Anybody here ever try making their own micarta?

[Timothy]

from doing some google searches, it sounds like eating the placentas causes the mama dog to produce a type of milk called colustrum which according to a few other websites is full of stuff that boosts the puppies's immune systems.

And it gives her energy so she doesn't have to look for food right away and she can tend to the litter.  

You said you just adopted her recently.  Is this your first litter?

[Tyler Durden]

Yep.  So pardon the play by play.  It is all so very novel for me.

[Timothy]

Yep.  So pardon the play by play.  It is all so very novel for me.

Keep the temperature up where the pups are for the next few days and try and spend as much time with mom and the pups to make sure she doesn't stop eating or drinking.  The next few days are critical for both the newborns and their mom.  Find a large box big enough for mom and kids to get comfy in so you can control the pups for a few weeks.

You have some Veterinary costs that you'll incur in the next month or so for initial shots and such.

Good luck!  You've got your hands full but there is plenty of useful information on the web to get you through it!

[MikeBjerum]

Colustrum is the first milk produced.  Starts prior to the birth, and continues for a few days to weeks depending on the species.  Eating the placenta is a combination of disposing of it to hide the birth from predators and retaining the high nutrition it contains.

We used to have lots of critters out here, and the longer the labor the crankier the maternal unit gets ... kinda like a wife having kids.

[Pathfinder]

She's becoming more aggressive with each pup cuz she knows what to do. First ones (assuming it's her first litter ever) she is just following instinct and is a little confused over the whole process. Later pups - get them free NOW!!!!

That's the way it went for my dog when I was in HS. Coolest part was when I walked into the room from school and she stood up to come to me - pups hanging off her and all! 

Ditto the keep warm and make sure she gets water especially parts.

[Sponsor]

[Tyler Durden]

thanks guys for all the info.

my aunt and her husband (he's been deceased for a year now) used to raise dogs.  so I called her tonight and picked her brain a little bit.  I think in 2 weeks when they are due for their first deworming she is going to help me.

puppy #8 just whelped about 15 minutes ago

WOW!  kinda cutting it close to the 4 hour mark the vet told me about.

so now I have 4 like black puppies, and 4 brownish puppies.

I am whooped.   

[Tyler Durden]

Tyler, Go with clamps directly over the "micarta" if you use steel plates.
If you bolt them around the perimeter they will still bow in the middle.....

I could always weld a rib across the top of the top plate.

The other thing I was thinking of was to use something like this:


a veneer press screw,

but I think I could cobble something up out of black gas pipe and threaded couplers for a whole lot cheaper, and it would still press down on the center of the top plate.

I also have a heavy duty vacuum pump which I guess the HVAC guys use to "boil" any water out of supply lines.  So I could theoretically make a vacuum press, put the whole sha-bang inside a large vinyl bag, seal it up, then suck all the air out of it.

[tombogan03884]

Never mind the micarta, how many puppies did you finish up with ? 

[Tyler Durden]

9 total, one died last night while being born, so it should have been 10.  

it sounds like the father/sire was a chocolate lab.

that jives up with their coloring.

5 are solid brownish/grayish. 4 are solid black.

[Tyler Durden]