My name is Debbie Praschan. I own and operate Red Gate Zoo. I started in 1993 with a couple of riding horses. Then I fell in love with and bought a baby donkey. In 1995, I bought a breeding trio of Olde English Babydoll Southdown sheep. There was one condition to the sheep purchase—I also had to take a llama. Soon after, chickens, ducks, and a rabbit were added to the farm. Before long we had to move to a new home with more pasture land. We moved to our present location in Milford, Michigan, in 1998. All of my animals were just pets. Then, a friend from church asked if I could bring a few of my animals for Vacation Bible School. I did, and had such fun, I decided to go into the petting farm business so I could share my love of animals with other people.
Our petting farm visits schools, churches, company picnics, grand openings, nursing homes, and birthday parties. Some of the animals have acted in church plays. It takes about 4-6 hours to get ready for a petting farm event.
We have about 100 animals. We have Babydoll sheep, pygmy goats, miniature horses, potbellied pigs, miniature donkeys, chickens, rabbits, hedgehogs, 1 dog, African Serval cats, pheasants, and 1 very friendly camel. Feeding takes about 2 hours each day. Then there’s stall and cage cleaning, bathing and brushing, shots and medications, barn and fence repair and improvements, training, and just plain play time with the animals. It really is a lot of work and a lot of fun. After that, I do paperwork, return phone calls, and make trips to the feed store or pet shop for supplies. Several times a year I attend exotic animal auctions in Ohio and Indiana to buy and sell animals. I read books, attend seminars, research the internet and confer with my veterinarian to continue to educate myself about all the different species.
Springtime is my favorite time on the farm. That’s when lots of the baby animals are born. We have pygmy goat kids, lambs, bunnies, chicks, hedgehogs, donkey foals, and Serval cubs.
Other animals we have had in the past include cows, llamas, alpacas, peacocks, rheas, Patagonian cavies, a porcupine, sugar gliders, chinchillas, pygmy mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, zebra finches, an iguana, macaws, wallabies, and a black bear cub.
My hope for the future of Red Gate Zoo is to open a permanent location where visitors can come to see our animals in their special homes.
