At the Ranch

Spring Brings Petunias . . . and a Chicken

Kirk — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:32:27 +0000

Well the goats have had the ranch all to themselves the last few months. They have really grown and are enjoying the early Spring weather. We were surprised with a baby pot bellied pig . . . Petunia. She was already a few months old, weighed about 30 pounds and was very strong and wild. She never really enjoyed being handled and was difficult to try to hold or socialize. Petunia is now a big, lazy but funny pig. When she arrived, the goats did not care for her and she was basically a loner until Cha Cha came along.

One Saturday while on the way home from work, a student volunteer called me and stated that she had found a chicken in her yard. I suggested she find someone around her that had chickens and try to return it. She assured me that no one is her neighborhood had chickens and said she thought it fell off a chicken truck. (I thought for a moment that maybe she had fallen off a chicken truck!) But surprisingly, there was an accident and hundreds of chickens were loose and this one got away. Well, he came home and suddenly he and the pig are best friends. Where ever they were, they were together as a team. Cha Cha ended up weighing 18 pounds and was the biggest chicken I had ever seen. Due to his size, he was not a very agile bird and will certainly have skeletal problems as he gets older. One day he attacked my mothers leg as she was holding a baby duck. Needless to say, she was nothappy with the chicken. So, Cha Cha was sent to live with a client of mine on his farm with many other chickens. Last I heard, he was running with ducks and guineas and was doing well. He is hopefully a happy rooster now, and I am happy he is gone! Now, Petunia is living with the sheep and goats and doing well. She loves food . . . any food . . . and just being lazy!

A June Bug Arrives

Kirk — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 04:51:56 +0000

Elvis was born in October and lived by himself until I received a phone call in December. The homes previous owners had a new baby goat and asked if we wanted her. Their daughter had named her June Bug and she was 6 days old. We picked her up a few days later and I took her to get disbudded (dehorned). She also had to learn to take a bottle. Well, the first day was difficult as she was not use to the nipple or to me. But her becoming hungry helped my efforts. She began to nurse better and by the next day she was well on her way! Despite being bottle raised, June Bug tends to be stand offish. She will usually come up to you and is very calm and enjoys the attention. She and Elvis played well together but he was and still is the bully of the property. Maybe she just stays back and allows Elvis to be king! He was older when his disbudding took place and it did not work and he completely grew his horns in. Because of this, he is more of a problem when it comes to his head butting the other animals. I believe he feels that ‘I was here first and this is my turf!’ He is very mischievous and always tries to get away with something. Generally, all the animals get along well. But because he can be bossy, I do not allow him with the ewes as they advance in their pregnancy or when lambs are with them. After weaning the lambs in May; the goats, pig and sheep are all pastured together until late December. The pregnant ewes are then separated and management changes start for me to get everyone ready for lambing season.

Elvis is Alive and Well!

Kirk — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 04:34:07 +0000

We moved from Flower Mound to Bartonville in late 2004. When we first found this property, the previous owners had a young, small baby Nigerian Dwarf goat. We joking told them we would buy the house but they would have to throw in the baby goat . . . and they did!! Elvis was only two weeks old and was quite wild already. The owners moved out about 5 weeks later and we were still living in our last home. So, we came over everyday to play with him, I took him to work or we had him in the garage until we moved. During the day, he stayed in a cage at work, he walked on a leash and ran around the hospital. He became very sweet and personable and loved to climb on you, eat peppermints and play with his soccer ball. If anyone is in the pasture with him, he is either chewing on your clothes or just being annoying at your side. He believes this property belongs to him and he has bullied his way to be the boss of all the livestock here.

This is my first entry onto my blog so check back later for updates!! Managing this page was fairly easy but I need to learn a lot more. Be patient and thanks for reading.