Introduction to the Animals

I have been doing a lot of work on the garden, so I will update with pictures on that soon. I thought I'd make a post to introduce all the animals first. We'll be growing some food for them and some of them give us food, so they are important to this whole process. Plus, I just like sharing pictures of them.

First up are the goats. Goober is my only boy. He's a wethered mini Lamancha, which means he is neutered. He matches his name perfectly, as he is a big goob. He is the friendliest and I'm pretty sure he thinks he's a dog. Naomi is a mix of some sort. Her parents both had Boer in them. Neither look like her though. She looks like an Oberhasli. She's had one buckling with us, who went on to be a herd sire on another farm.

 Korra (the white goat) was my second goat. I got her as a little baby. There was a dog attack a while back and she now sports three legs. She is still herd queen and gets around just like any other goat. Like Goober, she is a pet and won't be bred.

The two little black and white goats are my newest additions. They will be one year old in April. They are mini Lamanchas, just like Goober. The mostly black one is called Remy and the spotted one is Diva. They are skittish little things, but will come running when you have food. They will be milk goats when they are big enough to be bred.

I have a handful of American Guinea Hogs. Don Cerdo and Dulcinea are my breeding pair. They are almost a year and a half. They are sweet as can be. They have had one litter of six for me. Of the six, one was not thriving, so I hand raised him and he is now a neutered pet. We are growing out the other two boys and the three girls were sold to another farm.

This is my Bubba when he was just a couple of weeks old. He was very tiny. It was a lot of fun raising him, though I think it's something I wish to only experience once. Especially since I grew so attached to him. He is super tame and loves scratches. The second picture is him now. He's around 4 months old.

These are the other piggies. We only have two of these left. They are more wild than Bubba, but still fun to be around.

We also have chickens. There were some troubles when we moved the chickens from the front yard to the backyard, so we lost quite a few. We have 8 laying hens of various breeds, 2 guinea hens that are loud as all heck, and one handsome bantam rooster. We call him Little Roo because we used to have a big roo (otherwise known as RuPaul) until he started going after the back of my legs. Then he went to another home. Little Roo has great manners, though he is no protector. He will warn the girls, but then he runs off into the woods and hides.

We recently purchased some chicks to add to the flock. I got 5 red pullets, 3 Barred Rock that I hope are pullets, and 6 Americaunas that I hope are pullets. The Barred Rock and Americaunas were straight run, so there will probably be roosters in the bunch. I'm hoping for some girls though, since I love the Barred Rock feather colors and the Americaunas' blue eggs.

 We have a few inside animals too that are just pets. Panda and Zee (Zecora) are our two baby guinea pigs. They are only a few months old, but we love them a lot.

We have four cats in total, but I can only find pictures of two cats right now. Leo is a beautiful dilute calico. She is the calmest cat and lets the kids carry her around everywhere. 

Mel is my old lady cat. She is going on 14 years this summer. We got her shortly after we were married and she is the animal I've had the longest. She can be moody and grumpy, but she's my baby. She was also not amused by this picture.

The two others are a tabby named Max, who is also super calm, and a calico named Callie. She is sister to Leo. She is the exact opposite of Leo and is very feisty.

So that is all of them! We have had a variety of other animals in the past, but I like this mix right now. They keep me on my toes and keep me happy.