The animals that live here at Ancient Spring Farm all have big personalities! Meet some of them below.
Darcy
Darcy is the farm watchdog and chicken protector extraordinaire. She was born in New Mexico, lived in Colorado, and then traveled with three beloved chickens to the farm. Nothing gets past her, be it a squirrel, a delivery person, or the vulture that likes to sit on top of the chimney.
Warlock
Warlock is a mustang who was born in the wild on the California/Nevada border in 2009. Having subsequently lived in Colorado, he's not too thrilled by the bugs and humidity here at the farm, although he certainly loves his big pastures! He's super smart and does hunter/jumper, trail riding, and driving. He'd love to have some horse friends but right now his good buddies are Sid and Fred.
Sid
Sid is a Boer goat who was born on the farm in February 2020. He's the sweetest goat around! Don't let his sweetness fool you, though. He can definitely do some roughhousing with his best friend, Fred!
Fred
Fred is a Boer, Alpine, Nubian-cross goat who was born around the same time as Sid. Fred can be very sweet and loves to get his chin rubbed. However, Fred is quite the jumper and head-butter and can be downright ornery at times, too! Fred is obsessed with Warlock, and mostly Fred gets ornery when Warlock leaves his sight.
Louie
You might think from this photo that Louie is one tough dude, and you'd be right. At somewhere around 16 years old, he's an impressively smart and resourceful barn cat! But he'll also melt into a love bug when he gets pets, rubs, and treats, which he requests regularly. Louie was born on the neighbor's property but has lived on the farm for many years.
Smokey
Smokey is young, wily, and very friendly. But watch out for those teeth and claws if he decides he's had enough attention! It took a while for Smokey and Louie to warm up to each other but now they're hunting and treat-begging partners. He's kind of obsessed with the chickens but thankfully they're too big for him. Listen for his soft meow as he appears out of nowhere for some love!
The 2022 Ladies
Five little ladies came to the farm in summer 2022 after spending the first month of their lives with a broody hen at our friends' farm down the road. They're long grown now and laying delicious, healthy, free range eggs for sale here at the farm! The ladies are Emilie (Starlight Green Egger), Ida (Welsummer), Hazella (Cinnamon Queen), Leona (Ameraucana), and Lavender (Lavender Orpington). They contribute a lot of fun and personality to the farm! RIP sweet Hedwig from Colorado (the black lady pictured with them).
The 2023 Ladies
Four new teenage ladies came to the farm on April 1, 2023. They're adults now, too, and are laying more delicious free range eggs for sale here at the farm! These ladies are Bet (Barred Plymouth Rock), Violet (Sapphire Gem), May (Columbian Wyandotte), and Frieda (Blue-Laced Gold Wyandotte).
The Traveling Ladies
Five more chicks joined the farm in mid-May 2023 to help meet the local demand for high-quality free-range eggs. They're also part of our biodynamic approach to farming: they live in a mobile coop in the pastures so they can help break up horse and goat manure, eat bugs, and contribute their own compost to improve pasture health. They also lay large and colorful eggs. These chicks were named for traveling ladies but gave us a surprise, as one of them turned out to be a gent! Meet Nellie Bly (White Leghorn) (RIP), Thelma (Rhode Island Red), Nina Simone (RIP) and Koko Taylor (Eastereggers). J.D. (initially named Louise) is doing a great job guarding his "sisters" and all of the other ladies.
The 2025 Ladies
We just welcomed six new young ladies to the farm in early March 2025! In a few months they'll be producing many more delicious and colorful eggs for sale. Meet Daisy (Speckled Sussex), Shashthi (Buff Brahma), Artilda (Silver-laced Wyandotte), Josephine (Black Australorp), Alice (Buff Orpington), and Marge (Ameraucana)!
Johnny
Two of Lookout Mountain Goats' adorable 29 fainting goat (myotonic goat) bucklings we hosted in 2022 are now permanent residents of Ancient Spring Farm! We picked these boys for their good looks and big personalities. As with all of the bucklings, we named these two in relation to their moms' names.
Johnny's mom's name is Hot Topic. Who was in the news in summer 2022 and who played a pirate (pirates often have eye patches, right?) in some movies? That's right, Johnny Depp!
Chalky
Chalky's mom's name is Climber, and Chalky was the most agile and jumpiest of the fainting goat bucklings. When Chalky came to the farm, we laughed at the juxtaposition of his black balls (teehee) and his mostly white body. They reminded us of a rock climber's Chalk Bag (Chalky's full name). Alas, Johnny and Chalky had to give up those parts of themselves in order to live as pets on Ancient Spring Farm but we hope their good lives here will make up for that sacrifice!
Ancient Spring Farm Goat Breeding
In summer 2023, we added four female fainting goats to our herd. In November 2023, we bred our two older girls (Aon and Binn Dubh) to a studly Lookout Mountain Goats buckling we named Quest. Aon didn't settle but Dubh did. In November 2024, we bred all four girls to a different studly Lookout Mountain Goats buckling we named Moolah and all settled!
Aon (Hot Item)
Aon (meaning one in Gaelic) is registered as Hot Item (mom is Hot Topic) and is Johnny's full sister! She and her friend Dubh are the 2023 foundations of our fainting goat breeding program. In early April 2025, Aon had twin boys Dino (from Gaelic duine meaning one) and Bert (from Gaelic beirt meaning a pair). These big boys are for sale ($250 each) and available for pickup after they're weaned in July 2025!
Binn Dubh (Mountain Top)
Aon's friend Bin Dubh (meaning black peak in Gaelic) is registered as Mountain Top (mom is Mentone, a town in Alabama near Lookout Mountain) and is our other foundational doe. Aon and Dubh aren't at all related but look how similar their coloring is! Dubh gave birth to Carn Fionn (see below) in April 2024. In late March 2025, Dubh had twin girls Downy (from Gaelic beinn donn meaning brown hill) and Tully (from Gaelic toll dubh meaning black hole). These pretty and friendly girls are for sale ($350 each) and available for pickup after they're weaned in July 2025!
Fabulocity
Two younger doelings also joined the farm family as 2024 breeders. Fabulocity's mom, Fabulous Felicity, had three babies and decided that taking care of two was enough. So Lookout Mountain Goats bottle raised Fabulocity and she became a real sweetheart who loves people! Now she's Ancient Spring Farm's fainting goat ambassador in addition to the fattest and fluffiest goat you've ever seen. In early April, Fabulocity gave birth to twin boys Fabuloso (mostly brown) and Fabaceous (mostly white). These sweet and strikingly colored boys with blue eyes are for sale ($400 for Fabuloso, who's a great breeding buck prospect, and $300 for Fabaceous) and available for pickup after they're weaned in mid-July.
Flyer
Flyer is our other 2024 breeding doe. It turns out she's Chalky's younger sister! Both Flyer and Chalky inherited a lucky (quirky) foot from their mom, Climber, and yet both (like their mom) are the most agile goats we have. They love to climb and jump on things! In late March 2025, Flyer had twin girls Glider (who we helped pull out during a difficult labor) and Caver (who spent a long time in the birth canal and has a spot of light on top of her black head). Glider (more white, on left in photo) is for sale ($350) and available for pickup in early July after she's weaned. Glider will likely become a permanent resident and future breeder at Ancient Spring Farm!
Carn Fionn
Fionn is a confident and friendly young guy and the first of our homebred fainting goats. He's now for sale ($200) and will make a great pet, livestock companion, or other of your choosing!
The Pheasants
In February of each year, one or more pheasants escape death at the neighboring sporting club and make their temporary home at the farm. Bonnie Prince Charlie arrived in early 2022. He spent much of his time near Warlock or around the chicken and guinea coops but sometimes cruised past the house and garden and visited the bird feeders.
In 2023, a whole new group of stunning male pheasants and their harems of females arrived. Four males circled the house one evening, and one male brought eight (!) ladies to the coop area one morning.
In 2024, a strikingly colored pheasant spent a lot of time at the farm. Mr. Gray was very tame and regularly came up to ask for food!
Chuck
In summer 2023, a new wild friend became a regular around the barn: Chuck the groundhog who appears to live in a hole under some cedar logs and comes out to graze in the pasture near the barn.
The Deer
There's a longstanding tradition of at least one doe giving birth in the farm's east pasture. Two fawns grew up there in late summer 2023 and one stayed through the end of the year. Fawna spent much of her days grazing near Warlock and the goats and even came back toward the barn with them when they came in for the night. In 2024, Fawna gave birth to her own twins in the east pasture! The fawns were gone by early 2025 but now Fawna's daughter Meg (for megafauna) has chosen to stay in the east pasture with our domesticated animals.
