O.K. everyone. What is on your wih list? If you could get any animal- type thing you wanted, what would it be? Let's hear your wih list. Renee'

-- Renee' Madden (RM6PACK@aol.com), June 30, 2000

Answers

Well I already have 94 chickens, 89 pheasants, 14 geese, 10 rabbits, 17 sheep, a dog, acat and 2 kids soooo.......

A HORSE (or 2)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have always wanted a horse and I finally have the room for one but Hubby thinks they are waste of hay. I did get him convinced if we got one that pull (or a team) then it would be useful. He wants a carriage and/or a sled and thinks this is a good idea. Now, to find the money...........

-- Novina in ND (lamb@stellarnet.com), June 30, 2000.

My dream is for horses and a buggy! My children want pygmy goats. My husband wants donkeys. Of course, if we were to get all that we'd need more land, too.

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), June 30, 2000.

Well...I currently have a dog, a cat, two kittens, four snakes, two lizards and a bunny (pet). Now I want chickens, turkeys, ducks, a cow or two, wouldn't mind some sheep and goats. What I want more than anything, have since I was a little girl, is a horse. I would lllooovvvveee to have a horse. I am currently trying to convince hubby to buy us more land, and as soon as I get more, I am getting a horse!!! :o)

-- Linda (botkinhomeschool@yahoo.com), June 30, 2000.

I was raised on a ranch here in Texas and we had cows and horses and cats and dogs and we fed wild birds and we just generally had the usual stuff. Now I only have two cats and three Muscovy ducks and the birds that come to my feeders, but I would love to have a donkey and cart or buggy like I see sometimes in Mexico. I think that would be just so cool to ride around and go to the store and stuff like that in a donkey-pulled buggy.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), June 30, 2000.

A beautiful pair of mules! one for me, one for my spouse, and they could work together like a team, too (just like we do!)

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), June 30, 2000.

A quarter horse, a bay mare about 5 to 6 years old, well broke to cattle, with a small blaze in her face & 4 stocken feet, for myself & a team of oldier beligum mares well matched,& broke to drive & work with a covered wagon,(just like my Dad had). Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), June 30, 2000.

Well, just getting the homestead started I have 3 dogs and 3 gold fish. We'd like chickens and rabbits in the near future, with a goat or two next, and when we aquire more land (someday!), we want a dozen beef cows.

-- Eric in TN (ems@nac.net), June 30, 2000.

We have 540 meat chickens, 3 doz. laying hens, 1 dog, 3 cats, 3 horses, 9 pigs, 4 cows, (another to born any day now:o). I've had goats. Right now I'm despirate for sheep :o)

-- Abigail F. (treeoflife@sws.nb.ca), June 30, 2000.

Funny you should ask, last night my husband and I found out we get to buy 30 acres with a creek on one side, our dream! (Now I don't have to hide a goat at our barn in town! LOL) We want about 12 Black Australorp chickens (we have 6 in hiding now), 2 milk goats, 2 or 3 pigs, and continue raising rabbits, which have proved wonderful if you don't keep TOO MANY!! We allready have the dog, cat, and baby. :-) I know we want a horse or two, but have not quite figured out how to make them pay. I don't want to farm with them.

-- Marty Puckett (Mrs.Puck@excite.com), June 30, 2000.

We have 14 ducks, 2 dogs and a cat, but I would like a goat,too. A Kinder goat (I saw some at the county fair last summer.) At least I think I would. I love goat milk, goat cheese and goat meat. But my husband HATES goats. I make the BEST goat curry, and I'm going to sneak it onto my husband's dinner plate one of these days, but I don't know...I once handed him a cracker with some goat jack cheese on it and he took a big bite and asked,"Augh! What misbegotten slug made this stuff?!" We have mostly forest, no pasture, so cows are out, horses scare me, bunnies I couldn't kill. Pigs?...well, I'd like to know where my pork comes from, but how bad do they smell? Maybe raise a couple of weaner pigs. Wild boar sounds interesting...has anyone had any experience with them?

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), June 30, 2000.

a Pegasus.

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

a Pegasus, is a name of ! anilmal, not a breed,, but I would like 2 myself

-- STAN (sopal@net-port.com), June 30, 2000.

Horses! Some good riding horses and a big beautiful Percheron!

-- Lenore (archambo@winco.net), June 30, 2000.

You know, I think I'm going to agree with Sheepish here. I want a pair of young, healthy, strong mules!

Not that I know where I'd put them just at the moment but that's what I want.

The other animals I want will be fairly easy to acquire but the mules will be a major project!

..........Alan.

The Prudent Food Storage FAQ, v3.5

http://www.ProvidenceCo-op.com

-- A.T. Hagan (athagan@netscape.net), June 30, 2000.

Our plans on the drawing board are another horse for me, a Tennessee Walker, guinea hens, pheasant, quail, peafowl and doves.. A small milk cow, pot belly pigs, (small enough for home butchering) and a bigger pond with edible fish. Oh, yes, a little house dog to clean the crumbs from the kids.

This time though, I would like the fences, pens and coops put in first. Life gets complicated when you have a horse and chickens before fences and coops, but that seems to be the way we do things.

Sometimes I feel like Ma Kettel.

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), June 30, 2000.

We wish we had a dozen chickens which ate nothing but weeds, were big and tough enough to defend themselves against hawks and racoons and laid daily a 1 lb block of firm tofu. I mean, as long as you're going to dream.......... John and Pat

-- John and Pat James (jjames@n-jcenter.com), June 30, 2000.

My 19th birthday present was a 3 year old Arab x Tennessee walker gelding. He was bay with a tiny star and one white heel. He had sense, stamina, the smoothest flat walk, trot and canter and a gait somewhat like a fox trot you ever hope to enjoy. If the cows were out, he became a cutting horse. If a gang of us wanted to go cross country, he was a trail horse. If a show came up, he became a show horse. He did it all willingly. I could put little kids on him and he moved as if walking on eggs. He wasn't too keen on men as he'd been mishandled by a cruel "trainer" before I got him but he loved my brother, tolerated my father and took to the man I eventually married immediately. I had him 23 years and no other horse could fill his hoof prints but some days I'd like to try. My problem is that at my age, I still don't mind falling off but I don't like the idea of that abrupt stop at the end. My 51 year old body just doesn't bounce like it did when I was 19.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), June 30, 2000.

I fell in love with a baby camel at a petting zoo a couple of years ago.

Alan.....come to Oklahoma when you are ready for mules. They are pretty popular here. They are used for just about everything. You can usually find some advertised for coon hunters. I know one guy who rides a mule to work cows. He's better than most cutting horses I've seen.(the mule, not the guy)

-- Mona (jascamp@ipa.net), July 01, 2000.

<< come to Oklahoma when you are ready for mules. They are pretty popular here. They are used for just about everything. You can usually find some advertised for coon hunters. I know one guy who rides a mule to work cows. He's better than most cutting horses I've seen.(the mule, not the guy) >>

Mules are all over! I've been riding them for years (altho my present trail partner is a gelded Mammoth jack). Mules are in every aspect of the equine world, and have even been accepted in the dressage federation. I personally wouldn't purchase a coon hunting mule unless I wanted to do some jumping! (And put up 7 foot fences!) There's plenty of saddle mules for sale, all sizes, all colors. I raised/sold them for quite a spell out of my Mammoth jack. If anyone wants a list of breeders around the country, let me know.

-- ~Rogo, South Central Texas (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 01, 2000.

Oh, let's see.....

I'd like a critter that gave milk and laid eggs, about 40 pounds, housebroken, good with kids, doesn't shed on a daily basis but can be shorn twice yearly with good fleece that would spin well, that could cuddle up beside me on the couch and purr, dress out well with good tasting, tender meat, live on table scraps and whatever else we were eating...... gee, if it wasn't for the egg bit and shedding, I think I want a goat!

Can I have a pair of whatever this mystical creature is?? I think I could make a killing selling these critters!!

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), July 01, 2000.

Lets see.... I'd like a critter that ate tree stumps and whose meat compared to ham!

-- Dave (AK) (daveh@ecosse.net), July 01, 2000.

I want a National Champion Nubian doe who always had doe kids, and always gave me daughters as nice as her! Vicki

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

Oh my I was fine til I read vicki's and that has been a dream of mine too. but then I need one of those big stock trailers with living quarters in the front like Chatauqua Farms had and a grand champion buck to go with the Nubian doe and a milk barn like Elder B.E.Sallee had in Tennessee. I guess I had better be happy with what I got and that's pretty modest, but so may people are trapped in the city and I get to live here! karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), July 01, 2000.

I'd like a nice Apendix who jumps quietly. AND then take the time to ride it. I thought a mule would be fun too. Riding a mule in jumping classes around here would be unusual.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), July 01, 2000.

A mule. I've always want a mule. (Also, not an animal but I always wanted a hundred thousand million dollars. I'd even settle for a little less.) Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), July 01, 2000.

-- I'd like a nice Apendix who jumps quietly. AND then take the time to ride it. I thought a mule would be fun too. --

Jeez, I don't know if I'd LIKE my 'appendix' jumping! Heehee! Been around livestock a long time, but I'd sure like to know more about this breed!!!

South Central Texas

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 02, 2000.

Apendex is half Quarter Horse and half Thoroughbred. The best look like a Thoroughbred but have the feet and personality of a Quarter Horse. I have no idea how they came up with calling it an Apendex.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), July 02, 2000.

I thought an "appendix" was a type of registration. In the belted galloway association, any cow that meets breeding guidelines, but not guidelines for markings can be appendix registered.

-- Mona (jascamp@ipa.net), July 02, 2000.

--I thought an "appendix" was a type of registration.--

It is! I wasn't going to say anything, but now I'll back you up! It is not a breed of horse.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), July 03, 2000.

Money is no object here, right? Okay, four Norwegian Fjord horses -- good, drafty ones. A dozen Milking Devons and a good bull. About thirty Icelandic ewes and a couple of rams. A couple of good livestock guardian dogs with the sheep, and a farm dog, probably an English Shepherd or a Border Collie cross. Probably fifty or a hundred laying hens, breed to be determined, to sell pastured-poultry fresh eggs. And a partridge in a pear tree!! :-) While we're at it, about a hundred acres of good farm land to put them all on, well fenced, with good water, and a nice big barn!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), July 03, 2000.

I'd like an animal that did the cleaning, housework, laundry, dishes, etc. so I had more time to take care of the other animals and the garden.

-- Marci (ajourend@libby.org), July 03, 2000.

Stuffed. No chores. No vet bills. No feed bills. No barns to clean. No fences to mend Yup, stuffed. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), July 03, 2000.

Marci,

You don't need an animal. You need a wife.

-- Laugh (just kidding@haha.com), July 04, 2000.

I think my biggest wish would be to have as many dogs as I wanted. We have two. I would like a large enough place to have a REALLY nice 'doggy daycare', boarding, training, grooming and rescue areas. All nice and well-built with lots of room for the dogs to play and run. I would also like to have some horses, just for fun riding for the kids. Also... lots of goats (probably Alpine or Saanan) also, with a nice pasture area, hilly with lots of scrub, a nice big barn for them. I have had goats before but live in a residential area and always felt guilty that they didn't have much room. I would like to have, in addition to the dog rescue, etc. A rescue for other animals and have children come in to help care for them and to tour the place and learn about the animals. I like having milk goats and chickens for eggs, but am not good about killing animals for food, I guess thats why the idea of rescues appeals to me. I am not a vegetarian nor do I oppose other people killing animals for food, I'm just a big wimp. (I will kill squirrels and rats and mice though!) Anyway, thats my dream. It would take a lot of money to care for the animals properly. I am a big fan of educatiog children as to where food actually comes from. I also think that having children caring for animals makes them responsible- the children not the animals!!

-- christine allen (cfallen00@e-amil.com), July 05, 2000.

Christine, Please think carefully before you get "all the dogs you want." Hubby and I are both dog crazy and currently have eight adult great danes and six puppies who all live in the house with us. LOL. My father once asked us if we have a limit to how many dogs we would own and I told him I'm sure we do but I just don't know what that number is yet!!!

Marci, you definitely need a wife. I have always said every good woman should have a wife. Luckily for me, I have one. Hubby stays at home and tends to the homestead and dogs while I work full time outside the home. This arrangement works really well for us because besides his being the better cook and has dinner ready for me when I get home, he does all the shopping and errands AND he does all the construction work that is necessary on a homestead. His latest project was to build our greenhouse and this fall he'll put in a fruit and nut orchard and set up the chicken coop.

We think this is the perfect arrangement. The only downside is that I am not there all the time to enjoy it. Eight more years and I can retire and then it will truly be heaven. For now I have to content myself with being the one responsible for the vegetable garden which I love to do anyway. I also do all of the canning and jam and pickle making.

Back to the original question. I would love to have miniature or toy Cheviot sheep. I think they are so pretty and they would keep our pastures mowed. (for now the neighbor's horses are keeping the grass down.) I would also love to have a guard llama for the sheep and about twenty laying hens. We plan to have the coop ready by this fall so when spring comes we will be able to get the chickens. The sheep will have to wait a little longer.

This thread was really fun to read and hear what everyone's dreams are.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), July 05, 2000.

All I want is a milk cow, a couple of goats, turkeys, quail, a couple more dogs, more cats more chickens and finches.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), July 05, 2000.

I just want one dog--preferably a Great Dane.

-- Betsy (sassyweitzel@yahoo.com), July 05, 2000.

If anyone still cares at this late date, Appendix Quarter Horses have Thoroughbred blood bred in. They are prohibited from full AQHA purebred registry because of this. Calling them just 'Appendix' is very common with horse people.

I would like a flock of Carolina Parakeets. I feel cheated that they are gone. Same thing for Passenger Pigeons.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), August 28, 2000.

Julie, years ago some friends got a lovely "Quarter Horse" mare really cheap -- when we were looking at her papers, almost all of her ancestors were famous thoroughbred race horses (no wonder she was so hot!).

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), August 28, 2000.

After the cows got loose in the barn and knocked over the feed barrels for the goats and rabbits and ducks and chickens and left pies all over the place I was thinking maybe trade them all in for a pet Rock. They look like a turtle but much slower so you don't have to chase them.

-- Sam (samord1@aol.com), August 28, 2000.

Boy, this is a late one, but I had to....

OK, do-able animals on my future wish list are Shetland sheep, Navajo- Churro sheep, exotic chicken breeds, guineas and peafowl (no, I don't mind the noise).

Now, my DREAM is to HAVE HORSES AGAIN (and money & time to go with them)!!! Waaaaah! Do I miss them! I well up with tears when I go to a horseshow; something about the equine. When I take "just for me" vacations, it's usually to a large horseshow (Scottsdale, Arab Nationals, SB Championships). My first love was an American Saddlebred... and I've had QH's, Apps, & Arabs over a 30 yr period, love 'em all... but alas, horseless now. My wish-horse would be one who's mind wasn't blown by the showring, one to use on the trail in the mountains.... to belong to Backcountry Horsemen again and actually DO some projects with my Saddler... or dressage... or both! If wishes were horses... I'd have a good'un! Then there's mules... I'd love a good saddle mule some day. Sigh. dh in nm

-- debra in nm (dhaden@nmtr.unm.edu), October 12, 2000.

I'm getting the first installment on my wish list! We have a farm collie pup coming in November! Next year will come some of the rest, hopefully -- so I guess I wasn't dreaming too high!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), October 13, 2000.

I know this may sound a bit crazy but... I havent seen or had any animal that I haven't liked. And I've had a great many! Who can look into anyones (animal, human or whatevers) eyes and not feel a bond with that "person"? But my very favorite is one that I have had for the past 16 plus years. My old dog Pepper. She has seen me through some really rough times when I litterally didn't know if I'd live to see another day or not. When no one else was there, Pep was and continues to be. I'm glad that now in her "golden years" things are a bit easier and much brighter for the both of us!

-- Barb (WILDETMR@YAHOO.COM), October 13, 2000.

Yeah, I know it's an old post but I had to get in on it.My fantasy animals?A good riding camel and a mob of kangaroos.Not the wimpy little wallabies but but the BIG western reds!I already have the emus.(Too many of the bloody buggers)

-- Greg (gsmith@tricountyi.net), February 02, 2001.

Well! Ole Greg answered so I guess it's ok if I do to. I want a long legged, ears standing up, smart, black and white Rat Terrier! My old one-well he wasnt old, just 3 when he died, was "gassed" by a natural gas pipeline rupture. He and his little nephew/son, Frankie both died immedieately. His name? --Jesse James! I sure do miss them both. Frankie belonged to LilDumplin and Jesse belonged to me. Will look for another one this summer. Matt.24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), February 02, 2001.