We love animals and although sometimes they can be a lot of work, they are also so rewarding and we are so lucky to live on a property where we can enjoy their company every day.
Boogieman and Jack – Boogie is an Arabian horse, he’s been with us since Jan 2023. He’s ~27 years old gelding. He was a stallion for the first 25 years of his life, but when his owner passed, he needed to be at a boarding facility that required him to be gelded. Ultimately he’s still a stallion at heart and he can be a little tough to handle at times. He’s not rideable (at least hasn’t been ridden for at least 7 years), but he’s definitely more comfortable with us and much easier to handle than he was when we first got him. Jack is one of the original animals, he came with the ranch when we purchased it. We don’t know how old he is, but we’re guessing in his 20s. He wasn’t trained, so he is not as easy to manage, but we’re getting him used to us and he’s letting us do more and more over time.
From left 2 right, we have Sheepie, Dodge and Snowflake. Sheepie was one of the animals which came with the ranch when we acquired it, he’s a barbados sheep and a wether (castrated). Dodge and snowflake are both Kathadin sheep and we obtained them at the same time in July 2023. Dodge is a ram and Snowflake is a ewe, they were separated for most of the summer, but we put them all together in October.
From left to right, we have Black Widow, Rambo, and #12. These 3 sheep were purchased together in June, the Friday before the first 100 degree weekend. The previous owners hadn’t sheered them, and they were full of thick wool, so this was the first time we sheered sheep and we ended up sheering them right as we took them out of the truck as they were already caught. Black Widow and #12 are Suffolk ewes and Rambo is a Shropshire Ram (obviously a ram ;)).
Mocha – our San Clemente island goat? Maybe? We don’t know for sure, he’s one of the goats that came with the property. He’s a wether and acts as a role model for the baby Nigerian dwarfs.
That’s two of the baby boys in the background – Oreo on the left and Chip on the right. They are going to be bucks and were bottle fed since they were 2 weeks old, same as Rocky and Ringo and they were born in June 2023.
Bucky is the most recent addition – added to the boys today – Nov 14th. He’s a full grown Nigerian Dwarf, and we’re excited to get him added to the herd.
The Mini Horses! Reba (painted) and Dolly, we don’t know if they know their names really…so we might switch it up on them ;). They are 11 years old, a little difficult to catch, but easy enough to walk once we do. We picked them up just before Christmas (2023), the girls were pretty excited about them!
Barney and Pearl – Pearl is the white/pink donkey, and Barney is obviously the other one ;). They came together as a pair from one of our neighbors back in August or so. Originally these were BLM donkeys, and we guess they are around 13 years old based on when they were acquired. We’ve been moving them around, as they are great at eating the grass, and good to keep in with some of our more vulnerable animals. They are a little difficult to handle, in that they definitely don’t like their back feet trimmed, but we are getting them used to us, and hopefully things get easier and easier.
Our Hens! We have been slowly getting into names on these, The brown one is ‘Boss’, and the Silver laced next to her in the middle is ‘Lacey’. They recently started laying eggs, so we are excited about that. Boss is an Olive Egger, so the eggs are green, kinda cool.
The Roosters – Walter White and Raymond Reddington. These guys were going to be meat had I not saved them…my friend had too many roosters and even though they aren’t meat chickens, that’s where they were headed. Luckily for us, we were in need of a rooster, so they have been a welcome addition to the flock.
Belvedere, our resident Peacock! He’s not technically ours, he’s our neighbor’s. They have about 20 Peafowl, and Belvedere likes to hang out on our property more frequently than theirs. During mating season he tends to be here full time, but other parts of the year he goes back.
The Girl Goats – Plus Bucky…Bucky kept getting out of the pen with the boys, and kept finding the girls, so eventually we just left him in there with them. We’re pretty sure they’re all pregnant now, which originally we were trying to wait on the girl Nigerians until they were a bit older, but only so much we can do…The three Nigerian Dwarf Girls are Milka, Brownie, Feta and they are almost a year old. Pixie is the grey goat with blue eyes, she was here when we purchased the property and Cabella (the White Boer Goat) was acquired as a rescue after hosting her from the Mosquito Fire.
Not really our animal, but we have many deer that frequently visit the property, they usually destroy Bernadett’s garden, but it’s still cool to see them. This young buck was often with it’s Mom and sisters over by the barn.
