Showing posts with label Horse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Horse. Show all posts

Sunday, October 7, 2012

"Chocolate" Kisses

Today was such an exciting day at the farm! 

"Cocoa" and "Snickers", our new miniature horses arrived this afternoon and we spent the day welcoming our new babies to the farm!! We fenced in a section of pasture for them and the kids took turns leading them around the yard. They were born in May of this year, so they aren't even 5 months old yet... they are ABSOLUTELY adorable! The term "love at first sight" definitely applies to these little sweeties! The kids are all so excited to finally have horses out here- and I feel a little bit safer having them learn how to take care of minis instead of full sized horses as beginners.

It was pretty funny watching the other barnyard animals curiously inspecting the new tenants. The kittens approached first and lost interest quickly. The guineas raised a ruckus but eventually went about their foraging. The goats seemed a little put off, especially because we put the minis in their goat yard while we finished off the pasture area. They went inside the barn and stayed there until we took the horses back out. It will be interesting to have a new species on the farm!

 our little filly- Cocoa

our little colt- Snickers



I am excited to get to know the babies and see how they fit into our Funny Farm!!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Coming Soon...

We are so excited to welcome Cocoa & Snickers out to the Funny Farm this weekend!!



Found these adorable mini's on craigslist this week and after talking to the seller, 
we are very excited to purchase them and add them to our family. 
The kids especially!!
Will update again after they arrive!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

2011 in Review

Happy New Year!
I can't believe it is 2012 and that we celebrated our 1 year anniversary on the farm last month! Time really does fly by when you are having fun. We experienced many highs and lows throughout the year:

  • We got our first group of chickens right after Christmas of 2010, and with The General and his small flock of 5 hens our dream of hobby farming began! 
  • It wasn't long after 2011 began that we started exploring goat options, and after researching the different breeds, we decided to start with Nigerian Dwarf Goats.  We found 2 wethers at a farm over in Minnesota and it didn't take us long to fall in love with Black Jack and Sundance and their funny personalities. 
  • With Spring came chicks! There was a couple months that our dining room was full of the sound of peeping fluff balls and we loved holding the chicks and watching them grow.
  • Right as summer break started we added 2 baby Fainting Goats to the mix. We enjoyed bottle feeding them and lost our hearts to their sweet dispositions.
  • That same week at a nearby farm "Sassy" gave birth to her first foal. We were thrilled as Tornado would be coming to live at the farm as soon as he was old enough to be weaned. 
  • During the summer, the puppy we had rescued, Scurv, decided he like the taste of blood. He killed our 2 baby goats and several chickens before we found him another home. We were devastated and lost some of our most favorite pets. It was our first experience of loss on the farm and it was a hard lesson for the whole family.
  • With July the barn cats had litters and we ended up with 17 kittens on the farm!! 
  • In August we found out we were expecting our 5th child in March of 2012! It was unexpected news, but soooooo exciting for us! 
  • As fall came we were thrilled that all of our spring chicks started laying eggs! We get an eclectic assortment every day- different sizes and colors! It is like an Easter Egg hunt collecting them- white, light brown, dark brown, speckled, green, olive, blue... so many varieties!! 

  • We had a pretty good garden harvest for our first attempt! LOTS of zuccini & summer squash and it was delicious! Unfortunately our corn never ripened enough to eat, but we will try again next year.
  • We fell in love with one of the barn kittens and Muggles became a house cat!
  • During the fall we lost 2 guineas and 2 of our barn cats Fluffy & Poe to predators (we think coyotes) all in the same week. It was a sad time for all of us.
  • We had a Halloween party and bonfire out on the farm and bobbed for apples and busted open a Pinata. It was fun because Memama (Zoa's mom) was visiting from Florida and got to experience fall on the farm!
  • With winter, came only a light dusting of snow and milder temperatures than usual. Christmas Day was NOT white for the first time in the 5 winters we have lived in North Dakota! 


I have been slacking in the blog department the last few months, but one of my New Year's resolutions is to try and update here more often. It is such a great journal for me to reflect back on and remember the milestones of hobby farming!!  We are excited to see what changes 2012 will bring to the farm!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Meet Tornado


Our new baby horse was born this past Monday,
and today we got to meet him for the first time!!


See the cute white markings on his face?
Yes, we thought it looked like a Tornado too...
and the name just kindof stuck!

 what a handsome colt!

Tornado and his mama, Sassy

I couldn't believe how small he was- 
I have never seen a newborn horse in person, 
so I didn't know what to expect. 
I was so happy that both Tornado and Sassy were comfortable with us visiting!




Doesn't he look like he is smiling?

We are excited to get to know Tornado better in the months to come!
For now he will stay at a nearby farm with his mama, 
but when he is weaned he will come out to The Funny Farm to live. 
I can't wait!!!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Birth Announcement!!

It has been a busy week around the farm-
It is Spring in North Dakota, and that means babies are being born!

Sooooo.... the big news?
Our baby horse was born this morning!!
We have been waiting (impatiently) all winter... 

 and now the wait is finally over!!
Mama and baby are both doing fine!

Isn't he adorable? I love the marking on his face!

Welcome to our new baby boy!!
Our first horse and he will come to live at the Barker farm in a few months 
as soon as he is old enough to be away from his mom.
Until then, we will make frequent visits and try to 
come up with the perfect name for him.
Our whole family is soooo EXCITED!!!