About Vivian Acres

Vivian Acres is a peaceful little place located in Colchester Vermont in the Champlain Valley.   My wife Georgiann and I consider ourselves blessed to be a part of this and to be surrounded by the animals that we care for here.  the stars of Vivian Acres are our 18 Angora Goats, 34 chickens and a menagerie of other animals we have adopted into our family.

The farm in named in honor of our daughter Vivian.  About 10 years ago at age 8 Vivian was diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer named Neuroblastoma.  I know, I had never heard of it either.  Over the next 8 years Vivian had at least 19 surgeries, two bone marrow transplants and countless hours in the hospital for treatment and for cancer related conditions.  During all this time, Vivian was the real strong one.  We as a family never let the cancer get in the way of our living our lives and planning for the future.  One of those plans was in keeping with Vivian’s love of animals and that was to raise goats.  We would talk for hours about how it was going to be and the fun we would have.

In September 2008 Vivian lost her battle at the age of 16 here in Vermont.  We miss her so as you can expect.

The following January I lost my job as a systems analyst for a local company.  It was then that my wife and I tried to figure out “What now?” It was then that we found there was no choice but to move forward with Vivian and our dream.  Vivian Acres was born and we have been off and running ever since.

Like I said, we have Angora Goats.  We initially decided on only 4 but as always has been the case, things just worked out differently.  We now have 18 and couldn’t be happier.  In keeping with the Vivian Theme we have named our goats after rock people, Vivian was a rocker for sure.  We have Kat Von D and her baby Slim Shady and Lady Ga Ga; Billy Joe, Tre and Mike from Green Day; Fat Albert (not a rocker but that was a cool name he came with); Gwen Stephani and her baby Rob Zombie and Elvis and Priscilla; Pink  and her baby Janis Joplin and one with a broken horn which we named Amy Winehouse; also adopted by the herd is a girl with the most beautiful blue eyes Averil.  We also have a buck in residence Jethro  There are also 6 other goats of various breeds and mixes we have adopted. They are Sharon and her babies Slash and Axle and Ozzie, Weezer and Atreyu.  They are all so cool.

We also have 34 chickens called the Pussycat Dolls living on our hill.

Along with the goats and chickens, we have 3 rescued dogs Gracie, Madison, and Lucy  all kinda mutts.  We have a Border Collie that will not go in with the goats.  First day I put Jay in with them and they let him know who was boss and he accepted his role down the ladder.  We have 4 rescued cats Eddie, Smokey, Sammy and Venus.  We also have a black capped conure named Emril.  Vivian left us plenty of company and things are really busy sometimes.

On the grounds we have a goat pen on a rocky hill, an organic vegetable and herb garden and a memorial garden for Vivian that my wife has worked so hard to make look nice.

Vivian Acres is a place of peace and spiritual healing.  There is so much love here, we are truly blessed.  We intend to expand next year to have more goats.  I love and thank my wife for supporting me on this and being here to live our dream.

You can contact us at                    

Georgi and Tom on the farm

Tom and Georgiann Dockery

Vivian Acres

764 Shore Acres Dr

Colchester VT 05446

tomdockery@vivianacres.com