Local farm helps educate those of all ages about animal care

LONDONDERRY — One local farmer is using her skills to help provide animals with a loving home while helping teach kids about farm life and responsibility.

The owner of Francis Farm of Londonderry, Amy Francis, has been an animal lover her entire life, working at a pet store and a local farm as a teenager. As an adult when she bought a house she knew she wanted to start a small farm, even joking that she was just going to bring the animals home one day without telling her husband, and after several classes to make sure she knew everything she could about animal care Francis adopted her first few alpacas.

The farm quickly grew to include llamas, sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits and a miniature donkey.

Francis previously worked as a teacher, bringing in several animals to her classroom to teach students but once she started getting more animals and participating in more events across the state the farm became her full-time job. Every day she works to make sure all the animals are cared for and receive what they need to be happy and healthy, this includes food, medication, enrichment and socialization.

While she may no longer be a full-time teacher Francis still uses her farm to teach students and adults about proper animal care. She often teaches students, at her farm and at the schools, about what an animal needs in its enclosure to live a long happy life. She also uses her animals to help teach older students and 4-H members how to weigh and properly administer medication to her various animals.

"I stress the importance of knowing everything you need to know about your animal before you take them home," said Francis.

She also uses the products from her animals, like the eggs and the fleece to help teach STEM lessons to students like how to turn fiber into felt and having students test if different colored eggs taste the same.

Being a rescue a majority of the money Francis makes during events goes towards having medication on hand that can save an animal's life. She has one alpaca that she has saved three times that had she not had the needed medication would have been lost.

Waking up every morning to the rooster crow is always exciting to Francis who said she loves to watch her animals grow and develop personalities. For example, she has one alpaca that when she first met him came straight to her and put his head on her shoulder, a goat that previously liked to escape and sit on the porch swing, a lamb that was bottle-fed and would sit on the couch with her and a mini plush lop, a specialty breed that was created in Ohio, that likes to be cuddled.

'They're very entertaining," said Francis. "Animals have moods just like people do."

In the future Francis hopes to continue providing quality shelter and enrichment for her animals, she is currently working on expanding her rabbit enclosure to include a full hut and a run for the animals. While she doesn't plan to get into larger animals anytime soon she does say that she thinks it would be cool to one day have a yak.

Francis Farm of Londonderry offers a variety of educational resources such as a mentorship program, bunny foster program, open farm days, local vendor events and more. You can learn more about the farm and how to contact them online.

Shelby Reeves is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. You can email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @Shelby_Reeves_

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Local rescue farmer enjoys seeing animal's personalities as they grow