at the BUCK 'n RUN RANCH
Louis, the sweetest of our four emus, has an injury. I noticed it a few days ago. It is a large hematoma and feather loss on his back. He seems to be acting perfectly normal despite his injury. Well, as perfectly normal as an emu is capable of acting. I am just watching him closely [...]
Yesterday was a busy day. It started out with a visit by our farrier Michelle. She was here to work on Jack and Diana’s feet. She brought along an equine dentist who also examined the donkey’s teeth. I don’t have any pictures of him because, to be honest, he came unglued about having his picture [...]
The animals were busy enjoying an afternoon treat of hen scratch. It was barnyard bliss, all creatures great and small enjoying the sunny day. Then Stuart spotted it. All shiny and orange, it was irresistible. He had to have it and Louis had to help. The emus are obsessed with power tools, especially Black and [...]
Today was the day we would pick up our pigs. I bought a pair of baby American Guinea Hogs, a critically endangered breed of pig. We are always excited at the Buck ‘n Run to get animals on the endangered list. It is fun and rewarding to help the cause of saving them. The guinea [...]
There are certain jobs around the ranch that are best done solo. Unfortunately, there are few chores around the ranch that can be done solo. I just finished cleaning the goat shed and Icelandic coop with the help of 23 chickens, 2 goats, and 2 emus, one of which was sprayed by a skunk three [...]
In case you didn’t hear, today is National Chocolate Cake Day! Wow. I’m in. A cursory look at my pantry told me I was seriously lacking in the ingredients to make a chocolate cake. The New York Times ran this recipe for National Chocolate Cake Day so I decided to make it. I was moving [...]
We had what the news reporters refer to as a “hard freeze” last night with temperatures dipping into the mid twenties and staying there until 9:00 a.m. I was dreading going out to feed and release the animals from their various compounds around the ranch. I hate being cold. The news weatherman had me shivering [...]
Let me start out by saying I am a sap when it comes to animals. If I am hungry, I assume they are hungry. If I am bored, I assume they are bored. If I am cold, I assume they are cold. Don’t even get me started about them having fur or feather coats. I [...]
Neighbor Nikki called a couple of days ago. Her Percheron draft horse, Buck, was not paying attention while working with her in their round pen. Could she bring him up to our house and use our round pen? Are you kidding me? “Yes, that would be awesome!” I rushed out to tell Jack and Diana, who [...]
I looked out my office window today and saw this: And this: This is the donkey equivalent of the Robert DeNiro to Ben Stiller eye pointing from the movie Meet the Fockers. It is intended to tell an intruder “I am watching you.” I decided to see what was going on and saw [...]
