How many/types of animals do you have?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Freedom! self reliance : One Thread

I'm just feeling nosy. How many animals do you all have? I have 5 cats, indoor/outdoor, and 3 awesome dogs. 2 are pitbull mixes, the 3rd is a collie mix. All are rescues, and I love them dearly. I plan on getting laying hens this spring, maybe a dozen (?) or so. I'm not sure about any other farm animals. We don't eat meat, so whatever we end up with would be big pets with big appetites. If you have livestock just as pets, I'm really interested as to why, and the cost of keeping them.

-- Cathy in NY (hrnofplnty@yahoo.com), August 30, 2001

Answers

Hey Cathy,

I don't think you're nosy I love talking about my animals. Inside the house- 4 dogs, a beagle-Champy, a retriever/lab cross-Digger Dan, a chocolate lab/husky cross-Jack, and a rottie/lab/something the Vet couldn't identify cross-Seamus. Seamus weighs 110 lbs and thinks he's a lap dog. 3 cats, 2 black and white brothers-Satchmo, and Oreo, and a small grey female tabby-Kelly. All are rescues/pound puppies- kitties except the beagle. There's also the hamsters-Loretta, and Henry (my youngest daughter is a MASH fan.) Loretta is one bad hamster, and she's an escape artist, Henry is sweet and loveable.

In the barn: 3 horses-Star the 21 year old barrel horse that has been a pasture ornament this year because of COPD, Emer the 8 year old Thoroughbred broodmare want to be, and My Pooh Bear 16 year old Quarter Horse, Kady's show horse. The Naughty Nubians-Fiona and Keira (I think Keira is part Boer but I'm not sure) The goats are pets. We tried milking Fiona once (I thought she had mastitis) Milking Fiona should be a rodeo event it took me, my hubby, and my youngest daughter to fill a mason jar a quarter full. The injuries included: a scraped forearm (hubby), a bumped heads (me and Kady), and a sprained finger (me) she didn't have mastitis and we never milked her again. I am having her bred again this fall to a pypmy buck. We like the goats and I love having babies around-but they are pets. They don't cost much to feed- a 50 lb bag of Blue Seal Caprine Challenger is $6.00 and lasts about 2 1/2 months and they eat a bale or so a week-they'd eat much more if they were milking tho. Dewormer and shots are about $25.00 a year. We have 44 chickens too but 12 are going to the livestock sale in early October. I have 24 3 month old Rhode Island Red pullets and 1 rooster, and 6 Polish year old hens and 1 Polish rooster. The older hens are quite old 5 + years and are costing me more to feed than I get in eggs that's way I bought the pullets.

That's it unless you count 2 teenagers (grin)

Stacy in NY - I ALWAYS have time to talk about my animals.

-- Stacy Rohan (KincoraFarm@aol.com), August 30, 2001.


I have the problem of ffalling in love with the livestock so that I would actually consider most of them to be pets...but pets with jobs!

Three dogs, 2 Border Collies (one rescue, 1 on purpose) a collie/ greyhound/shepard something, she's a Swirly brand, (????) side of the road dog. 5 cats all dumped, except for one. My favorite is missing right now though, I hope he comes back :(... 20 chickens, 5 have names. 21 rabbits, all but eight need to be somewhere else! 37 guineas. 11 goats, but three are going to a new home Monday. Whew. I don't know how much it costs. I'm afraid to figure that out!

Chickens are the best bang for the buck, goats are just great and good producers as well, guineas are indispenible and really don't cost much to feed as they mainly eat bugs of which there is no shortage, the cats keep the barn clean of mice and I love them, the dogs serve a number of purposes. Mostly they make me smile ALOT. It costs a fifty pound bag of food every two and 1/2 weeks at 17.95 plus a few eggs and some leche for them. They are worth every cent!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), August 30, 2001.


Too many. Some are for sale, but here's the list:

23 Nubian goats (19 does, 4 bucks)

5 Boer goats (3 boer/nubian cross does, 1 boer/nubian cross buck, 1 purebred buck)

2 pigs

2 jersey calves

Dozen? chickens

4 dogs (2 Great Pyrenees, 1 white shepherd, 1 mix)

5 cats

7 colonies of Bees-(yes, insects are part of the animal kingdom)

-- Skip in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), August 30, 2001.


Ouch, you would have to ask. Picture Noah's Ark. (Although we have lost/sold a few lately, so numbers are down somewhat.) Two dogs (Border Collie/Lab & Scottie/Schnauzer), 12 cats, one finch (just sold my last cockatiel), 2 dwarf hamsters (and recently lost my hedgehog), 9 Muscovy ducks (just sold about 40!), somewhere around 40-50 chickens - they free range so it's hard to keep count, 6 Shetland sheep (recently sold about a dozen), 16 Nubian dairy goats, 1 pet rabbit, 20 pigeons, and we're back up to around 60 horses, I think. (Tarpans and Kiger Mustangs) We have 2 Great Pyrenees puppies on order, should get them this winter sometime.

I have no clue what it costs to keep them all, would probably have a heart attack if I ever added it all up. I know our hay bill runs around $20,000 or so per year. We don't grain many horses, only an old one or two, & occasionally a nursing mare. The goats eat the most grain. We get the big bales of alfalfa from a local doctor who has a ranch, it is more economical for us and easier to handle (We use the tractor to load/unload.) Hay is going up this year, we are lucky as this doctor considers us one of his best customers and just gave us a deal on 150 ton at $90 per ton. (Usually pay $100-$110 per ton.) Most hay around here right now, even grass, is going for around $125 a ton. Then we have worming and vacc. costs, worming runs about $500 each time (for horses) and we try to worm 5 times per year. Don't remember about the vacc. costs. We try to do nearly all our own vet work, and I keep a good supply of medications on hand. Vet bills can run from 0 to $300 per month, depending on what kind of luck we're having at the moment. Goats require more vet care than the horses. We do all our own farrier work and hire no farm help whatsoever. Fencing is an ongoing project, next year we are due to replace all the fencing, I'm tired of repairing. We do keep all dogs and cats spayed/neutered, even all the strays that get dumped on us, and they all get shots and worming. Again, I do most vet care on the pets myself.

Guess that about covers it.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), August 30, 2001.


Three dogs - 1 little mix that we got at the pound 11 years ago, an Australian shepherd and a great pyrenees that is expecting next month. Two pet pigs ( yeah I know!) One cat that's about 10 years old. Three goats, two ducks that we just bought at 4-H livestock auction and 20 meat chickens that had better be in the freezer this weekend. Cost? I'm afraid to ask.

-- Kathy (jubilant@ncweb.com), August 30, 2001.


$20,000 a year for hay?????? Egad! We have four dogs; Max, a Black Lab, Molly, a 12 year old who knows?.....Sophie, a 110pound Kuvasz who thinks she is a poodle, and Gretta, a 100 pound Black German Sheperd...all from highways and byways and pounds...two cats, Homer & Virgil...Virgil was from the pound..Homer came up on our porch one day and stayed...7 hens..used to have 8, but one died from the heat...we just have them to munch bugs in the yard, so they are 100% free-ranging during the day and get locked up safely in their coop at dusk. We are thinking about getting a few goats as brush mowers and pets, but since I have been reading about them, they seem to require more care than we can give at this time, so I don't know if we will get any this year. There are just the two of us, so cows and pigs really aren't needed. I think we will probably just stick with chickens, adding a dozen more in the Spring (lots of bugs here)..

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), August 30, 2001.

We toted three favorite Nubian does up from Texas with us, and have added two does and two young bucks...Gave away a multitude of poultry before the move, and started over with chicks as soon as we got here..Fox got all but 5 of that first group of chickens, so we started over again again, and now have 13 more chicks, plus two little ducklings, and 2 drakes from the first batch of chicks..One parakeet and one lizard;) in the house....The goats I consider really useful livestock/pets, since they supply the family milk, and are tame and friendly...We also do most of our own vetting, unless it's just something I don't know how to handle, like that deep slash Milly got a few weeks ago that needed stitching. As much milk as we use, the goats about pay for themselves in that. The chickens will be really useful when they start laying, and the ducks are just for fun.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), August 30, 2001.

Lenette, you are worse off than I am, at least on hay. We have 31 dogs, 6 grown cats, 3 kittens, 2 parakeets, 3 turkeys 6 ducks, 2 guienas, around 100 chickens of varying ages and types, 13 rabbits, 2 geese, and 7 horses. Seems like I left out a few, but can't think what it would be. Oh, and since my cousin who lived down the road was put in the nursing home, his chickens come up for dinner too. If it weren't for livestock and car insurance, we might have something. LOL

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), August 30, 2001.

Greetings Cathy in NY,

Do some people think you're nuts for having so many animals? Some of our friends & family just shake their heads and ask why. I look at them with their brand name clothing, high pressure careers, and disrespectful children and shake my head. We have 12 goats at the moment but this might increase next week (got a desperate phone call last night). We have 2 dogs, both rescues and 2 house cats. 4 barn cats ( some came with the place when we moved 7 years ago). My killer barn cat, Rusty, brought home his second weasel last week. So proud!! We also have a few ducks and about 30 laying hens. Our meat birds went in the freezer last month. I sell eggs and also sell goat milk for pet use only . Yeah, I guess they're all pets, I don't want to get rid of any of them, yet there are times I call them by not-so-nice names. Our garden produce is either frozen or canned and gets us through the winter months quite well. We mostly sell the ornamental produce like pumpkins, indian corn, gourds & corn stalks. We make enough money on those things to pay for all of the next years seeds & transplants. It's hard to put a price on our labor though. Thanks for this post, maybe it's time to rethink our homesteading objectives.

-- Charleen in WNY (harperhill@eznet.net), August 30, 2001.


wow, after reading about all these critters, I feel like I am sorely lacking,* sniffle, sniffle *. We are down to 4 inside cats: Stormie, a tabby long-hair 5 month old adoptee; Taylor (aka Big Boy) a black and white 15 pounder 2 y.o. shorthair; his delicate sister Jordan, a 5 pound white calico; and Ashley, the Matriarch, a 14 y.o. Silver Chinchilla Persian who is sitting beside me waiting for a head- scratch. Also have Pepper, a year old tiny black dwarf bunny and Tobey a 5 year old black calico guinea pig (both inside in cages). Outside have three dogs: Boo, 8 y.o. black lab who came with the place: Amy, an 11 y.o. 100 lb. mix; and Bwaylah, a white hound who showed up here two years ago so skinny I could put my fingers between her ribs. Now she keeps all the skunks, o'possums and coyotes away. Up until last Spring we had 16 chickens (Buff Orpingtons, and 3 crosses and 1 aracauna) and 6 ducks but they went to a friends house when the place went on the market. We caretake and have to be limited on critters. But once we get our own homestead I want sheep (for wool) a Jersey (for milk) chickens (for eggs) and goats (for brush control, milk and fun). Not to mention ducks, guineas, turkeys, bobwhites, quail and other assorted fowl. Oh and a mule. Always wanted a Longhorn steer to be named Bubba and be our 'watchdog', we'll see about that. Hey, I can dream, right?

-- yancee in texas (rnanning@comwerx.net), August 30, 2001.


Oh my goodness, what fun reading this has been!! I know that any critters I get (once we move to the country) will be for keeps. I had to give away 3 dwarf bunnies a few years ago, and I'll never get over how sad I felt. I love animals, probably too much, and Kevin is the same. I am afraid that we'll end up working outside the home more than we really want, just to afford food for our buddies. Now that I've read your answers, I can probably count on it! Gail keeps writing about the monthly small animal swap he goes to, I can't wait! I doubt I'll find the strength to say no when I look into a pair of gorgeous baby-eyes, regardless of the species! This has been so much fun! Keep'em coming!

-- Cathy in NY (hrnofplnty@yahoo.com), August 30, 2001.

Hmm, lets see. Well, first let me say what we want are cattle and a few horses. What we can afford is poultry!! LOL! Thus, the following. Ducks 35-40. Chickens (including some banties & silkies) 140, give or take 10 (or 20.... Guineas 18. Cornish Cross are no longer living, about 40 in the freezer. Plus a freezer full of roosters, older hens and some ducks. Soon (Sept 15) most of the above mentioned ducks, chickens, ect... will be sold at the Poultry Auction...weeeee-can't wait!!

3 Hogs - one on it's way to slaughter, the other 2 are a couple months off.

1 Dog

2 Barn cats, AWESOME mice & critter catchers!!

2 adult rabbits and 2 babies

Seems like I am missing something, but can't think what it might be! Anyway, compared to you guys we ain't doin' too bad....he-he, I'll keep that in mind when I am watering for the thousanth time-it COULD be worse!

-- Wendy@GraceAcres (wjl7@hotmail.com), August 30, 2001.


I should mention that the horses are not "pets", although they are treated like pets and we love them dearly. We get some good prices out of most of them, and we sell them unbroke, sometimes not even halterbroke. We had a decent sized herd of Tarpans, then got into the Kiger Mustangs. THEN, a friend who had the main herd of Tarpans passed away, and we bought the entire herd rather than let any of them go to someone who didn't know what they were or appreciate them.

We have been carefully breeding and adding to the herd (Tarpans) for years, occasionally selling off only a few geldings, we've not yet sold any mares or stallions. Next year dh retires, so we hope to get organized to start selling breeding stock. We have been selling Kigers all along, and will soon sell off all of them except for one favorite mare. We hope within the next year or two to be down to 15-20 horses. There is a method to our madness although it may not appear that way. BTW, we are NOT rich, nor even close to it. My homesteading skills enable us to live on a very limited income (after spending the rest on our horse project) until we can get a regular income from our horses. I can scrape, scrimp and scrounge with the best of you. :)

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), August 31, 2001.


I have 6 sheep (1 purebred Suffolk ram, 1 pure bred Cheviot ewe, 2 Jacob cross ewe lambs, 1 Suffolk/Cheviot ram lamb for the freezer, and a mystery cross ewe). Just finished cleaning 14 of 19 meat chickens...only 5 to go when I get over this pneumonia. 7 turkeys for October cleaning 2 pigs for November butchering 1 black hen 3 guineas that the black hen hatched out 3 cats (Miss Kitty, Freckles, and the newest and naughtiest addition Flash...all girls) 1 dog Blossom...mutt from the shelter that we adore. In the plans....a flock of Chantecler chickens if all goes well, for a homestead all purpose flock. Hopefully there will be lambs come spring. :o) I am quite taken with Teri's(a Countrysider) goats and want one for brush control. Thats it for now. I only have 4.7 acres or I'd be thinking about a cow and more sheep.

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), August 31, 2001.

Let's see, I have 1 kindergoat doe and one saanen doe for milk, one barbados ewe for lamb, 1 golden retroodle and 1 whippet for fun, 1 toothless, nasty old cat who loves me (and only me) dearly, 1 white- bellied caique (a small, very opinionated parrot), 1 red-rumped parakeet, 1 budgie, 1 hamster, 7 chickens (but one leaves on Sunday), and 2 beehives. And a partridge in a pear tree. (Not really.) The dogs and the cat are elderly and require special food, so their care costs are just that labor of love thing. The sheep and goats pay for themselves in the money we save from not having to buy meat, milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. If you lop 2 zeros off the cost of Lennette's hay, you get the annual cost of mine, and I feed second cut grass/clover mix! Oh, I forgot the rabbit. The bees more then pay for themselves since, beyond honey, they pollinate (I had lousy pollination in the garden pre-bee...healthy zucchini plants with no zucchini!).My son wants a rat, but other than that we all seem happy with what's here. (He has to wait until he's a little older.)

-- Sheryl in ME (radams@sacoriver.net), August 31, 2001.


Have a jersey milk cow, 46 pullets about to lay, unnumbered barn cats, of which about 8 are tame. We have added to our number of animals our first dog, a shi-tzu - pekingese mix. He is actually in this HOUSE! (Never thought I would have a house-DOG.) Name's Fufu. Is sweet and totally spoiled. Weighs about 10 lbs. Totally useless except for the hole he fills in 8-yr-old daughter's heart. I guess that is the highest purpose an animal could have.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), September 01, 2001.

Farm animals? Well, let us see---there is one old cat. That would be "calvin" the fixed female cat belongin to Lil dumplin. Numerous deer, groundhogs, birds, snakes------! I don't guess we can count all those critters tho. Just ole Calvin is about all we can claim. old hoot gibson. Matt.24:44

-- old hoot gibson (hoot@pcinetwork.com), September 01, 2001.

I've never actually figured out what it costs to feed the "pet" animals--dogs, cats, horses, goats, and hamsters (really the chickens are the only animals that pull their own weight) I'm afraid if I do dear hubby will get wind of it (grin) The animals are the reason I get out of bed in the morning and I figure that they have to be cheaper than therapy!

I've made decent money on the horses I've sold, trained, and the lessons I've gave over time but the real advantage is that I spend lots of quality time with my youngest daughter and that's priceless.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy Rohan (KincoraFarm@aol.com), September 02, 2001.


sigh......make that 6 cats......just came home with a scraggly, snot- nosed, eyes gunked shut, worse case of fleas I've ever seen, appr. 6 weeks old kitten. Thank you, God.

-- Cathy in NY (hrnofplnty@yahoo.com), September 02, 2001.

6 cats!!! That reminds me of this great older man that was in the vets when I was there one day. He had a young dog with him and the vet said "Another dog, Dave!?! What's that make now 6 or 7?" and Dave smiled and replied "The good Lord saw fit to bless me with another dog, I reckon He will bless me with what it takes to care for him." That guy really made me smile. Congrats, Cathy!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), September 02, 2001.

I am such a sap when it comes to animals. Always have been, always will, I guess. Our 3 sons have moved away now and it's just my husband and me here now. But we do still have our "fur children" with us. 14 cats, half of which just showed up at our doorstep over time. The country seems to be a dumping ground for people's pets that the don't want anymore. 5 dogs, (they stay inside). Sam, a Lab, smartest dog I ever owned. Heidi, a geriatic 10 year old Mini Schnauzer, Coco-Nut, a Mini Poodle, crazy dog that thinks all the cats are her children, Abby, a Rotty-Dobbie mix that someone dumped here as a puppy. Jenny, some kind a hunting hound, she just showed up on our doorstep one day this past spring. Guess the word is out, Go to our house. Also have 6 layer hens and a very gentle rooster. Love it when he crows. Next are the geese. 2 Embedens (Frick and Frack), and 2 Brown Africans (Gracie Allen and George Burns). Love the geese, they are better than a barrow of monkeys to watch. Last but not least, a lizard that we house outside in a cage in the summer months. I stay home now, no working outside the home for me with all these critters to tend to. I'm afraid to add up the food bills for all these animals. My sister came down to visit us this past spring and said we were trying to kill her while she was here. The geese chased her, the dogs slobbered all over her, the cats made her trip and almost fall as they were weaving in and out of her legs, the rooster's crowing kept her up all night, and she was afraid the lizard would escape out of his cage and bite her. Guess she really isn't a "pet person".

-- Carol from Dixe (plantlady51@webtv.net), September 04, 2001.

I feel woefully inadequate in the animal department. All we have are two cats, 12 chickens and one giant goldfish who lives in the rain barrel. Would love to get a couple pygmy goats just to mow the grass but DH says no just now.

Love reading all the different things others have, though.

Wishing you enough.

-- Trevilians (aka Dianne in Mass) (Trevilians@mediaone.net), September 04, 2001.


Hey you all got us beat!!! We have Oberhasli dairy goats that we milk (10)6 californian rabbits,20 or so silver king pigeons,about 100 misc laying chickens ,15 muscovys,4 turkeys,8 geese,& 1 australian sheperd & one german sheperd--- BUT We need to find some pure stock of Chantecler chickes,any info would be great! Mark & Linda in Haines Alaska

-- Mark Stadler (mstadler@wytbear.com), May 12, 2002.

We have 3 cats, Simba {a tabby}, Pepper {a stray cat that was probably dropped off at our house when she was only about 2 or 3 weeks old}, and Callie. I'm not sure what kind of cat callie is, but she is black and white. 2 hampsters, Cookie and spot {they're both really fat}. 15 chickens Cocky {he's a rooster}, Coal {she is a black hen}, One-Eye {we call her One-Eye because when put her in a inclosed pen somehow a racoon got in there ate he 3 baby chicks and tore off half of her face. It is mostly cleared up by now beacause now it just looks like her eye is closed. Before it was all black and swollen {we thought she would just die} the other chickens we have are still babies. {they hached this past Friday the 21. They're so adorable!} We also have 2 tarantulas Avril and Spiderwoman. {they're both rosehairs} 2 gerbils Sandy and {we haven't nammed the other one yet beacause my mom is letting her class name it}. 1 bird Crisco {she's an albino cockatiel} 4 hermit crabs Swirl and Hermen {we haven't nammed the other two yet my mom is letting her class do that} 5 goats Clyde {he's a billy goat}, Billy {he is also a billy goat}, Carrot {she is the mom of the two goats I'm about to name and Billy is the dad}, Annie and Cocoa. Te three female goats are pregnant so if anybody has suggestions on names please e-mail me. Also we are about to get another baby pygmy goat in the middle of April or May I can't remember.Ihave these animals because I just love animals. For all of these animals to be fed it's only about $100 or $200 a year because when my dad goes hunting in Alabama he gets corn from his friend's big bin full of corn.

-- Betsy Jones (Yuna784@mindless.com), February 23, 2003.

three cats not by choice ,though, 3 breeds of dogs, rat terrier, fox terrier, and great pyrenees total of about 30dogs puppies for sale most of time, 100 plus goats, reg shorthorn cattle and some black cows, indian runner and muscovey ducks, 7 breeds of chickens, 6 donkeys and who knows what i might buy today, love the farm (most of time)

-- mark in Tennessee (marksv24@hotmail.com), March 23, 2003.

three cats not by choice ,though, 3 breeds of dogs, rat terrier, fox terrier, and great pyrenees total of about 30dogs puppies for sale most of time, 100 plus goats, reg shorthorn cattle and some black cows, indian runner and muscovey ducks, 7 breeds of chickens, 6 donkeys and who knows what i might buy today, love the farm (most of time) feed feed feed

-- mark in Tennessee (marksv247@hotmail.com), March 23, 2003.

Lets see, I have three dogs, a pyranees mix male named Scooter, A F. Pyranees, Daisy. Two cats, Sassie age 4 and her son Baxter age 1, Both are inside and spoiled rotten. They both sleep with us and sometimes Sassie sleeps on top of us. And our newest adition is Penny a 3 mo old Rat Terrier who stays in the house.

Then there is our three horses, Socks a 12yr old paint, we've had since he was 16mo. old. Cherokee who is about 19. He was a rescue that was headed to the slaughter house because of problems due to abuse. I've had him for about 11 years now. We are best buds. Were getting ready to go on our annual 75 + mile trail ride in July, Then there is Bandit our minature Stallion. He's about 11 years old and we've had him since he was 1. All three moved with us from Georgia back to OK about 10 years ago. I had to sell three horses and still miss two of them.

There is Susie the pot bellied pig that doesn't know she is a pig. She lived in the house and slept in our waterbed with us, in the middle for two years till I went back to work and she had to move outside. I have about 18 Pygmy goats. I've been raising them for close to 15 years now. I have three that also made the move from Georgia with us. Some about 6 are babies that will be sold soon and have two more does expecting. Have about a dozen chickens including our rooster named Romeo who is at least 8 years old and has spurs about two inches long. Three hens are sitting on eggs that should hatch in about a week. I also have been keeping my 7 month old grandson while his parents work since he was 5 weeks old. He also spends a night or two a week so mom and dad can get stuff done. He already love the animals. As for feed I don't even want to know and would probably have heart failure if I knew.

-- Beth in OK (spottedhorse74048@yahoo.com), May 19, 2003.


13 am

-- Jcrm (jonathancutler123@hotmail.com), June 04, 2003.

hi ok this has nothing to do rreally ith the subject ok u as saying about like pigs and stuff. ell u seem like a very nice person and aniaml lover i as was wondering ok www.9sites has tons of pigs for adoption i was just telling u in case u was wanting to adopt any pot bellie pigs there is no adoption fee and they deliver the pig to u. so i just thought i ould tell u sorry to bother u ....

-- Katie Webb (kkcutiepie20098@aol.com), July 23, 2003.

Not as many as some. But we have one old - 14 yr old - fat - 25lb lazy cat. One rescue Jack who is 13 yrs old now. One rescue Pot Bellie Pig - whom is my baby. She is 2 1/2 now. We rescued her at 3 weeks old and one 34 yr old rescue Belguim Draft horse whom we rescued from the circus several years ago. I hope to have more in the furture once we move to a farm.

-- Vicky of Short Pump (VAPLMP@aol.com), November 30, 2003.

My list isn't as impressive as some but this is our household -- let's start with the dogs, 3 of them all brothers, Mellow who's not so mellow, Griz who's as big as a bear (both 3yrs. this Dec)and Zack, he's the nitetime house dog (he's 2 & 1/2 )the other two are outside all the time, all great watchdogs, then there's 2 cats, Skeeter age ? he's probably 10, had him since he was born, mama passed shortly after birth, Shadow, still a kitty, got her last week, she's the yard cat, had 5 chickens, lost two this past summer, got one chick to add back to the flock so now we're back up to 4, plan on getting more (for the eggs),1 rooster, husband was told it was a hen at the feed store -- guess what NOT! anyway he's pretty, and last but not the least by all means -- 12 birds, 3 Chaco Bule front Amazonzs, Lady and Tramp (our breeders), and baby Sassy, trying to sell the baby, 4 paretletts, Peety n Molly, Bucky n Becky, both sets are breeders, 2 Quaker parrots, Dixie n Dan (breeders) 1 Sun Conuer - Fendy, its a pet, 1 Red Masked Conuer - Fred, also a pet and 1 Yellow Fronted Amazon-- Stormy, still another pet. We're lookin to get more birds as my husband wants to start a small bird breeding business (guess we're already on the way to that) and I would like a cow for beef, and maybe soom ducks, also looking into getting a few bee hives, we've got 5 acres so I think we've got the room, as for the feed bill, we'll we buy dog food by the 55 lb. bag, chicken feed by the 20 lb. bags (pellet n scracth), cat food by the 18 lb. bags n bird food by the 10 to 20 lb. bags and a bail of hay once every two or three months, (for the chicken coop). The cost out weighs the pleasrue and companionship we get from all our animals. Each has it's own personality and its fun to watch them interact, the dogs, cat, n chickens are a trip to watch when they are all out in the yard together, n the birds (all in the house) along with the older cat Skeeter, can make the place sound like a jungle at times when they all get goin.

-- Sandy in Bithlo, FL (ShadowStarN@netscape.net), December 11, 2003.

I need to have my husband read some of YOUR responses LOL He thinks I am nuts. We have 3 dogs,a brittany mix named Sasha who was a rescue,a husky mix named Nikki who was a rescue,and then a 9 mo old black lab Cricket that we were insane enough to go adopt on purpose last summer...3 indoor cats,Cali,Pussy Kitty,and Bubba (Bubba has a seizure disorder and takes phenobarbital twice a day to control them)...4 outdoor cats named Baby,Morgan,Smokey,and Fluffy...I am wondering if Baby is pregnant or just fat...I refuse to count the black and white male outside as "ours" although it seems to hang around and mostly sit on our porch the past couple of weeks,and I don't know where it came from...LOL...and then I have a 29 gallon aquarium of fish, which continues to add more with baby guppies being born all the time. My hubby really isn't a pet lover,so it's quite a trip for him living with 2 indoor dogs and 3 indoor cats...wasn't so bad until we got Cricket, he's hyper and keeps the cats stirred up, jumping onto things they shouldn't (table,counter) to get away from him...haha

-- Lisa French (funnyfarm1995@hotmail.com), March 02, 2004.

WOW! I THOUGHT I WAS THE "ANIMAL CRAZY PERSON OF THE CENTURY" WITH ALL THE CRITTERS I HAVE. 2 CATS (MURPHY AND SPITZ), 2 DOGS (MUKWA AND REBEL), 3 HORSES (JC, JERICHO AND TEDDY-BEAR), 1 MINIATURE HORSE (NEFERTIDI), 1 MINIATURE DONKEY (ANGIE), A COUPLE OF GEESE, A FEW DUCKS, PHEASANTS, DOVES, CHICKENS, 4 PET RABBITS (GO-FUR, TWEEZER, DAISIE AND Q-TIP), 1 POT BELLIED PIG (LOTUS), 2 LOVE BIRDS (ROSETTA AND JACKIMO), 2 GOATS (OREO AND BUCKY), A TANK FULL OF FISH AND FINALLY 1 COCKATIEL (MARLEY). I HAD TO GO AND GET A FULL TIME JOB TO SUPPORT MY FAMILY. I LOVE AND ENJOY ALL.

-- LYNDA L. (MUKWA_63@YAHOO.COM), March 12, 2004.

hi im rylee i have 4 dogs 2 birds 1 hamster 3 cats alot of fish 8 lizards(i want a snake and a rabbit but i cant have one)tats it i wish i hade more i used to have 40 animals

-- jkl;fid ioaudfskdf dlfjksfkdfj (rylee_breneman@yahoo.com), April 18, 2004.

Hi i live on long island NY.... i have 3 goats.... 2 males and 1 female. the males are fixed. they are all yearlings... there father is half pygmy, and there mother is half nubian and half alpine, and a little bit la mancha. so there a little bit of evrything... i also have 2 sheep. 1 black one and 1 whit one. also a yr. old. and i have 1 black lab, who is goinbg on 9 yrs old... shes slowing down alot, and shes just not acting herself latley... :( her kidneys are failing, and she drinks ALOT of water.... but the doc said shes not in pain...so we take it day by day... cliff from LI, NY

-- Cliff (seakid88@yahoo.com), April 23, 2004.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ