Eight Little Cuties!!

The pups have hit the point where they look more like miniature Collies every day... it's fascinating and delightful to see the changes. They're starting to bounce and pounce and use their paws when playing with each other - and they're starting to want to play with me, too - ♥️!

Here are some individual pictures I took today... honestly, I could probably just take pictures like this every day, and people would be able to see them changing. They grow SO fast!!

Note - they are all reserved as of right now. ♥️

Mary Jane... still a peanut at only 33 ounces, but full of sass! I think this pup is going to be the princess of her new home.

JuJu... she is going to be a fun dog! Happy, brave, bold, and leading the pack in size at 53 ounces... JuJu has a LOT of personality. It took forever to get this picture because she wouldn't stop trying to play with my hand!

Rolo... this fuzzy little guy is sweet, active, happy... often one of the first to come to the front of the pen to say hi. He's got some presence, too - it's weird to think of a three-week-old puppy looking noble, but sometimes he kind of does when he sits up straight!

Abba Zabba... I'm still getting a feel for his personality. For a while, he was more of a background pup, but I think he's starting to come into his own. I think he's going to be handsome and spunky!

Bullseye... he's definitely a background pup, but very endearing. So far he seems generally pretty chill, though he can hold his own in a puppy rumble!

Zagnut... he's another fairly quiet, chill pup. He has the sweetest face, and I think he's going to be super handsome!!

Honey is as sweet as her name. ♥️ She seems rather demure and feminine. 

Astro... my handsome dark sable boy. He is on the quieter side, and sometimes hangs back from the rest of the pack to observe. He enjoys a good puppy rumble, though, and earlier, when he heard me laugh, he stopped what he was doing and came trotting up to the front of the pen. ♥️

So there you have it! 8 little cuties who are growing up WAY too fast!!

Happy Thursday! :D

Three Weeks Old!

The puppies are three weeks old today! It's crazy how fast the time is going...new owners, you have just five more weeks until your little cuties can come home! ❤️ As always, feel free to email at any time with questions or comments!

They are growing and changing...they range from just under 2 pounds (Mary Jane) to just about 3 pounds (JuJu Bean, lol!!). I believe they can all hear now, and they have teeth!!! 

Poor Nala is starting to really dislike feeding them, so I started the first step in weaning the pups today - mush! :D

It's just puppy kibbles soaked in (very fresh - milked Rhode this morning!!) goat milk and water until it's a wet, sloppy slurry. They liked it...but they still wanted a nursing session from mama afterward. :P They're mostly nursing standing up now - I can only assume it's easier on Nala somehow.

I tried for a group shot yesterday... I will have to try again when I have a second person to help put the pups back in line, LOL! They're cute anyway. 

They're in age order from the left, so: Mary Jane, JuJu, Rolo, Abba Zabba, Bullseye, Zagnut, Honey, and Astro.

Here are a few other cute shots from yesterday... I'll have to do portraits of each pup again soon. :) 

Mary Jane:

JuJu:

Bullseye: 

Oh, and here's a really cute one of Zagnut from Friday: 

In other news, the goats are doing well. They turned two weeks old on Friday, and are happy, healthy, and bouncy. Lol, the little buckling is brave, bold, and full of beans. :P He climbs all over me while I'm milking, and likes to chew on me and rub his little horn nubs on my leg. He doesn't mind me petting him. His sister, on the other hand, is very shy, and won't let me touch her. When she's old enough to have treats, I'll have to start earning her affection.

No baby chicks yet... I'm hoping the eggs were viable! Buffy is certainly devoted to her eggs... I got to see her turning them yesterday, which was neat. 

I have an assortment of other hens dabbling with the idea of going broody... there's one that I think might be ready to stick with the task, so I will be picking up some fertilized eggs from another farm in the next day or so for her to hatch.

And one thing I would appreciate prayer about... I definitely want a house... but I'm debating on whether this is the year to make that happen, or whether I should spend a few hundred dollars spiffing up the dome, and live in here through another winter. If I could conquer the extreme temperature swings (and I have an idea for that) and get more organized, I think I could be comfortable in here for a while longer. In addition, I still have some debt left over from the (huge!!) timber tax fee that I would love to pay off before taking on another big expense such as building a house. And I also want to continue thinking through the lay of the land before I 100% decide where the house is going. 

Anyway, happy Sunday! I hope everyone has a wonderful Lord's day. ❤️

Featuring Hunter

While the mother of a litter tends to get the spotlight since she's the one doing all the hard work, the father is certainly of equal importance in determining the puppies' temperament and physical appearance. I am beyond thrilled with the stud I picked for Nala, and I figured that all of you - puppy buyers especially! - would appreciate learning a bit more about the daddy of the Butterscotch Farm puppies.

Ryman's Shadow Hill Hunter: 

I've met Hunter four times now, each time with an in-heat female in tow, and Hunter was always a gentleman. He was in a fenced yard, and while he did whine, he wasn't frantic - he just patiently waited to meet his lady love. 

Hunter assists his owner's Livestock Guardian Dog in protecting the farm - not so much physically, as it's risky to pit a 45-pound Collie against coyotes - but he listens to the LGD and knows when she needs backup. Then he goes out and lends his voice, helping to keep a safe perimeter around the farm. I've been told he takes this job VERY seriously.

Hunter is great with his owner's grandkids, and very calm and friendly with people out in public. He was polite enough to say hi to me, even though he was far more interested in my intriguing canine companion, lol!

Hunter has a fitted, easy-care coat. It looks a bit scruffy in these photos, as he was "blowing coat" at the time. This happens a couple times a year with all double-coated breeds, and you will be amazed at how much hair you get off your dog during this time period! (Note - if you're into that sort of thing, you can technically spin a Collie's undercoat into yarn.)

Hunter is fairly low in energy and drive, but is extremely athletic - I've been told he could run circles around the owner's daughter's Collie. In my opinion, the combination of speed and agility probably means that he has phenomenal conformation (the way an animal is built). 

Hunter also has great genetic diversity. While Nala has very run-of-the-mill Rough Collie genes with little to no diversity, Hunter comes from old farm Collie lines, and has been tested as an outlier within the gene pool of the Scottish Collie Preservation Society. This diversity should contribute to great immune systems in the puppies, and may even improve their chances of having great longevity!

All in all, I think that Hunter was truly a phenomenal choice to pair with Nala, and I'm proud to say that I will have his genes in the next generation of my breeding program. ♥️

Eyes Open!!

All the pups have their eyes open! ❤️ They're toddling more than crawling, and they are starting to play fight, which is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen. 

Mary Jane is still the tiniest; in fact, I'm giving her a couple bonus nursing sessions each day because I would like to see her gaining weight a bit faster.

Rolo has the most personality so far... I think he's going to be busy and have a lot to say, just like his mama!!

Here are a bunch of photos, mostly from today: 

Bullseye:

An attempted group shot, lol:

Rolo:

Mary Jane: 

Bullseye:

Abba Zabba:

Happy Monday! I hope that everyone tonight sleeps like a two-week old pup with a belly full of milk!! 🥰

A Tale of Two Goats (And a Pupdate!)

So this morning when I brought Rhode her grain, I stepped into her pen... looked around... and then had a minor heart attack, because I couldn't see her babies anywhere!! All sorts of worst-case scenarios raced through my mind - it was 26 degrees last night... there are coyotes, foxes, raccoons, and owls out at night....

But then I noticed that Rhode didn't seem at all stressed, so I took another look around...

I'll give you a clue... they're in the photo below. 

Still don't see them? Try bending waaaay down....

... and looking under the milking stand. 🙄

Sigh.

In other news, I tried milking Rhode... this is definitely going to take some practice, lol. I will probably only milk her enough to supplement Nala's food, and the puppies' food once they start transitioning to solid food.

The puppies are doing great... weights today ranged from itty-bitty Mary Jane at 26 ounces, all the way up to JuJu Bean at 37 ounces!!

Oh, and Rolo is starting to open his eyes!! ♥️♥️♥️

In conclusion, here's about 2 minutes of the puppies "running around," lol. They still sleep 99% of the time, but when they're awake, they're definitely becoming more mobile - and more vocal! Listen for the growls - they're the cutest little growls I've ever heard! 😂

Happy Friday!! 

Individual Photo Shoots

I figured it was about time for individual photos again...the pups are 9 days old already!

Posted in birth order.

1. Mary Jane. This girl is tiny! I need a new battery for the scale, but I think she's probably currently the smallest. She has the biggest blaze on her face.

2. JuJu...aka JuJu Bean. In contrast to her older sister, JuJu is contending with Rolo for the status of biggest puppy. This girl is sleepy and sweet. I can usually pick her out of the pile because she has a very light-colored coat. Chances are decent that she will turn a glorious reddish color as she matures. She has a small blaze, but a HUGE white collar.

3. Rolo. I think this boy is going to have personality for miles... he's the most talkative pup so far. He's consistently been at the top of the weight chart for this litter. He has a small blaze and a fun little swirl in his white collar.

4. Abba Zabba. This boy is also a bit of a talker. He's one of the darker pups, and has a cute little dot in the middle of the blaze on top of his head.

5. Bullseye. I don't mind admitting that this little boy is right up at the top of my favorites list... I love his dark face, and he seems pretty chill. He is the smallest of the boys.

6. Zagnut. This boy has a sweet little blaze/nose snip, and has a partial white collar. He is one of the slightly darker pups... I'm not entirely sure what his mature coat will look like... possibly more like Nala's than Hunter's.

7. Bit o Honey. Lol, I can't say her name without devolving into baby talk. :P Honey has the tiniest little blaze... sadly, it might disappear as she gets older. She has a dark face and a full white collar. 

8. Last but not least, Astro! Lol, I think this boy is going to be busy like his mama... I set him down, and he kept trying to book it out of there! Still the darkest, I think this boy might end up a "mahogany" sable - similar to my adult Collie Thane, with black hairs over the reddish coat.

So there you have it! I think it won't be long before the puppies start toddling around, and it's also not too long until they'll open their eyes! And sometime around 3-4 weeks old, they hit the impossibly cute stage... so brace yourselves!! :P 

Happy Tuesday!