Our Little Acre

We started out here on this little lot of land in the middle of our small town with 3/4 of an acre of land.  Being that we live just a few blocks from the old town square 3/4 of an acre is actually a pretty large piece of land.  Now, I grew up on 11 acres, so to me it is not large, but for town life it is a nice size lot.  There was a 1/4 acre vacant lot behind our property that was not being maintained, so after some research I found out that there were debts owed to the city for a house demolition and several years of back taxes owed on the property.  After a couple of years I called the owner and offered to pay his debts and an additional $2, 000 to him for the property.  This was a generous offer since I could have pushed the city to confiscate his property and I would have probably gotten his property for much less.  Mostly, my husband wanted the property and I knew that this was the best approach to assure we got the land.  So, we did it and now we have 1 full acre making us the only ones in this area of town to own half a city block.  Seriously, it is a big deal and we are quite in love with it. 

The only problem is.... I fear we are gonna get thrown out of town for all the creatures we have started keeping in the last couple of years.  Hahahaha!  It was a big joke when we moved here over ten years ago that I had come from the country and might dare to have chickens here.  I honestly thought I would NEVER have chickens.  Fast forward to the present... and we do have chickens.  And more creatures.

We started with dogs.  Pretty simple... pretty normal.  We had four, but have had some deaths, so now we have two dogs... rat terriers.  They have such sweet personalities.

Over a year ago we added rabbits.  In the Fall of 2010 we got two California Rabbits and one died right away of heat stroke.  We returned the other for fear of it dying.  A friend gave us another rabbit her kids did not want anymore.  Within a month or so we purchased two more rabbits.  By the early Spring of 2011 we had over 30 rabbits!!!  Oh my the way they multiply!  We upgraded to a 10 cage system  and we now have lops and regular rabbits. 

In the Spring of 2011 we also added eight chickens for the purpose of laying eggs.  In the Fall of 2011 a friend gave us 3 bantam chicks and we have one that has survived.  Actually, we found her first two eggs today!  Woo hoo!  They are so cute little tiny eggs.  Anyhow, this Spring (2012) we have added six more chicks and four ducklings and we intend to add a few more chicks next week. 

Last Fall (2011) we were given two male goats that we were going to raise with our dogs, but that did not work out because once the goats hit maturity they began to have a strong scent.  It smelled like a livestock barn here.  Stinky!  They had to go. 

So, right now on our little acre we have:
8 laying hens (2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Barred Rocks, 2 Golden Sex Links, 2 Black Australians
1 bantam hen (Duck Wing Bantam).... Ooops!  Update:  It seems our banty got in the dog yard... It's a gonner!  :(
6 chicks (2 Barred Rocks, 2 New Hampshire Reds, 2 Silver Wynndotte)
4 ducklings (Uncertain of breed)
4 lop rabbits (1 baby)
16 mix rabbits (9 babies)
2 rat terrier dogs.

LOTS OF FUN on our little one acre!!!!