The Animals of Happiness Hill

We have many animals on our farm and are always expanding our horizons with new ideas. Currently, on the farm, we have 6 rabbits. They are mixed breeds. The buck is Sergeant Buckleberry and he is fat and kind. His wife, Queenie Cloverblossom is more slender. She is nursing four babies, mind you! She is very tame, as well and we hold and pet the rabbits every day. They have a small enclosure that was built especially for them, so they can get on the ground every day, eat grasses and clover and hop around and flip through the air, which I am happy to say I see them do quite often!

Sergeant

Queenie

We have a hog. We have not named the hog. He is just hog. He is so funny. He acts just like a puppy dog. I have come to be very fond of him and his silly antics. He likes to let me scratch him on his head between his ears. One of the most anticipated moments of my day is taking the slop bucket to him. As soon as he sees that white bucket, he starts squealing and snorting, runs to the edge of the fence and shakes his head up and down. I love to see his little tail swirl in circles and wag back and forth, as he happily grunts and sucks down the contents. I don't know why that tickles me so.

hog, when he was little

We currently have 12 hens. We had 16, but slowly, different things have happened to them over the years. In fact, we have had three different "batches" of hens. The "hen adventures", as we will call them are too exciting and thrilling to discuss now. Their story will be saved for another time.

Cotton, one of our many hens

We also have two boer goats. Bonnie Blue is a beautiful, docile goat with blue eyes, who is now a mother. We gave her baby, Silly Billy, away to a friend of ours this year. We milked Bonnie for several months and let me tell you, it was the most delicious milk I have ever tasted! Bonnie's sister is named Nellie Blythe. She is a brat...we call her "Fatty Bratty" more often than her given name. She is very co-dependent and cannot handle life if Bonnie is not near. She cries for her. Bonnie usually just ignores her and continues feeding and occasionally lets out a little bleat to let Nellie know she is near, even if she's not visible. The goats have a large fenced area and are put to pasture daily.

 Bonnie with Silly Billy

Nellie

Last, but not least, we have our dog, Tennessee. She is a rescue that I found on the side of the road about 10 years ago. I picked her up and brought her home and she is the best friend I could've ever asked for. A very loving and patient dog, who does not disturb any of the critters on the farm and happily watches all the goings-on at the top of the hill, in the shade of the big Red Oak tree.

Tennessee, our dog