking out the sled before we got it off the trailer! 

Chip sitting in the middle of the driveway while Papa takes a child and the sled on the road. 

R after her 1st ride! 

Papa and E on the sled. Chip LEAPING through the deep snow trying to keep up. After a while there was a trail and then it was much easier for him.

E after her 1s ride. 

L LOVED it and giggled the whole time. The sled was quiet enough that I could hear him giggling even when they were on the front piece. Wonderful sound. 

J was too big to go in the front and boy was I worried he'd fall off. He didn't and they both had a ton of fun! 

The next day T's came over for a ride or two. Here is Little Miss T loving it. 

This little Mr. T didn't want to go more then the one time his Momma said he had too.. and he loved it just didn't want to go again. 

The day was mild enough that Baby J got to sit outside for a little bit and watch. Papa took the kids on the road and J very proudly told me that 'we went faster then hwy speed.' After all the kids had several rides and Papa had made a few good trails he took me for a ride. We went to the lease behind us and on our road that goes down the side of our 5 acres he says he hit 40 but I was 'screaming and yelling at him'  so he slowed down. I do NOT like to go fast. I like to meander not FLY!! LOL. So he slowed down and on the way back he let me drive! What fun! 

What do Pigs, A Steer, A Calf, Chickens and A Milk Cow all have in Common this Winter??

None of them want to stay in the pen that was made for them! The calf wants his Momma, or at least her milk. The steer wants FREEDOM plain and simple. The pigs and cow well they both want the same thing and neither of them can find it nearby! Papa commented after a particularly trying week 'Might be a good reason to keep them pregnant, at least THEN they stay in!' I, yes the pessimist, thought darkly, "No that just means there will BE MORE OF THEM OUT!!' So far this winter I have chased, yelled, bribed and shot, yes SHOT, each of our 3 sows, the steer and the calf multiple times!! The now steer is the worst and we've actually considered shooting him now just to get rid of him once and for all. Bullseye, recently re dubbed "Steers-eye" after a hour or so of work, is an escape artist who is too stupid to stop when the electric fence nails him. He's his mothers son and will be the last of Bindy's BAD SEED on the place. It doesn't help that we've had a LOT of snow this year and our fencer is NOT working as well as it once did. I think we will be replacing it VERY soon. I"m a bit leery of getting a bigger one as this one hits pretty good in the summer and quite frankly I seem to attract the 'charge' as much as or MORE then any animal on the place. OUCH! But it's been crazy around here and something has got to give. 

We got a lot of snow one night and the next morning Papa noticed the pig and then the tracks going down the driveway. So he bundled up and went out looking for her. Poor Chip sat in the middle of the driveway and watched as he's not allowed out of the yard. He sat right about where Papa is in this picture and I was able to tell what Papa was doing by watching the dog that loves him. First Papa went left and Chip stared off that way. Then Chip stood up and got super excited. Sure enough, here comes Papa into view. No pig. All of a sudden Chip sat down hard and dropped his head in sorrow. Papa's finger was pointing at him and I'm pretty sure he got the 'stay home!' Then Papa went right. Chip watched the right side eagerly. Time passed. Chip lay down, still watching to the right. Then he sat up. Barked. Sure enough here comes Papa, pig trailing behind him. Chip is SUPER excited and does his 'whole body wiggle' multiple times. Papa hits the drive way and starts down it. Chip launches himself in the air in excitement but doesn't cross the line. The stay home line. Good dog. Papa's knows the pig doesn't really care for the dog so poor Chip has to 'go lay down' and can't greet his love, his master properly. He MUST obey and he does. What a good dog! 

Papa, ( he knew I was taking pictures and does his best to look cranky when I take pictures of him. I think he thinks I'll quit if he always has a scowl on his face..but he's mistaken :) bringing home a pig one Sunday Morning in January. We have 3 sows. 2 with long tails and one dubbed STUB for a reason. Both Stub and this long tail get out every time they go into heat. EVERY TIME!! Neither of them like me at all but they will fallow Papa to the ends of the earth. So I rarely have to put them in. When I do I use the pellet gun and shoot them in the rear. Multiple times. They take the hint and stay off the front yard even if they won't go back in. At least they are staying out of the neighbors and out of trouble. We are contemplating butchering both Stub and this long tail and keeping the other long tail who stays in and the very last female piglet from this springs batch and breeding them to farrow this fall. Neither of those two get out! Bonus. What a lot of sausage that would be :) 

Maggie the cow has only been out a couple of times and only after the steer has ripped the fence down. I sometimes wonder if she enjoys chasing the steer through the fence just so she can go and try and make a pig of herself with the sweet mix we feed her at milking time. Thankfully it can't hurt her and she's not as tricky as Bindy or Steers-eye and we figured out how to keep her out of it rather quickly. 

We finally managed to keep MOST of the chickens in. I'm not really sure what caused them to decide to stay in but I'm grateful for it. I'm also getting about 6 eggs a day! Finally some one is behaving around here! 

Chip in the deep snow. 

The ambulance in the deep snow. Pretty much covered over! 

Chip the newest addition...

to our already crazy house. We went for a drive last weekend and pickup up our new puppy. He's 7 weeks old now and so far is a pretty good dog. He's about as heavy as R and we can just about see him grow. We are crate training him and he's doing really well. He spends the night in the crate and we've only had to get up once a night to take him out. He did bark, howl and whine a lot the 1st night but the second night Papa stood beside the crate with a chunk of newspaper and hit the outside of the crate with it and said NO when he was loud. He got the hint really fast and the next night he slept from 11 pm to 7 am!! Chip seems to be super smart and already knows his name and NO and how to sit. We are working on come but because we couldn't find a collar small enough, that wasn't too small, we have to wait for real come training til he grows into it a bit. Right now his collar just comes off. Today, with the sun shining, Chip has decided he's a outside dog. I think it's just too warm in here for him. Besides that he nips at the kids and gets in trouble while he's inside. He did chase our chickens a few times before he got 'nailed' by the hot fence and I've not seen him do it since. He's really good about potty training which is really nice. Chip and Maggie get along great. Papa said there was a dog at the dairy and she seems to like Chip which is nice. I have a feeling Bindy will not be so kind. Speaking of Bindy. We went out to the field the other day and saw her. I actually spotted her from quite a way away and when Papa went out to take a good look at her she got up and put her head up and buggered off.. luckily towards the other cows and the Travelall so I got some pictures of her. All in all she seems to be in good condition but shocked us at the size of her udder!! One quarter is HUGE and we think a calf (or cow?) has been nursing off her! It looks terrible but she should dry up (again) when we bring her home. She sure looks different without a halter on!!

Anyway Chip seems to be a great dog so far. His full sister is a great dog and will pull sleds, chase sticks, ski-jore, and just about anything else. So we are hoping Chip will be a great mix of the black lab Papa grew up with and the huskies we had for years. So far he's much smarter then the huskies (though I swear those two used to gang up on me.) and has much better fur then the lab!!