The Other Animals
We have too many animals to give each their own page. For those of you who like to check out our variety, please scroll down on this page to see our animal (and insect) diversity with some picture galleries. Some featured animals include:
- Bees - Our Apiary
- Cats
- Chickens
- Dogs
- Horse Mares
- Horse Mascots - The Clydesdales
- Lionhead Rabbits
Bees - Our Apiary
Son Liam when 7 years old helping tend the honeybees.
We enjoy keeping bees and find it is one of the few jobs that does NOT need or benefit from daily attention. During peak nectar flows, we may check on hives weekly, but usually it is usually not very invasive and just to make sure they have enough room. We keep hives that were originally Carniolan and Italian, but have since crossed bred with other varieties and probably some wild bees.
We started out keeping bees in the standard hives such as the one shown with my son smoking them, but we are transitioning into a bee house. The house is stationary, but we have no desire to move our bees off our farm. It provides them with cooler weather in hot summers, warmer weather in the winter, and makes working the bees much easier. We encourage them to build their own comb and try to leave them alone as much as possible other than to make sure they have enough space. If they show signs of mites or illness, we treat for it. We leave them plenty of honey and pollen to feed over the winter.
Aside from our orchard, vegetable garden, and lavender, we choose trees and other plants to introduce to the farm that feed our bees throughout the summer. Usually the latter part of the summer doesn't offer them much to eat, so we try to help provide all the forage they need nearby. We also provide plenty of places for them to drink and will find them lined up on the edge of lily pads filling up on water to take back to their colony. We also encourage mason bee populations by putting up homes to help them overwinter - they are excellent pollinizers, too!
We started out keeping bees in the standard hives such as the one shown with my son smoking them, but we are transitioning into a bee house. The house is stationary, but we have no desire to move our bees off our farm. It provides them with cooler weather in hot summers, warmer weather in the winter, and makes working the bees much easier. We encourage them to build their own comb and try to leave them alone as much as possible other than to make sure they have enough space. If they show signs of mites or illness, we treat for it. We leave them plenty of honey and pollen to feed over the winter.
Aside from our orchard, vegetable garden, and lavender, we choose trees and other plants to introduce to the farm that feed our bees throughout the summer. Usually the latter part of the summer doesn't offer them much to eat, so we try to help provide all the forage they need nearby. We also provide plenty of places for them to drink and will find them lined up on the edge of lily pads filling up on water to take back to their colony. We also encourage mason bee populations by putting up homes to help them overwinter - they are excellent pollinizers, too!
Cats
We've had quite a few cats since living rurally. They are, for the most part, fabulous at controlling the rodent population around the house. All of our cats are from shelters or others who live rurally. It's not uncommon for people to take unwanted pets and drop them in the country, especially pregnant female cats. I don't know why they do this, but it's hard to say no to helping a sweet little animal in distress ... or adopting one of her kittens. All of our cats are spayed and neutered, so we don't have kittens available for adoption.
Chickens
Daughter Tess showing a buff Orpington chicken hen at the county fair in 2013.
Chickens and bees were the first animals we acquired when we first started homesteading, closely followed by goats and guinea fowl. Our chickens are raised in flocks of about 30-35 hens and roosters with comfortable nesting boxes, free-choice non-GMO grain for our layers (we limit grain for our meat chickens if they grow too fast), constant fresh water, and access to outside. We also feed them a lot of garden and kitchen scraps including vegetables, fruits, and whey. We don't feed chicken or other meat to our flocks.
Each coop has a protected fenced yard we use to confine chickens when the weather is very cold or stormy to ensure they can easily access the shelter of the coop. Also when starting a new flock from chicks, we keep them confined until they are mature enough to forage safely and recognize their coop as home. From spring through fall, we usually give them access to range throughout their area of the farm scavenging for insects, seeds, and whatever they find tasty. They are very useful at curbing insect populations.
Chickens are a lot of fun and can be quite tame. We like heirloom and some of the rarer varieties, and those that lay different colored eggs. Some of our breeds include the Australorp, Barnevelder, cochins, Crevecoeur, Easter eggers, Faverolles, a few Fayoumis, Japanese, marans, orpington, Polish, Russian orloff, Welsummer, and Wyandotte. We gather eggs and check on our chickens daily. Our nesting boxes are designed so that eggs roll away to a collection area where and stay clean, not needing washing.
Each coop has a protected fenced yard we use to confine chickens when the weather is very cold or stormy to ensure they can easily access the shelter of the coop. Also when starting a new flock from chicks, we keep them confined until they are mature enough to forage safely and recognize their coop as home. From spring through fall, we usually give them access to range throughout their area of the farm scavenging for insects, seeds, and whatever they find tasty. They are very useful at curbing insect populations.
Chickens are a lot of fun and can be quite tame. We like heirloom and some of the rarer varieties, and those that lay different colored eggs. Some of our breeds include the Australorp, Barnevelder, cochins, Crevecoeur, Easter eggers, Faverolles, a few Fayoumis, Japanese, marans, orpington, Polish, Russian orloff, Welsummer, and Wyandotte. We gather eggs and check on our chickens daily. Our nesting boxes are designed so that eggs roll away to a collection area where and stay clean, not needing washing.
Livestock Guardian Dogs
Livestock guardian dogs are a critical member of our farm as they protect livestock from a heavy predator presence. I've owned many types of dogs before, and true livestock guardians are just a different breed. Prior to the getting the guardians, we had goat and crow/raven deaths. With the guardians, that has stopped. Our guardians hare half Turkish Akbash and half Great Pyrenees (as were their parents and grandparents). This is an excellent and intentional cross producing beautiful white farm guardians with excellent instincts for this specific job. We breed every two years or less and sell puppies to approved homes.
Horse Mares
We have three horse mares we adopted from horse rescue. The oldest two, Sheikah and Scarlet, were one year old and living in deep mud and manure. They were underfed and infested with parasites (internal and external) in a crowded pen. They recovered quickly under the care of the veterinarian-foster mother. They are now fat and well-loved.
Horse Mascots - The Clydesdales
Duncan and Clyde are two Clydesdale colts born in the spring of 2016 that we acquired from their responsible breeder. These two boys live together and will be trained to pull our farm wagon and sleigh. They are sweet giant babies now. Duncan has a brown jaggy stripe into his forehead blaze and both his eyes are half brown and half blue. He can be a little goofy and more outgoing of the two. Clyde is a little darker, more reserved, and exceptionally sweet. When he disapproves of something or gets a little anxious, he will purse his lips up tight into a little pucker - our only horse to do so. If you come to visit the farm, you'll want to be sure to meet these two guys.
Lionhead Rabbits
We love rabbits, but our breed of choice for pets is the lionhead. They are a dwarf rabbit with our small ones weighing in right around two pounds. They have short little ears and proportionately large head to little bodies. However, the most distinctive feature and the source of their name is that they have a thick mane around their heads and necks. If the rabbit carries both genes for the mane, they also grow a "skirt," which is long hair around the edges of their bodies so that just their back is the short hair. Carrying both genes is know as "double-maned," and the neck mane is usually much thicker. Carrying a single gene is known as being "single-maned," and these rabbits can have some exceptionally cute little hairstyles as a result.
As with all rabbits, females are does and males are bucks. We do no usually keep more than one rabbit in a cage because they have a tendency to fight. The exception is some mother-daughter or sister-sister pairs get along alright. Baby rabbits are called kits. Lionhead make good pets because they are easy to tame with proper gentle handling. They bond to their owner and are curious and playful. We allow our rabbits out and they love to play games, even with the cats.
We have some pictures below of current and past rabbits. Tess is the primary owner and breeder of our lionheads. If you are interested in one, please contact us to find out when the next littler is due.
As with all rabbits, females are does and males are bucks. We do no usually keep more than one rabbit in a cage because they have a tendency to fight. The exception is some mother-daughter or sister-sister pairs get along alright. Baby rabbits are called kits. Lionhead make good pets because they are easy to tame with proper gentle handling. They bond to their owner and are curious and playful. We allow our rabbits out and they love to play games, even with the cats.
We have some pictures below of current and past rabbits. Tess is the primary owner and breeder of our lionheads. If you are interested in one, please contact us to find out when the next littler is due.
