Down on the farm!

[beckee]

We have an open farm just down the road from us where you can take children and look round various animal pens and go in with some and touch them etc. Its a great place to take Izzy for an hour or two on a nice afternoon as it's so close and we've managed to go on a few nice sunny days and got some great pictures!

So I thought I'd share! It's nice to support local businesses!

Some of the week/2 week old calves that stay in the indoor barns for a while until they don't need milk quite so often!




Sheep and goats that you can pet! This sheep was especially cute!


Pigs! (as in 'oinkers' not 'wheekers' lol) The farm has several rare breed pigs although I cant remember the breed name just now! But these piglets were so amazingly tame at such a young age! You couldn't go into the pens but when you crouched down near the fence they would run over and push each other out of they way to get ear tickles and belly scratches!







*kiss*


Daddy porker! Check out his teeth!


Shetland pony foal 'Bella'




And some tiny baby guineas! Ooo so tempting to scoop them up and take them home! So close!




I have some more from another similar farm too so don't go anywhere guys! lol

[donna]

Oh beckee, those pictures are great. There is a place about a 20 minute drive from my home where they have a similar place with a variety of lovely animals. I have taken my god daughter there before, and to another farm too. I think it is great for children to see these animals and be lucky enough to interact with them, which teaches them respect for animals and it is very educational.

Oh yes I know what you mean about the guinea pigs, they tend to have them on farms, and it takes a lot of restraint to keep yourself from bring them all home! lol

I like the sheep picture the best. It reminds me of a friendly sheep at one of the farms I went to. It was like pushing against your hand for more affection, a little bit like what a cat does when you stroke them under their chin. So nice to be so close to sheep like that.

I look forward to more pictures if you have more beckee! lol

[gogoplant2]

Guinea pigs! Alright! Hmm, I think daddy porker needs braces! ''chuckle''

[Clover]

Oh fantastic pictures beckee! Its lovely the farm is so close to you and I bet Izzy loves going.

The sheep does look extra cute in the picture.


I love the kissy pig picture, aren't they pretty pigs, such lovely colours.

The pony is adorable and the piggies. I don't think I could resist taking them home.

Will look forward to updates down on the farm ;D

[newpig]

We have quite a few open farms around us and we have the family farm too and so we go quite a lot. My kids love them too and all the open ones have rabbits/guinea pigs or both. I always just want to scoop them all up and take them home.

Love both types of piggy pictures.

[beckee]

It's amazing how many of these places are out there really isn't it! I bet loads of people have one much closer than they think, even inthe cities! And it's such a great place to go with kids!

Oh ok.. have some more pictures then!

Some more friendly sheep for you Donna! You could buy bags of feed for them at this farm so they were a bit cheekier than the other lot, shoving each other out the way and ferreting in your pockets if you stood too close!





Moooooo!


Awwww!






And this one is just for Treen! She does love the Horny Rams!


The sheep and goats out in the outdoor pens were also allowed to be fed with the bags of nuts you could buy but most people had run out by the time they got to them so they had taken to developing fancier tactics to get your attention. As we were approaching one pen, there was a horned goat with her head stuck through the wire fencing and a family all stood around looking worried. One of the family members was jogging back to the group with a member of farm staff gabbling away this story about how they'd been feeding one animal and the next thing they knew, this poor goat had her head stuck and was crying for help! They'd tried and tried to free her, she said, but to no avail and would she be alright?! The farm hand rolled his eyes and with a nifty flick, pushed the goat's head back through the fence and said she did it every ten minutes or so and was perfectly capable of getting herself unhooked when no one was around!

It worked though as the family still felt sorry for her and as we walked on past they were busy shovelling the last of their bags of feed into her smug looking face! lol

[3piggles]

There are a lot of AWES in those pics. I love the baby guinea pigs. Is hay a common bedding where you live, or is it just used because it's common on farms? Piglets are cute, oinkers or wheekers, lol.

That's a great story about the goat. Maybe the farmers should consider suggesting people save some food for the end of the tour.

[beckee]

Sept 28, 2008 1:10:49 GMT 3piggles said:

There are a lot of AWES in those pics. I love the baby guinea pigs. Is hay a common bedding where you live, or is it just used because it's common on farms?

Yes hay is common to use round here. All the small animals in the petting parts of the farms had shavings with loads of hay on top which is a pretty common scenarion for the pet at home too.

Sept 28, 2008 1:10:49 GMT 3piggles said:

That's a great story about the goat. Maybe the farmers should consider suggesting people save some food for the end of the tour.

lol! There were signs all over the place saying similar stuff but the kids all got so excited at the first few pens where the cheekiest goats and sheep were that I think they lost control of their portionings!

[donna]

Thanks for the extra pictures beckee, they are great. I do love the pictures of the sheep, they are so cute. Yes the places near me are the same, where you buy bags of food which you take round and feed the animals with. My favourite pictures are the ones of the sheep. But I must say I do have a soft spot for saddleback pigs, they are such amazing animals.

[beckee]

Sept 29, 2008 7:30:52 GMT donna said:

But I must say I do have a soft spot for saddleback pigs, they are such amazing animals.

Aww me too! I remember reading the book 'Saddlebottom' by Dick King Smith when I was wee. A story of a Saddleback pig who's saddle marking was in the wrong place and I loved them after that!

[donna]

I haven't read that book beckee, but I remember my brother having a farm set which had all the different farmyard animals, and there were lots of little saddleback pigs which I loved to play with.

[beckee]

lol at the auto censor turning his name to Winky! lol

It's supposed to be a shortened version of 'Richard' for all of you who are confused! lol

[donna]

lol, that is funny that it did that! lol

[newpig]

glad you cleared that up Beckee, I was thinking strange name.

[Teebers]

Hey oo I missed this thread! Lovely snaps babes. That little Shetland foal is so cute. (And who is that brave fellow with his hands right up near those dangerous wild boar in the fourth shot??)

[beckee]

I'm not sure but I think just after that picture was taken he tried to milk them and was removed from the place.

[Teebers]

Evidently not all udders are equal!

[Bean]

Aww that's not fair, telling everyone Beckee is wonky!

Nice snaps, it looks like a lovely, clean farm!

Lol about the goat - there's one at my local one that always looks stuck, but never is! The biggest problem there is there's a big goat who quite aggressively butts the others out of the way when you try to feed them lol. You have to work in pairs with one distracting bully boy to give the others a chance of attention and snacks!

[Clover]

Oh more lovely pics, sorry I didn't see them earlier, great pictures beckee.