Cackling Ranch - A journal of things and stuff.

[NH Homesteader]

I got a random cochin as my extra bird in my order this spring. Pretty sure it's a roo mostly based off the fact that it's squaring off with all the other cockerels. Otherwise, NO idea!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Well, I guess you could use that as a hint.... LOL!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Here's how to sex them.... boys crows....girls lay an egg! Sorry - I amuse myself! Sometimes....

I do love Cochins though - they're so fluffy!

 

[NH Homesteader]

They are cute, I wish mine was a hen!

 

[Ferguson K]

Thanks now! So helpful!

That's kind of what I'm waiting on. Crow or egg. I put legbands on them to see if I'm right.

 

[tortoise]

Haha! We got a freebie Cochin with an order. Sweet bird! Was going to be a pet. Then it started crowing.....

 

[baymule]

I just caught up on your journal. I am so sorry about Maya. I have 2 old seniors, Joe is 28 and Sparkles is 30. I dread the day......

Big hugs to you my friend. Our animals are a part of the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat. They are our heartbeat, our love, our life. How sad for those that don't "get it" for they will never know the joy and heartbreak of love in it's purest form.

 

[Britesea]

You might get a clue in how they hold themselves- It has seemed to me that cockerels tend to hold themselves taller than hens do... they "walk big" But of course there's always exceptions

 

[Ferguson K]

I just caught up on your journal. I am so sorry about Maya. I have 2 old seniors, Joe is 28 and Sparkles is 30. I dread the day......

Big hugs to you my friend. Our animals are a part of the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat. They are our heartbeat, our love, our life. How sad for those that don't "get it" for they will never know the joy and heartbreak of love in it's purest form.

I miss her every day.

How's your new boy?

 

[Ferguson K]

Life has a funny way of happening. This week we say goodbye to our dairy herd. It's become something of a task to care for them. I'm over whelmed with my husband being gone for work. It was a tough decision but one I needed to make. I do not have the time to milk twice a day and fill feeders and care for them. They're starting to suffer and have become more of a money pit. I can no longer justify them.

I thoroughly enjoy horses. I have lived an equus life my entire adult hood. The past few months of not riding due to having lame horses has been tough. Losing Maya woke something up inside me. We made the decision to sell the goats and are acting on it. Most of them sold within hours of being up. Benefits of selective breeding and quality goats, I suppose.

I'm starting a new chapter, which is an old chapter. I'm getting back into riding and rodeo. I'm going back to doing what I love most. Spending time in the saddle and not behind a goats rear. One day I'll have goats again, one day when I have time. Today is not that time.

We're introducing two new faces while saying goodbye to the goats.

Meet Xena:

And Secret:

Two rescued AQHA / APHA mares with broken pasts. Xena is every horseman's dream. Well mannered, well started, well taught. Secret, on the other hand, is a bit of a project. I pick her up next week.

Here's to starting a familiar new chapter, getting back into a passion that has driven me since I was a child. When I was 5/6 I was so desperate to ride I actually rode a cow. "Rachel". I'll dig up the pictures eventually. When I was 6/7 I befriended the man up the road with horses and started riding with him. By the time I was a teenager I was enthralled. It never went away.

My two surviving seniors have deserved their retirement and are living the retired life out in the pasture.

I can not wait to saddle up Xena and go hit the trails, but she has to finish quarantine first and get the all clear from the vet. That, however, is a story for another day.