ALVA—Three miles west of Alva is the largest petting zoo in the state of Oklahoma.
Bradt’s Menagerie, just off U.S. 64, opened as an official Oklahoma Agritourism farm in September 2012. Owners Jerad and JoDe Bradt have incorporated both of their families’ history into the menagerie, which sits on Jerad’s great-grandparents’ homestead.
His great-great-grandfather had made the Land Run of 1893 south of the property in Woods County. In the 1920s, Jerad’s great-grandparents settled the land that he and his wife now reside on, building the house his grandmother was born and raised in. An only child, his grandmother lived in that home until she wed in 1950. She and her husband (Jerad’s grandfather) remodeled and moved into her childhood home in the 1970s and stayed there until 2003 when they relocated into town.
“They wanted us to have room to grow and raise our kids on the farm,” Jerad said in a recent interview. The Bradts moved onto the family farm in 2004 and already had sons Braylon and Brickman—Brickman celebrated his first birthday there—and rounded out their family a decade later with son Breaker.
When the boys were ages 6 and 9, JoDe said, they were stuck on video games and needed chores.
“We got some chickens,” she said, along with a pair of turkeys and ducks with the intent for making a turducken that year for Thanksgiving. (For the unversed, a turducken is a chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey.)
They had one turkey and one duck still living on the farm after the holidays. Jerad wanted to get a few chickens to add to the mix, but JoDe hesitated. The Waynoka native was leery of the idea initially because she was raised with cockfighting chickens.
Jerad convinced her a box of two dozen chicks would be different so they ordered the chicks, which were shipped to the Alva post office.
“They called us to come and get the loud box,” JoDe laughed.
The boys started an egg route and soon they doubled the number of chickens on the farm.
“We then talked about getting goats,” JoDe said. About that same time, Jared’s father tragically passed away. And at some point, Jerad came home with a trailer full of llamas.
“What were you doing collecting animals?” JoDe kidded Jerad, whose response was, “It was my grief therapy.”
Shortly after, the farm also got miniature donkeys and an Indu-Brazilian/Watusi cross steer named Igor.
“We have a petting zoo!” JoDe exclaimed as more animals arrived so the light bulb came on as she chatted with the local extension agent and Alva’s chamber of commerce. Ultimately the couple decided “the animals can pay for themselves” and applied to become a farm with Oklahoma Agritourism.
It is a zoo
The Bradts’ motivation led them to urgently complete and file the necessary paperwork within six months.
“We jumped at the opportunity to give tours,” JoDe said when they opened by appointment that first year. The animals freely roamed the pasture in the off-hours, only relegated to pens when visitors were on the grounds.
In 2013, Bradt’s Menagerie opened on Saturdays and Sundays to the public, but the couple soon learned Sundays were not worth their time.
Animal rides on the camel and the Watusi steer were added in 2014, the round bale hay maze in 2015, and laser tag in 2017. The camel unfortunately passed in 2018, but people can still ride Igor the Watusi steer.
“We gave personalized tours to teach the boys social skills and work on their communication skills,” JoDe said. “Braylon (her oldest) had a hard time talking and learned how to speak up with people. He had the passion for animals.”
As a family, they would research and discuss which animals they should add to the farm, Jerad said. Over the years Bradt’s Menagerie has truly had a menagerie of animals: Highland cows, camels, a yak, alpacas, geese, zebras, donkeys, zeedonks (zebra-donkey hybrid), rabbits, Southdown babydoll sheep, tortoises, miniature pigs, a Belgian draft horse, peacocks, and emus.
The farm has either lost or removed certain species over the years, too, as some animals have died or others were too much to handle, maintain, or care for, Jerad commented.
Then Bradt’s Menagerie was forced to scale back as a result of the pandemic in 2020.
“We had to operate at half capacity compared to before,” Jerad said.
They also went back to appointment only for the spring. Thankfully because it was outdoors, JoDe said, everyone who returned in the fall for the hay maze was able to social distance and spread out.
Regular hours resumed in the spring of 2021.
The petting zoo, of course, is the main draw to Bradt’s Menagerie, but there are many other things to see and do when on the farm.
The family designed a farm-themed playground, starting with hay bales assembled for kids to climb and then slide down. They also moved their personal playplace into the play zone, which also includes a multitude of games and fun such as:
- A grain cart converted into a basketball chute.
- Retired tractor tires made into tire swings and a painted tire maze to crawl under and over.
- Jerad’s great-grandparents’ 1948 Ford wheat truck modified as a truck slide.
“It’s fun to hear the screams of joy and see the farm filled with kids,” JoDe said.
The antique boxcar next to the grassy parking lot that serves as the menagerie entrance, ticket office, gift shop, and concession stand was added the second year of operation and once belonged to JoDe’s father, who passed not long after they moved to the farm.
“It was my dad’s man cave,” she said. “It’s a piece of my childhood alongside [Jerad’s].”
The next generation
Braylon, 24, and Brickman, 21, are both grown and out of the house, leaving their little brother Breaker, 10, as the sole son on the farm. Jerad and JoDe homeschool him, and he often travels with his father when Jerad hits the road to transport animals to and from auctions and sales.
Although they live and work in the Alva area, Braylon and Brickman still help at the farm as needed.
“We spend a lot of time together, working together, and we enjoy it. It is a family affair,” Jerad said.
While the Bradts don’t typically plan ahead more than a few months at a time—“we do whatever God tells us to do,” JoDe said—they do intend to keep running the farm for the foreseeable future.
“We can’t stop,” Jerad added, because Brickman and his wife Chloe “will have our grandkids and he told us he needs this for his kids.”
Bradt’s Menagerie is normally open Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; however, it’s recommended visitors check the Facebook page @bradtsmenagerie before driving over should weather or other circumstances like their Port-A-Pettie mobile petting zoo necessitate closure. Tours during the week are by appointment. Admission is $10 per person and includes a cup of animal feed. Animal rides are an additional $10. For more information, call (580) 430-1269.