Recently, Baby dairy goats from the Half Barn Farm visited residents of The Chenango Valley Home and Apartments located at 24 Canasawacta Street. Goat kisses and hugs were enjoyed by all. (Submitted photo)

NORWICH — Baby dairy goats love to cuddle, give kisses and dance, and that is exactly what took place at the Chenango Valley Home and Apartments this week.

Residents of the Chenango Valley Home and Apartments, located at 24 Canasawacta Street, enjoyed a visit from baby dairy goats brought in from Half Barn Farm.

“It really makes the residents happy, this was the second time they have come to the home to visit and the residents absolutely love them,”  said Home Activity Director Netta Arts. “The farm owners said they are available to visit anytime and scheduled to visit us again in two weeks. We’re thinking of possibly using a baby goat for therapy.”

Arts said it definitely brightens up their [residents’] day and brings back a lot of fond childhood memories of their lives on the farm, growing up with animals. She said all of the residents came out of their rooms to meet the goats and it was very therapeutic.

“It brings a lot of happiness to the residents,” said Arts. “Thank you to Half Barn Farm for bringing them to us.”       

Half Barn Farm owner Jen Funk said, “The Chenango Valley Home and Apartments came up with the idea and contacted us last year and we were happy to do it. I had contacted a few nursing homes in the area in 2020, to see if they wanted to do something, but everything was shut down, due to COVID, and we didn’t hear back from anyone until last year, when we heard from the Chenango Valley Home. That was when we took our baby goats to visit them for the first time and then repeated the visit again this year.” 

“We set up another visit in two weeks and will continue to take them until the babies are too big,” said Funk

She said it was a lot of fun watching the residents’ faces light up and they loved to pet them. 

“You can actually see the residents relax when the babies snuggle into them and they hold them and get their kisses,” she said. “And they had so much  joy on their faces when the baby goats jumped around.”

Funk thanked the Chenango Valley Home for letting them bring their goats and said the babies all had great naps when they got back home.

Jen and her husband Nate, have extensive background in agriculture and served as 4-H volunteers in a variety of programs. They met through the 4-H Dairy Goat Program, a program that she says is near and dear to their hearts.

Funk said Nate has been raising goats his whole life, and she started when she was 16. She said they raise the American Oberhasli and Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats for their own purpose and also have Guinea fowl, chickens, and raise turkeys in the fall.

“We sell the goats as breeding stock and  we’ve done 4-H workshops and focus on shows at county fairs, including a show I traveled to in Oregon,” said Funk. “Our three children are very hands-on too and enjoy their goat 4-H projects.”

She said their daughter joined them on the visit to the Chenango Valley Home and said it was a good 4-H community service.

Half Barn Farm, located in Norwich, was purchased by the Funks in 2016. Funk explained the farm got its name after the full sized dairy barn burned down and when it was rebuilt, it was built to half of the original size. She said most likely it was built smaller because they used the materials they had on hand. 

For more information visit  halfbarnfarm.weebly.com or visit their Facebook page.