MEET MY ANIMALS ♥

LET'S START WITH THE HEART OF THE FARM, THE EQUINE

I never imagined as an adult that ponies would be my heart animal, but here we are, and our two ponies and miniature horse are the pride and joy of the hobby farm.

Someday we hope to have additions to this little herd, but for now, each of these little mares found their way to us.

They keep us busy, and we love having them here.

MIXIE

Mixie is a 32-inch miniature Shetland Pony.

Est. birth year is 2000.

Special Needs: Mixie has Equine Metabolic Syndrome, Fecal Water Syndrome, and is chronically foundered with severe winter laminitis issues.

This means she requires special care including a daily medication that helps with her insulin levels, a managed diet with supplements, and farrier care every four weeks for the rest of her life.

Mixie found her forever home on my hobby farm July 2017.

She is the heart of the hobby farm and has educated me in so many ways since the first day we met.

CEDAR

Cedar is a 33-inch Miniature Horse

Birth Year on birth certificate April 2009.

Cedar is one of the cutest miniature horses you can meet, but she wasn’t handled much before she came to live with us, so trust is her biggest issue.

She can be shy around strangers but usually warms up with a few treats and slow movements.

She arrived at our hobby farm in December of 2017, but she crossed my paths many months earlier, I just didn’t know she was supposed to be forever home with me, but she found her way.

SHILOH

Shiloh is a 36-inch pony.

Est. birth date by teeth is between late 1990’s to 2000

Special Needs: Shiloh has Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Cushing’s Disease.

This means she requires daily medication for Cushing's Disease and is on a managed diet.

Shiloh’s previous owner came to us in July 2020 during the Covid pandemic and asked if we’d give Shiloh a new home.

We said YES!

You can read more about the equines and their detailed stories of how they arrived at the farm, and our equine layout in the following posts

MY MINIATURE SHETLAND PONY MIXIE AND HER VARIETY OF HEALTH ISSUES

MEET MY MINIATURE HORSE CEDAR AND SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE TO OWN A MINI

MEET SHILOH AND LEARN A BIT ABOUT HER CUSHING'S DISEASE

THE PINK PONY BARN AND EQUINE LAYOUT

SHOP MY FAVORITE EQUINE SUPPLIES

NEXT UP, THE CAT COLONY

Let's start with this: please spay and neuter your pets, okay, friends?

Here’s what happened: a stray female cat showed up in our barn, and a few days later, she gave birth to five kittens.

Three of them were born without tails, one has a bobtail, and the one with a tail is polydactyl, ya know, extra toes.

Long story short, I couldn’t resist and fell in love with each one.

We moved them into our house at a week old with our already indoor male cat, and now we have SEVEN indoor cats, all thanks to someone not spaying their cat and the fact that I am a sucker.

MEET MACHO MAN

Macho Man is the king of the hobby farm.

He’s been a little annoyed with the arrival of Mama May-May and her kittens, and I’ll admit Mama May has not been very friendly with him, but they’re all finding their places.

Macho Man came to live with us as a bottle baby in 2017 at 4 weeks old.

His Mama had an infection and could no longer feed him.

He is currently the only cat we have that gets to occasionally play outdoors, and he's an excellent chore helper.

MAMA MAY-MAY

This friendly yet bossy and bitchy girl is MAMA May-May.

She's the stray female cat that showed up in May 2023.

We don’t know much about her, but she seems to enjoy the indoor cat life as she’s never tried to get back outdoors.

Everyone says she was one smart cat to deliver babies in our barn, because none of them had to leave, and yes, they have all been spayed and neutered.

THE CAT KIDS

Born May 22, 2023

HOUSTON, AKA BABY HUEY

Huey is the largest of the litter, has a bobtail, extra fur, and is just perfection when it comes to cuteness.

He has a personality of eat, sleep, chill, repeat, and he’s the most laid-back of the kitten bunch.

TEDDY

Teddy is a rumpy, meaning he has no tail, just an itty-bitty stub.

He looks like a bear cub when he bounces around the house, so that’s how he earned the name Teddy.

He's a little rambunctious but he loves to snuggle.

DEWEY

Dewey is named after the boy on the television show Malcolm in the Middle.

We felt like their faces had some similarities, which made us laugh.

Dewey is also a tailless and has a bit of anxiety.

He loves to play but prefers to be able to approach you.

His face often says I’m sorry, yet he’s never doing anything wrong.

He's also the most vocal.

DELL

Dell is short for delinquent.

This kid is the most people-friendly kitty I have ever met, BUT he gets into EVERYTHING.

He’s the rowdiest of the bunch, and he’s also the runt of the litter.

He was the only one born with a full tail but ended up with an extra front toe.

If you hear a bang, crash, or pop, it’s most likely caused by Dell.

He’s the twin to his mama, and even she puts him in his place on occasion.

He’ll look you straight in the eyes, is happiest to greet you when you wake up in the morning, and he’s just a happy kitty.

Everyone loves Dell.

PANDA

Panda was the last baby born and he's pretty independent and does his own thing, and for some reason, he sits and stares at my husband, just sits and stares like he wishes he could be a human.

He’s one of the tailless, but he also has an extra back toe up high on his paw.

We named him Panda because he looks like a panda bear.

He’s pretty chill and has some pretty cool features.

He’s my husband’s favorite little guy.

You can view the cats' playroom and catio, and read more about their birth story (yes, cute kitten photos included) in the following posts

PLEASE SPAY AND NEUTER YOUR PETS: THE STORY OF THE CAT COLONY

ENTERTAINING OUR FELINES WITH A KITTY PLAYROOM AND CATIO SPACE

SHOP MY FAVORITE CAT TOYS AND SUPPLIES

ON TO THE CLUCKING AWESOME CHICKENS, SHALL WE START WITH THE ROOSTERS?

We have two roosters, who are both silkies that were hatched here on the farm during the spring of 2019.

WOLF

Wolf gets his name because he’s kind of a lone wolf.

He goes off and does his own thing allowing our other rooster Feral to do the protecting.

Wolf has no problem wandering the yard alone and doesn’t need to fit in with the flock.

Well, until recently, I think he has an eye for a few of the new chicks.

He’s easy to handle when you catch him, likes treats, and he’s the favorite chicken on the hobby farm.

FERAL

Feral gets his name because he’s not a fan of being approached, so he’s never been handled much.

He’s not aggressive and if you do need catch him for any reason he’s never mean.

He just doesn’t want to be touched, and that’s ok because he’ll make a great deal of noise if something is wrong at the chicken coop.

He makes a great protector for the ladies.

SPEAKING OF LADIES, MEET THE HENS

My two silkie hens are the OGs of the farm.

MAMA BIRD & DIRTBALL

Mama Bird is my last partridge-colored silkie, and I believe she was hatched at the same time as Wolf and Feral in 2019.

Dirt Ball is the last of my white silkies and the oldest hen in the house.

The only time she stays white is fresh from a bath.

Otherwise, she’s found lounging in dirt holes or being broody and moody in their nesting boxes.

I’ve had only silkies for quite a few years, but after a predator attack, I needed to rebuild the flock for Wolf and Feral, so I added some new breeds.

The rest of my hens come from a 2023 hatchery chick order.

LOU-LOU & SNOWBALL -The Blue Cochins

GOLDIE - The Ameraucana

THE LIGHT BRAHMAS SISTER

THE WELSUMMER WENCHES

and

THE WHITING TRUE BLUES

You can learn a little bit more about each one of these chicken breeds, my favorite chicken breeds and see my chicken coop layout under the following post

THE CHICKEN BREEDS I CURRENTLY HAVE ON THE FARM

WELL, THAT DIDN'T GO AS PLANNED - THE CHICKEN COOP AREA