🐄🦙🐐🐏🐖🐓🦃🦢🦆
📍 Whidbey Island (Seattle)
🌱 Powered by plants and SSRIs
💸 501(c)(3) nonprofit
(3)
This Farm Fashion Friday is brought to you by... Friday! When she first arrived at Ballydidean, she had a knack for escaping (a trait her daughter Petunia seems to have inherited.) We gave her a harness to make catching her easier. Luckily, after she gave birth to her piglets and was spayed, she has mellowed out and is now happy as can be in the piggy pasture!
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This Thirsty Thursday goes out to Old Earl! His thirst for life just keeps on going! He's our oldest goat, coming in at around 15 years old! Somehow, he just keeps on chugging along and we are happy to see him do so.
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Last week we had a visit from Sarah's best friend, Hannah, and her sweet baby, Una. She and Gwen had a great time exploring the farm together!
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Happy birthday to Sarah! Ballydídean would not be what it is today without our matriarch's hard work, creativity, and resilience. Running a farm sanctuary is intense. Not only can it be physically exhausting but it's deeply emotionally exhausting everyday. Sarah gets up every day and chooses this life. She chooses to care, to not turn a blind eye, and keep going.
We, her friends and family, are all inspired by her every day! We are so excited to celebrate her and see what her next year of life will bring!
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📢 Calling all teens!
Join us for our second year of the program at Ballydídean. We only have a few new openings left because we have so many returning students so get 'em while they're hot!
Lean hands-on compassionate animal care alongside conservation, leadership, food, and more.
https://ballydidean.farm/leap
A golden sunset and a happy Fintan! Life is good. Hope you all have a lovely weekend!
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Splish splash I was taking a bath!
We love to see our special needs ducks enjoying their lives to the fullest!
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🕯️ Goodbye Blueberry
It's been a rough week...
When Blueberry came to us this spring, she was already 14 years old (10-12 is typical). She was very underweight and she had a condition causing her skin to flake and her hair to fall out. She had also lost her front teeth and so her tongue hanged out playfully all the time. We got her skin and coat in much better shape but she was struggling to put on weight.
Her health issues never held her back though! She loved people and cuddles. You could hear her voice from across the pasture as she ran up to greet every tour. She became an instant hit with visitors young and old and she even made an appearance at our educational booth at the fair!
One of our morning loop volunteers let us know that Blueberry didn't come bounding up to say hi like she normally did. We rushed out to check on her and we found her unable to stand up and bloated with gas. Dr. Sandi came right away but it was clear that Blueberry was in multi-organ failure and it was time for her to go. She is survived by her friends in the old goat herd: Bertha, Bea, Grout, Nutmeg, and Yodelai.
We'll miss you Bluebs. You were a good ambassador and a great friend.
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If I fits, I sits!
This Thirsty Thursday is a little extra thirsty because Yodelai sat in the water trough! Good for you Yodelai! Happy to see you comfy!
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Alpacas are very skittish animals and unless you're handling them every day from when they're babies they usually won't come up for pets. However sometimes we have to catch them, either for a hoof trim, a haircut, or in this case because Spryng had found baling twine and wrapped it around her neck...
Once we got her and took it off she hung around for a few cuddles 🥰
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We are so lucky to have Silver as an ambassador rooster. He is friendly, curious, and has great hair! But when I say "you have to come back to the coop at night", I was thinking inside...
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Cork! A brave soul, a curious spirit, and a real sweetheart. He has really rallied since his brother, Kenny, passed away last summer. He's a wonderful ambassador to the many folks who take tours with us. People often say "I had no idea sheep were so friendly! I always thought they were skittish." It's amazing to see what a gentle life of love and care can do for an animal.
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It's always amazing to see animal camouflage at work. Can you find Bertha?
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If someone has a special request for an animal they'd like to see on a tour, it's almost always a cow. They're among the least likely for someone to have met elsewhere and people are so drawn to them. It was a delight showing .asmussen and around again. This was the second time Molly surprised Amy with a tour of Ballydídean to visit the cows (though I think I prefer their pronunciation: "bah-DAL-a-bean").
📷 .asmussen
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🕯️ Goodbye Maria Kate
It's been a tragic week here at Ballydídean. Today was supposed to be the day we introduced you all to beautiful three-week-old goat Maria. But instead, we had to say goodbye. We got a call from a monastery in eastern WA (yes, apparently that's a thing). The nuns there breed and milk goats but had a baby who was not thriving. She had been born with a crooked jaw and twisted leg (Dr. Sandi suspects this was from being in an unfortunate position in utero with 1-2 siblings). She also had a persistent cough (usually a sign of pneumonia or internal parasites) and had trouble latching. A challenging case for sure but as always we were optimistic. Farmhand Kate spent a 12 hour day driving there and back to pick Maria up.
Over the next five days we did absolutely everything in our power to give Maria the best chance. She got a blood transfusion from Park, she got the CDT vaccine, multiple vitamin/mineral supplement shots, dewormer, two antibiotics, supplemental heat, probiotic yogurt, subcutaneous fluids, and more. But unfortunately, it wasn't enough and Maria passed away in her sleep next to me.
We had a necropsy done which showed that she had a runaway clostridial infection in her lower GI. Ultimately she died because the nuns at the monastery did not ensure that she got enough colostrum from her mom or vaccinate her for CDT when she was born. Not that I was running low on reasons to hate the church, but this certainly doesn't help.
Run free Maria. You were a sweet, adventurous, girl who deserved better.
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Gwen has expressed interest in learning how to ride horses. For now she's settling for riding her cousin 🤣.
Gwen and I met up with my parents, a bunch of my cousins, and one of her cousins at for a mini family reunion. We had a great time swimming, riding bikes, searching for sea glass, etc.
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Our neighbor, Jake at , and Dulce the duck are fast friends! It's crazy to see how Dulce gets bigger by the day.
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Get ready for upcoming events!
During the month of August, We will be selling wine, beer, and mead during Island Shakespeare Festival shows. All alcohol sales will benefit Ballydídean Farm Sanctuary!
This year, the Island Shakespeare festival is performing King Lear and The Lucky Chance, a comedy featuring headstrong heroines! https://islandshakespearefest.org/
August 18th is our monthly drop in volunteer day. Come help us maintain the sanctuary and provide enrichment for the animals. We recommend bringing a water bottle, sun protection, and clothes/shoes that you don’t mind getting a little dirty
And looking ahead to September, for the second year in a row, Ballydídean will be participating in the Greenbank Farm Harvest Faire. We will bring several of our best animal ambassadors to say hello. Word on the street is that there will be a pie eating contest. I think Petunia could have a real chance at a gold medal!
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Happy cuddles with Sarah and Arnold!
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Pasture Pals! From a distance, Ash almost looks like he could be a calf!
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Farm fashion Friday. Not sure what to wear to your next event? Silver says try a custom painted bucket! This is sure to wow your friends and family. Silver is sure that "farm implements" will be the next Met Gala Theme.
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This Thirsty Thursday goes out to Sarah and this handsome gentleman, Blasket. We think Sarah has the most beautiful curls so it was so fun to find a sheep embracing his curls too!
We love all our queens wearing curly crowns!
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Grey summer days mean cozy jammies for Gwen.
Also.... is she floating? So cool what the youth of today are bringing to the table.
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"The last dandelion...."
I firmly believe that Blueberry would see Sid the Sloth as family. He would certainly be welcomed as a resident at Ballydídean.
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Lazy Sundays with Petunia! We hope you've all had a relaxing weekend.
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Bingley - an animal who looks very cute and will ask for pets but only wants love from Sarah.
Ash - an animal who looks scary but when he's off duty, only wants hot carbs and belly rubs.
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Two of the volunteers from our last work party help cut up donated veggies from the Clinton Food Mart while Dom picks up the scraps.
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birth announcement!
We try not to make babies here because there are more than enough babies in the world that already need our help, but sometimes life finds a way... A mama Muscovy managed to hide an eggs from us long enough that it actually hatched!
Gwen found baby Dulce during a tour with who took the photo of mama and baby together.
We brought them both inside where we can make sure that baby gets the heat, food, and attention that she needs to thrive.
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When Petunia goes on car rides, O'Malley gets anxious so he gets to have an indoor day
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Happy Monday and Happy PRIDE. No it's not June anymore but this is the second time our pride flag has been torn down and every time it happens is a reminder of why it needs to be flown. Because q***r people in our communities have to wonder if they are safe. Until they are, it will keep flying. By all means keep tearing it down if the existence of q***r people is that offensive to you. Every hate crime will be reported to the police. And every flag we replace is more money to support LGBTQIA+ causes.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🤍
***r
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3460 French Road
Clinton, WA
98236
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After much experimentation, we have concluded that Blossom is deaf 🙉 #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #pigs #pigsofinstagram (Posted by @anstosa)
Poor Park really wanted Ash to play. Park loves his head rubs and to play fight... Ash just wanted to find a nice dust pile to rest in. Also peep some happy cows enjoying summer hay! #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #cows #cowssofinstagram #pasturepuppies #notyourmomnotyourmilk #rescuecow #dairyisscary #dogs #dogsofinstagram #lgd #anatolian #adoptdontshop #workingdog #farmdog #goats #goatsofinstagram (Posted by @mackofall.trade)
Neo and Poco took a little field trip into my yard this week! Thanks for the help with the yardwork guys! Our trusted handyman David has started work on fencing the new lower pasture this week. Very exciting for both us and the cows! We are so thrilled to be able to provide more enrichment and grazing space for our largest residents.
We thought we lost Blossom one night until we found out she's just really good at making forts out of grass... #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #pigs #pigsofinstagram (Posted by @anstosa)
Just a girl with a cow on a beautiful sunny day #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #farmgirl #farmhand #gwednesday (Posted by @mackofall.trade)
Mama Jackie, our repeatedly broody hen got the chance to adopt another baby! She is so happy and I love her little purrs #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #chickens #chickensofinstagram #rescuehen #rescuerooster #loversnotfighters #rescuechicken
To curl up or keep eating? Why not both! #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #sheep #sheepofinstagram #rescuesheep #savethelambs #friendsnotfiber #notyourmomnotyourmilk
Ash is fearless.... except for guns (fair enough). If you turn the volume you can hear the gunshot and almost immediately see Ash bolt back to the house and scratch on the door. We of course let him in to spend the night with us. #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #dogs #dogsofinstagram #lgd #anatolian #adoptdontshop #workingdog #farmdog
The alpacas are so cute when they roll on their backs! #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #alpacas #alpacasofinstagram #friendsnotfiber
New driveway! Anyone who has visited this winter knows how much we needed this. Thanks to @countryroadnw who did an amazing job and put up with our jobsite chickens Silver and Wilma who were very curious what they were doing... @mackofall.trade also got a new driveway at the same time (she needed it even more than we did, it was just a big mud puddle) #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland
Have you ever seen an angry sheep? They stomp their feet like a bunny! Dublin did not like the look of one of the @summitassistancedogs in training... #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #sheep #sheepofinstagram #rescuesheep #savethelambs #friendsnotfiber #notyourmomnotyourmilk
🚨 Only 3 slots left for our Lovebirds dinner fundraiser this weekend! Bottle feed the baby lambs, get a chef-prepared 3-course vegan prix fixe menu with flower arrangement and bottle of wine. 2 tables left Friday and 1 Saturday. Book at https://ballydidean.farm/lovebirds Big thanks to @flowersbythebayfreeland for collaborating with us on this! #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland
We are so grateful for our neighbors for letting us set up fencing and graze the cow herd on their field! Mack did a celebratory loop around the pasture on the ATV with Theo and Poco trotting along beside her 🎉 The cows are so excited. It's a nice dry hill with lots of sun. We've been enjoying seeing them all laying out there and a bunch of neighbors have sent us pics as well which is so fun #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #cows #cowssofinstagram #pasturepuppies #notyourmomnotyourmilk #rescuecow #dairyisscary
Arnold looks like a sleeping hippo in the middle of the field every day but he knows his name and is excited to come over for scratches! #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #pigs #pigsofinstagram
The Christmas trees have started rolling in! This was the first one of the season (don't worry, I saw the tag too and I went in and removed it) #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #cows #cowssofinstagram #pasturepuppies #notyourmomnotyourmilk #rescuecow #dairyisscary
Bouncing Eddie trying to play with the sheeps 🐏🐏🐄 #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #sheep #sheepofinstagram #rescuesheep #savethelambs #friendsnotfiber #notyourmomnotyourmilk #cows #cowssofinstagram #pasturepuppies #notyourmomnotyourmilk #rescuecow #dairyisscary
The pigs have been mingling with the sheep this week to give the pig pasture ground a bit of a rest. For the most part the sheep and pigs seem entirely uninterested in one another, but MacGillycuddy is very much enjoying playing with Dawn 😂 #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #sheep #sheepofinstagram #rescuesheep #savethelambs #friendsnotfiber #notyourmomnotyourmilk #pigs #pigsofinstagram
Ever want to see a cow drink out of a straw? This is about as close as it gets. Poco is a thirsty and impatient boy so he can't wait for the bucket to fill. Gotta get the goods directly from the source! #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #cows #cowssofinstagram #pasturepuppies #notyourmomnotyourmilk #rescuecow #dairyisscary
The ducklings love their sink baths! In addition to getting clean, they also get peas 🫛🦆 #farmsanctuary #animalsanctuary #rescue #friendsnotfood #herewithusnotforus #govegan #goveg #vegan #veganfortheanimals #animalsofinstagram #someonenotsomething #whidbeyisland #ducks #ducksofinstagram
Founded by the Santosa family in 2018, Ballydídean Farm Sanctuary is something that Sarah and Ansel dreamed of starting since they were 15 in high school. Many have never met farm animals; particularly not those who were kept in non-production conditions and have misconceptions about the behavior or characteristics of those animals. Those misconceptions are often used as excuses for treating farm animals different from pets.
We want to adopt animals out of production conditions and give them happy, peaceful lives. And we want to give others access via community or educational events to help build a sense of empathy towards these animals, especially in children.
