I am so excited to introduce the “OG’s” when it comes to our animals. They’re with us right now as we are renting a house on a cattle farm, and will move again when we build. Let’s get started!
Ainsley is our best dog ever. She is almost 7 years old and, in true yellow lab fashion, is the heart and soul of our home. There is no shortage of photos of this girl, because she is almost always doing something cute (except when she’s barking at squirrels). Ainsley’s favorite spot is on Mom & Dad’s bed, with the living room couch in a close second. She follows us pretty much everywhere we will let her. We got her as a puppy, so she has literally grown up alongside our kids. Be assured, Ainsley Joy – her appropriately chosen full name – definitely will not be the guard dog when we are on our own farm! We’re looking forward to adding a different breed for that purpose. More on that to come!
Next up is our rabbits, some of which are shown in a small portable tractor my son built so they can graze during the warmer months. He started out with this as an FFA project, the goal of which was to produce meat for the family. We currently have five in hutches that my son also constructed on his own. Keep following for instructions on how to make these hutches! Last March, we went to an auction in a predominantly Amish community not too far from here, and bought four rabbits. We knew nothing about how to choose certain breeds but we sure had fun bidding at the auction.
The life cycle has claimed a couple of rabbits so far, and my son has purchased two more with the hope of restarting his original plan for meat in the future. So far, we’ve mostly just enjoyed having these cute creatures around. They are so fun to watch, and we’ve been able to sell a few babies as pets so others can enjoy them, too.
Tola joined our family in the late fall, when we realized that living in an old farmhouse next to a field full of cows would equate a house full of mice. For me, it wasn’t so much the thought that a small kitten could actually catch the mice as the hope that the mice would run in fear when they smelled her. After my husband and son trapped at least one mouse a day from the moment we moved in, my desperate late-night research told me the best deterrent to mice was the combination of a dog and a cat living in a house together. It seems to have worked.
We got Tola from some friends who have a small farm as well, and her mom is about the friendliest cat we’ve seen and she is a good mouser. Tola, named after a character found in the book of Kings in the Bible, is soft and cuddly and the perfect blend of sweet and spunky! We hope she will be the matriarch of our farm cats for generations.
Claire and Gladys are our Alpine Dairy and Nigerian Dwarf goats. They are our oldest daughter’s pride and joy. Claire produces 3/4 a gallon of milk for us every single day, and Gladys entertains and keeps Claire company. We happened upon these two ladies when a friend who lived in town was threatened with losing them due to complaints from neighbors. Since we had just moved to a cattle farm, we were pretty certain we could at least foster them for a while.
We have generous landlords who allowed us to use an old shed, and before we knew it, we had goats! Claire and Gladys have been such a fun addition already. We are looking forward to constructing them a new home and letting them graze and hopefully even free range once we are on our own property.
The last on our list, but certainly far from the least, is our beauty, Romeo. He is our middle daughter’s horse that she has had for 1.5 years. Romeo currently lives at Grandpa’s ranch, though we’ve been able to take him out to ride at our land and have dreams of housing him ourselves there someday.
Romeo is about six years old. He is incredibly friendly, nuzzling and sometimes gently chewing on our clothes, our hair, anything that he can get his mouth on. Our daughter works with him about 9-10 months out of the year, and shows him at our local Saddle Club as well as the county fair.
Here ends the tour of animals, brought to you by DE Larsons. Keep watching as we have a long list to add! Our hope for this spring and summer is ducks and cattle (my husband has raised and worked with cattle off and on his whole life – we understand they take a lot of land and time!). Following that, we’ll need a Guardian Dog and probably a goose to keep everyone in line and keep predators out. And from there, we shall see but the goal is to add pigs and sheep within the next year or two.
What animals would you introduce to a small hobby farm?