The animals all have a purpose on the farm. Here is our extended family.
Woolahra the sheep was the little lamb we brought home from the outback. She came from Woowoolahra Station (hence her name). Sydney the goat was given to us by a friend on the Gold Coast. We were told that if you have goats you need to have fences like Fort Knox. That is sooo true! Sydney will get through anything and wreck havoc. Here he is in the ducks shelter. We thought we had put enough wooden posts around it to stop him from getting in and eating their food. We were wrong! Poor Sydney has gotten up to so much mischief around our farm that we are too scared to get him a mate. So he just hangs out with the sheep.
Unfortunately we lost Woolahra during the drought. The grass was so dry and scarce we had to let the animals wonder down the back of the property to eat and she was attacked, maybe by a dingo, fox or wild dog??? That was sad. We had hand raised her. She loved being cuddled and would follow us everywhere. I could go for a bush walk around our property and Woolahra and Sydeny would happily follow me just like dogs. Our other sheep haven’t been hand raised and will run away if you get anywhere close to them.
We started with 12 chickens, 7 Indian Runner ducks and 6 Guinea Fowl. We’ve lost some (from predators) and gained some (baby chicks) and swopped some with the neighbours, so I’ve actually lost count of how many we have. Our chickens and ducks free range all over the place and have learnt to hide under cover when hawks and big birds fly over head.
We made a mobile chicken coop out of stuff lying around the farm that the previous owners had left behind. From the old trailer, an old cabinet, old weather boards, old corrugated iron etc, our carpenter son-in-law wacked it together in a weekend.
Now we have plenty of eggs of all shapes and sizes. Sometimes we get crazy monster eggs
We currently have 5 heifer cows – 3 milking breeds and 2 angus heifers. We also look after our neighbours 2 young bull calves. One still has all his bits and pieces so hopefully he’ll breed with our cows sometime soon. He’s a bit smaller than the girls, and they bully him, so we might have to just wait until he grows a little more.
The Jersey cow
Eating hay in the winter drought
The little bull calf
My favourite
Meet the piglets! They are the newest addition to the farm. Their job is to dig up the grass so we can turn it into garden. They are doing a great job…I just don’t have an updated photo of how muddy that patch of green grass has turned into. I’ll post a photo soon. Of course our trusty dogs Tux and Jet are very much a part of the family. They’ve also been sowing their seeds around the neighbourhood. Our neighbours just had a litter of 11 puppies…and they looked just like Tux and Jet (Yes female dogs can have a litter from more than 1 dog!)
Tux and Jet looking after the piglets
Last of all our kitten “Hunter”. We got him just after Christmas. His job is to keep the mice population under control…and yes we have seen him catch some. Good job hunter!
Hunter the hunter
Off Grid Maori 