Happy Anniversary Whispering Acres

Six years ago today, this all started with six chickens.

That’s it.No big plan. No blueprint. Just a pull in my heart that I couldn’t ignore.

And somehow… that small beginning became something I could have never imagined.

Today, Whispering Acres Farm Animal Sanctuary turns six years old.

In those six years, together—we have:

• Helped over 7,000 animals and their people

• Kept families together by educating owners so they could properly care for and keep the animals they love

• Opened our gates to animals from domestic violence situations, giving them safety while their humans found theirs

• Fostered animals so people could enter inpatient mental health and detox programs without having to choose between healing and their animals

• Worked alongside humane agencies to rescue animals from conditions that still keep me up at night

• Provided feed, shelter, veterinary care, and love—over and over and over again

  
  

Right now, we have 87 permanent residents—animals who cannot be adopted out due to medical or behavioral needs. They are safe. They are home. They are ours.

And what we’ve built… it still doesn’t feel real sometimes.

We started with a few small chicken coops in the spring of 2020.

Now we have:

• 4 acres of fenced pasture for safe species separation

• A 4,000 sq ft barn

• A 1,200 sq ft barn

• Over 3,000 sq ft of additional livestock housing

• And—something I once thought was just a dream—running electric and water to the main barn
  

After years of extension cords, frozen hoses, and hauling 300 gallons of water every two days in the winter…this piece alone feels like a miracle.

The Illuminating Company will be completing the final steps in the coming weeks, and I still catch myself just standing there, trying to take it in.

The numbers tell one story…

• 624,000 tons of hay fed

• 109,500 pounds of grain

• 50,544 cubic feet of sawdust

• 30,000+ volunteer and community service hours

But the truth?

The real story is in the moments.

It’s in:

• Bottle-feeding tiny goats and lambs in the middle of the night

• Driving a foal home in the back seat of a truck

• Goats and sheep riding shotgun like it’s completely normal

• Emergency runs to The Ohio State University in the middle of the night, praying the whole way

• Talking to our vet at least twice a week

• Monthly farrier visits that somehow always turn into full-day events

• Falling flat in the mud trying to catch animals on humane seizures

• Losing boots… ripping pants… questioning every life decision 😅

• And still showing up the next day to do it all again

We’ve marched in parades.Hosted therapy sessions.Taught workshops.Worked with Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H clubs, and veterinary students.

We’ve networked with countless organizations to move animals across states—finding forever homes for pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, horses, donkeys, alpacas, turkeys, peacocks, rabbits, ducks, and barn cats.

The calls never stop.

And honestly… I don’t want them to.

But none of this—not one single piece—happens without the people behind it.

Our volunteers are the hardest working, most selfless humans I know.

They show up in the cold, in the mud, in the chaos.They carry buckets, bottle-feed babies, fix fences, clean stalls, and love animals that most of the world has given up on.

They don’t do it for recognition.They do it because it matters.

And it does.

Six years ago, it was six chickens.

Today, it’s a community.A sanctuary.A safe place—for animals and for people.

A place where broken things come to heal.

If you’ve ever donated… volunteered… shared a post… said a prayer… or even just believed in what we’re doing—

You are part of this story.

And I hope you know how much that means.

We’re six years in.

And we’re just getting started.

With a full heart and a whole lot of mud on my boots,Thank you for walking this road with us.