Honeysuckle Hill Farm

07/18/2024

🩷💜🧡💚 Colors of summer on the farm... 💚🧡💜🩷
And the Lantana & Mimosa trees are FULL of Hummingbirds this year!

06/19/2024

One of Scotland's most rare livestock breeds...
"7. The Viking Soay
The Soay sheep is a small, athletic looking sheep that has something of the look of a gazelle about it. Soay means “sheep island” in Norse which suggests that there have been sheep on the island since at least the time of the Vikings. In 1932, two years after the last human inhabitants left the island of Hirta, 107 Soays were transported to the island. They have been maintained as a feral population there ever since, growing to around 1,500 sheep nowadays. The breed is categorised by RBST as rare and at risk. The Soay is exceptionally hardy and can survive in the most adverse conditions. They’re low maintenance, losing their fleeces naturally. Soay hogget and mutton is known for an unusual flavour, typical of the UK’s primitive sheep breeds."

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scotsman.com%2Fhays-way%2Fhere-are-seven-of-scotlands-most-rare-breeds-which-will-be-represented-at-the-royal-highland-show-4662900&h=AT3uO7xXyUCrgjDSs7Qyo2SuTU_GPCBzpBHCP-6uDaVG7yyT7Qgjo3Pj3AZK2_M8cWwTCSG4MbGk-9wUhdnQz5twm25jz28Sf1SJk2sLd5tTm_Sr3EoXnBMGCMPYSOImQrTjc88&s=1

Some of the breeds can be traced back to the Viking and Pictish periods.

05/24/2024

04/12/2024

04/12/2024

04/09/2024

This jet black girl looks like she will keep her color. 😁

04/09/2024

Twins!!!!

04/09/2024

2024 Status Update... 🥰

03/30/2024

2nd lamb of the season - a girl this time.
JET BLACK this time. We purchased a new ram last Fall - he obviously throws darker babies. 🤪

03/28/2024

And, he has a name - Ben.
If you are a Star Wars fan, you will understand. The ewe is a twin and named Princess Leah (white spot on head looked like a crown when she was born). Her twin ram brother was named Luke. Name fit well and, you know, that “black sheep” was redeemed in the end. 😄

03/27/2024

First lamb of 2024 AND first of this color on our farm. Soay sheep are traditionally varying shades of brown. EXCITING!

03/22/2024

Sold 8 dozen farm eggs this week and already have 3 more cartons filled and this basket is ready to overflow. Our chickens are earning their keep! 😄🥚🐓

03/19/2024

9 ewes expecting lambs any day now. ☺️

02/17/2024

Meet Flash, our elderly mini stallion.

02/17/2024

Everyone need fuzzy mini farm animals! 😍

02/17/2024

Sampson and his flock of young rams.

02/12/2024

They are ready for spring grass…

02/11/2024

2 of our hard-working girls 😁

01/21/2024

Cold weather, vibrant colors from the girls. 😍🌬️🥚

01/09/2024

That look you get when you tell the chickens that they can't free-range today because the weather is so bad... Okay, chickens, come on out and enjoy the torrential rains and tornadoes. YES, I ended up letting them out to roam today. 😜

11/23/2023

Happy Thanksgiving!!

11/05/2023

Farm “Easter Eggs” all year round.
Love our chickens!!!

10/07/2023

These 2yr old boys have started a new adventure right down the road from our farm.

09/23/2023

SO excited! 1st green egg on the farm!
Our little Olive-Egger is strutting around today with all the praise.

09/01/2023

We lost 3 chickens over the last few months. The animal remains led us to believe it was a possum/skunk/racoon. We have been setting traps, reducing free range time and randomly checking on chickens in the night. No luck catching them... until now. Our human efforts were unsuccessful but Finn & Sampson finished off the skunk for us. They don't smell pretty but are very proud of their guardian skills today. Now, on to the next predator...

08/30/2023

We have a surprise pumpkin patch! Every Fall, we feed our sheep donated pumpkins. Well, the seeds really took off this year and, so far, we have 18 baby pumpkins growing. ☺️

04/22/2023

Little ram lamb born today. He has an interesting color - grayish with black markings. And, he has a funny little tuft of white longish hair on the back if his head.

04/22/2023

8 babies so far - 6 boys, 2 girls. 🤪
(last year we had 5 girls, 2 boys)
Love watching these sheep helping each other take care of the babies.

04/09/2023

Resurrection Day! He is ALIVE!!!

04/06/2023

Prayers Answered!! For the last 2 years, Jitterbug (Paint mare) has dealt with consistent founder. Never a problem in her youth, it suddenly appeared and just wouldn't go away. She was kept on a dry lot with only hay. She was depressed and hated all of it. She developed an abcess in one foot that left a large crater in her hoof wall. It has taken months and months but, with careful and consistent weekly hoof trims, it has finally grown out. Back in December we moved her to her favorite pasture with her friend Luke. Winter grass was brown and safe for her to eat. She got lots of exercise walking out there and that increased the blood flow to her hooves. She can now run across the pasture!!! Grass has come back in and still no sign of founder!! I am watching closely for any signs of it returning but I am so happy she has relief. Her whole temperament has changed.