Family Farms Animals

•Pygora Goats
•Shetland Sheep
•Gold Laced Wyandotte Chickens
•White Orpington Chickens
•Silver-Gray Dutch Bantam Chickens
•Indian Runner Ducks
•Muscovey Ducks
•Hedgehogs
•Opossums
•Domestic Rabbits
•Domestic Ferrets
•Light Brahma Chickens
•Partridge Cochin Chickens
•Ancona Chickens
•Dominique Chickens
•Buff Orpington Chickens
•Heritage Ducks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pygora Goats

Size/Weight/Height
Weight: Males: 50-100 kg • Females: 50-85 kg
Size: 22” at the highest part of back for females • 27” for males

Adaptations/Coloration
Color: caramels, agoutis and solid black or solid white • contrasting dorsal stripe • socks to the knees • facial mask • color changes for in-fleece and out-of-fleece
Fleece: three distinct types • well covered except the legs from the knee down.

Behavior
Personality: alert, curious, friendly, cooperative and easy to handle • have the docility of the Angora and the spunk and playfulness of the pygmy

Reproduction/Lifespan
Courtship: female comes into heat every 21 days for 2-48 hours • males come into rut (decrease in appetite, obsessive interest in the does, fighting between bucks, display behavior and a strong musky odor) with the female’s heat cycles, each spring and fall
Gestation: 145-150 days
Young: 1-4 • usually twins

Diet
Hay, grain, browse

Habitat/Range
Able to thrive in many different climates

Other
Initially bred in Oregon by crossing an angora goat with a pygmy goat

 

 

Shetland Sheep

Size/Weight/Height
Size: fine-boned, small, slow growing
Weight: Rams: 90-125 lbs. • Ewes: 75-100 lbs.

Adaptations/Coloration
Color: 11 recognized colors • over 30 recognized markings
Horns: Rams have spiral horns • Ewes typically polled (horns are removed)
Ears: small, erect
Legs: Fine, medium length
Tail: short • fluke-shaped • broad at the base and tapering to a point

Behavior
Calm, docile and easy to manage • hardy and agile • wags tail when excited • retains many of the characteristics of wild sheep

Reproduction/Lifespan
Parenting: very good mothers, easy lambers, produce plenty of milk
Litters: 1 lamb • older ewes sometimes give birth to twins or triplets

Diet
Can survive on a meager diet but thrive on more

Habitat/Range
Extremely Adaptable

Status
Considered recovering by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (have exceeded 2500 annual North American registrations but is still in need of monitoring)

Other
The Shetland’s roots go back over a thousand years, probably to sheep brought to the Shetland Islands by Viking settlers

 

 

Chicken – Gold Laced Wyandotte

Scientific Name
Gallus gallus

Size/Weight/Height
Males: ~8.5 lbs. • Females: ~6.5 lbs.

Adaptations/Coloration
Color: white, buff, golden laced, blue (grayish), silver laced, silver penciled, partridge or black Skin: yellow
Body: medium sized • hardy under rugged conditions • rose combs do not freeze as easily as single combs

Behavior
Generally good disposition

Reproduction/Lifespan
Eggs: brown • hens are good mothers • known for poor hatches

Diet
4-grain scratch, game bird food, lettuce

Habitat/Range
Breed developed in the North and Northeastern U.S. in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries

Status
Not legally listed – domestic breed • considered critical by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (less than 1,000 breeding females in U.S.)

 

 

Chicken – White Orpington

Scientific Name
Gallus gallus

Size/Weight/Height
Males: ~10 lbs. • Females: ~8 lbs.

Adaptations/Coloration
Color: solid colors – black, blue (grayish), buff and white
Skin: white
Feathers: many, loosely arranged – makes the birds appear larger • many loose feathers allow them to endure cold temperatures better than other breeds
Body: heavy dual purpose bird – good for both meat and egg production.

Behavior
Do well in free range and confined situations • chicks are not very aggressive and often are “underdog” when several breeds are held together
reproduction/lifespan
Hens are broody (sits on eggs to keep them warm before they hatch) and make good mothers

Diet
4-grain scratch, game bird food, lettuce
habitat/range
Breed originated in England in the 1880s • brought to U.S. in 1890s

Status
Not legally listed – domestic • considered recovering by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (have exceeded 2500 annual North American registrations but is still in need of monitoring)

 

 

Chicken – Dutch Bantam – silver gray

Scientific Name
Gallus gallus

Size/Weight/Height
Males: <20 oz. • Females: <18 oz. • very small

Adaptations/Coloration
Color: over 20 recognized varieties (color variations)
Combs: both sexes have a medium sized single comb and white almond-shaped “ear lobes” Stature: male carries body with head above its main body in a “stately” pose
Tail: arched, curved, sickle-shaped feathers slightly spread
Legs: most color variations have slate legs – a few are light with spots

Behavior
Hardy • active and lively • gentle • may show attachment to owner

Reproduction/Lifespan
Eggs: smaller than average • females are good layers, setters and brooders • because of their small size, females can cover only a small clutch

Diet
Zoo: 4-grain scratch, game bird food, lettuce

Habitat/Range
Breed may have originated on Bantam Island of the Dutch East Indies (brought by sailors to Holland in the 17th century) • one of the most popular breeds in Holland • first introduced to U.S. in early 1950s but soon died out • reintroduced to U.S. in 1969

Status
Not legally listed – domestic breed

 

 

Indian runner duck

Scientific Name
Anas platyrhynchos

Size/Weight/Height
Males: ~4.5 lbs. • Females: ~4 lbs. • should not be large/heavy

Adaptations/Coloration
Color: fawn and white, white or penciled
Body shape: long, flat, straight head • long, slender neck (neck and head form shape of umbrella handle with stem) • back should be long, straight and carried upright • head and body should take on a horizontal bearing • should be little indication of a keel • bearing should be upright and “racey”

Behavior
Prolific layers • females are “non-sitters” – not known as being great brooders

Reproduction/Lifespan
One of the most prolific egg-layering ducks • productivity rivals chickens • record egg production is near 300 per year

Diet
Wild: grains, grasses, insects
Zoo: waterfowl pellets, spinach, lettuce, worms

Habitat/Range
Breed originated in India • brought to England as early as 1830 • not present in U.S. before 1900

Status
Not legally listed – domestic breed • is considered a breed to watch by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (less than 10,000 breeding females in U.S.)

 

 

Muscovey duck

Scientific Name
Cairina moschata

Size/Weight/Height
Males 7.8-8.9 lbs.; females 3.9-4.4 lbs.

Adaptations/Coloration
Color: domestication has resulted in white, pale ash, gray and barred; body brown-black; wings metallic green; males have red fleshy knob above bill
Claws: strong; pointed to perch in trees

Behavior
Movement: limping effect to gait; nod head every second step
Voice: no vocal chords; don’t quack – instead a hissing sound

Reproduction/Lifespan
Breeding: several times/year
Ducklings: little, pointed claws; long, stiffened tail feathers
Parenting: good parental care

Diet
Wild: grains, grasses, insects
Zoo: waterfowl pellets, spinach, lettuce, worms

Habitat/Range
Wooded habitat • South America

Status
Not listed

Other
Domesticated by South American Indians

 

 

Hedgehog

Scientific Name
Atelerix albiventris

Size/Weight/Height
Weight: 8-24 oz.
Head and body: 6.5-9”
Tail: 0.52”

Adaptations/Coloration
Body: brown or gray with yellow ticking; covered with dense spines on upper surfaces; underparts soft light grey hair
Snout: used to search for food in forest litter

Behavior
Nocturnal
Defense: escape enemies by running; hide in rock crevices and under logs; roll into ball to use
spines as protection
Voice: squeal and grunt when hungry, excited or afraid

Reproduction/Lifespan
Lifespan: as long as 7 years
Litter: usually 4-5
Young: born with soft, short spines that lengthen and harden shortly after birth

Diet
Wild: carrion, eggs, frogs, fruit, fungi, lizards, mice, snakes, vegetables
Zoo: hedgehog maintenance chow, mealworms

Habitat/Range
Forest, grassland and scrub areas with adequate food/cover • several species in Europe, Africa and Asia

Status
Not listed

Other
No relation to pigs, despite the name

 

 

Opossum

Scientific Name
Didelphis virginiana

Size/Weight/Height
Weight: 6-12 lbs.
Body: 10-16”
Tail: ~10”

Adaptations/Coloration
Color: gray fur; coarse white and black guard hairs; ears and mouth pink
Ears/toes: susceptible to frostbite
Pouch: marsupial
Tail: prehensile; naked; scaley
Toes: opposable big toe

Behavior
Arboreal • nocturnal • solitary
Defense: may play “possum” when frightened but more often try to frighten attacker by hissing and showing teeth
Food: scavenger • doesn’t hibernate
Intelligence: some recent scientific literature places with cat and dog

Reproduction/Lifespan
Lifespan: 3-5 years
Breeding season: February & mid-summer
Gestation: 12 days
Offspring: up to 20; only 13 nipples
Birth: young are the size of a bee
Young: leave mom’s pouch after 100 days; ride on mom’s back
Maturity: ~1 year

Diet
Omnivorous
Wild: carrion (natural scavenger), fruit, nuts, insects, small invertebrates
Zoo: apples, bananas, carnivore diet, fish, rabbit parts

Habitat/Range
Urban and wooded areas near water • North America • range expanding • not native to the Pacific Northwest

Status
Common

Other
Only marsupial native to North America • unlike mot marsupials it’s flourishing because it’s very adaptable (varied diet), breeds rapidly, natural enemies are declining and ability to feign death (possible state of shock) • #1 enemy = cars • brought to northwest during Great Depression as food

 

 

Domestic rabbit

Scientific Name
Oryctolagus cuniculus

Size/Weight/Height
Varies greatly

Adaptations/Coloration
Color: various
Teeth: incisors grow throughout lifetime; gap (diastema) before molar teeth

Behavior
Terrestrial
Defense: rely on swift running to avoid predators; in wild often dig complex burrows or “warrens”

Reproduction/Lifespan
Cycle: female every 15-16 days; female comes into heat few hours after given birth
Ovulation: stimulated by copulation
Gestation: 30 days
Litters: can produce 5-7 litters/year; 1-9; born naked/blind/deaf

Diet
Herbivorous
Zoo: apples, carrots, lettuce, rabbit chow

Habitat/Range
Domesticated

Status
Domestic – different from wild native rabbits

Wild Rabbit
Enemies: badgers (dig up dens), ermines, foxes, owls, ravens • easy to tell rabbits are prey animals – eyes are on the side of head giving them wide field of vision • convergent evolution with rodents • rabbits are “lagomorphs” – animals having small set of incisors behind large pair

 

 

Domestic ferret

Scientific Name
Mustela putorius furo

Size/Weight/Height
Head to tail: 19-22”
Weight: females 1.5-2.5 lbs. • males 3-5 lbs. • males twice as large and three times heavier

Adaptations/Coloration
Variety of colors: sable (with raccoon-like mask), chocolate, silver, cinnamon, black and albino • Fur patterns are mitts (white feet), panda (white head), badger (white blaze), and Siamese (dark legs and tail) • long, slender body, short limbs • relatively nearsighted and fairly poor hearing, relying mainly on their senses of touch and smell • if frightened, discharge a strong-smelling fluid from gland under their tail • when nervous or exploring new territory, exhibit “bottle-brush tail” – tail gets big and puffy and the hairs stick straight out

Behavior
Adults sleep average of 15 hours per day • very social animals – enjoy playing with people, other ferrets and pets • when frustrated or angry, produce a hissing sound, like a cat • when wrestling, make squealing and whimpering vocalizations • enjoy stealing and hiding small objects • have particular hiding places considered safe, and stash items there habitually • very clever and curious and quickly figure out mazes and other obstacles • move in a prancing fashion when running • “dance” when excited and occasionally lose control and fall clumsily

Reproduction/Lifespan
Lifespan: 7-9 years • domestic ferrets are polygamous and may breed from late winter into early fall • females usually have only one litter per year
Gestation: 42 days • litter size averages 6-9 young • well developed at birth (precocial) • considered adults at 6-7 months of age

Diet
Carnivorous - require a diet high in protein and plenty of fresh water
Zoo: ferret chow

Habitat/Range
Domestic ferrets have become completely dependent on man and would survive on their own for only a couple of days

Status
Domestic

Other
Archaeological and historical sources show ferrets were domesticated at least 2,500 years ago • the use of domestic ferrets for hunting and rodent control was thought to have originated in North Africa and was then introduced in Asia, Europe, the British Isles, and the United States.