OH BOY!!!! well we made it out alive the cats still wont come out of the barn and the calves still have the wild look in their eyes, but it was not the kids that were the problem it was the moms! when they first got here i set the rules ;no open gates no sticks around the stock no hitting no cookies for the animales, well moms wanted pictures of j.r. petting this and that and would walk in pens or over fences. the kids had a blast !! some had no clue what a goat looked like or that there were female and male chickens and would love to do it again.1st we did the animal tour then the fruit trees and garden and we watched the farmer cut hay {go timing} then snack, watermelon and apple juice,then seed spitting contest{i thought some moms were going to have heart failure} then a trip to the compost to mix up the rinds and last put not least a feather hunt, chicken and duck, {i added afew from an old pillow so evryone could find one. it realy was fun and the farm has not been so clean in years! 1 week of clean up realy does make a big difference! i would say to anyone out there that has time to do it go for it! call the local church or school and put your name on a list, the look in a childs eyes when they pet a calf is worth the effort! i hate to mention this but make sure the groups insurance covers field trips and permission slipes are all signed you never know what could happen.

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), July 09, 2000

Answers

Yeah, Renee, you survived! Sounds like the kids had fun and the moms should be spanked. Wonder what kind of revenge the cats are plotting? Maybe next time you could set up the farm version of the high school prom arch for the photo ops. A tractor and/or a really tame animal and/or a pile of some sort of farm produce-even some hay bales. That might help keep the moms in line. I'm glad the kids had fun, it was a very nice thing for you to do. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), July 09, 2000.

Sounds like everyone survived. We also do farm tours. We have even considered cahrging but realized we probably get more people here by not charging. Its wonderful publicity for the farm, the kids love it, it helps our stock learn to be less fearful and as you say its a perfectly wonderful excuse for cleaning up. We let the kids milk our very patient goat Khrys and they all go home with a tag that says "I milked a dairy goat at Nightsong Farm". Its only a squirt or two but they love it.

-- Susie Stretton (nightsong@beci.net), July 13, 2000.

Sounds wonderful! While your at it - could you also notify your local Girl Scout council, or the council at a nearby city. Sounds so much better than the local "petting zoo."

-- Deborah (ActuaryMom@hotmail.com), July 14, 2000.