Mini Farm

MEET OUR FARM ANIMALS

We have a variety of animals and even some that like to vacation to our home just for the winter. All our animals have quite the personality and they are so entertaining!

The Goats

We have three goats named Maybelle, Myrtle and Mae. They are just like dogs and come running to you as soon as you say … anything really. They love to get in your personal space and eat your hair! They really are so sweet with big personalities.

These girls are all Nigerian Dwarfs. They give a very rich, sweet milk that is high in butterfat. We will be breeding Maybelle soon and are really looking forward to milking and of course more baby goats!!

The plan is to use this amazing milk for our family and then to make soap with the surplus.

I have never milked a goat and I have never made soap …. should be lots of fun!

The Chickens + Ducks

We have 25 chickens at the moment …… that’s a lot of chickens! Good thing my girls are in the business of selling eggs! Our customers are the best and they rave about our farm fresh eggs.

These ladies, along with our two ducks (Lottie & Dottie), get to free range all day. We don’t have green grass but they forage through part of our orchard and have access to the goat barn too.

Any scraps from the kitchen and garden go straight to them so they get plenty of greens to munch on. They also take advantage of the alfalfa that falls to the barn floor from the goats.

The garden greens and alfalfa make that nice orange yolk! There are a few of our chickens that don’t go to the barn and are super picky about the greens and sure enough their yolk is not as vibrant as the rest.

We have so many different breeds and ages of chickens. I will share our friendliest breeds, the best egg layers and what breeds tolerate our heat!

Our winters are so mild you don’t have to worry about our cold, but you do need to be prepared to help them through our heat.

Chickens are the best pet, in my opinion! They are easy keepers, eat your kitchen scraps and give you breakfast ….. and are so entertaining to watch!

The link below will take you to a blog post all about our chickens, ducks and our coops!

https://festfarms.com/2020/06/10/tour-the-coop-chicken-care-in-the-desert-heat/

The Bunnies

Oh the bunnies, I know I said baby goats are the cutest but these bunnies are a very close second. My youngest daughter begged for a bunny for over a year and we finally said yes! They are so cute and personable.

They are both Holland Lops and they live in a hutch inside our home for now. We are building an outdoor hutch with all the bells and whistles!

The link above will take you to our outdoor bunny hutch/mini coop! Yes our mini chickens and bunnies share the cutest little place!

The Farm Dog

Millie is really a human dressed as a dog and takes all the best places to sit inside the house and on the patio.

She is really good at her job as protector of the farm. If she even sees a big shadow of a hawk, she is on it …. barking at the sky. She can smell the javelina from a mile away. We have had no predator attacks since Millie joined the farm!

She is a Mini Queensland Heeler. We got her at just 5 weeks old, I know way to young, and we paid for it. She was one hot mess puppy living in our house. Now she is two years old and just keeps getting better!

The Farm Cat

Biscuit is our farm cat that sleeps all day on our bed and hunts at night. She is a fierce mouse hunter {and so are the chickens, I know crazy}.

She is a long haired calico and her and the dog have a love hate relationship. Never a dull moment in our home!

The Pony {our winter guest}

We had the pleasure to take this pony, named Gunther, for the winter. He was a true Old Snow Bird coming from the snowing weather to our lovely desert winter.

The girls had more fun riding and dressing him up in flower crowns!