I've been wanting to do a post with all our animals for a while now, but it seems like its either been raining or the animals are all muddy from all the rain. I've also been waiting for our last 3 goats to join our herd so I could include pictures of them. Our herd is now complete...well for today :)
The Pep Farm Does
Ruby, our mini Nubian.
Our newest additions. The mini alpine sisters Adele and Kate (or Clara-her name is still being debated amongst the children).
Adele. The kids are on a UK kick so the 3 new goats we received over the weekend were given British names.
Clara/Kate-Half of the kids want to name her Clara after the Dr's new companion and the other half want to name her Kate after the princess. We'll see which one everyone settles on over the next few days.
Daisy-Pygmy
And her twin sister Minnie.
These two girls are always within a few feet of each other
Heidi-An Alpine
Cassie-Nigerian. I love how it looks like she is wearing leg warmers!
Harriet-A very pregnant Nigerian. She is due the first of July.
Avery-Nigerian. Our first baby born on the farm.
Sadie-Nigerian. She is Avery and Toby's momma.
Sadie-Alpine
Luna-Nigerian/Pygmy cross.
And our youngest and tiniest doe on the farm. Zelda-mini nubian.
The Pep Farm Bucks
Niall-Nigerian. He is the third goat named with the British theme. At Everly's insistence he's named Niall after one of the One Direction boys.
Toby-Nigerian.
Link-Mini Nubian.
The Pep Farm Dogs
Snowflake, a Pyrenees, is our main guardian dog. She loves the goats. We definitely couldn't keep our herd safe without her! Just a couple of weeks ago she had a large snake cornered in the pasture when we got home. Chris opened the gate to bring all the animals into a different pasture. She herded all the goats up to safety and then went right back to cornering the snake.
Its hard to get a good picture of her because shes always on the go making sure her goats are ok. Jarom was holding Ruby and Snowflake wasn't too sure that was a good idea. When he was putting her down Snowflake made sure Jarom knew he was watching.
Annie is our pyrenees/golden retriever cross. She is Snowflakes faithful companion. These two, unless we separate them into different pastures, are always together.
Abbey-border collie/golden retriever cross. We originally got her as a companion for our lab Lucy, but she has also turned out to be a great guardian dog. She has made it her job to patrol the front yard and hill that is near the goats for any predators. Even though they are separated by fencing Abbey and Snowflake work very closely together. Its been really neat to see how they have learned to work together without any training from us. If one barks the either immediately starts patrolling for danger. I thought Abbey only was on the lookout for predators (we've had a lot of coyotes, wolves, deer, skunks, etc), but one day she was barking and would not stop. I finally went out to see what she was so upset about and she was worried about a goat that was stuck in the hay feeder.
Lucy isn't the best farm dog, but she's such a sweetheart we tolerate her love of ducks, chickens, and anything else she could get her mouth on. She is great with the kids and when they are outside she is always by their side. Thanks to an invisible fence we're able to keep her separated from most of the farm animals. Her and Abbey work together patrolling the yard when the kids are out playing. Although if the kids are inside you can find her asleep in the barn!
The Pep Farm Herd of Cats
Never in my life did I think I would own 4 cats. Nor did I think I'd have cat doors, cat condos, and other cat paraphernalia all over the house. Well not in the house thankfully, but our garage that has been converted into a game room also doubles as the cat fortress.
The kids sure do love the cats though and the cats take a lot of abuse from the kids.
Case in point..
Exhibit A-
Although I believe the cats put up with the little kid torture because of the chicks we keep around for their entertainment...
Chloe or Pumpkin, depending on which child you ask, is our favorite cat. We got her from the same rescue we got Abbey our dog from and she has been wonderful.
Hermione. She got her name because it looks like she has a lightening bolt on her head like Harry Potter. She always has this look of "I'm plotting your demise". She has thankfully calmed down a lot since we first brought her home. If our house wasn't ruled by a bunch of 4ft tall minions, she would've found another home by now. But they break out the tears and we're suckers. So she stays.
CeCe-AKA Church Cat. She's a real sweetheart too. We found her at church one Sunday after being rescued from the A/C vents. As you can see by the picture she also takes a lot from the kids.
Glitzy. She was supposed to be Hermione's replacement for Lola after Hermione scratched Lola (on more than one occasion) yet now we have both cats. She pretty much always has this look of misery as she is due with kittens any day.
Other Random Pep Farm Animals
Butterscotch-mini pony. She is definitely the herd queen and all the goats know she's the boss. Despite their size difference (and her bossiness) her and the goats get along great. Its not uncommon to see her sleeping with the goats curled up with her. The kids also love the pony rides.
Charlie Jr. (a girl, named by Aidan before we knew her sex) and Polly. Our newest babies on the farm. Aidan, who usually isn't an animal person has fallen in love with Charlie Jr, so she will be staying. But hopefully we'll be finding a new home for Polly in the next week or so.
Charlie Sr-lionhead lop (baby bunnies' dad) He free ranges in our backyard, although he can be found inside the house quite often playing with the kids.
Bella-(baby bunnies' momma) lionhead rabbit.
Lots of chickens. Jacob claims he knows each of their names.
Currently we also have lots of chicks. About 35.
The baby chicks sure are fun! ..for about a week. Then they smell, are loud, require a lot of cage cleaning and feeding and I'm counting down the days until they can move outside.
Recently we had ducks. But that didn't end well. They were a lot of fun to watch though and we're hoping we can find a way to keep them (safely) on the the farm again.
And finally our newest additions-Bowser and Osage. I'm not sure how long these guys will be sticking around but the kids are sure enjoying them in the backyard.
