Meet the Goats and Sheep — Merrymac Farm Sanctuary

Bonnie joined MMFS during the late spring of 2024 when her family had given up on goats and she was headed towards being culled. Her history of having meningeal worms has impacted her neurological ability to walk perfectly, but she still gets around quite well. Bonnie is around 12-14 years old, but has a very determined personality to still be present in just about everything going on at the sanctuary. She LOVES people, and most likely when visiting the sanctuary you will be greeted by her. We have worked hard to bring her health up to date which had been neglected. Her feet were very overgrown, and she was very underweight.

Chester and Willow came later in the winter of 2022, as a concerned citizen was working on rehoming the most severe goats from a local neglect case. Both were under weight and Willow had a broken leg that had been allowed to heal without care. Today they are doing much better. Willow was able to regain the use of his front leg because he had time to heal here without being bullied, and he had proper nutrients helping him finish growing.

Doris and Dudley joined MMFS in the spring of 2024 after they had a traumatic birth at a southern Vermont farm where they both almost died during their delivery. Their birth was rough and they both had extreme soft tissue damage from being yanked out. Dudley had more damage occur, or his positioning in the womb was a bit off, but he had a much harder time rehabbing. We went through many rounds of antibiotics because both of them had "failure to thrive syndrome". Today they both are full of love, and we celebrate each day we have with them as they graze out in the big fields with the rest of our sheep. We love you D&D!

Jar-Jar came to MMFS, in the winter of 2022, from a very loved home and had wonderful care. Unfortunately, his owners were making life changes and he needed a new home. We were very happy to provide him with a safe and permanent one!

Kermit joined MMFS in the spring of 2023 along with two other sheep. He is an affection-loving boy who could not walk when he was born. A NOFA intern worked with him to regain his ability to walk. Many male lambs are harvested for meat, but not special Kermit who was rescued after working so hard to get well. Seeing his zoomies around the barn will put a smile on anyone’s face.

Luca came with Kermit MMFS. Sheep are herd animals an should not live alone. Luca and Kermit are best buddies. Most male lambs are harvested for meat, but not Kermit and Luca, they will stay with us and be happy farm animals. They are very social and love people which is unique for a sheep.

Mildred arrived with Coco to MMFS in October 2023. Mildred’s creamy white face and fleece are so endearing. She is more timid than Coco, but mild mannered. She has had many, many lambs over the years and is now retired. No more breeding for our girl, she deserves to graze and rest all she wants in her retirement years.

Milka was born as a triplet. She would likely not have survived if she were not removed from her mother and hand raised. She was bottle fed and gently cared for by a friend of MMFS look her under her wing and nursed her back to health. She is now with MMFS and our little flock of sheep as a permanent home. Milka is a sensitive little sheep with beautiful coloring. We love her sweet spirit.

Norma-Jean was an unexpected surprise of Billie-Jean (her mom) that MMFS got this past spring of 2024. We took in a large group of goats from a dairy closing down in 2023 and Billie-Jean was one of the adults who joined us. We noticed her belly growing during the late winter and suspected she might be pregnant. After ultrasounding her we saw we would be having a baby in the springtime! Norma-Jean was born to BJ, and we have loved her every day since then. It is so nice when a baby goat can grow up with her mom and nurse, and not be taken away because her mom has to go into milk production. May they live a long life together having each other!

Peggy is a very small lamb who broke her leg early in life. Normally lambs who have such a severe injury do not survive. A friend of MMFS raised her with tender care in her home. Peggy has been all around Burlington, VT as a little lamb and would bring a smile to any face seeing her in the car happy to join along with her foster mom. She grew big enough and healthy enough to join our flock.

Pixie came to MMFS during the busy spring of 2024. There was a call for a farm sanctuary to step up to help out a goat farmer that had a baby needing more focused time to help with some soft tissue defects from a traumatic birth. Pixie was born out of a very young mom, and she was a very large baby. When she arrived at MMFS, she was unable to walk well on her legs. We consulted with our vet and worked each day massaging her soft tissue. Through many months of massage and four rounds of antibiotics we have a strong healthy girl who now prances and jumps all over the farm, and one would never know she had any problems. This is why sanctuaries are so important. We give each animal their own time to heal and be who they need to be.

Samuel is a young male goat who was found wandering on the Shelburne/South Burlington line. He was caught by the Shelburne police who probably struggled a bit to catch him because he is a bit on the wild side. How he got loose we do not know. No one ever came forward to claim him. Samuel has settled in to MMFS with Willow and Chester who are around the same age as him. Each day Samuel is becoming more comfortable being around people and other animals. We have worked to bring his vaccines/deworming up to date as well.

Shadow and Queen came soon after Jar-Jar, barely escaping a horrible neglect case where they both had been left with permanent foot issues. Extensive foot rot and lack of trimming used to make both of them walk on their knees when then got tired. But thanks to proper care, they do this less and less every day!

Coco at MMFS in October 2023. Coco is a very impressively tall ewe with a beautiful dark face. She is very expressive and tells us with her BAAA what she needs. She was hand raised because she aspirated fluid when she was born. She was thought to have no chance of living. A woman offered to take her from the farm and try to nurse her back to health. And it worked! She grew and grew. Now she is a retired breeding ewe, and will be at MMFS for her retirement