There was an assortment of breeds of poultry - I loved the Silkies, which looked as their name suggested. I even got one hen to peck grain from my hand. I thought I had overestimated how much she would eat, but grain by grain she pecked it all up.
Going past the llamas I saw a funny. A family had approached and the eldest son (about 8 I would guess) offered food from the pot of carrots he had. One of the llamas took the whole pot - plastic and all - and dropped it onto the ground in the pen before devouring the carrots! Fortunately the father of the family was able to retrieve about half of the carrots, which were still in the pot, and equally fortunately the family all seemed to find it a funny experience.
The animal barn was a little bit of a disappointment - it had some more goats and some lovely rabbits in it, plus some assorted reptiles, but no chance to pet the rabbits, which I would have loved to do. There were various breeds, one of which was massive. I stayed for the "Animal encounter" which was also a bit of a disappointment - only three animals brought out (a rat, a bantam hen and a chinchilla) which were carried round the group of visitors very quickly, with just time for each one to have a quick stroke.
However, collecting the newly laid eggs from the hen barn was wonderful. I rejected the first sets I found as they had clearly been "placed" there much earlier. But the next section I looked in had hens on their eggs - I was able to feel below them to find warm eggs - fantastic! Birds aren't really my favourite animals, but I loved the walkthrough bird area. There were some exotic water fowl there - flamingoes, and the scarlet ibis - this photo doesn't do justice to the glory of their plumage at all; it was scarlet, not the orange-red it appears here. The Vulturine Guineafowl were also beautiful. I saw several feathers, but sadly none in reach.
The different textures of the animal coats really struck me. From the extreme softness of the chinchilla through the fluffy feathers of the various hens, to the coarseness of the ponies, the solidity of the sheep's woolly coats and the huge variety of the goats coats. Some were really soft, some furry, some coarse. The smells too (wow, there were some smelly goats!) and the noises. Itvwas so good to do without worrying about how other people were enjoying it - I had just myself to please, and when I had enough, I came home - well, after a stop at the delicatessan where I did indulge just a little...
2 comments:
....doing something to nurture ourselves is sometimes So Damn Hard to manage and to enjoy.
I am SO Very Pleased you enjoyed your day... and so sorry you couldn't quite reach or find a feather!! That blue is amazing- i love the way those two colours sit beside each other as well. thank you.
Thanks, MMP.
Glad I posted the day here - it's something to hang on to.
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