The last few days have been sunny and warmer than average.  Today we hit 60 degrees.  After such a long, cold, and snowy winter, all of the animals (including me) are happy to get a glimmer of warm hope.  Spring is coming and you can already see the hyacinth and daffodil stalks emerge from the [...]

I just came across this in the Dallas Morning News:  “Dallas pet happy to hog spotlight as world’s oldest pig.”
Yes, Oscar, as he is called, holds the Guinness World Record for his old age.  Oscar is 20 years old whereas normally potbellied pigs only live around 15.
Still, it wouldn’t surprise if there were other pigs [...]

I am often asked whether my animals like to play with toys.  The answer is that they all love to play, but there aren’t too many toys they enjoy.  Sheep, goats, alpacas, and chickens don’t have any formal toys.  Sometimes I hang some fruit from a string and the chickens seem to enjoy pecking at [...]

Brie is a good goat.  She is sweet and calm.  She isn’t pushy and respects the other animals in her herd, namely Kit, Kaboodle, and Eliza.  Brie wasn’t always like this.  When she was younger, she was the herd leader.  She bossed everyone around as if she were queen of Piscataway Acres.  She was a [...]

There aren’t many breeders of Icelandic Sheep around.  This surprises me because they are terrific animals.  Icelandic sheep are classified as triple purpose.  They produce milk, meat, and wool.  They also have fantastic personalities.  I have shared some of the fun experiences I have had with the two girls, Kit and Kaboodle, as well as [...]

I have mentioned before that my animals are spoiled.  Although I enjoy spoiling them, there is one major disadvantage to having spoiled animals (similar to having spoiled children), they constantly want more!  Even when they are full, they are begging for something.  More hay, better tasting hay, more grain pellets, more sweet feed, more oats, [...]

The new rooster has been given a name, Ezekiel.  It seems to suit him well.  He is no Jorge by any means; he crows a lot and loudly, he is mean to me and the pigs, and he has brought the hens under his dominance.  In my experience, when I introduce a new rooster, it [...]

Eliza is one of the two Nigerian Dwarf Goats at Piscataway Acres.  She was purchased from Hearts-N-Hooves dairy goat farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland when she was just over a month old.  She is a character and a handful.  Her favorite activities include jumping over fences, breaking into feed containers, knocking over feed [...]

A tagine is a Moroccan cooking dish that has a unique cone shaped lid that locks in moisture and flavor.  I have just started using this ceramic dish and have found that meats are much more tender and moist than cooking with traditional pots.  I have cooked several meals with this North African pot and [...]

Another day and another foot of snow.  My sentiments echo that of the animals; this is getting old.  But other than the limited mobility, I and the animals are doing very well.  I opened up the pens in the barn to give the animals a little more space to move around in.  I figure if [...]