Half Pint Haven

10-gallon treasure!

Love comes in all shapes, sizes, feathers and furs on this family farm

They’re disciplined. They’re respectful. They’re trustful. They’re kind, lovable, huggable, affectionate.

They’re also animals.

Kim and Tim Jotham’s animals. Ninety-plus chickens, 58 goats, a dozen or so donkeys, a number of sheep, cows … they can tell you the exact numbers; a visitor doesn’t have a chance of counting … that make up the 12 acres that is Half Pint Haven Family Farm in Fort Valley.

“Half Pint,” explained Kim comes from the fact most are “miniature” versions of their typical counterparts.

You would think with that many animals there would be a lot of hustle and bustle for the Jotham’s, Taya Lennon, and family friend Brandy Heim, who together manage the farm. You might imagine there would be a lot of noise, commotion, a lot of things that would require their attention. They have their share, of chores and meeting needs, and the animals do have their moments … like the one rooster who insists on crowing every minute and the female goat in heat that insists on taunting the boys who are in another pen and can’t reach her … but the farm is characterized by peace and quiet, serenity, them relaxing in the shade a good bit, drinking coffee or tea, just taking it all in.

No chasing. In fact, the extreme opposite. “We have 58 goats and four baby doll sheep,” Kim said, “that we all go for a walk with them.

“And they’re eating these branch piles,” Tim said.

“Oh yeah, they’ll be eating these branch piles for sure,” Kim went on. “And then (Kim and Tim get back to the house and) they get called. We do a whistle and three claps and everybody comes back and they all go into their designated areas by teams.

“We’ll whistle and you’ll see some forty goats cruise and run down that driveway. It’s quite a spectacle. And the littlest ones, we have a couple little bottle babies, and we named one of them Buttons, and she’s always at the lead pack. She’s underneath some of the goats and it’s almost like a cartoon, but she’s intent to get to the front.

“So they’re all in. It’s big goats over here. It’s baby goats and it’s ‘ladies’ and ‘gentlemen’. So that’s what we do. We call the sheep and they go that way and some of the goats go that way.”

“It is quite amazing,” Tim said. “What she’s done with them. People come just to watch that. They can’t believe it.”

No chasing. In truth, Kim has probably chased her son Alex Lennon more than she has her furry loved ones. 

He enlisted in the Air Force 15 years ago, following in his older sister’s footsteps; she tragically passed away from an accident while in Germany, Kim said. He started out at Hurlburt Field in Mary Esther, Fla. She – they – chased him, meaning visited him as often as possible from their home in Sarasota, Fla. That was about a 600-mile roundtrip/chase.

Sarasota was not just their home but also where they owned an assisted living facility.

The next assignment for him was Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. She chased. (Meaning: “I would jump on a plane every five or six weeks and go see him.”)

Then came Hill AFB in Utah. She chased.

Then in 2019 he was off to Robins AFB. Today he works in command and control, Kim said; he has about 15 years in service, she added. She chased, although by this time a good bit of the chase was aimed at spending quality time with the grandchildren.

They retired. They found the house – just built – and the land. Life was good.

Yet, something seemed to be missing, Kim said, in relation to the grandchildren. The something came as sort of a revelation.

“When I would fly out to Utah, they had this place called ‘Thanksgiving Point’. And it had a working farm inside of it that had a natural history museum. It had a butterfly area. I mean a massive butterfly area.

“It was just this beautiful setting and they wanted to go there every day. We would spend hours there, every day. They got to milk cows and they got to ride ponies and they got to, you know, get a llama spitting at you and things like that.

“So they absolutely loved it. And when they came to Georgia, that was the one thing they kept saying is there’s no farms around them. ‘We can’t go somewhere and pet an animal or ride a pony or anything.’ So this was for them.”

“That’s how it started,” Tim said. “Now it’s for the whole community.”

It actually started – literally – with a chicken coop. A “caved-in ” chicken coop, Tim said, adding, “And I’m not good at fixing things.” But with his stepfather, Harley’s help – today he is pushing 81 years old – they managed. In fact, since then they have put up/fixed a number of structures – that actually look pretty professional – on the farm.

Then came the animals.

“We went all in,” Kim said, adding that she always does no matter what it is. “We started with bottle-baby goats and we raised them and then we branched out to donkeys and mini ponies and then baby doll sheep and obviously chickens.

“Highland cows at one point. Yeah, we had highland cows at one point. Little bigger than what we needed for this miniature farm because everybody here is minis and micro minis.” (Half Pint was actually one of three names they kicked around for a while, she said.)

Tim added: “Kim really spends a lot of time with the animals every day.” She has also done a “ton” of research, she said, whereas they also take a “holistic” approach, homeopathic meds, to what the animals are fed. Which is more expensive, Kim said, but “their health is what’s most important.”

“She knows exactly what’s going on with every animal,” Tim continued. “And she does have that medical background from you know, the assisted living, to always be watching her residents and seeing, you know, if she’s a little off or he’s a little off there. ‘Let’s take care of it right now.’”

At the height of it all – some 50 to 60 births and the absolute wealth of everything else they’ve seen and done – today, they have a petting zone where they travel to different festivals and other venues, including a visit to the House of Georgia. They’ve hosted disabled adults and groups, veterans groups, senior center groups, daycare centers, preschools, after-school programs, homeschool co-op programs. They host birthday parties – just looking to make enough money to maintain the animals, Kim said – give farm tours, offer goat yoga – they also have some “fainting” goats – baby goat bottle feeding, animal therapy. It’s pretty much an endless list. (Pretty soon they’re going to put up 30,000 lights and have a drive-through three weekends in December. You can find them on Facebook or call 941-780-6030 or email HalfPintHavenFamilyFarm@gmail.com for more information or to set up a visit.)

“The blessings come from when a child like gets down and is face to face with a chicken or a donkey or a goat and actually you can see it in their face that they’ve never been that close. That they’ve never felt that comfortable around an animal.

“A lot of the kids have never seen farm animals before. A lot of children have never seen farm animals and definitely never picked them up. It’s amazing to see a child with chickens. The chickens are definitely the favorite. It’s the craziest thing. If we go to events and we bring the chickens, the chickens are the first thing they all go to.” Speaking of which. She has a chicken, “the colonel”, who insists she rocks him to sleep at night and many other animals who are adamant about getting a bedtime, and at many other times, cuddle.

“And we love the fact that we know our animals,” she continued. “We know they’re gonna be good.” Not by accident. She said the moment they’re born she begins to train them to be that way. “The donkeys. I’ll put two- and three-year-olds in there and never feel uncomfortable about that. They’re just, there’s not an aggressive bone in those donkeys’ bodies. They’re just looking to get loved.”

They’re disciplined. They’re respectful. They’re trustful. They’re kind, lovable, huggable, affectionate.

And thanks to their dedication and sacrifice and love, they’re also far more than just animals.