As promised, here are pictures of the pigpen we bought to house Prentiss and Petunia until Stuart and Louis stop chasing them to death. As you can see, they have all the comforts of home, protection from the elements, a dogloo to sleep in, a big ...
They acted like pigs.
Today was the day we would pick up our pigs. I bought a pair of baby American Guinea Hogs, a critically endangered breed of pig. We are always excited at the Buck 'n Run to get animals on the endangered list. It is fun and rewarding to help the ...
All that and a bag of chips
Jackson, our mammoth donkey holds two Biggest titles here on the ranch. At 700 pounds he is the biggest creature and at 700 pounds he is the biggest baby! Jack is afraid of lots of things. He is afraid of gloves. No matter how cold the ...
Best done solo
There are certain jobs around the ranch that are best done solo. Unfortunately, there are few chores around the ranch that can be done solo. I just finished cleaning the goat shed and Icelandic coop with the help of 23 chickens, 2 goats, and 2 emus, ...
CONTEST! Why did the chicken cross the road?
Enter to win six (six) Blue Isbar Hatching eggs! All you need to do is answer the question "Why did the chicken cross the road?" Answer in the comment section, leaving an email address so we can contact you if you are the winner. The winner will be ...
I am flat lining………
My health has been a bit fragile of late, which means I am down more than I am up. I don't like to whine about my physical condition, but sitting in a chair causes excruciating sciatic nerve pain. I have been remiss in posting to my blog just ...
On Frozen Pond
We had what the news reporters refer to as a "hard freeze" last night with temperatures dipping into the mid twenties and staying there until 9:00 a.m. I was dreading going out to feed and release the animals from their various compounds around the ...
I Love Football……FOOD!
Today the San Francisco 49er's took on the New Orleans Saints in the first game if the NFC playoffs. Normally, this would not faze me but, it was the San Francisco 49er's, the closest thing we have to a home team. Forty Niner Fever had swept the town ...
Emu Overload
With three emu babies in the house it is hard to get much done. One of the girls I bought is a real nut job; in fact, I call her Loca. I cannot be out of the room for 10 seconds before she starts having a tantrum, throwing herself into the bars on ...
Update (Day 51 of 51) Emu Baby!
Copied from Main blog page! I came downstairs at 5:50 this morning and as I was turning on the lights I heard a sound like a glass breaking. I looked in the incubator and saw this: Egg "B" had pipped! I spent the next seven hours ...
My life in the fishbowl.
When we first moved to this five acre property, a neighbor referred to us as "living in the fishbowl." She made the statement in response to my comment about everyone telling us city people what we were doing wrong. It's now been fifteen months that ...
The Get-Rich-Quick Chickens!
Today six Cream Legbar hatching eggs sold on eBay for $455.00! That's $75.00 per egg folks! I am the owner of two pairs of Cream Legbars, chickens who apparently lay golden eggs! As soon as they start laying I should be rolling in dough! Man, I knew ...
Chicken Jail!
The chicken yard has been divided in half and a new coop built for the blue Isbars and a couple of blue egg laying Ameraucanas. They can't stay on the layer side because eventually it will house the blue egg laying Cream Legbars that I will be ...
Coop Progress. I am a chicken breeder now!
The new coop is almost complete. We are calling it The Jail because it looks like a jail. We are going to make the windows look like bars and I will paint a Jail sign. The green netting will come down soon so we can finalize the ...
My last chicken coop. Period.
I am getting a new chicken coop. I have promised that it will be my last chicken coop. I have, in fact, five other chicken coops, although three are really just for broodies or growing out chicks. This will be my third, and last, stand up inside, ...
Icelandic Chickens Could Escape Alcatraz
If you already have Icelandics you know this already. If not, here's a little known factoid. Not a true fact because it has not been proven scientifically but anecdotally by myself and my friends who also raise Icelandics. They can and will break out ...
About My Icelandic Chickens
Icelandic chickens number less than 3,000 worldwide and are considered critically endangered. There is a dedicated group of people working to promote and preserve this landrace fowl which was first introduced to Iceland in 900 by the Vikings. My ...
Storm Preparedness
We are expecting the storm of the century tomorrow, or so it seems if you watch the local news. Wind, rain and snow at unprecedented low elevations is predicted. I bought into it and spent the day preparing. I bought supplies for the animals and ...
Fainting Goats and Teenagers
Yesterday I promised more about our new acquisitions to the farm, Thelma and Louise. They are nine week old Tennessee Fainting Goats also known as Myotonic Goats. This breed is listed as threatened by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. They ...
I can’t blog without ’em…
After almost a year's absence, I decided to start writing again. Lately I've been feeling a little guilty for using www.backyardchickens.com as my personal blog. So I dusted off my old blog, Living Country in the City, changed it's name to Chicken ...