Rosanna at Sweet Haven

At Sweet Haven, the animals are family

Zinnia

Zinnia hen was adopted from the Capital Humane Society in September, 2021. I saw her photo and she reminded me of Celie hen, who we recently lost, and we needed a companion for a newly-introduced hen which was brought to Sweet Haven by one of Dave’s former students. Zinnia is smart and funny and chatty and cheeky and reminds me very much of Celie - even the color of her egg is the same. She and Java are doing well and enjoy their freedom and trying new treats and I am thinking of trying to train Zinnia to wear a harness and leash since she is so friendly, so she can go on visits.

Mama Bungry and brood

One of our older hens went very broody for two months this summer, and in August we decided to bend to her desire and help her have a family, so Hungry Bungry is now Mama Bungry, mother to six little chicks. She hasn’t tired of caring for them and watching their every move, or wandered from their sides since their arrival - she was evidently waiting all her life to be a mother and she is a wonderful one. The chicks love their mama and listen to her carefully, and Mama Bungry lets them know about anything they should investigate, eat, or be wary of.

After three months, when the chicks were big enough, we allowed Mama Bungry to bring them outside their coop and enclosure - she led them all around for a few weeks and now has begun returning to her old coop with the flock at night and the chicks go to their little coop. Soon, we’ll introduce them to the flock and see how they do.

Rescue hens

At the end of August 2020, we brought home 26 laying hens which had been culled from a local egg farm. They were in terrible condition, the smell was horrible and Nettie and I both cried when they came out of their cages for the first time - I didn’t know if any of them would make it. Happily, 22 of them are still with us and all seem very well at this time, most have regrown all their feathers and are plump and plucky. At afternoon chore time, the whole flock comes charging up the hill to greet us and make sure we don’t forget to give them their scratch grains.

Rudy (kune kune pig)

Rudy came to us with his friend Mabel in early July, 2020. Rudy was raised on a nearby farm by a family who raises this type of pig for meat, but Rudy had been treated more as a pet than as potential food, so the family was looking for someone to give him a home and were happy to find a place where he wouldn’t become bacon! Rudy is a gentle giant, though he isn’t very large by pig standards. He has a sweet smile and loves to sit for treats - his favorite treat is a hard-boiled egg. We are so happy to know this sweet boy and we know he’s going to make lots of friends.

Beau and Hazel (Mini donkeys, Beau has the spot on his forehead)

Beau the gelding and Hazel the mare arrived at Sweet Haven in December of 2019 and are very bonded to one another. After sharing a fence with our older donkey Tru through the winter, we put all three together early in the spring of 2020. They get along well and having companions has made Tru a much happier girl. Sadly, Hazel was bred when she came to us, and in October 2020, she gave birth to a foal we named Emmy. Emmy lived only a few days - she didn’t manage to nurse right away and though we tried to intervene and help, she just wasn’t strong enough to survive. It has been difficult for Hazel but we are glad she has Beau and Tru and we try our best to comfort her.

Celie

Celie came from a home nearby, in June 2020. She was sharing a small muddy pen with a very large rooster who did not treat her well. She came to us very thin and ragged, with feathers missing and broken wing feathers. Celie is extremely friendly and seems very resilient and smart. She is healing well, laying well, and beginning to be accepted into the flock. We’re so happy to have Celie with us - she’s a very special hen.

Leonard and Bobo

Leonard is our five-year-old guardian dog -she takes her job as caretaker very seriously and does a great job of watching out for the cats and chickens and goats. She performs regular patrols of the acreage and alerts us to any suspicious animals, including coyote, possum, skunk, mink, vultures, hawks, and often, sparrows. Bobo is her little brother, just turning one - he is also an excellent guard dog with good instincts and a great love for his big sister. They are a wonderful team and for those wondering what type of dog, their parents were an Anatolian shepherd and a Great Pyrenees.

Plum Pudding, Gingersnap, Pumpkin Pie, Peach Pit, and Apricot Crumble

Named by Nettie (who has a sweet tooth, can you tell?), these brothers were discovered in the fall of 2018, on and around our acreage. We believe they were led away from a nearby farmstead by a mother cat. At the time, they were small, just at weaning age. We are unsure if they are actual siblings or from different litters, but they get along well and spend their days romping around and getting into mischief. At night, they are collected and shut in their “kitty coop,” where we know they’ll be safe. All the boys are neutered, because although there is nothing sweeter than a baby kitty, we believe the best thing for cats (and mice and birds) is population control.

Java

Java hen was brought to Sweet Haven because she was having a rough time in her old flock. She was a pet hen of one of Dave’s former students but the other girls wouldn’t give her a break! We kept her in her own pen for a few days and then put Zinnia hen in with her, the two became comfortable with one another, and after a week, they were ready to come out and try to get to know the flock. Java was VERY nervous and flighty when she came and she had some stress to work out of her system, including shell-less eggs, but her nerves are getting better, she is becoming friendly, and she has fully integrated into our flock of older hens, and spends the day in the trees with them and goes up on her perch at night. We are so happy to give Java a better life here at Sweet Haven!

Jane, Bess, and Annie

Four sheep joined the Sweet Haven family at the end of August 2020 - Jane, Mary, Bess, and Annie, who was the smallest at the time. Over the winter, Mary sheep became sick and though we treated her for several things, nothing stopped the progression of her wasting. We lost her at the end of February. She was a sweet girl and stayed in the house with us for the last month of her life. But Jane, Bess, and Annie have all grown into strong and healthy sheep since last August and are doing well and enjoy chin scratches and special treats in the afternoons.

Mabel (kune kune pig)

Mabel pig came to us with Rudy on July 4, 2020. She needed a home because the family who was raising her didn’t want to breed her in their herd of pigs and we wanted to save her from being sold for meat. Mabel is a sweet, smart girl with an adorable smile. When she sits for treats and shows her little teeth, we can hardly stand the cuteness! Mable and Rudy are good friends and we love having them here at Sweet Haven.

Biddy (dwarf goat doeling)

Little Biddy came to us in November, 2019. With her high, bleating call, she still seems very much like a baby. She loves small spaces and prefers to eat her hay under the hay manger. We are so pleased that Elsa, who went through a few months of sadness after we lost Lilly last fall, has taken Biddy under her wing and watches out for her and lays with her at night. Biddy stays right behind her most of the time, and they make a sweet pair.

Tru (miniature donkey)

Tru came to us from a neighboring farm in spring of 2019. Her owners felt they didn’t have enough grazing pasture for her and had not been able to take care of her hooves, which had been left untrimmed for many years. She has been foundered, which is something that happens to donkeys when they are allowed too much rich forage. Donkeys evolved on a very meager diet, and that typically means that pasture grazing is not good for them. We were able to find a farrier who reshaped her hooves and we try to keep her at a healthy weight so that she can stay fit and mobile. Tru hates being on a diet, but she is really a sweet old girl who LOVES children and meeting new people and gives the best donkey hugs.

Rory (passed in june, 2019)

Rory was with us fourteen years. I still think of her as being with us, and talk to her every day. She made every house I’ve ever lived in a home, and I believe there will always be a special place in my heart for my Petey, that no other cat will quite fill.

Pumpkin - see baby photo below

Mister Pumpkin has become our inside kitty, after a very unlucky tangle with some barbed wire fence in January 2020. His injuries were significant and ‘grave,’ and his recovery is ongoing, but he should eventually make a full recovery. We’ve really fallen in love with this affectionate goofball. He is our best boy and we are so lucky to have him - we hope eventually he can put this chapter behind him and return to a fairly normal life.

Little Lady and Matilda

Matilda and Little Lady were part of a litter born to a family member’s farm cat last summer - we helped find homes for their siblings and brought these sisters home - Matilda became best friends with special boy Pumpkin kitty, and Little Lady became Nettie’s kitty and sleeps next to her every night. They are good girls but they are a little like the little girl with the curl, when they are good they are very very good, and when they are bad they are horrid! :)

Hens - Golda, Hungry Bungry, Fernbark Longtoe, Abalonie, Hildie, Mrs Sharp, Old Red, and Goldie

Four of these hens have been with us about two years and the other four a little less than a year. Their ages are unknown, but they are all older layers that folks were looking to unload for newer, more productive hens. Most of them had some health issues that took several months to resolve, especially Miss Hildie, who is the lowest on the pecking order and suffers periodically with bumblefoot. They are healthy and happy now, and I love to look out and see them ranging about in the grass.

Peanut (Nigerian dwarf goat)

Miss Peanut is a small but feisty former 4-H goat. She is the mother of a few sets of twins and was a milk goat for several years. When the rest of her herd was sold off and her human got ready to move away to college in late summer 2019, Peanut needed a new home. Peanut had her own pen for a long period of time, as she and Elsa couldn’t make peace, but with the addition of little Daisy goat to the herd in summer of 2021, the goat girls are now all getting along (most of the time) in one pen!

Elsa (nigerian dwarf goat)

Little Miss Elsa came to us as a companion to Lilly. The story was that they were friends, and Elsa just happened to be a sterile nanny, so like Lilly, of no use to the farm. You know the adage that “goats will eat anything?” Well, Elsa has taught us that is completely untrue. Elsa has very particular tastes and prefers apples and carrots but will turn her nose up at zucchini, peas, pears, and a host of other produce items. Her favorite treats are carrots, bananas, and sourdough pancakes. Her new best friend, since Lilly’s passing, is little Biddy. She has become a wonderful ‘big sister.’

Bibi

Bibi is our little wonder cat. She wandered onto my parent’s place seven or eight years ago, and at the time, seemed completely feral. It took many months of feeding her and talking to her from a distance, to get close enough to pet her. Slowly, she has become quite tame and enjoys being petted and held, but she remains very fearful of the indoors and hates to be shut in. We give her freedom to come and go, and last summer, she disappeared for a full two weeks. We thought we had lost her, but she returned seemingly unhurt and went on with her routine as though nothing had happened. She has adjusted (fairly graciously) to life with the kittens and she and Leonard sleep together at night.