The Old Folks Home

Those lambs sure are cute!!!
:love

So, you haven't been getting the horrid cold that we have had in Alaska?

It is nice to know that someone is having a more normal winter.
Heel low:

Hoping to see twins this year...at least eight dotty dot potentials. Just like the chicks, it would be unwise to count ... so I will try not to count chickens before eggs hatch! Tho all 21 of the natural hatched Wy's & Brahma's are growing out! :D

Higgins RAT Jacobs.jpg


With the Jacobs...in the lambs the variables are not only genders, but ratio of white to black (60% white to 40% coloured is SOP ideal), will there be any lilacs (anything coloured not black; so chocolate or grey is possible), number of horns (Regina was lambed here and she had six horns), facial and body markings (patching, hock & knees, hooves vary from solid black to black/white)...
Aug 9 2025 ewes and lambs IMGP4740.jpg


Never mind we're breeding for horn set & fleece improvements (all Jacobs but the two young boys are fleece tested).

wool Hall Creek Jacobs Laxus IMGP9180 Higgins RAT Ranch.jpg


Sire of the two ram lambs (Nebula & NOS) US Laxus, this is his 1st wool test and we tested him again with his second fleece I sheared. Merino fine with a comfort factor of 82.9%!

wool Higgins RAT Ranch fibre samples for testing 2024.jpg


I spin, knit, weave and crank socks on a circular sock machine...so I'm gonna want good wool from our flock.

0000.jpg


Lowest temp so far is only -25C which just makes the snow squeak! Then with the continued rise to melting, only a foot of snow left. Hate that...need more but Feb & March are usually when we get snow, has to warm up to snow here so that'd be great. :love

Jan 11 2026 IMGP8796.jpg


Horrid...needs to be about triple this amount by now? Oh well...white season is about midway, eh! I truly want a more "normal winter" for here...that entails 3 to 4 feet of white by January and not so much ice; footwear cleats go on and remain on.

Jan 11 2026 IMGP8789.jpg


And while I walk so much slower at forty below, we need that to kill any pine beetle infestations and knocks down any parasitic eggs that may have over wintered outside thus far. What we don't want is another mild winter; needs to crush the bug load so we have a healthy bunch of poultry & livestock during green season.

Hey good Morning baby lambs are to die for.
Wait a sec I see ya with a pup.
I realized I am to old to do this crap anymore.
Three may have homes.View attachment 4281517

Yippee!! Fluppies...breathe deeply their breath...it invigorates you and they grow up so very FAST! :ya

Higgins RAT Ranch Feb 17 2025 IMGP5238.jpg


Valentines Day 2025, we were given two Great Pyrenes Property guardians puppers...so with the two stock dog girls, we have just the right number of dougals for the place. Full on puppy patrol partners in both spectrums of the canines. :p

Jan 01 2026 IMGP8202.jpg


Ginger & Baker; our fearsome white lion dogs! They just love the winter weather here.

Jan 01 2026 IMGP8107.jpg


Jan 1st; spouse used our tractor to make the Boys a tiny snow mountain to play on. Even threw one of their many toys on the top so they could push and play; pretend it was a contest to see who owns the prize!!

Jan 11 2026 IMGP8808.jpg


Counted five buds on the one stalk & there's one MORE stalk on the grow. What a fun display.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
 
Heel low:

Hoping to see twins this year...at least eight dotty dot potentials. Just like the chicks, it would be unwise to count ... so I will try not to count chickens before eggs hatch! Tho all 21 of the natural hatched Wy's & Brahma's are growing out! :D

View attachment 4281634

With the Jacobs...in the lambs the variables are not only genders, but ratio of white to black (60% white to 40% coloured is SOP ideal), will there be any lilacs (anything coloured not black; so chocolate or grey is possible), number of horns (Regina was lambed here and she had six horns), facial and body markings (patching, hock & knees, hooves vary from solid black to black/white)...
View attachment 4281613

Never mind we're breeding for horn set & fleece improvements (all Jacobs but the two young boys are fleece tested).

View attachment 4281638

Sire of the two ram lambs (Nebula & NOS) US Laxus, this is his 1st wool test and we tested him again with his second fleece I sheared. Merino fine with a comfort factor of 82.9%!

View attachment 4281639

I spin, knit, weave and crank socks on a circular sock machine...so I'm gonna want good wool from our flock.

View attachment 4281642

Lowest temp so far is only -25C which just makes the snow squeak! Then with the continued rise to melting, only a foot of snow left. Hate that...need more but Feb & March are usually when we get snow, has to warm up to snow here so that'd be great. :love

View attachment 4281610

Horrid...needs to be about triple this amount by now? Oh well...white season is about midway, eh! I truly want a more "normal winter" for here...that entails 3 to 4 feet of white by January and not so much ice; footwear cleats go on and remain on.

View attachment 4281631

And while I walk so much slower at forty below, we need that to kill any pine beetle infestations and knocks down any parasitic eggs that may have over wintered outside thus far. What we don't want is another mild winter; needs to crush the bug load so we have a healthy bunch of poultry & livestock during green season.



Yippee!! Fluppies...breathe deeply their breath...it invigorates you and they grow up so very FAST! :ya

View attachment 4281624

Valentines Day 2025, we were given two Great Pyrenes Property guardians puppers...so with the two stock dog girls, we have just the right number of dougals for the place. Full on puppy patrol partners in both spectrums of the canines. :p

View attachment 4281619

Ginger & Baker; our fearsome white lion dogs! They just love the winter weather here.

View attachment 4281620

Jan 1st; spouse used our tractor to make the Boys a tiny snow mountain to play on. Even threw one of their many toys on the top so they could push and play; pretend it was a contest to see who owns the prize!!

View attachment 4281627

Counted five buds on the one stalk & there's one MORE stalk on the grow. What a fun display.

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
Beautiful amaryllis! ❤️
 
These days I mostly breed mutation Zebra finches, canaries and King Quail. I still have Double Bar finches, who are not breeding, Diamond doves - she lays eggs, but Dad is just plain too old - a good thing too as she is his daughter, and the Turquoisine parrot needs a mate.
In the past I have bred, Orange Breasted finches, African fires, Cubans, Double Bars of course, Painted finches, Bengos (Societies to those in the USA) Javas, Chestnuts, Goldfinches, Gouldians - think that's about it.
I bred Finches once..once. :)
I love, love Canaries.
Good afternoon Old Folks.
 
I bred Finches once..once. :)
I love, love Canaries.
Good afternoon Old Folks.
Hey Cynthia. We raised parakeets one year. Our landlord let us keep them in her storage shed during the summer. We had plans for heating it in the winter and everything was going great until landlord decided she didn't like them being in there. She did not have to care for or clean up after them she was just a B***y old woman. We moved shortly after that.
 
Hey Cynthia. We raised parakeets one year. Our landlord let us keep them in her storage shed during the summer. We had plans for heating it in the winter and everything was going great until landlord decided she didn't like them being in there. She did not have to care for or clean up after them she was just a B***y old woman. We moved shortly after that.
I had a parakeet in the 70's. Loved him. My first pet as a married woman..in an apt.
My daughter has them. She actually did get some babies to hatch. They sure are gabby little things. :)
 

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