Lots of farmers and ranchers open their operations to animals of all kinds. Farm Life Creamery’s petting farm has proved to be no different. From goats and pigs to emus and alpacas, Farm Life Creamery has an array of creatures to have fun with. Continue reading to learn what other animals Farm Life Creamery has and how the Petting Farm came to be.
Starting the Petting Farm
When I (Laura) moved to the farm, before the creamery, I came with my horse that I had boarded elsewhere. Then it seemed natural that friends, and friends of friends, started asking – hey, do you want a goat? My friend has a pig that needs a home, do you have room? Yes, that’s how it started. Two goats turned into 12, and 1 pig became 6 because the one sure needed some friends. Then, the goats started climbing on the cars, so a nice little penned area was formed. Then people would visit and want to see the animals as much as they wanted to see us.
And once the pigs and goats got nice pens, then we decided a couple of chickens would be nice for some eggs. Maybe a few ducks? Ducks really need a pond, let’s dig a hole. Hey, we have room over there for another pen…..
Growing the Petting Farm
And the rest, as they say, is history. We started developing the creamery and the concept of creating an agritourism destination, allowing people to visit and spend time here at the farm. Of course, we needed a couple of Holsteins from the dairy to live here when the creamery started. Who wouldn’t want to pet one as 
they learn about where milk comes from and how dairy products are processed? So Farm Life Creamery’s petting farm became part of the attraction, which simply gave license to make a list! We then sought out alpacas, a llama, a highland cow, emus. Beyond that list, we accepted re-homes. Since December of 2023, we’ve received 15 more creatures. Lambs, goats, a couple more alpacas, another Saint Bernard, a horse, a bunny, and a family of Icelandic sheep. Why not?
Come Visit!
When we invite you to Farm Life Creamery, we are inviting you to our home. Our pens aren’t fancy and most are constructed of recycled posts, even some telephone poles, but there’s a lot
of love here to share. When you visit, you will find quite an array of critters that live here and have been instructed that their job is to bring joy to our visitors. They all take their job pretty seriously!
The local FFA group helped write informational signs for the pens to educate about our animals. And Rex, our 190lb Saint Bernard, is our greeter. I literally receive messages – “We plan to come saturday and my daughter needs to know if Rex will be there”. So come, step into the new interactive “happy hooves hangout” or feed a treat to our Holstein, Oreo!