Rising Stars: Meet Jep Parr of White, Georgia

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jep Parr.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
It all started with my love for pigs and a rescue named Cornbread. Cornbread the pot bellied pig was on a property that a family friend horse rescue went to get a horse and she called my mom to see if i wanted to take this pig in to care for and I said YES! Cornbread was very scared and had a hard time trusting anyone. So it took a lot of work to gain his trust. I reached out to some other pig rescues for advise how to care for Cornbread and gain his trust. So everyday I worked on gaining his trust going at his pace. Cornbread became my best friend and I knew from there I wanted to raise and rescue as many pigs as I could. Because every pig deserves to be loved. Not too much longer I brought home a girl pot bellied piglet that needed a home and named her Beauty. It was so much fun raising her from a baby, she even slept in my room and had a dog crate. It only took her about a day to be potty trained. She would wait to go outside like the dogs. I then learned how pigs don’t like dirty areas and don’t like to potty where they sleep and eat, so this made potty training easy. I later discovered the breed of pig called Kune Kune, they are so cute with longer hair that has cowlicks and little tassels hanging from their chins. I decided I wanted to raise and rescue this breed as well. So we soon brought in three Kune Kune and boy are they smart! i started training them to sit and stand on their hind legs and do all sorts of tricks, for treats of coarse. As I brought in more pigs that needed rescuing I needed more space so our neighbor who had a open field was so kind and blessed me with being able to use it to grow the rescue and give the pigs much more room to run and play. I now have 16 pigs at the moment, but I have taken in more over the last few years. I have been able to rehome some of them to amazing loving families that love the pigs as much as I do. I also have lots of rabbits, chickens, ducks and even mini donkeys we have rescued to bring to the farm, and they all get along so good its like we are a big happy family. I hope to continue to grow the rescue and be able to provide for even more pigs with the help of the community and educating them about pigs.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest obstacle has been getting the funds to take care of the animals. I have a some great people make donations of funds, materials, even scraps of food to feed the animals. But it is always a challenge especially when I want to be able to bring in more rescues that need a loving place to be.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am just an 11 year old kid out here farming and taking care of as many animals as I can. I homeschool too so that I can take the best care of my animals when they may need extra round the clock care,

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Donations to the rescue at Jeps Farm And Rescue with funds, and needed materials for building onto the farm for shelters and fencing. We accept donations through major platforms, PayPal, Venmo and CashApp. And can even accept materials shipped to the farm if needed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jepsfarm.my.canva.site/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jepsfarmgeorgia/