Two of my favorite hens died this past week. One was a sweet tempered bantam buff cochin that went broody several times a year. I could always count on her to hatch something. She was the best mother. She hatched a variety of eggs for me, often the offspring becoming several times larger than herself. But at no matter what size she was a fierce protective mother. My brown leghorn I admired for her speed, agility, determination and her ability to escape almost anything. I called her Houdini. Barring dogs and cats, do any of you have favorite livestock or animals? And why?

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), April 30, 2000

Answers

You can probably guess that my favorites are going to be goats! My all time favorite was a Saanen Alpine cross named Lily, she was lily white and very calm and peaceful.When I got her I was going through a very difficult time,and a friend gave her to me. Somehow, with Lily there to comfort me and let me cry on her shoulder(literally),I got through that time and have been hooked on goats ever since. Lily was so nice-never mean or ornery, always patient and gentle. I could go for a walk with her,without a lead, she'd come where ever I went,and even on a lead, you never had to yank or pull her, the lead would be slack.My mother sold her without my knowledge one day, I don't know who she went to, but I hope they were good to her. My current favorite is a grade alpine, she is solid black with brown markings, named Anise. Anise is mellow and easy going like Lily. Although she is out of the worst uddered doe in my herd, she has a beautiful, productive udder that milks out like a dream. Her teats are just right,and she milks out fast. as a yearling milker last year, she outproduced her mother (who milks fairly well) and was one of the last to dry off, long after all the other does had quit producing. Though she is dam raised, she is quite friendly, but never pushy, and she is quiet and calm. She is due to kid anytime now-hope she has a couple of doelings just like her!

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), April 30, 2000.

Ah, yes - our first milk cow, Brindle. A little Jersey crossbred we bought through the stock sale carrying her first calf. She was with us for seventeen years. We kept every heifer calf she had for the beef cow herd. We named them all Buffy. We had Buffy 1, Buffy2, Buffy8, ....you get the idea.

She was spoiled, cantankerous, tempermental, uncooperative, moody, sneaky, - a real piece of work, but she kept us in milk and raised three calves every year and she was special to us.

After about year ten, she would get milk fever every time she calved and we would have to have the big tubes of calcium on hand and watch her closely for when she started to calve and put the first tube down her and then two more after she calved, - and we beat it.

We had to tie every sliding door on the barn, or she would work with them until she got them open and gorge on feed. She was a real feed hog. If the weather was nasty, we kept her in all day or all night to baby her.

We were a year without a milk cow before we found what we wanted to replace her. Now we have a new purebred Jersey heifer who promises to mean as much to us as Brindle did. A family develops a unique bond with their milk cow.

-- homestead2 (homestead@monroecty.net), April 30, 2000.

I still miss my first goat. She was a wonderfully sweet and patient teacher of a new milker, and apparently adopted me as a foster 'kid' because she always tried to give me a bath at milking time. ;-) My current favorite is my Jersey calf. She is spoiled rotten, and will follow everyone around, begging for a chin rub, or wanting to play 'tag.' She sneaks up on you, catches your elbow with the tip of her tongue, and takes off running. If you chase her, she stops after about 50', and waits for you to get there and tag her back, before running off again. Turn your back, and she starts over.

-- Connie (connie@lunehaven.com), May 01, 2000.

I just lost two baby geese by me feeding them poision hem lock with their greens--which was a terrible lesson.But- My favorite pet was my horse "Lady" that I grew up with. She was a paint. My Dad took care of several thousand acres of pasture & cattle each year & Lady & I helped him.I also rode barrels with her. & she was my best friend. When, we would go to rodeos, etc. I was a skinny, freckled face kid-- on a paint horse. Competing with pretty girls in fancy outfits--on registered--longlegged quarter horses. And that Lady would give me her all!!! She helped me make some of those/ who snubbed & made fun of us eat crow! Lady was my best friend & truelly seemed to understand everything being said--& lots that never was said! I truelly was blessed to have been her friend!

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), May 01, 2000.

Got a couple, Ted my angora buck[ rabbit]who went to rest homes with me to visit folks,He was so gentle and he taught many a beginning 4h rabbit kid handleing and grooming. His daughter heavensent who would go for car rides with me,My husbands old horse who was full of the devil but put a child near him and he was good as gold , my morgan stormy who stands were ever i need her to so I can get on, Gretchen my polish banty who was a great mother to her chicks whether they were hers or not, and last but not least Toby my doby x who went to college and on dates with me, 7 years and I still miss her.And to all the special ones still to come.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), May 01, 2000.

My 13 almost 14 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback, Brandy and my eldest Nubain, Poptart. Brandy is the best guradian of goats and family! She has killed pit bulls on the road and kept the coyotes off our property, her biggest enemy is Poptart, who is the herd queen and refuses, though Brandy used to lick Poptarts hinny after her Lambar, to have Brandy in the milking pen. Poptart Purebred Nubain (Blissmore Farms AK Frosted Tart, 2 Champion daughters, 2 legs toward championship, that she will never finsih) was purchased for 50$ when the river flooded in town and the herd was hastily moved to a new barn. We went to help with chores, and my daughter found Poptart on the ground, the owner had to go through the goats to even see who was her mom, she was just born and half in the sack still. The owner had no time for this late born kid, and gave her to Joni, told me to send her 50$ if I wanted the paperwork. Poptart is the foundation of my F line, the best 50$ I ever spent! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), May 01, 2000.

I have a couple of ewes (present and past) who certainly qualify, but I must say, my very best animal pal was my cat, Max, who lived with me for 21 years! He stood by me through college, first jobs, first husband (!), living in a bazillion different locations, divorce, death of a parent, new careers, career changes, sickness and health, etc. When he finally got me settled on this farm, he hung out for a couple of years to make sure I stayed put, and with the same guy (!) and then checked out. Wonderful kitty. I seriously doubt that I would have any mental health at all without that cat stabilizing me through some horrific times.

Hats off to you, Max!

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), May 01, 2000.

oops, sorry, it was a cat answer!

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), May 01, 2000.

I have a lot of favorites, but the memory that pops into my head as I'm reading all your posts is of my sorrel mustang mare cantering across the pasture with a big white goose hanging on tight to her tail, half running and half flying behind her!! They did that several times, and I always thought it looked like they were both having fun! Another one, our first goat, Misty -- she was all brown, with teats the size of summer sausages. I learned to milk on her, and she was so good. We took her to the beach with us a couple of times (we lived in the Willamette Valley and would go to visit my mother on the coast). Once when we were walking with her on the beach, some people asked us if she was a deer!! We laughed about that one for years -- I mean , yes, she was solid brown, and no horns (people who've only seen goats in picture books think they all have horns), but she had a rather large pendulous udder and these huge teats hanging down almost to the ground!! The second time she kidded her udder just kind of collapsed into her teats, and we had to sell her for meat as I couldn't milk her anymore -- I felt really bad. But I think that milking her big teats started my carpal tunnel, too. As far as I know, though, the mare is still around, and fat and happy. When we moved to Alaska, we sold her and her foal to an older fellow who said she reminded him of the horses they used to have on the ranches where he grew up -- now everybody has registered stock of one kind or another, but the herds of mustangs still carry a lot of the blood of those old ranch ponies.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), May 02, 2000.

Thanks everyone for your answers. It has been great reading about your favorites. Now perhaps we should start one for dogs and one for cats, as I am sure everyone has dozens of those beloved stories.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), May 07, 2000.

I must mention one....

I had a large bronze turkey hen named Stella. She was kind of like a blind date...really ugly, but loaded with personality! If I weren't up and out of the house early enough in the morning, she would come to my bedroom window and then to the front door with her gop...gop...gop... Till I came outside. She would sit beside me on the back steps while I took a break from yard work. She loved to admire her reflection in the glass of the back door.We had to be careful not to leave the door open or she would come in for a visit. She made 5 nests last summer. Some critter ate her eggs the first four times. The fifth time, she made her nest right under my daughters bedroom window and hatched five beautiful chicks! She was a great mom. Last week something grabbed her off her nest behind the pond. We suspect a coyote. She was too big for anything smaller to carry away and all we found were feathers. Growing up with animals being raised for food, I seldom get really attached to one. I cried for Stella. She was a good turkey.

-- Mona (jascamp@ipa.net), May 10, 2000.

here is one for the cat file, Had a grey cat named rockie who loved to play dart gun, i would shoot the plastic darts and he would jump in the air and catch them, no matter were he was as soon as he heard you cock back the gun he would come running.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), May 14, 2000.