I went out on the road today for work and was able to stop off at a little place along the way with a nursery and a farmstall/barnyard and sort of petting zoo. I always feel a bit weird saying petting zoo, it sounds creepy. Anyway...
You can imagine my absolute glee when I came across chickens with babies, a hugful of bunnies, two little smiling goats and a very licky cow. I'll explain that a bit later on, but first...chicks!
I never quite get over how cute the noises are that baby chickens make. I've seen so many videos of cuddly chickens and I've wanted a chicken (or five) for a while now, but those chicks? If you raise them from small, they will follow you around everywhere and become really good friends and companions.
While I know that chickens aren't the most intelligent animals out there, you have to give them some credit for being funky. They walk funky, cluck funky and some of them even have feathers over their toes, making them look like those 60's style vintage ladies that wore feather boas and sleek dresses. I'm sure you can picture the ones that I mean.
And then I found the bunnies! SQUEE ! Fluffballs with ears.
There were a number of baby bunnies which were bouncing around and eating spinach. You can see the big bunny at the top of this picture is being territorial over the food bowl, but that little black one and the fawn coloured one at the bottom, I just wanted to take them home.
I'm not really a bunny hugger but hey, they're really cute when they are happily prancing around. They reminded me to simply enjoy the moment of respite and be calm. On the other hand, bunnies can also be terrifying. Have you ever heard a bunny scream? It sounds like a baby crying at the top of it's lungs. Not pleasant at all so I definitely prefer my bunnies calm and not stirred.
These little goats were just lounging when I arrived but soon enough one stood up and wanted to say hi. I always like how smiley they look without even trying. I totally would have given this goat a nice head scratch, but the fencing didn't allow it.
I don't know how old they are but they definitely weren't fully grown yet, unless you now get miniature goats. I actually wouldn't be surprised. There seems to be a miniature version of everything these days as I would find out in the next pen where there was a miniature pony. I didn't get any good photos of it as the lighting there was terrible, but I tried to talk to him. He looked rather sad to be honest.
This cow wasn't though.
This was the most lickey cow I've ever met. It slowly came up to me (I think it was a girl but I didn't lift it's dress to be sure) and proceeded to stick it's head over the fence. At first not knowing it's temperament I gave it a nose scratch. It damn well almost pulled my hand into it's mouth with a really long tongue that was very icky sticky and bumpy. The most licky cow ever. She had beautiful eyes and seemed docile and happy. Her coat was shiny and she looks like she's well loved. We parted ways on a good note.
I like to pop into places like this now and again just to have a break from the hustle and bustle and remind myself that animals pace themselves well through the day. There is always time for everything. Sure they may seem to have simple lives in comparison, but there's always time for a rest in the sun, walking with friends, conversation with new people and of course, food.
Thanks for coming along with me to the little farm yard.
All images are my own
Also, I don't know how to spell the word lickey. Please don't judge me