Billings Farm - Part II - Animals

Not only does the Billings Farm have an excellent museum, but it is a working farm with quite a few animals.  The kids really enjoyed the opportunity to see a number of different animals.  We started off by venturing into the milking barn to see the jersey cows.

Billings Farm’s Jersey herd has a pedigree that dates back to 1871 and is still considered one of the finest Jersey herds in North America. Averaging 70 milking cows, heifers, and calves, our cows are known for their award-winning genetics, affectionate disposition, and high-quality, high-protein milk.
--from Billings Farm website

It was nice to be able to show the kids what the cows looked like close up.  They even got an opportunity to brush one of the cows.

I think though that their highlight was when one of the cows emptied their bowels just a few feet away and they got to watch things plop down onto the floor.  Outside we got to get close to some calves.

After that we headed towards the small animal barn.

As we approached I saw there was a sign on the door.

Once there we saw a warning to make sure the goats don't escape.

I think they were definitely correct about the goats being escape artists.

The building also held a number of chickens, which must be part of the farm's heritage breed flock.

According to the signs they were mainly different Cochin varieties.

We also saw some pigs, though I'm not sure if they were the Berkshire pigs that their website says were introduced early in 2018.

Outside plenty of sheep were visible in the distance.

We did get to get up close with one of the draft horses.

The farm sells a number of products related to their animals--most of which are processed off-site by another company if I recall correctly.

We later went back into the barn for a milking demonstration with the farm's Jersey cows.  I've been on dairy farms before, including one that used to be owned by my uncle, so the process wasn't entirely new to me.

I think that the kids enjoyed seeing where milk came from.  I don't remember if they'd seen a demonstration at a fair before this point or not.

All in all it was a very enjoyable experience and well worth the money.  You can find all of the pictures I took of the farm in this album.

~Matt