Other Critters on the Farm

Livestock Guardian Dogs
I really don’t know what we would do without our LGD’s…to us they are worth more than their weight in gold! We have really been blessed with some good protectors for our farm. We adopted our first at 1 year old from an animal shelter and he was one of our best. I remember those days of worrying about predators all night long when we heard noises, now we turn off all the lights and rest assured all will be well in the morning. It amazes us daily what these dogs know instinctively with no formal training!

Barn Kitties
What’s a farm without barn kitties! We are up to 5 of them now. ZipKitty and Oreo came with us when we moved to south GA. Miller we adopted as a kitten from the feed mill down the road. Salem arrived with our son and daughter when they moved down from north GA and Nugget we brought home with us after visiting a friend in TN recently who does animal rescue. Somehow we always come home with an extra critter or two when visiting Laura. :o) Our cats entertain us and help to keep our feed room free of those pesky little rodents.

Snickers is our only goatie of the floppy eared variety. Of course she doesn’t think she’s a goat at all and protests being penned with the others. I dabbled with raising Mini Nubians for a couple of years and Snickers is one of our kids that was rejected by her mother. We raised her in the house on a bottle and my husband spoiled her rotten. She is ‘his’ goat and loves him to death! He lets her out to roam when he’s out doing things around the farm and she follows him around like a puppy dog, including right into the house if you let her. She’s full of personality and even talks back to you when you talk to her. :-)

Our Donkey (Tanner)
Paw Paw always had a donkey here from as far back as we can remember. Everybody remembers old Sport and as soon as someone was actually living on and caring for the farm again, the search for a donkey began. We ended up with 6 donkeys (long story), and there is such a thing as too many donkeys let me tell you! We found a good home for all of them except one little feller that had just been born here on our farm. The kids named him Tanner after Paw Paw. He’s a sweetheart and donkeys are just so darned comical to have around!

Royal Palm Turkeys
The Royal Palm turkey is one of the smallest turkey varieties. They are active and thrifty, excellent foragers and good flyers. Standard weights are 22 pounds for toms and 12 pounds for hens. While the Royal Palm lacks the commercial potential, it has a role to play on small farms, for home production of meat or it's ability to control insects. They are listed as critical with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. We really enjoy raising the Royal Palm turkeys and love their coloring and beauty. Occasionally, we will have hatching eggs, poults, or adult turkeys for sale.

Guineas
Here at Patchwork Acres we love our Guineas! They are truly the clowns of the barnyard. I enjoy watching them make their daily rounds, eating up insects as they go. We have actually had our little herd chase a large dog off the property while our LGD's were napping in the sunshine. They actually lifted their heads when they heard the ruckus, but settled back in as if to say " The Guineas have this one handled." Some people cannot deal with all the noise they make, but we have gotten used to it and would be lost without these feathered family members. We enjoy hunting for their nests and packing the incubator full of eggs so we occasionally have hatching eggs, keets, and adults for sale.

Chickens
In the past we've raised a few chickens of different breeds as a hobby. We have a huge, old, incubator and the kids…well…and the kids at heart also, love to load it full of eggs and see what we get. A few of our favorite breeds to raise have been, Rhode Island Reds, Light Brahmas, Buff Orpingtons, and Dominickers.

Being involved with the ALBC (American Livestock Breeds Conservancy) and interested in raising our own eggs and meat for our family, we've recently decided to get a little more serious and specialize in one main breed. We researched all the breeds from all angles and finally decided to give Delaware's a try. We ordered 50 chicks in the spring of ‘08' and have been very pleased so far with their rate of growth.

We could hardly wait for these girls to start laying and they have not disappointed us! Nothing beats fresh, brown, eggs from our hens that have been raised with no growth hormones, no antibiotics, and no chemicals of any kind.