The Family Farm experience goes beyond the average petting zoo. While young visitors can still meet their favorite barnyard animals, they have an opportunity to go a step further with exciting programs and activities. Some of the activities include a Livestock Stampede and Animal Feeding, where early morning visitors can watch animals exercising, observe hoof care, see animal bathing and even help out a little. In the Hatchery, also known as the Blue Barn, young visitors may attend a regular open house and learn more about eggs and chicks on the Farm. In the Red Barn, there are opportunities to groom animals at the scheduled Life on the Farm program.
Kids can enjoy the Farm again and again as they grow since there are experiences that appeal to every age group. The tactile and sensory experiences of feeding and touching livestock thrill the youngest children. Mid-age children expand their experience to brushing the livestock, pumping water for the alpacas, riding toy tractors, drawing pictures or watching farm-themed videos in the Tack Room, chatting with the animal keepers and even cleaning up using rakes and child-friendly wheelbarrows.
For older kids, there are opportunities to learn about rare breeds of livestock. Twenty percent of the world’s nearly 8,000 breeds of farm livestock are threatened with extinction due to industrialized farming, and the Family Farm offers a unique opportunity to meet some of them, including the miniature donkey, West African Nigerian dwarf goat, KuneKune pig, Dominique chicken, Navajo-Churro sheep and Jacob sheep — varieties of domestic animals that have served humans for centuries, but whose populations are in serious decline due to industrialized farming. Kids can even take conservation action at home by picking up a handout demonstrating the various options for backyard composting.
While simply good fun, all of these various activities affect kids at a very basic emotional level, creating feelings that are easily remembered for years to come.
The Family Farm experience goes beyond the average petting zoo. While young visitors can still meet their favorite barnyard animals, they have an opportunity to go a step further with exciting programs and activities. Some of the activities include a Livestock Stampede and Animal Feeding, where early morning visitors can watch animals exercising, observe hoof care, see animal bathing and even help out a little. In the Hatchery, also known as the Blue Barn, young visitors may attend a regular open house and learn more about eggs and chicks on the Farm. In the Red Barn, there are opportunities to groom animals at the scheduled Life on the Farm program.