Over the years our family has been to many different places that have animals. We visited the Toronto Zoo, Calgary Zoo and Marineland, explored many petting zoos and saw lots of animals at various country fairs. Our kids loved anything to do with animals, although there were some instances that they remember as traumatic memories; our eldest getting spit on by a lama and our youngest being chased by some chickens.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit a farm with free roaming animals that you could feed and pet. This farm allowed more interaction with the animals than any other place I have been. It was like a trip down memory lane for me but instead of watching my kids interact with the animals, it was my nieces. I went there with my in-laws and my brother in-laws family.
The farm is only one Range Rd over and about a 15 min drive away from our place just north of Grande Prairie.
When you arrive you get a few instructions about what food to feed what animals and any pens you can go in. Each child is given a cup, the size of a small flower pot, of lettuce and carrots to feed the animals
Here is what it looks like close to the entrance. It is situated on a hill so the view was fantastic.
You can almost see our house from there if you look for certain landmarks.
Wandering about was a variety of chickens and roosters.
I only photographed a few but there was at least 20 running around.
They had two lamas in a pen…no spitting incidents this time.
One lone cow sleeps just outside their pen because they have been friends for years.
The highlight for me was the goats but mostly the baby goats.
Some of the baby goats run around in a pack like children.
The babies like to crawl over anyone sitting and try to chew hair, straps or clothes.
This baby and its twin were born just on Monday night so it was only about 12 hours old.
Quite a number of pigs of various shapes and sizes were sleeping and walking around plus a few more in a pen.
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At one point a donkey in a pen was feeling left out and started braying pretty loud.
Other donkeys were free to just walk around.
These larger gobbling turkeys were in a pen.
…and a smaller much noisier breed in the horse pen.
They do have one peacock, some bunnies, horses and a wallaby but I didn’t manage to get any great photos of them. The girls did managed to figure out how to pet the peacock by only lightly stroking the top of its head and avoiding its feathers.
Even the house the owners live in is interesting with wood slices in cement walls and a thatched roof.
I was reminded that some of our family’s most memorable outings have involved animals.
This farm is only open May-Sept, Tues-Sun and only 10am-2pm so it was fairly busy for a weekday.
There is no cost to visit but they gladly accept donations.
You can bring a lunch and even have a weiner roast at their fire pit.
A makeshift kid’s playground including a trampoline is close to the eating area.
Ice cream and drinks are available, for sale at a little booth.
Definitely a great family outing for anyone who enjoys animals.
What a lovely couple that man scutch a treat!
I know, my brother Blair would have loved every aspect of this and the complexity of the dwelling.
That was quite the house. A good view of the area. Nice to have something close by to visit.