Welcome Madia “MJ” Smith (goose whisperer) to Tyrant Farms!

Last Updated on December 18, 2024 by Susan von Frank

As you may know, Tyrant Farms is named in honor of the benevolent dictator, Susan the Tyrant. 

Unlike many websites in our space, we don’t accept sponsored posts, guest posts, or any form of paid content. It’s just not what we do. 

Instead, everything on the Tyrant Farms’s website is created by me (Aaron, husband of The Tyrant) or The Tyrant herself (when she’s not riding around in her palanquin). That’s to say, everything here is a reflection of who we are, what we’re doing, and — most importantly — what we know about and want to share with you, dear reader. 

Introducing Madia MJ Smith, goose whisperer 

Thanks to Instagram, The Tyrant got to be best friends with a goose-loving, heirloom apple orchardist named MJ Smith. (Check out her Instagram, Hoof and Feather Farm.)

Both our families had baby boys within a week of each other, so MJ and Susan were a constant source of support and consolation for each other from pregnancy onward. MJ is in the high desert of Colorado and we’re in Upstate South Carolina, but the internet makes the miles between us less daunting. 

A few things we’ve noticed about MJ over the years:

• She’s a gifted writer and an extraordinarily thoughtful, caring person. 
• She is a seriously hard worker willing to learn and do whatever it takes to get a job done right (or at least good enough).
• She knows every bit as much about raising heritage breed geese as we know about raising heritage breed ducks. 

And that last point is why The Tyrant decreed “we need to bring on MJ to write about geese.” (Not that it matters, but I thought it was a great idea too.) 

Want to learn about raising geese? 

If you have a large yard, homestead, or small farm and you’re considering raising geese OR want to do a better job of raising geese you already have, MJ the goose whisperer is going to be providing you with lots of helpful information in her upcoming articles.  

Even if you don’t want geese, you might enjoy gawking (or honking?) at the incredibly beautiful, National Geographic-quality photos of MJ’s geese roaming about on her heirloom apple orchard in Colorado. 

Photos like these from MJ’s farm make us want geese – just so we can look at them. 

Welcome to the Tyrant Farms’ family, MJ! Thanks for helping us spread the word about another species of heritage breed animal that deserves to be preserved, appreciated, and utilized by backyard poultry enthusiasts, homesteaders, and farmers alike! 

Update: MJ has now authored a book all about keeping geese, as part of our Impractical Guide book series. If you want to discover how to raise the world’s most underrated domestic bird, you can order her book on Amazon in paperback or digital/ebook format! 

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Flap on over to these goose articles:

• Top 10 reasons to raise geese
• 7 reasons you shouldn’t get geese