Lindsey Daugherty is the founder of Seven Daugherty Farm in South Carolina, where she breeds miniature Highland-cross cattle, Nigerian Dwarf goats, pasture-raised chickens, and Siberian cats imported from Russia.

She also works full-time in senior living tech and partners with Family Circle Farms on a shared mini cattle operation. Coming up Mother's Day weekend, she's hosting her first multi-farm online auction on Creatures with 50 animals from 10 small farms across the East Coast.

In this episode:

• Lindsey's four-year revenue arc from $20,000 to over $100,000
• The personal loss during COVID that brought her family back to the land
• The unusual partnership with Family Circle Farms where they share bulls, embryos, mamas, and calves
• Where her farm dollars actually go (42% animal purchases, 17% feed, 15% repairs, 12% vet, the rest in supplies)
• The Mother's Day Weekend Auction: 50 animals from 10 small farms
• Building toward roughly 100 calves a year between two farms
• What most people get wrong about why anyone is in mini cattle
• The story behind the "Seven" in Seven Daugherty Farm
  

Find Lindsey:

• Website: sevendaughertyfarm.com
• Facebook: Seven Daugherty Farm (over 50,000 followers)
• Instagram: @seven.daugherty.farm
  

Mentioned in this episode:

• Family Circle Farms
• Farm Bright (farm accounting software)
• Bring a Trailer (collectible car auction inspiration)
• Murray McMurray Hatchery
• Weaver Leather (halters)
• Mini Moo Crew, Jamie (Lindsey's recommended next guest)
  

Mother's Day Weekend Auction on Creatures: May 9-10, 2026. 50 animals across 10 small farms. Cattle, donkeys, sheep. No buyer fees, no reserves. Find it at: https://creatures.com/marketplace/events/rbRmt184

About the show:
Creatures: Where Animal People Talk Business is a podcast about the people building real businesses with animals. Hosted by Dr. Elliott Garber, veterinarian and founder of Creatures, the all-animal marketplace at creatures.com.

Chapters:
00:00 Cold open
00:18 Welcome and episode preview
01:25 How Elliott and Lindsey connected
02:00 The 60-second farm tour
02:48 Animal kid origin and first animal sales
04:50 From senior living to the farm: COVID losses and return to roots
08:05 Mini cattle, Nigerian Dwarf goats, and Siberian cats from Russia
13:42 The revenue arc: $20K to over $100K in four years
24:14 The most ever paid (and sold) for an animal
28:39 Auctions, private sales, and the Creatures vision
40:20 The Family Circle Farms partnership
47:59 The mini cattle market and family life
53:05 The Mother's Day Auction and the story behind "Seven"
56:10 The Squeeze Chute
58:58 Meeting the animals and outro

Tara Pilonero is the owner of Stay A While Farm in Hinton, West Virginia, and one of the leading breeders of wooly miniature donkeys in the country.

She has grown her herd to 60 donkeys over the last 20 years, shifted to online auctions in 2023, and nearly doubled her revenue two years running. In this conversation we get into the economics, the marketing, the genetics, and the myths.

In this episode:

• Growing up as an animal kid and getting into vet school
• The $26,000 wooly donkey at the Elm sale in 2007 that changed her path
• How her wait list got so long she needed a wait list for the wait list
• The move to online auctions and what it did to her pricing
• Exporting donkeys to Australia, France, the UK, and the Netherlands
• The FGF5 gene and what we know (and don't) about the genetics of wooly coats
• The record $30,000 sales and the $40,000 wooly jack that raised the ceiling for the breed
  

Find Tara:

• Website: stayawhilefarm.net
• Facebook: Stay A While Farm
• Spring 2026 auction: Saturday, April 25, 10am to 3pm Eastern: https://saw-donkeysales.w2auctions.com/home
  

Mentioned in this episode:

• MGF herd (Barb and Jerry McRoberts, Nebraska)
• UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory
• Megan Hensley's donkey farrier courses
• Josh Mathias / HQ Ranch (Tara's recommended future guest)
  

About the show:
Creatures: Where Animal People Talk Business is a podcast about the people building real businesses and lives around animals. Hosted by Dr. Elliott Garber, veterinarian and founder of Creatures, a software platform and marketplace for animals at creatures.com.

00:00 Cold open

00:44 Welcome and episode preview

01:59 How Elliott and Tara connected

03:08 Animal kid origin, vet school, and the first horse

04:49 Starting with Luigi the rescue gelding in 1996

08:25 The $26K wooly donkey at the Elm sale

10:53 Exporting donkeys to Australia, France, and the UK

14:21 The shift to online auctions and the wait list for the wait list

19:48 International bidders and revenue growth

23:32 Marketing on Facebook, consignments, and record sales

29:56 What makes a donkey "wooly" and the FGF5 gene

35:45 Running a 60-donkey operation

41:24 The Squeeze Chute

47:19 Meeting the weanlings and outro

"Literally every dime I make is derived from camels." That's Doug Baum, who left a career drumming for country star Trace Adkins and opening for Brooks & Dunn to create a life and business centered around camels that has endured for decades.

In this episode, Doug breaks down what it actually costs to keep a camel ($300 to $350 per month), what schools pay, how film work lands in the tens of thousands, why December is his biggest month with 2 to 3 dozen live nativity events, and how camel prices have changed over the years.

A rare inside look at whether an unusual animal business can really pay the bills.

In this episode:

• Why Doug left a drumming career for full-time camels
• Real monthly costs per camel and the hidden ones (tires, permits, insurance)
• What schools, nativities, and film shoots actually pay
• The camel market: $4K in the 90s to $30K today
• Vision Quest, international treks, and saddlery as extra revenue streams
• Marketing lessons borrowed from the music industry

His under-$100 game-changer and advice for aspiring animal entrepreneurs

Chapters:

00:00 Cold open and intro
02:46 From drumming for Trace Adkins to camels
08:49 Leaving the tour bus for Texas
12:47 Vision Quest: camels and adjudicated youth
14:35 The first paid gig: a 7-degree nativity
16:09 Building a business on the US Army Camel Experiment
21:59 The real economics: truck, trailer, and hidden costs
23:57 International camel treks and other revenue streams
30:48 The family nativity business at Christmas
35:00 Film work and the modern camel market
41:42 Marketing lessons from the music industry
45:39 The Squeeze Chute (rapid fire)
54:55 Where to find Doug

Resources:

• Texas Camel Corps: https://texascamelcorps.com
• Camelot Camel Dairy (Kyle and Holly Hendrix, Wray, Colorado): https://www.camelotdairy.com
• North American Camel Ranch Owners Association (NACROA): https://nacroa.com
• A Texas Funeral (film, 1999, with Martin Sheen): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180242/
  

Connect with Doug:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/texascamelcorps/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/texascamelcorps/
  

Creatures: Where Animal People Talk Business

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CreaturesShow
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creatures-where-animal-people-talk-business/id1888794488
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4GY8JuWFRwbZXBCfHYiRaJ
• Web: https://creatures.com