.
One of the older residents of my household is Heidi. I got Heidi in 1987 along with her twin Hilda from the pound. Hilda was killed by a car when 6 months old - but Heidi has remained here. She is a border collie. Heidi is terribly overweight and has arthritis so she doesn't get around well. In her heyday she could snatch a bird from the air if it got too close. She loves to ride in the back of the truck but can't jump up there. She has to be "loaded" from the steps.
Last year while we were on vacation some other dogs attacked her and she had to have surgery on her back to repair the wounds. Since that time, she doesn't leave the yard. Because of the heat here and her lack of grooming skills, I keep her coat sheared fairly short in the summer. Her claim to fame is howling at sirens
We lost dear Heidi on July 2, 2002 - she is sorely missed
My guineas are a great treat around the house. They patrol the yard like little soldiers with their helmets eating bugs and sounding the alarm at the first sign of an intruder. I originally had 12 guineas last year, but these three are the only ones who survived the hawk attacks. I have one male and two females. The male is slightly larger than the females and his wattles are larger - the main way to tell them apart is by the sounds they make. Male guineas can make only one sound - kind of a high pitched chatter, but females can also make a two syllable calling sound - something like pot-latch pot-latch. They are a lavender color.
All like to get on top of the house and run around and perch on the deck and sing to us. They currently have a hideout nest that I haven't found yet. Guineas are not very good parents and it is best to find the nest before they hatch and either put the eggs with a brooding chicken or raise in an incubator. I'm hoping to increase my guinea population this year. Guineas are great for gardens because they will eat all the bugs but not damage the plants.
I love chickens. Two years ago when I decided to start a farm - we obtained 26 chickens from the local sale. Only 12 survived but I still have 2 of those. One of these is Clara - an old game hen with spurs. She is shown here with the head rooster, BadBoy - aptly named because of his extremely long and sharp spurs. He is not my largest rooster, however he is still the Cock of the Walk around here. I have several other roosters, but the only other one of significance is called BigBoy. He is huge, much larger than any of my other roosters. His mother was one of the original chickens I purchased, a big black sex-link named Hattie. BigBoy is the result of a cross between a game rooster and a sex-link hen. Pretty isn't he?
This is a good picture of him with his only hen. Gives a pretty good indication of his size - big and dumb!! He isn't quite mature yet, his spurs are just budding, so he is second in the pecking order around here.
2nd Millennium Solutions
copyright 2000
all rights reserved