🐔 🐖🐐Chickens, Pigs, Goats Oh No; These Ladies Can Handle Them All

From Lettsworth and the Atchafalaya River to beyond the Red River in Effie, Kristen Burfield and Harley McCook are bookended by two ladies who know their farm animals.

Kristen Burfield and Running Wild Farm

Kristen Burfield of Lettsworth has a fondness for goats and animals in general because “growing up I always had animals,” she proclaimed. “The name of my farm is “Running Wild” because there are all kinds of animals running wild like maniacs,” she laughed.

For example, the lady turkey will chase the guy chicken, better known as a rooster. If a chicken happens to snag a frog, there will be “10 chickens chasing after that chicken to get the frog,” Kristen said. But at the end of the day, they all go in their shelter and get along.

The list of animals includes:

• Chickens
• Ducks
• Geese
• Turkey
• Guineas
• Dogs
• Pigs

But the alpha are the goats.

“When I moved here 11 years ago,” Kristen said, “I got a goat because I missed having one. It took up residency with the dogs on the porch.” Then she got some chicks and said, “you can’t have just one.” Her herd of chickens has grown because she was given some and hatches her own.

“I downsized for winter but still have 30-40 chickens.”

Her two pigs are currently penned up in Kristen’s summer garden working at dropping fertilizer, eating down stubborn weeds and using their hooves to fluff up the soil. “I’ll have to go in there to till some more because there’s indentations where they’ve been lying.”

She also felt compelled to get her goat a girlfriend and from there, “things multiplied.” Kristen’s girl goat was producing so much milk, she started researching how to make soap and lotion.

“Goat milk is natural,” she deduced, “so I’ll keep the soap and lotion simple.” Kristen didn’t want anything in her product that wasn’t natural.

The true test came when she broke out with a skin rash and wondered if the goat milk soap would help.

“It did help,” she said, “so many people have skin issues and goat milk soap is gentle on everything.”

There are five and a half acres in Running Wild Farm and according to Kirsten, “I was a glutton for punishment, but it’s all mine.”

Harley McCook and EZ Farm

Harley McCook of Effie maintains her farm called EZ Farm that is populated with:

• 60 Chickens
• 8 Pigs
• 11 Rabbits
• 4 Dogs
• 3 Cats
• 8 Ducks
• A Guinea Pig
• The neighbors' peacocks
• 6 Children

“The chickens all came from the original five chicks and are a barnyard mix as well as silkies and frizzles,” she explained. “I got hatch-happy last March and had to sell or give away some of the chickens.” Raising pigs came about when her BFF gave her a piglet.

“The pig was easier to house train than the dog,” she remarked. “It took two days to train the pig and a week to train the dog. That shows you how smart pigs are.”

Harley said that she loves pigs and likes to raise them. She has accepted pigs from people who advertise their pig needs a good home or from Mississippi, where Harley was born and raised, and got three more pigs from her Mississippi family.

The majority of her pigs are strictly pets but there are two who will add to the family’s meat supply. Harley plans on having a garden this spring after wild growth has been cut back.

Harley explained, “We had a fire and while waiting for our new home things got overgrown.”

As if she didn’t have enough on her plate already with children and animals, Harley is now making yeast bread that she takes to local markets.

“I started making it for the family and they told me it was good and that I should sell it.” So she did.

With so many mouths to feed increased substantially by all the animals, Harley said her monthly feed bill was not that high.

She has a way to cut down on her feed bill and that’s throwing table scraps out.

“We just open the back door and toss out the scraps. When the chickens hear the back door open, they come running. The neighbors’ five peacocks also come.” Harley doesn’t mind when the peacocks come.

“I love on all the animals,” she said.