Dunnellon Ranch provides rescued farm animals with a home

DUNNELLON, Fla. - What came first, the chicken or the egg? The answer is the egg for the Happy Campers Rescue Ranch in Dunnellon.

"We started off buying hatchling eggs off eBay. Like that, we got a Polish rooster and some chicks," laughed owner Arcadio Morales.

Morales runs the rescue ranch, which features campsites for guests who want to park an RV or pitch a tent in the woods of old Florida. 

The 10-acre site also operates as a farm for rescued animals.

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What's a farm without chickens? So Morales took a shot at raising his own.

"Now the rooster is doing his thing and we are very close to hatching our own babies," he admitted.

Morales has had to learn how to raise yard birds domestically along the way.

"It takes about 21 days for them to hatch," said Morales.

The hatching takes an incubator and after they hatch, the chicks need a different level of warmth for their developmental health.

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That level of care takes some specific attention.

"They can go outside after about six weeks," said Morales, "They say chickens don't eat a lot. Baby chicks do."

That education is just one part of the everyday operations at Happy Campers Rescue Ranch.  

"It's crazy to see the actual process happen in real life!" exclaimed Morales.

You can learn more about Happy Campers Rescue Ranch by clicking here.