From Hens to Heifers

09/07/2026

Emerald Acres Farm & Homestead, is this something we can manage to add to poultry shows? 😂

09/07/2026

Another flower photo, just because. I will be out today, but Tuesday is the day I get to start upgrading my fencing!! I am so excited for the animals to have a bigger area that is more secure. Thank you all for making this possible! And if you are interested in a 16ft gate, let me know. They will hopefully be coming down this week 🤞

09/05/2026

Just the gang, wasting my money 🫠 anyone have a used round bale feeder they are looking to move along? 👀

09/05/2026

I was out of town all day yesterday doing my yearly (at this point) wedding flowers 🥰 Did you know, if I love you enough, you can pick 80% of your flowers out of the yard and off the side of the road, and spend $40 on grocery store bouquets & I got you!

09/05/2026

Coming up tomorrow! I will be having one in October, but that may be the last one for the year!

Please note the change in time frame. September's rooster drop will be held from 10am-12pm at Thibodeau's Achen' Bacon Farm INC in Lyman.
*Please bring birds in a container you will be leaving & not be getting back.
*crates are preferred, but other options are acceptable. Some include storage totes with chicken wire on top or cardboard boxes with ventilation cut into them.
*make sure birds are not over-crowded in their containers
*the final destination for most birds is the freezer, if that is something that makes you uncomfortable, please find another solution for your animals
*no need to make an appointment
*all unwanted farm animals are welcome
*Leo has been helping us out with space to do the drop off for months now, if you can, please head into the hut to try out his livestock grain and pork!

09/05/2026

For anyone wondering what the passenger seat of my car looks like 😂

09/03/2026

Can't even sit and relax with the kittens without the birds harassing me.

09/03/2026

Patrick : can you go outside and clean up xyz mess?
Me when I get outside : 😅

09/03/2026

Every day 🤦‍♀️

09/03/2026

This one is going to be how the business has transformed since I started it in 2018 🥰
I was still living in Massachusetts when I started "Amber's Animal Care". In the beginning I was watching dogs (mostly ones with behavioral issues that other sitters would not take on), trimming nails for dogs & rabbits, and trimming goat hooves. I moved to Maine in 2019 and brought the business with me. Since I didn't have an established client base, I got a job, cutting fabric at Marden's. One of my lovely co-workers helped me come up with the name, From Hens To Heifers, and I gradually built up a clientele for farm-sitting, specifically. It really took off, and I had enough farm work by the end of 2019 to quit my job at Marden's and farm-sit full-time.
Unfortunately, something happened in early 2020 that caused my business demand to basically disappear overnight 🫠 During Covid lockdowns, everyone was home and no longer needed pet sitting services. I would get an occasional, short-term job here and there, but my income very quickly became $0.
I had a few animals at the house, just a pair of Mangalitsa gilts and some chickens. So when my stimulus check came in, I decided to spend it on a Mangalitsa boar. That was the start of my pig breeding program. I also asked my family for a used cabinet incubator for the holidays and started hatching and selling chicks that year.
So that year was the real pivot from farm-sitting. I had kids in 2020, 2022, and 2024, and each addition took me farther away from coming back to it, it was just too much!
I have always had an array of animals here, and as my family grew, the cost to keep them became more than the piglets and chicks were bringing in. So I sold everything. Emus, geese, peacocks, ducks, guineas, goats, cows, and probably other things I am forgetting 😅 I went down to just my Mangalitsa pigs, a couple goats that were important to me, and a few chickens. In 2023 I decided I missed my menagerie and started picking up livestock as it needed a home. This was the year I started offering mobile petting zoos. With the petting zoo income, I felt justified in keeping a large variety of animals again.
So that is how the business has evolved! This year I plan on focusing on chicks Febraury-April/May and then put everything into traveling with the animals 🥰
I am just about finished for events this year, so will start booking next season soon! If you would like to get onto the schedule shoot me a message. If there is an event you think I would fit well at, tag them or let me know what it is! I would love to book more public events this year, so everyone can enjoy the animals!