Star Gazing Farm is a farm animal sanctuary in Maryland. Star Gazing Farm is a small farm animal sanctuary located in the Agricultural Reserve of Montgomery County, Maryland.
We take in animals in need of rehabilitation and permanent homes and work closely with animal control on abuse and neglect issues. We run a work program for youth, in which they learn hands-on humane care of farm animals. We also have an active network through which we help to place animals at hobby farms and animal sanctuaries where they will be well cared for. We are a 501(c)3 and donations are
We take in animals in need of rehabilitation and permanent homes and work closely with animal control on abuse and neglect issues. We run a work program for youth, in which they learn hands-on humane care of farm animals. We also have an active network through which we help to place animals at hobby farms and animal sanctuaries where they will be well cared for. We are a 501(c)3 and donations are
Operating as usual
Welcome to the farm, sweet Sarah. Sarah is a very elderly Suffolk ewe who has bad arthritis. Every other sheep in her flock was being sold but the owner could not bear to sell her and also cannot bear to euthanize her because she is still so alert and has a great appetite and seems happy. We will be working with her to alleviate her arthritis pain and give her some gentle physical therapy. She has joined our other elderly sheep in our “Old Folks Home.”
We hear many reports of coyotes out our way, although I've never actually seen one near our farm. I'm guessing Milo our Anatolian has something to do with that. However, this looks like it will be informative and compassionate and worth attending for the 1 hour online webinar.
City Wildlife hosts Megan Draheim, PhD, President and Co-Founder of the District Coyote Project (www.DistrictCoyotes.org)
Many thanks to Fetch Thrift Shop in Frederick who will hold an event to benefit our farm on November 19! Here are the details (and they have a few spots left for the ornament making):
Ornament Making for a Cause- Benefitting Star Gazing Farm Sanctuary
$35.00
https://fetchthrift.com/events/
Your requested $35 per person donation includes: Ornament supplies and instruction, time with our cage free kitties, time to shop with a special attendee discount, and a vegan cupcake from Sage Cakery. 100% of the proceeds from the requested donation will go to Star Gazing Farm Sanctuary. Thank you so much for your support!
"It's really hard to be so beautiful and have to live on a farm. I should be modeling in Paris or Milan." -- Marguerite
The truth about Marguerite is that she came from a place where she and her mother and auntie were kept full time in the basement of a bank barn - no direct sunlight, just a bit of light making its way through the slats on one side. It was an old dairy barn, so the floor was concrete and there were still many pieces of rebar sticking up out of the floor. They had hay and a bucket of water on the floor. No soft place to lie down. They were only brought out for shearing, which is how I met them.... and I was so distressed at these conditions, that I negotiated their 'release' and they were here within a week. They walked out of the trailer and saw the pasture and started running up and down the hills. Marguerite has come a long way, but I fear that Paris may not exactly be in her future.
Miss Maria Christina invites you to our Fall Festival on Saturday, October 22, noon-4! Come in costume, if you like! Tours to meet the animals, fresh produce from Country Thyme Market, crafts and games for children, bake sale, gift shop - look for our new Star Gazing Farm T-shirts and baseball caps! Bring the whole family (but please leave your own pets at home). Make a reservation here! https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/2022-fall-festival/
Our neighbors who care for the wild birds - they do great work. Mark your calendars for this event.
Here is the flyer for the 8th Annual Owl Moon Raptor Festival featuring Adventures with Raptors! Please share with your friends and communities ❤️
Vinnie: “look, I just live here, ok? I got nothin to do with that other guy.”
Evening sheep.
Herbie‘s long-awaited wheelchair finally arrived. I don’t know how to thank the wonderful volunteers who stayed extra long to figure out how to put it together and to get him into it today. There are still some adjustments that need to be made by the manufacturer but we’re so close! I can just see him doing wheelies really soon. 
Salvo saw the dentist today. What a delightful, skilled, and informative woman!
Marty is mostly out with the big sheep and goats now but he still loves to visit his old aunties, Sheila Louise and Rhoda.
Remembering Sullivan today, one of the sweetest dogs to ever put paw on this farm. He had been found running loose in Virginia and was picked up by Fairfax County shelter where he languished for 2 months. He was so easy going that they used him to temperament test other dogs, but he was more than half bald from a flea infestation and people looked at him and said, "he's too ugly." We thought that was malarky! Sullivan was incredibly handsome. Here in this photo, he is good-naturedly sporting his Irish heritage costume at one of our past Fall Festivals. Sweet boy.
We haven't had a festival in many years because of Covid, but we'll be hosting one on Saturday, October 22. It's a wonderful opportunity to come out and meet some of our newest .. and oldest... residents, and support our mission of taking in the lonely, the discarded, the damaged, and the old animals who need a soft place to land.
https://shop.stargazingfarm.org/product/2022-fall-festival/
Have you met Petey? Most people don’t quite grasp just how HUGE he is but we reckon he weighs about 2,000 pounds.
He’ll be giving out kisses at our upcoming Fall Farm Festival on Saturday, October 22, from noon-4. He is very practiced at kissing.
Stay tuned for more details on this super fun event (suggestions for his costume encouraged).
It’s sooo exhausting to eat breakfast. Everyone needs a post-meal siesta. - Hazel and George
Early morning conversations. In front: Vinnie and Tony. In back: Ray Ray and Marty
These two boys came to us four years ago. They had both been at the slaughter auction and were pulled out independently, but met in the trailer on the way out. They became instant friends and when we went to the gaited horse rescue to adopt one, we discovered that there was no way we could bring him without his best friend. Salvo and Bruno. If one goes to another part of the property the other one will immediately start whinnying and wanting to know where he is. Thanks to Gaited Advocate Intervention Team, Inc. 501c3 for giving them a second chance.
When all your goats are in a row.
The new angoras are slowly adapting and making friends. Pretty sure in this photo they are observing Falkor munching on their dinner.
Little Marty has decided that our sweet blind Ray Ray is his new best friend.
Community is the bomb!
Today my friend Jonathan asked me to come by and help him detangle his beautiful Shiloh Shepherd Kaia. I said, ummm, I am a sheep shearer not a dog groomer, but I'll do what I can. And I did. To thank me, he gave me the most beautiful produce from his farm. These tomatoes are for our chickens, ducks and geese.
He built up Country Thyme Farm Market (just down the road from us in Boyds) from scratch. I mean, by hand! As someone whose goats ate all vegetation on the farm the very first year, and who is lucky if she doesn't kill her Aloe plant, I was so impressed. To have something for our animals that has been grown locally is magic. To see someone working 16 hour days to create something because he believes in it is magic. Hats off to those who grow our food.
Shop local! Get it fresh while you can :)
Beautiful symmetry.
Camelid gathering at the upper barn. Pepper the llama seems to have finally integrated with the herd. 💕
The elder and his young sidekick. Madison is coming up on 20 years. Yep, that is an astoundingly long life for a sheep. Young Marty is only 5 months old and full of s***k, but he has been glued to Madison’s side from the day he arrived. We’re not entirely sure how Madison feels about this but we old folks need to keep a good eye out on the whippersnappers.
“Oh boy, here comes that pesky dog to try to steal our swimming pools.”
“Good job at yelling at her George, now we can get back to our bathing.” (George is always good for a cowboy yell.)
Eh oui, yes I know you are hand feeding me, but I must first check the treats before I decide whether or not to accept. - Jean Claude
How goats say good morning.
Beautiful, elegant Pepper with her "petticoat" hairdo is on the move. She has integrated into the farm very well and now regularly hangs out with Jean-Claude and Marguerite, her fellow camelids.
In the background you will see an exquisite example of Petey the steer's fencing projects. There are many. Donations of fence boards are welcome. No, really. We go through them like a kid with a box of candies.
Great opportunity, short deadline! Just found out about this grant opportunity offered by Tractor Supply; 4 rescue organizations will be given $25,000 in grant money for their work.
The deadline is midnight tonight. Would you consider nominating us? There are a plethora of photos on this page to choose from. The more nominations we receive, the better, rounder picture they will have of what we do and, maybe, just maybe, the better chance we have at the grant, which would be an amazing gift to our work. Thank you for considering nominating us. Below is the key information you need for their form.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/cms/rescue-your-rescue
Star Gazing Farm, Animal Sanctuary
301-674-5716
Boyds, MD
Farm animal/livestock sanctuary
Evening traffic on the farm. Brutal.
Mamie has come such a long way since her escape from the awful days as a breeding dog at the puppy mill.
Hopkins is a love monster and has won the hearts of all our volunteers.
Just going for our morning stroll. These days Hazel the pig seems to be completely enamored with Mehitabel. They are often seen together walking around the farm.
Or… sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s an icky fact that pigs will follow horses and donkeys and cows around to snarf up their p**p. I don’t recommend kissing Hazel. We’ll leave it at that!
I am happy to report that little Marty is doing well after a three day stay in the hospital. He developed a somewhat rare infection (it looked gross so I won’t post photos here, but trust me!) after castration so we whisked him up to Penn Vet New Bolton Center where they fixed him right up with a second surgery. Poor guy, lost his masculinity twice:(. He apparently liked to try to run around the campus so he had a note on his stall “escape risk” 😂. He spent much of the trip home this evening head butting my right arm from the back seat. He must be feeling quite fine.
It just goes to show, you really never know, when you care for animals, what the next thing will be to make your hair stand on end. But it’s a great feeling when you can give them the help they need.
Naked Angora goats on the move, trying to flee the paparazzi.
Isaac: naked and ashamed. Poor dude. But he’ll be much more comfortable now that he’s shorn for the fall.
The new kids on the block are getting to know each other. Pepper stood there looking at the goats for quite a long time.
Yes, a pool for each goose. No, they’re not spoiled.
Busted!
“Hi there, ma, nothing to see here, just enjoying the day.”
Yuki and Milo are having a not so secret romance.
These cuties just arrived at the farm for their retirement. They are very, very old Angora goats and their names are, left to right, Isaac, Saul, and Miriam (Mia). (Best guestimate on age is 15-16 years old). Their long-time owner has difficult medical issues and, needing to move away from the farm, was exceedingly worried about the welfare of these dolls. We are so glad we could provide relief to the owner and a safe haven for the goaties. For some reason, they remind me of this Frank Sinatra song:
"My funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable
Unphotographable
Yet you're my favorite work of art"
“ I am an investigative dog. I had to find out what was inside.” -Stephanie
“Oh, is that why you also ate my books?” -Anne
16760 Whites Store Rd
Boyds, MD
20841
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Summer heat is not a favorite here.
Marguerite knows that you never vote and tell.
Marguerite’s commentary on current affairs.
Marty gets a massage.
Marty knocks a knee.
Somebody loves the snow!!
When you’ve got to get the bed just so.
