Sweet Woodland Farm Sheep Corral
Donation protected
Sweet Woodland Farm www.sweetwoodlandfarm.com is a small homestead located on the East End of Long Island. On our farm, we practice organic sustainability while growing heirloom varieties, medicinal herbs, and native plants using permaculture practices. This is where we live and grow in harmony with nature.
Besides growing our own during the past 6 years we've been taking in animals who have been rejected in one way or another. Animal feed, housing, and medical costs were not part of our initial concern when faced with a life who is in need. We rarely turn away an animal, because it's in our instincts to answer a cry for help.
The farm animals who live at Sweet Woodland Farm are included in educational opportunities. Children in preschools, local library field trips, adult continuing education, and local non-profit groups participate in learning about animal husbandry, agricultural programs, and homesteading skills here on the farm.
The Isabella's House is a maternity shelter and a 501(c)(3) here in Hampton Bays where women who are in a difficult situation participate in Sweet Woodland Farm's agriculture program. They've learned to raise backyard chickens and grow a vegetable garden. As the program grows other skills will be taught such as home canning, natural home remedy making, and fiber arts. The wool from our sheep will provide material for knitting and wet felting projects.
Below are stories and pictures of some of the rescue animals who live at Sweet Woodland Farm.
Billie is a three year old Bronze Mammoth female turkey. She was brought to us by a backyard chicken keeper who needed to rehome her.
Billie is on a special diet in order to protect her from possible leg injury. This type of turkey is bred to grow rapidly and ultimately become dinner, however left to live out their lives they often develop leg injuries due to their weight. Billie is a star to the farm and has friends who come just to visit her. Although she can be a little cranky she is perfectly harmless and will often let visitors give her a hug.
One afternoon I got a message that there was a chicken spotted walking around the parking lot of a McDonald's. Without hesitation, we grabbed our net and crate and rushed right over. "Nugget" is a healthy Rhode Island Red hen who must have wandered away from the rest of her flock and has since become one of our permanent residents.
Recognize this peacock? It's Dexter, the emotional support pet! Dexter came to stay with us one summer while his owner (Ventiko, the artist) sorted some things out, but ultimately he went back to live with her permanently. We are pleased to hear that Dexter is happy and is so well loved by so many! Way to go Dexter!
This is a sad story with a happy ending. These three bantam hens (and one more not pictured) were brought here by their previous owner who had stuffed them in a tiny box. She didn't speak English and wasn't able to communicate much more than she didn't want them, but I could see that either we take them or sadly the next stop could have been to the dumpster or worse. Upon freeing them from their itty bitty box I found that all four of them were terribly infested with scaly leg mites. Kept separate from the rest of the farm birds, I treated them daily and after several months were adopted and now live at their loving, forever home.
Cosmo was a rejected pet. His previous owner had developed an allergy to him and forced him to live outdoors. Thankfully a cat rescue took him in however he was miserable hiding under beds and running from anything that moved. Once he joined us it took quite some time and patience waiting for Cosmo to come around and eventually over months time allowed us to pet him. Now, 3 years later he is a lap cat but also enjoys his new life living on a farm.
Mona and Maria were brought to the farm by their owner, a pleasant older Italian gentlemen who could no longer care for them. He spoke to them in Italian to which they responded. He was terribly upset about having to give them up, but visited them several times before he sadly passed away. Mona has a limp probably caused by a niacin deficiently as a duckling, but she gets around well enough to swim in the pool with the others.
Mrs. Chicken is the newest addition to the sanctuary. She was brought here by a caring woman who says the hen showed up on her doorstep on a cold, snowy night. Thankfully Mrs. Chicken chose the right house as she was allowed to spend the night indoors out of the cold. Due to the fact that there was a dog living in the house and the two didn't get along, she was brought here to the farm. Upon inspecting the Red Star hen I first noticed the clipped beak indicating that she had probably come from a production farm. She was also infested with the worse case of feather lice I had ever seen so currently she is being treated and is quarantined to her own pen, but will eventually move in the with rest of the flock once she is healed.
Belle and Kelly are Cotswold sheep and came to us from the Suffolk County Farm who were "downsizing" at the time. These two sweethearts were to become dinner if they didn't have a new home to go to. I was grateful to receive them and we have all enjoyed their marvelous dispositions and the affection they give to anyone who is willing to give them a scratch.
The space these girls are sharing is fairly tight and enclosed by used, fencing. During the time the ewes have lived here, the already weathered fence has worn down from the girls leaning against it. We've repaired two of the panels a number of times, but now needs to be replaced pronto. Unfortunately, because we are already struggling with the feed and veterinarian bills we cannot afford a new fence at this time. The sheep pen is situated near the back of the property where there is space to add a much larger fenced in area for the sheep to live in. This space would measure approximately 60'X75', is much larger than their current 22'X22' pen and would give the girls room to run and leap as they do when they're happy. An area of this size will give us the opportunity to possibly take in a few more animals in need of either a temporary or permanent home as well.
We are asking our friends to make a donation in support of this project. Any bit you could contribute would be well appreciated and if we reach our goal we will be able to provide a more comfortable environment for our farm rescues. Please find it in your hearts to give what you can and please share this fund raiser with your friends.
Once we've raised the funding needed and have the site prepared we will gather up friends and volunteers to come together and see this project through. We will roll up our sleeves, dig holes for the posts and construct the fencing as a team. I'm really looking forward to seeing my girls leaping with joy in their new space and hope to continue to run a safe haven for unwanted farm animals.
Sweet Woodland Farm is working in collaboration with the Isabella's House Maternity shelter which operates under a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by law.
Much love to you!
Rachel Stephens
Sweet Woodland Farm
Besides growing our own during the past 6 years we've been taking in animals who have been rejected in one way or another. Animal feed, housing, and medical costs were not part of our initial concern when faced with a life who is in need. We rarely turn away an animal, because it's in our instincts to answer a cry for help.
The farm animals who live at Sweet Woodland Farm are included in educational opportunities. Children in preschools, local library field trips, adult continuing education, and local non-profit groups participate in learning about animal husbandry, agricultural programs, and homesteading skills here on the farm.
The Isabella's House is a maternity shelter and a 501(c)(3) here in Hampton Bays where women who are in a difficult situation participate in Sweet Woodland Farm's agriculture program. They've learned to raise backyard chickens and grow a vegetable garden. As the program grows other skills will be taught such as home canning, natural home remedy making, and fiber arts. The wool from our sheep will provide material for knitting and wet felting projects.
Below are stories and pictures of some of the rescue animals who live at Sweet Woodland Farm.
Billie is a three year old Bronze Mammoth female turkey. She was brought to us by a backyard chicken keeper who needed to rehome her. Billie is on a special diet in order to protect her from possible leg injury. This type of turkey is bred to grow rapidly and ultimately become dinner, however left to live out their lives they often develop leg injuries due to their weight. Billie is a star to the farm and has friends who come just to visit her. Although she can be a little cranky she is perfectly harmless and will often let visitors give her a hug.
One afternoon I got a message that there was a chicken spotted walking around the parking lot of a McDonald's. Without hesitation, we grabbed our net and crate and rushed right over. "Nugget" is a healthy Rhode Island Red hen who must have wandered away from the rest of her flock and has since become one of our permanent residents.Recognize this peacock? It's Dexter, the emotional support pet! Dexter came to stay with us one summer while his owner (Ventiko, the artist) sorted some things out, but ultimately he went back to live with her permanently. We are pleased to hear that Dexter is happy and is so well loved by so many! Way to go Dexter!This is a sad story with a happy ending. These three bantam hens (and one more not pictured) were brought here by their previous owner who had stuffed them in a tiny box. She didn't speak English and wasn't able to communicate much more than she didn't want them, but I could see that either we take them or sadly the next stop could have been to the dumpster or worse. Upon freeing them from their itty bitty box I found that all four of them were terribly infested with scaly leg mites. Kept separate from the rest of the farm birds, I treated them daily and after several months were adopted and now live at their loving, forever home.Cosmo was a rejected pet. His previous owner had developed an allergy to him and forced him to live outdoors. Thankfully a cat rescue took him in however he was miserable hiding under beds and running from anything that moved. Once he joined us it took quite some time and patience waiting for Cosmo to come around and eventually over months time allowed us to pet him. Now, 3 years later he is a lap cat but also enjoys his new life living on a farm.Mona and Maria were brought to the farm by their owner, a pleasant older Italian gentlemen who could no longer care for them. He spoke to them in Italian to which they responded. He was terribly upset about having to give them up, but visited them several times before he sadly passed away. Mona has a limp probably caused by a niacin deficiently as a duckling, but she gets around well enough to swim in the pool with the others.Mrs. Chicken is the newest addition to the sanctuary. She was brought here by a caring woman who says the hen showed up on her doorstep on a cold, snowy night. Thankfully Mrs. Chicken chose the right house as she was allowed to spend the night indoors out of the cold. Due to the fact that there was a dog living in the house and the two didn't get along, she was brought here to the farm. Upon inspecting the Red Star hen I first noticed the clipped beak indicating that she had probably come from a production farm. She was also infested with the worse case of feather lice I had ever seen so currently she is being treated and is quarantined to her own pen, but will eventually move in the with rest of the flock once she is healed.Belle and Kelly are Cotswold sheep and came to us from the Suffolk County Farm who were "downsizing" at the time. These two sweethearts were to become dinner if they didn't have a new home to go to. I was grateful to receive them and we have all enjoyed their marvelous dispositions and the affection they give to anyone who is willing to give them a scratch.The space these girls are sharing is fairly tight and enclosed by used, fencing. During the time the ewes have lived here, the already weathered fence has worn down from the girls leaning against it. We've repaired two of the panels a number of times, but now needs to be replaced pronto. Unfortunately, because we are already struggling with the feed and veterinarian bills we cannot afford a new fence at this time. The sheep pen is situated near the back of the property where there is space to add a much larger fenced in area for the sheep to live in. This space would measure approximately 60'X75', is much larger than their current 22'X22' pen and would give the girls room to run and leap as they do when they're happy. An area of this size will give us the opportunity to possibly take in a few more animals in need of either a temporary or permanent home as well.
We are asking our friends to make a donation in support of this project. Any bit you could contribute would be well appreciated and if we reach our goal we will be able to provide a more comfortable environment for our farm rescues. Please find it in your hearts to give what you can and please share this fund raiser with your friends.
Once we've raised the funding needed and have the site prepared we will gather up friends and volunteers to come together and see this project through. We will roll up our sleeves, dig holes for the posts and construct the fencing as a team. I'm really looking forward to seeing my girls leaping with joy in their new space and hope to continue to run a safe haven for unwanted farm animals.
Sweet Woodland Farm is working in collaboration with the Isabella's House Maternity shelter which operates under a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by law.
Much love to you!
Rachel Stephens
Sweet Woodland Farm
Organizer
Rachel Bristel Stephens
Organizer
Hampton Bays, NY
