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In 2020, I secretly ordered a small batch of chicks and told my husband after the fact. We bought a beautiful coop and set everything up while those baby chicks grew fast (and stinky) in a tote in our living room. Oddly enough, instead of being turned off, we were more intrigued than ever.

Our story, our family, our beginning.

We are the Hartes. We never imagined we’d end up where we are today, but here we are, and we’re loving every second of it. Even the hard parts. It’s not always sunshine and rainbows, but it’s ours.

My husband fell straight down the homesteading rabbit hole, spending hours watching videos and learning everything he could. When he suggested goats, I hesitated — so I started researching. Months of learning about housing, feed, and health paid off. That knowledge has saved lives, and I always tell people: do the research first. It matters.

We found a lovely breeder one state over and brought home our first registered Nigerian Dwarves. That’s when the “not sunshine and rainbows” part hit. The village tried to make us get rid of everything, even though the codes said nothing about hoofed animals. After a long fight, we proved we were in a gray area and we won. Thank God, because this journey has been worth every battle.

We have four sons, two before goats, two after. My oldest is severely autistic and was completely nonverbal when the goats arrived. Every day we encouraged him to wave goodnight and good morning to them using their names. Not long after, he started speaking. It felt like a miracle. Years later, he’s very verbal, and I credit so much of that progress to the goats.

My 11‑year‑old is my right‑hand man with the animals. These boys work hard and truly enjoy it. They’re outside getting dirty, bottle‑feeding babies, or laughing in the living room while a diapered baby goat hops around. It’s chaos, it’s joy, and it’s the best kind of life

This has been the best journey, and we are so grateful to keep pushing forward. Welcome to Buckshot Acres.

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