# Babies Being Born Here....What else do YOU raise???



## Miniv (Jun 5, 2017)

We have foals (3) so far.....expecting a couple more before summer is over.....BUT, we have OTHER babies too!

Thought it would be fun to find out about what everyone has/raises/breeds other than horses......

This past month has been busy with babies......Four Chickens and Nine Ducklings hatched...... Four Guinea Piglets born two days ago... and last night we had Holland Lop Rabbit Kits born!

Three chicks are Cochin/Austrolorp crosses and one is a Cochin/Lavender Americauna cross (the latter we are keeping).

The Ducklings are domestic Mallards and 7 are already sold and we are keeping two.

The Guinea Piglets were a MISTAKE and we are selling. My daughter thought she bought 2 males from Petco as pets......Oops. (They are cute!)

The Bunnies.......2 dead, but we have 2 alive. We'll be selling or giving them to 4-H-ers as that used to be an important part of our lives when the daughter was in middle school and high school. The Holland Lop parents are still young and I'm encouraging the daughter to let them go too. That will only leave us with 2 senior Satin rabbits that she showed and I am fond of....so they'll stay as pets until they die of old age.

Of course we also have our cats and dogs, but they are ALL "fixed" and were rescued/adopted.

Yep....we have Farm! LOL.....


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## amysue (Jun 5, 2017)

Ooh I love hearing about what else everybody raises! So far, we had two litters of kits born to our new Zealand rabbits. We've hatched about 30 rouen ducklings and 40 golden pheasant chicks. Pea chicks will hopefully hatch soon as long as I set the incubator up correctly. A few holstein calves have arrived and two belted galloways. Now, we're just waiting for the sheep to lamb out, then we'll be done babying it for a bit lol. Oh, and there are 4 baby raccoons in the ceiling above my grooming bay...they're cute as heck but need to go.


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## Magic Marker Miniatures (Jun 5, 2017)

We are waiting on one last Miniature foal. Have a Lamancha and Nubian due any day, bred to a spotted Boer.

Have three litters of rabbits. Seven pedigreed Rexes and six American Blue New Zealand crosses.

Also have a hen setting on five eggs. Rooster is a Frizzle. We will see if they hatch in another couple weeks.


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## chandab (Jun 5, 2017)

Besides our Angus calves, the only babies here are a couple litters of barn kittens from the barn cats that haven't made it to the low cost clinic yet (I'm about 3/4 the way through the barn cats, but have to haul 65 miles, only have so many kennels and the clinic is only once a year, or less frequent).


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## Miniv (Jun 6, 2017)

Amysue - You must have your hands full with those pheasants and ducklings! And Belted Galloways? Aren't those the ones that my daughter would call "oreo cows"? LOL.

Magic Marker - My now grown foster daughter is into the goats.....They are SO CUTE as babies, but we've decided we have enough critters.....She always seems to have at least one bottle baby and brings it with her when she visits. (We actually owned a few over the years, but never bred.)

Chanda - Don't envy your barn kitty situation. When we first moved here 12 years ago the previous owner had had a "cattery" and she just left a bunch of cats behind running loose! (I think it was a kitty version of a puppy mill.) Fortunately one of the regional shelters felt sorry for us and loaned us live traps and allowed us to turn them over to them for only $5 each! I doubt they would do that anymore......


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## chandab (Jun 6, 2017)

Miniv said:


> Chanda - Don't envy your barn kitty situation. When we first moved here 12 years ago the previous owner had had a "cattery" and she just left a bunch of cats behind running loose! (I think it was a kitty version of a puppy mill.) Fortunately one of the regional shelters felt sorry for us and loaned us live traps and allowed us to turn them over to them for only $5 each! I doubt they would do that anymore......


We'd have fewer cats if the country wasn't a dumping ground. Found a cat on the side of the road in January one year; we bought a piece of property, and the guy left his house cat when he left; and then we tried to rent that house for a year, and the renters left their 13 cats behind (4 young adults and their 9 kittens - got 3/4 of them rehomed, but still had a few left here).


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## Magic Marker Miniatures (Jun 13, 2017)

Well our Nubian surprised us with triplets. She didnt look very big so was surprised to have her have three. She wants nothing to do with them. We have to tie her up along with both back legs. She was a bottle baby herself so with research, learned it may take the mom longer to accept them.

She had a small light brown doeling, we named Lucy. The larger, darker doeling is Jackie. The red moonspotted buckling is Moonshadow.

The other doe looks like she will deliver today. We took the does from the buck on Jan 16 so she will be 155 days yesterday.

Also got 15 Americana chicks, a lamancha doeling, and a purebred Bullmastiff puppy at the monthly auction. We didn't get his papers because he was sold so cheap. He usually sells his puppies for $800. The puppy is disqualified for showing because of white on his paws and tail. Bullmastiffs can only have a small amount of white on their chest. His name is Beau and is in the yard with the goats and chickens. He was raised with chickens and was born on April 24.


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## Magic Marker Miniatures (Jun 13, 2017)

Here's pictures of the puppy and goats. No picture of the doeling or chicks.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 13, 2017)

Cute babies! We don't have baby anything this year. Did find 4 adorable kittens under our leanto. They had their eyes open but weren't crawling yet. Mom is feral. The kitties looked like they needed to be housecats--pretty markings, plump and healthy looking. We put them in a trap and hoped to catch mom, so we could find homes for them, but she got every kitten out of the trap without setting it off. Don't know where she moved them, but doubt they will last very long out there. We have a new predatory visitor lately--a gray fox.


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## Magic Marker Miniatures (Jun 14, 2017)

Our Lamancha had twins this morning. One elf eared buck and a eared buckling. Made my roommate mad because the doe is getting up their in age and she wanted does. Two years ago she had twin does by the same buck. Needless to say, the two bucklings will be sold.


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## Magic Marker Miniatures (Jun 15, 2017)

Wasn't mad... just disappointed... Kari


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 19, 2017)

Put 6 eggs under our broody Buff today. It's an awfully hot time of year to have a successful hatch, but broody hens don't seem to have a sensible time table.


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## Magic Marker Miniatures (Jun 19, 2017)

We have a broody hen. Sat on five eggs and they never hatched. They were not fertile. Tried to put chicks with her and she kept pecking them. We put her back in the coop. She wouldn't let any of the other hens in the nest, needless to say she was booted out.


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## Miniv (Jun 20, 2017)

I have an Americana (Easter Egger) hen who spends most of her day in a nest box....often sitting on another hen's egg (which I pull). I take her out of the box every afternoon so she'll eat.

She hasn't laid her OWN egg in WEEKS. I'm baffled.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 20, 2017)

Miniv said:


> I have an Americana (Easter Egger) hen who spends most of her day in a nest box....often sitting on another hen's egg (which I pull). I take her out of the box every afternoon so she'll eat.
> 
> She hasn't laid her OWN egg in WEEKS. I'm baffled.


She's broody. I have resolved this before by putting the hen in a wire cage up off the floor for a few days. Otherwise, if you have any fertile eggs, mark them with an X in pencil, put them under her, and just let her do her Thing.


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## secuono (Jun 21, 2017)

Gah! All photos are too big for this forum....had to upload m then download to shrink them. No longer have a resizing option on my phone. =/

Anywho, wheelies are the only babies born here.

First pic is some of this year's lamb crop.

Rest are from previous years.










And this is Marshmallow when she was a baby.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 9, 2017)

Five chicks hatched yesterday out of 6 eggs. Rooster is New Hampshire Red and hens Rhode Island Red. Setting hen is a Buff. She did a great job in this hot weather.

A couple of days ago she came out for a drink and got into a hen fight with one of the other hens. Luckily I was nearby and ran to separate them. I think it was to the death. Neither hen made a sound. I was scared the broody would not go back to the nest, she was so stressed. But luckily she did. I have her and the babies separated from the other girls.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 9, 2017)

We had a feral cat with a litter of kittens under our leanto. Usually we just let nature take its course, but these babies were so cute and healthy looking that we hated to see them in the food chain. We finally trapped them last night. There is another one we caught later, a darling gray tabby. Wow, they were wild! I wore gloves and they squalled and bit and scratched. Good thing they are just morsels! Gave them some supper and breakfast and they are already tamer. Someone is coming to get them this afternoon so they will get to be house cats. I think they are only about 4 weeks old, but eating well so we feel okay about getting them out of the food chain. There were 4 kittens at first. One disappeared already.

We had to move the hay bales to find them and among the other trash under there was a mouse trap. I guess the mom dragged the trap + mouse there for the babies. I got 4 ticks off one of them; the others were too wild to check.


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## Miniv (Jul 11, 2017)

Marsha, what happened to the mother cat?


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 11, 2017)

Miniv said:


> Marsha, what happened to the mother cat?


I saw her today. We wanted to get the kittens while they were still young enough to tame and before a predator got them. They were lapping milk with small dogfood in it (that's all I had). They ate two big bowlfuls, so they were definitely ready for food. One bowlful was goats milk kefir; I thought that would be a nutritious thing to give them. I picked 4 ticks off the little white one; she was not as lively as the other two. Maybe other ticks had been on her. couldn't check for ticks on the other two as they were too wild. The lady who took them is the wife of a vet. She was going to have him look them over good.

We've tried to trap the mother before but she has been caught at the neighbor's, and won't go in a trap any more. I was going to take her to a farmer who likes cats in his hay barn. He doesn't care if they are sort of wild. And he feeds them. We don't really want the cats here. They kill our bunnies, quail and song birds, and hunt our mountain boomer lizards. They poop under the leanto and the toms spray. We like kitties, but have enough predators with hawks and foxes and raccoons and skunks and snakes.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 13, 2017)

Got a photo today of the kittens with their new owners. So glad we got them out of the food chain.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 14, 2017)

This one is taking a little longer to adjust.


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## Ryan Johnson (Jul 18, 2017)

I dont raise them so to speak , but we have Cygnets on the way.

The Mother or Father has been on the nest now for two weeks and from the little research Ive done , they should be nesting for around 42 days.

Like clockwork the Mother or father ( as they take turns nesting) returns to our lake around sunset to take over the nesting. Both are quite friendly and spent around two weeks making the nest before the eggs were laid.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jul 18, 2017)

Ryan Johnson said:


> I dont raise them so to speak , but we have Cygnets on the way.
> 
> The Mother or Father has been on the nest now for two weeks and from the little research Ive done , they should be nesting for around 42 days.
> 
> Like clockwork the Mother or father ( as they take turns nesting) returns to our lake around sunset to take over the nesting. Both are quite friendly and spent around two weeks making the nest before the eggs were laid.


I heard some swan lore: they always build their nests above the highest water line. People don't understand how they know how high the water will ever be, but the swans know. They must be fascinating to watch.


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## Ryan Johnson (Jul 18, 2017)

Yes they are , I think they are much safer this year then when they nested a few years back. We didnt have the reeds that they have nested in this time, so they have much more protection from predators.


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## candycar (Jul 18, 2017)

We actually had a pair of black swans show up near our house one year. I don't think they migrate to Kentucky! I guess they escaped from someones farm. I had to google to find out where they are native.


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## Ryan Johnson (Aug 17, 2017)

Not too sure how many yet, But the signet eggs hatched sometime yesterday.

When i got home from work I noticed both swans were home. Usually one is returning around sunset. I went round to the back of the lake with some fresh bread and noticed the male wasnt too keen leaving the nest. When he finally did , I could see all these heads bobbing up and down.

From the research ive done they should leave the nest for the first time in a couple of days, so Ill be able to get some pics then.


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## Ryan Johnson (Aug 20, 2017)

6 were born but one had fallen off the nest during the night.

the other 5 are doing very well


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## Marsha Cassada (Aug 21, 2017)

Elegant neighbors!


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## Ryan Johnson (Aug 21, 2017)

Yeah they are , You just dont realize how big they are until one is standing at your back door


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## Marsha Cassada (Oct 5, 2017)

Our chicks are 12 weeks old now. Unfortunately, out of the 5, 3 are cockerels. We will wait and see if any are mean/nice before deciding their fate. I am letting them out to free range now and they are old enough to be sensible. Makes me nervous to have them out at risk, but they are so happy and content scratching around. They have already found all the safe places to siesta. Moved them into the main house at night now. Had to put them up on the roost, but I think they will figure it out. The Buff in the second picture is their broody "mother".


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## Marsha Cassada (Nov 4, 2017)

Yay! Two of the roosters left today for a new home. They will each have a harem. I am keeping Mr Yellow Legs, who eats from my hand and looks to be on his way to be a very handsome fellow.


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## Miniv (Nov 4, 2017)

I agree that personality is VERY important with roosters. We have one "old man" Standard Cochin who I've tried to get rid of because he's not very nice. And our spring/summer clutch of chicks has produced two cockerels. Our old man is the daddy to both. One of them also should go and I've become fond of the Cochin/Lavender Americana cross who looks like a male version of his mother. He's beautiful and KIND.

Every morning we listen to a crowing competition from all three......It would drive some people nuts, but it makes me smile. (Have to admit I encourage them by crowing back.)


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## Marsha Cassada (Nov 22, 2017)

Ryan Johnson said:


> 6 were born but one had fallen off the nest during the night.
> 
> the other 5 are doing very well


How are they doing now?


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## Ryan Johnson (Nov 22, 2017)

I wish I could tell you...........

It was about two weeks after they were born, I arrived home from work to find they had vanished. Mother and father and the five little ones. There is another big lake about 4 farms away and I have a feeling they may have gone walking in that direction.

The mother returned nightly for the next couple of weeks ( for some spinach, lettuce, grainy bread) , she was not stressed at all, so I have a good feeling they all made it safely to their next destination. I did find it strange at such a young age, the parents would lead them away from the nest.

It was really interesting watching them work together to build their nest, right through to seeing the signets for the first time.

I wish they had of stayed longer . You never know , I may see them return as a family before they set off on their own adventures.


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## Marsha Cassada (Nov 27, 2017)

Off topic, but about swans: I'm a button collector, and this unusual French livery button was shown on a group recently. Just about every animal known--and unknown--to man shows up on a livery button. This is the first swan livery button I've seen.

I've seen goats, antelope, and sheep, but so far not an auodad...


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