Tin Star Kennels & Family Homestead

09/02/2026

Dan took Hexie to her last dermatology appointment yesterday. I can’t believe my little crimebag has been skin issue free for a YEAR already! It seems like just yesterday it was constant bathing, tears, crippling self-doubt, overtime to pay for meds, and blind hope that she could recover…but now, she’s perfect.

At her yearly vet check on Friday, she was instructed to lose ten pounds…which I’ve been telling Dan for a couple of months that she is getting a little rotund…While we’re at the vet, one of her favorite techs walks in and gives her part of a McDonald’s hash brown because those brown eyes can sucker anyone in from a mile away. It’s fascinating actually. On the way home, Dan stops and gets her a McBiscut because “diets don’t start until you get home from the doctor.”

And yesterday, he stopped and got her a 4 piece nuggets, which she promptly inhaled. Then she scammed him out of HIS 4 piece nuggets, and a handful of French fries. And THEN he stopped at Dunkin and got her a pup cup.

I would just like to put it on the record that Hexie’s weight problem is not my fault. Her dad is a sucker 😂😂😂

09/02/2026

Dan and I spent the last few days finishing up our meat bird tractor. I wanted a few modifications from the larger tractor we have our holiday turkeys in, and specifically I needed to be able to move this by myself without my truck. Since these nuggets can’t fly because they’re just too fat, it didn’t need to be as tall and we focused on making it as lightweight as possible. One person can pull it manually, but it is a breeze to hook it to the lawn mower and move it, which is ideal.

Last night our nuggets got moved out to pasture for the first time. I can’t believe we’re already halfway through this meat bird experiment! They aren’t cute anymore, and their voracious appetites make me secretly a little relieved that they’re not large enough to attack people, because they might eat us too.

Stay tuned for more meat bird experiments.

08/31/2026

Hexie has a squeaky skeleton. I regret nothing 😂

08/31/2026

08/31/2026

We could not be happier to announce that our sweet Rhea Baby has found her forever home with the absolute BEST couple. These people are on the very short list of people I would trust my pack to if something ever happened to me, and that is the same standard I wanted for Rhea. They fell in love with her immediately, and she did with them. They have been visiting her for a couple of months, and doing some overnight and weekend trips to make the adjustment easier on her. Last week she finally went home for the last time and I cried tears of relief and joy that these souls found each other. I couldn’t tailor a better fit for any of them, and I am so, so grateful to the universe that everything lined up just the way it was supposed to.

Now Rhea’s days are filled with long hikes, time in the sunshine, naps on the couch, sleeping in the bed, and the doting love of two of the very best people I am privileged enough to call friends.

Congratulations Rhea, you made it baby 🖤

08/31/2026

I am so sad to announce it is the end of an era at the homestead. Gas Station Lewis succumbed to injuries during a targeted predator attack on himself.

I’ve gone back and forth with myself, thinking if I should have done anything different with him. Should I have made him a house rooster? Forced him to live permanently in an enclosure to keep him safe? Maybe. But I think that quality of life outweighs the safety of life in a cage any day. And quality of life vastly outweighs quantity of days.

I am sad that my gamey, red rooster is gone. But he died on a good day, scratching for bugs in the dirt with the sun on his feathers, at the only home he’s ever know.

Goodbye for now, Gas Station Lewis. Thank you for setting the standard. We love you.

08/27/2026

What a wonderful week! The rain finally held off long enough that I was able to limp the lawn mower closer to the house so Dan could repair the tire that just up and fell off the wheel…after that, it took two hours, but I was finally able to get the lawn mowed and looking ish respectable again. I still have to edge everything, but at least the grass is sorted…the chicken runs have been drying up enough that we have finally been able to start tearing fencing down so we can excavate the area, grade it properly, add drainage, etc, and hopefully never experience a flooding nightmare like the last 5 weeks again…as long as the rain holds off, we will excavate it next month on Dan’s long weekend and *hopefully* that will solve the problem…

The nuggets are getting huge. They’re getting evicted outside this weekend…next Thursday they will be halfway through their journey from nugget to dinner, and they’re still relatively cute. Dumb, and voracious eaters, but cute.

Some of my beautiful grow outs from my last hatch of BCM babies all grew tails and started crowing this week, so anyone looking for a wonderful rooster prospect, I have 4 or 5 available. 😭🤦🏼‍♀️ you know how many BCM hens hatched out of that clutch? Two…of course…😂

The rest of the new pullets continue to lay…everywhere…so we have to work on that.

I’ve been doing some desensitization work with Rhea over the chickens, and she’s coming along nicely. She is currently on her second sleepover weekend with two of my very dear friends who are the PERFECT couple for her. They have been visiting her on the weekends for a couple of months now, building their relationship while she heals. Last week they took her for their very first sleepover weekend, and have been excitedly waiting to pick her up again. Rhea is a diamond, and deserves the best, and these people are it! Plus, they live nearby, so I’ll get to see her frequently 🖤

I hope everyone has a wonderful and productive Thursday! As always, reach out anytime!

🖤

08/21/2026

I guess we just lay wherever we want these days…

My egg count was off last week. Now I know why…