As a nonprofit, your donations help us keep the many animals on the farm happy and healthy. Learn about each of our animals below and choose which one you’d like to support! Thank you for helping to keep Farm at Water’s Edge thriving for our community and HCSEG’s many environmental education programs.
Our diverse chicken flock is made up of a mixture of several different chicken breeds, including Brahmas, Leghorns, Buff Orpingtons, Australorps, and Barred Rock. We have one rooster, Henry, and a group of hens, all of whom provide a range of benefits to the Farm at Water’s Edge. For example, they are an effective natural weed and pest suppressant. As they scratch at the earth and forage about, they are not only churning up insects to snack on, but also weed seeds. In addition, many of our garden and food scraps go to the chickens. They love munching on tasty kale leaves, melon, squash, tomatoes, and more! Our chickens’ eggs are also periodically available to the public, for a donation of $6 per dozen.
You may see one chicken alone in her own pen when you visit the farm. This is our sweet girl, House. She has lost most of her eyesight, but is healthy as a hen otherwise! House stays away from other hens as it is easier to get around, find her food, and avoid conflict with the other hens who just don’t understand why she keeps bumping into things.
While chickens might first come to mind when you think of poultry, ducks make for equally great farm animals. We have two Muscovy ducks who offer many benefits to our garden. We utilize their nitrogen-rich manure as a natural fertilizer in garden beds, and through foraging they help control common garden pests like slugs, snails, grasshoppers, beetles, grubs, and more. As waterfowl, ducks have waterproof feathers that provide a layer of warm insulation. This makes them particularly well suited for our cool, wet coastal climate. Our sweet girl also supplies us with eggs. Our duck eggs are periodically available to the public, for a donation of $4 per ½ dozen. Duck eggs are larger than chicken eggs and have a larger yolk , making them richer, creamier and excellent for baking!
The newest animal addition on the Farm at Water’s Edge are our Jacob sheep. On Halloween of 2023, we welcomed 3 Jacob sheep. Sheep are excellent weed eaters and are well adapted to graze in a wide variety of environments. They aren’t as picky as other weed-control livestock, and are known to enjoy crunching on thorny invasive himalayan blackberry. Their manure contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, making it an excellent soil amendment for our gardens.
Hank is the grandfather of Lucy and Scarlett, a role so important, he has a grandpa name to match. Hank is highly food motivated, escaping once, only to go straight into the barn where hay is stored. This was likely the best day of his life. He was swiftly herded back into his pen with a scoop of alfalfa pellets. He is also the loudest of the bunch – if visitors and staff pass by before morning feeding time, they are sure to be greeted with loud bleating. His grumbling “Baaaaa” roughly translates to “I’m withering away.” Despite the theatrics, he is well fed and quite the sweetheart.
Lucy has four horns, two of which point straight up and another two on the side of her head. Lucy is our most portly sheep and many visitors ask us if she’s carrying any baby sheep. She isn’t pregnant, she just has a healthy appetite! An appetite so healthy that you may be lucky enough to see her repeatedly hit her horns against the fence if you walk by before their breakfast. This action signals to bystanders that she is hangry, and wants to be fed promptly.
Scarlett has a black and white face, and is on the shyer side. She can be seen hiding behind tractors, fence posts, sometimes even hiding behind Lucy and Hank. Despite her coy demeanor, she often gets the zoomies, chasing her family up and down the pasture.
Perhaps the most entertaining animals on the Farm at Water’s Edge, our goats are beloved by staff and visitors alike for their playful, mischievous personalities. Goats are known to be good at finding trouble and getting themselves stuck in the most unlikely of situations! Unfortunately for our Pacific Northwest-dwelling herd, they notoriously despise the rain, but are otherwise generally hardy animals. Goats are impressive grazers adept at controlling all sorts of weeds. In the summer when weeds start to run rampant, we use our goats as automatic lawn mowers – letting them out to pasture in the farm’s weediest areas. Their manure also goes into the garden as a fertilizer at the end of the growing season to replenish a variety of beneficial nutrients. Fun fact: goats have rectangular pupils! This gives them stellar peripheral vision to help keep an eye out for predators. It also makes them look particularly ridiculous in photos.
Tater Tot is our resident sweetheart. He always wears a smile on his face, and has an affectionate personality. He will take all the head scratches he can get! He loves roughhousing with his best friend, Ernie, climbing on his play structure, and laying by the barn to soak up its warmth on sunny days.
Sapling is the only girl in our herd, and a well known escape artist. Her small size makes for excellent travel in small gaps in fencing that are otherwise invisible to the naked eye. Her stealth and size means you may see her separated from the other goats who are just too well fed to make it to the pasture she snuck into. She dreams that one day she may be recognized and welcomed as one of the alpacas.
The boisterous leader of our goat herd, Ernie is as friendly and outgoing as they come! But watch out – given the chance, he’ll nibble anything he can get his teeth on, including jackets, gloves, pants, and boots. He’s one to keep an eye on, as he is particularly talented at finding trouble.
Barnabas wears a green collar and has one floppy horn atop his head. He is rarely mischievous, rarely causing farm staff and volunteers much trouble. His laid back demeanor means you can find him sunbathing, grazing and lazing about. He is also one of the roundest goats in the herd.
Originating from mountainous regions of South America, both alpacas and llamas are members of the camel family. Alpacas grow special hair called “fiber” which is highly valued for being warmer, softer, and stronger than wool. The larger companions to alpacas – our two llamas – have reputations for being good livestock guardians. If provoked, they will spit and kick to defend their herd; however, both alpacas and llamas are typically docile (albeit stubborn) creatures. Members of our youth 4-H Club work with our alpacas regularly to keep them comfortable with being handled by humans. Furthermore, alpaca & llama manure is one of the most desirable natural fertilizers due to its high nutrient concentration. We spread it on garden beds at the end of the season to cultivate nutrient-rich soil that will be ready for planting come spring!
With her big, dreamy eyes, long eyelashes, and curly locks, Nora is certainly the beauty queen of our alpaca herd. Her laid-back temperament makes her particularly well-suited to work with our 4-H kids. She serves as an excellent teacher, allowing kids to practice harnessing and walking her around the farm. This is not always an easy feat, however, as she still has that classic alpaca stubbornness and loves munching on grass!
Sophia can be easily identified by the adorable tassels that stick out of her ears. Alongside Nora, she is utilized by our 4-H club members every other week who practice their handling skills with her. Sophia enjoys climbing atop the hill in the pasture, tasting grass alongside the road during walks with 4-H members, and hanging out with her alpaca buddies.
Olivia is our alpaca herd’s senior citizen. As such, her fiber takes longer to grow out, so you may see her wearing a coat in the winter months to help keep her warm. While she may appear quite petite compared to the other members of the herd – don’t let her looks deceive you! Our Olivia is small but mighty.
To spot Checkers, look for the tuft of white on her chin. Perhaps a fashionista ahead of her time, she always seems to have her head adorned with strands of hay. Checkers’ spunky attitude has earned her a special place in the hearts of many.
As the only male llama, Apollo is our herd’s fearless leader. However, this is not reflected in his signature high-pitched humming sound that he makes when he wants to be let out to pasture, or when food is just out of his reach. Yet some may say that with his regal stature, majestic wavy locks, and striking blue eyes Apollo surely lives up to his name.
Mariah is our only female llama. A diva through and through, her matriarchal role within the herd is no question. Often the most staunch opponent of coming in from the pasture, she only does things on her terms. Deep down, though, we suspect our cranky Mariah might actually be a softy – she occasionally greets new visitors with some gentle sniffs, her llama way of saying “hello.”
Our cute and cuddly rabbit companions-Ojos, JoJo and Pip- eagerly greet visitors who pass by their hutches on their way to the Bark Park. They enjoy snacking on grass and leafy green leftovers from the garden. Our rabbits are also important to our 4H club – members work with them to learn important principles of animal husbandry and develop the skills necessary to care for farm animals. Some favorite activities of our bunnies include hopping around and exploring, soaking up warmth from the sun or heat lamps, and digging nests.
Ojos de la Luna de Nieve, meaning “Eyes of the Snow Moon,” goes by Ojos for short. He has a friendly and laid-back personality, and enjoys meeting new people by sticking his nose through the fence to sniff “hello”. He is a patient teacher with our 4-H club members, who practice skills like rabbit handling, grooming, and cleaning the hutch. As reflected in his name, Ojos loves the snow! He finds it perfect for burrowing and digging, and enjoys nothing more than the feeling of the sun on his back and cold snow underfoot.
JoJo came to the Farm at Water’s Edge in September 2022 when he was just 10 weeks old. He was the runt of the litter, and had floppy ears caused by his mother over-grooming him. Since then, he has grown into quite an exuberant bunny! If you’re lucky enough to come by the farm on a day when JoJo is let out of his hutch to stretch his legs, you’ll see his incredible flying leaps, kicks, and other unmatched aerial acrobatics.
Pip is our most recent rabbit addition, arriving at the Farm at Water’s Edge in the summer of 2023. He shares a hutch with Ojos, and they can often be found snuggling up and napping together. Pip has a loving and calm personality, making him a wonderful companion for Ojos. He gets along well with other rabbits, can be shy around new people, and enjoys munching on crisp kale from the garden.
