Neal
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Everything posted by Neal
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Don't quote me on this (famous last words), but I heard a few years ago that lots of Australian stockmen were using heeler x kelpies as they were finding it difficult to get decent heeler lines.
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Yesterday, while pottering about in my shed filling a bird feeder, I heard a noise behind me and turned around to find my three kelpies all lined up expecting some food...squashed inbetween them was one of my bantams. I sometimes use the dogs to "encourage" the bantams back into their run but she certainly didn't look very stressed; just hungry.
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In one of my chicken books, there's a story about a Sussex cockerel beating up a fox. I prefer to have my bantams of different breeds simply so that it's easy to tell them apart.
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I've heard that cooling their nether-regions can put them off eg putting a layer of chicken wire in the nest so that she's not snuggling down onto the straw. However, I tried all that and more once with a broody Wyandotte bantam and none of it worked. I even, as a last resort, tried somebodies advice of putting ice-cubes in the nest: she thawed three bloody tray-fulls in one day! I had to lock her out of the run as she was attacking all the other bantams but she then flew up to the top of the eglu and gave them all the beady eye through the ventilation holes. Eventually she just stopped of he
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Thanks Mike, it's a small world. Say, "Hi!" to him for me. We only met the once at Highclere where we both met Dave to pick the pups up but I remember having a couple of phone conversations during the first year of the pups' lives. I think that kind of sums up kelpies and heelers: "that little something extra."
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The barking mad loon from PETA even claimed that evil humans are adding to the stress of the poor sheep by forcing them to have unnatural multiple births. One person emailed in to say that "One Mann and his Flag," probably wouldn't take off as prime time viewing.
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Sorry! I was trying to say, "it could be worse," but it didn't quite come out right. Mine were bought mid-summer and so by the time they were old enough to lay it was too late in the year for them to start. As a plus point, one of them actually started on Boxing Day later that year, but I've never had that since.
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Just been listening to a topic on Jeremy Vine's show on Radio 2 on which some complete fool, obviously living in a bubble, was claiming that sheepdogs cause stress to sheep when working them and should be banned. He claims shepherds should use flags instead. I kid you not! Fortunately the counter arguments came from good old Robin Page and not one person who phoned, texted or emailed in was in favour of his ludicrous ideas.
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When I bought my first bantams as POL nearly three years ago they didn't start laying until the following spring.
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Hi Stevemac, I've noticed a variation in coat amongst kelpies too. My older kelpie and his sire have fairly thick coats with a neck ruff and a brush instead of a tail; people often ask me what kind of husky he is. Whereas both my bitches are the more typical short tight coat. Sheamus, sorry, I missed your earlier comment; I think you're probably right about kelpie breeders wanting to avoid diluting their kelpie lines with collie blood. When I bought my kelpie/collie greyhound lurcher a gentleman from North Wales bought one from the same litter (if my memory serves me well it was actually
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I don't know if it's still up there, but I've just read a news item on yahoo's home page about an ACD. Apparently it was washed over the side of its Australian owners' yacht and pronounced missing presumed dead. It was found a few months later by rangers on an island where it had survived by dining on feral goats! I wonder how many lurchers could look after themselves that well.
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Sheamus, I've just re-read it myself and I can see what you mean; it was a bit confusing. As for why there aren't more of them, I think it's probably down to two things. The first is that many see them as "exotics" and the second is because a lot of studs are only available to "approved bitches only." As an example, a gentleman who lives in the village up the road from me took a long time to find somebody willing to let them use their stud dogs on his kelpie/collie as it's not used on sheep. Most of the kelpie cross lurchers I know of were bred by people using their own field-sport kelpie
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I've found there's quite a lot of disparity of type within kelpies in this country. I'm not certain but I think it's down to the fact that, as far as I'm aware, all the imported dogs were from working stock and were imported for working reasons. As a result their physical attributes aren't as standardized as their working ones. As an example, I've heard of some which are 24" tall and others, including my little bitch, which are less than 18". I've also seen a fair few with floppy ears and when I bought my old dog Rust, over nine years ago, some of the shepherd's kelpies were so tall and h
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I have two of their boxes, a poachers' and a double, both about eighteen months old and I'd also highly recommend them both for quality and service.
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It was probably muddy!
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As well as the size, ie females being bigger, there is another thing you can look out for but it's not completely fool-proof. I always found that although all toads are a kind of muudy-greenish-brown, the females were more brown and the males more green...I think.
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Nice eye shot!
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As was shown in the video clip; they certainly have no qualms about grabbing hold of thing so there's no need to worry about the herding instinct having negative implications. I know of at least six kelpies used solely for field sports within the British Isles. The shepherd in the clip bought his original stock from the shepherd who bred my old kelpie and he also bred the sire of my two bitches.
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I think the eye photo is of a Giant Toad, also known as a Cane or Marine Toad (Bufo Marinus). The Common Toad (Bufo Bufo) of the British Isles has amber/bronze eyes. Sorry if I sound a bit of a nerdy swot but I was mad about toads as a lad and kept them as pets, both Common and Giant.
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My pure kelpies have great stamina and amazing feet. Like Mike, I found that my lurcher was mad for water but the pure kelpies aren't too fussed with it, though they soon change their mind if it's a sodden ditch with rabbits to be marked. I've heard of lots of kelpies who do like water though. As for the guarding instinct etc, my male was very much a one man dog until he was about three or four years old which is when I met my wife. He's now very outgoing and friendly but won't back down when challenged by other dogs. He has a particular thing for Rottweilers which sounds suicidal as he's
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I bought a kelpie/collie x greyhound from Dave Sleight around eleven years ago and he was the best lurcher I've ever had. I liked him so much I bought a pure kelpie eighteen months later. I know have three kelpies aged nine, five and a pup too which I use for ferreting and general mooching and bushing. They're not everybodies cup of tea and you shouldn't get one if you expect it to be just like a collie cross but I'd never be without one now.
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They have stunning eyes...for those who don't mind getting close.
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I'm a teacher and I filled the school tray of one of the girls in my class with jelly then left it to set in the staffroom fridge overnight. This morning I told them I wasn't very happy with the state of the classroom and that we'd start by cleaning out their trays. The look on her face when she pulled hers out was priceless.
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You're right Kay; they're toads. When you're looking for the spawn it will be in long strings wound all around the pond weed etc as opposed to the clumps of frog spawn.
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I've got a true one: you tell your wife about a brilliant April Fools' Day joke you have planned for a girl in the class you teach which involves filling her school tray with jelly and letting it set in the school fridge overnight...and your wife (also a teacher) says, "have you asked permission?"
