Our Fur & Feather

Here are all our critters!

Andy

Eucalyptus

Both of these guys came from a rescue. We got Andy last summer after we lost my Green Cheeked Conure, Basil. I thought we would wait before we got another parrot but I realized our home just wasn't the same without their cheerful noise, play and mess-making. Cockatiels are pretty laid back and quiet birds. Very different from conures; who are very high energy, loud and playful.  We added Eucalyptus this spring, who has just stopped lunging at us. He has a long way to go before he will be as sweet as Andy. They both sing lovely songs, eat chop with gusto (usually) and enjoy almonds.

Paisley

This cat loves AJ and is only interested in me if he has been gone for a few days. I can't blame her though, I was involved in her capture as a kitten. She was a wild little farm kitten; it took a little while but she eventually embraced the life of  pampering, as you can see. Her favorite activities are eating, napping, cat toys and dreaming about being outside again.

blackie in a pizza box

Blacky and AJ taking their nap

This is my little love bug, hellion, maker of most messes, crinklier of blinds and race-track kitty. He has two modes, calm sweet love bug and run fast, crazy-eyed playing. Now, because of the heat we have discovered another mode: zombie kitty. Where he may or may not decide to attach himself to your ankle and lays prostrate on whatever cold surface he can find. This was one of those instances where the animal picks the person. As a kitten he would be playing and run to me, climb his way up, grab my face with his itty-bitty paws and love bite-kiss my chin.  It was the funniest most surprising thing I have ever had a cat do to me. He has grown out of the habit but he's still very persistent about giving affection.

Cal   pronounced "chaul"

This is our sweet protector girl. Back before AJ fell, we had quite a few animals. Goats, chickens, ducks, pigeons, rabbits, and a guinea hen. We were loosing chickens regularly to hawks, coyotes and the neighbor dog so we went looking for a livestock guardian that would work with our lifestyle. 
We found Cal in Bend Oregon. After a few talks with her owner, breed research and thought we decided to make the trip down to meet her. We stayed with AJ's brother and his wife; they also came with us to see her. It was memorable trip for all of us.The last leg of the journey ended up being a three hour one way 40 mph-with-chains adventure over a snowy pass. They had originally bought her from Turkey, gone through the hassle of importing her, only to find out her hips were just bad enough that she shouldn't be used for breeding. They had kept her as a pet for six years but when she started picking on one of their old dogs they went looking for a home for her. She came home with us then and we never lost another animal to wildlife or the dogs of inconsiderate people there again.
 She is good at that job but her true calling in life is loving people. From what I have read about Anatolians that is an atypical personality trait. She is still territorial around new people and even had had a few she doesn't like but for the most part she is head of the meet-and-great committee. Cal especially loves children, which is great considering she is a hundred plus pounds.  
She has her issues though. Cal is food aggressive with other animals and passionately hates cats. She is sort-of safe with ours, if Blackie would stop playing chicken with her she would probably be completely trust worthy with them. Cats she doesn't know on the other hand, you would think they were lions by the way she reacts. We have battled hot spots and ear infections from the day we brought her home. Whatever we did, they always come back. About two months ago we noticed she was having trouble holding her pee like normal. We figured out it was most likely because of weak bladder muscles and put her on a phytoestrogen supplement. So far it has made a huge different, she is happier, more active and holds her water like never before. An unanticipated side affect, her hot spots and ears are clearing up! They aren't normal yet but this is the closest they have been so far.  In spite of her issues, having her has completely sold me on Anatolians, they are awesome dogs.

Trying to photograph rabbits without posing them pretty much ends up this way; blurry shots of up close heads and running away behinds.















At the moment we have rabbits mainly for meat; we do sell them if you are interested. We have a meat buck, french lop doe, a castor rex buck, and we want to get a really nice castor doe for breeding. I love the rex breed. Not only do they have amazing fur but they make good meat rabbits, have sweet personalities and I think are smarter then your run of the mill rabbit.

Santiam, castor rex buck

Behemoth, french lop

grey boy, new zealand/checkered giant/god knows what mix

Black rex doe