AnimalWelfareApprv'd @AWAapproved · Apr 16Working dog lends a hand during kidding season at AWA's Windshadow Farm & Dairy in Bangor, MI http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2015/04/guard_dog_cares_for_newborn_ki.html …
BANGOR, MI -- It's "freshening" season at Windshadow Farm and Dairy in Bangor, when dairy goats give birth to their kids and begin producing milk again.
With 120 does, the occasional problem arises, said farmer Ron Klein, and when that happened last week, flock guardian Libby, a Great Pyrenees dog, stepped up and out of her usual job description of protecting the flock from predators.
Goats who have never before had a kid can become totally bewildered and confused by birthing, Klein said, wandering off in a daze, then frantically searching barn and lots for the kids they left behind.
When that happens, he said, it is not unusual to find an older doe has taken charge of the abandoned kid.
Klein said that few days ago, he discovered a distressed La Mancha doe exhibiting obvious signs she had had a kid.
"But no kid was in sight -- not in the barn, huts, lean-to or with any member of the herd," Klein recently posted in EatLocal SW Michigan, an internet group endorsing locally produced foods. "It was a bad sign," Klein said. " I checked the cracks, crannies, base of the feeders--nothing."
Then behind one of the waterers, he found the newborn kid, safe, warm and dry with Libby.
"These guardian dogs are really amazing," Klein said.
Farmers, share your working dog stories and photos in the comments below.
Link: http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2015/04/guard_dog_cares_for_newborn_ki.html
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