When Fulton residents Kaitlyn and Jeffrey Giboney found out they were going to be parents last year, they wanted to come up with an idea that would allow them to work from home together.
They decided to open a petting zoo across the road from their Miller Creek Ranch home.
"I wanted to be at home," Kaitlyn Giboney said. "We were trying to figure something out that would give me the ability to be home during the week, during the weekend and we could work together. We had most of the animals, anyways. Usually when our friends come over, they always want to pet the animals, and so we were like, let's just start a petting zoo."
Since the couple had recently purchased the property across the road from them and already planned on building a barn, the decision to move forward with the idea made sense, she said.
Jeffrey has raised two longhorn cattle and some other livestock and attends to their needs, but he mainly logs year-round.
"He'll cut firewood for people who want cords of wood or so," his wife said.
In the past year, Jeffrey made time to construct a red barn, adjacent gift and snack shop and a wishing well in addition to his everyday farm duties.
When the petting zoo celebrated its grand opening on Oct. 31, there was a "pretty good turnout."
"We drew in 75 to 100 people that weekend," Giboney said. "And that really wasn't with advertising."
Besides enjoying the company of the animals on opening weekend, children jumped in a barn-themed bounce house, had their face painted, went on hayrides, played in a corn pit, had gunny sack races and colored.
Giboney said the rabbits and the guinea pigs were the biggest hit with young children on opening weekend. Older children enjoyed petting the horse and a miniature donkey named Sally whenever it was "hee hawing.'
The petting zoo has a diverse group of farm animals, including bottle calf, some goats, sheep, turkeys, regular pigs and two pot-belly pigs. One of those pot-belly pigs, Henry, is also a popular farm animal.
"He's trained to come to his name and he likes to play with his toys," she said. "He was a house pet and we actually adopted him from a lady who had to get rid of him and she had trained him to do all kinds of things ... I had never seen anything like it until we met him."
The couple plan to expand its menagerie by spring, when they anticipate having ducklings, chicks and baby goats.
"All the females should have babies by the spring - by February - so we're hoping that to be a big hit for the springtime and Easter," she said.
Giboney described the pregnant goat, named Angie, as "very territorial."
"She doesn't like the sheep getting any attention, so she'll almost climb through to the gate to you to pet her and not anything else," Giboney said.
Other future plans for the petting zoo include putting a few of the longhorns by the pasture outside the barn and offering seasonal activities for the holidays.
The couple plan on remaining open for the rest of November and all of December, but are unsure about the colder winter months when snow and ice start accumulating.
"We are planning on having a little Christmas set up over here during the month of December," Giboney said.
She added that they've thought about having winter sleigh rides with horses.
"We have thought about it but it depends on how much snow we get," Giboney said. "We really didn't want to advertise that and then people show up and we're not able to do it because we're in the bottom, so it gets really wet over there, so sometimes it might not work, but we're hoping to."
Next on the couple's agenda is finalizing pricing and an activity package for birthday parties and field trips, as they've already received inquiries on the business' Facebook page.
The general admission price is $5 to interact with animals and no charge for children ages 2 and under. The Miller Creek Ranch is located at 2598 State Road F and is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.