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Angel our Miniature Jersey milk cow came from full size parents. She was the size of a rabbit when she was born. She slept on the porch with our Great Pyrenees, Rocky, each night. He would curl up with her and keep her warm. We milked the mom and feed her with a baby bottle for the first couple of weeks. Later she stood on a hay bail to nurse her mom. After a few weeks she was able to do it in her own. |
Twins are twice the fun!! |
Mowing the easy way. Every week or so we
run some of the sheep into whatever area needs
mowing . Most of our sheep do not have wool...
they have hair.
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Lunch time... 6 weeks old 5/24
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And a bit of trivia...this is a Devils Claw. We have
them growing wild on the farm. The tips are
really sharp and can poke through the sole of
most shoes without any effort. They have been
used for different herbal remedies. It was found
in most American Indian Gardens
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Mom with her new pups... 7 days old on 4/19/2011
They look like their dad.
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6 weeks old 5/22/2011
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Gregg names his roosters after his favorite singers. He has met and/or worked with all of their namesakes except the great Johnny Cash. Below is Willie, "The red headed stranger... Willie Nelson" He is the coolest, HUGE, but sweet. Never causes a problem, however, when a fight occurs, he stops it.
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This is Merle... Merle Haggard. A small quiet guy with a lot of flair. He is a rare Japanese Longtail. If left in a large coop and you fed them the right diet their tails can grow to 20+ feet. Originally they lived on the grounds of the Japanese Emperors Palace.
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This is Johnny and Waylon... Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. They are outlaws and loners and always hang out with each other. Most of the roosters have a few hens that they claim. Johnny and Waylon don't have any of their own they just team up and take the other guys hens when they want them. So they are bad guys. It is funny to watch a rooster that gets chased off. He is not happy, but there is not much he can do when it is two against one.
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Gregg raises Heritage hogs, sheep and chickens along with normal breeds of goats, birds, donkeys, and assorted other critters. Heritage breeds are the breeds found on farms in 1700-1800. He has Large Black Hogs and Red Wattle Hogs. There are only about 300 of each in the US. If you are interested more can be learned about Heritage Animals at albc-usa.org.
Below is Imelda Marcos, Gregg's senior black hog. She is making her nest to have babies. In less than day she moved a 1200+ pound bale of hay into her hut. She moved so much in that about a quarter of it had to be removed.
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Imelda Marcos with the first baby of a litter. They are quite small when they are barn.
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And here is the whole gang at an older age.
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First lambs of the spring. Twins are a common event.
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This is "Hitch" recently rescued from the animal shelter to replace a much loved Great Dane, Licorice, that died at the old age of 14. He looks sweet and innocent, but Gregg calls him his crazy pup. He is quite young and has a lot to learn.
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Rocky is our Great Pyrenees that lives with the sheep. He is teaching. "Hitch" how to fight. It is amazing how nature tells the older dogs to train the young ones. Poor Rocky spends half the day with Hitch biting his ears or ankles and never gets mad. This is the dog that is ruthless with stray dogs and coyotes come into the pasture. Rocky is not a small dog, but beside Rocky he looks small.
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Today was baby duck day! Gregg went out to fill the water troughs and Daisy, the Mama duck, was walking around with 5 new ducklings. He was a little sad as there were 17 eggs in her nest. Upon checking the nest and he found it was full of babies. Daisy came running back to her nest and was not very happy with him. See if you can find all the babies in the pictures.
How many babies can you find in the picture? She had 17 eggs and 16 babies.
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Daisy, the Mama duck, was not too happy about having her picture taken.
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If you look closely you can see the crowns that a few of the babies have. They will look as though they have a large cotton ball on top of their heads when they are grown.
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One of Arden's friends called the other night and said that he had seen someone throwing puppies into a creek by their house. So off she ran with spotlights and towels to help save the puppies. They where able to find 4 male puppies. So how many can I sign you up for?
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