Longdown Activity Farm

 As a family we've made a list of our top 10 places or things to do on our family days out. We try to do one a month to ensure we have time together and an outing doing something new. 

Today we visited number 3 on our list- Longdown Activity Farm, and a hive of activity it is! It's £8.75 per adult and £7.75 per child over 3, so Alfie was free! Everywhere we looked there was something to do or look at, this interactive farm is well equipped to keep children busy for hours. As Alfie's only 13 months we spent two hours walking around and playing, but as he grows up we'll easily be able to spend an entire day there. 

Live music and a wool spinning demonstration at the entrance- there's even something for the children to watch as the wait in line to get into the farm! 

The Farm opens at 10am and has hourly events like feeding the pigs, horseback riding, tractor rides, giving the baby goats milk, collecting eggs from the chickens, etc. We fed the pigs by pouring their food pellets down a long tube and you can refill your cup as much as you like, much to the delight of the older children. 

Pigs feeding & one being mischievous! 

There was a large area for picnics and a playground, so you can have a leisurely lunch. There was a live band playing folk music which added to the ambiance. Then it was tractor rides, we watched as everyone piled into the horse-drawn carriage or the big hay bale filled trailer and waved them off as they set off on their ride around the field. 

Each barn had a different animal to look at- chickens from newly hatched in the incubators to little chicks growing up and then there were the big red hens laying eggs with a box underneath each nest that kids could reach into and collect the eggs for the farm shop. They also had baby ducks- my favourite! 

There were also barns full of goats, calves, baby goats (kids), guinea pigs (cavy), rabbits, donkeys and horses. We saw a baby donkey (Jennie) just been born. They are able to walk immediately, although shaky they are up on their feet within 15 minutes of being born. Then they have to nurse within 30 minutes to get the nutrients from the mothers colostrum. If this doesn't happen the farmer gets involved. In this case nature did it's thing and another interesting fact was that the mother eats the placenta for nutrients! 

Little Jennie only minutes old! 

They also had a trampoline area, ride on tractors, a digger truck you can operate, soft play area, ping pong, electric cars and buggies to ride on as well. It was the one place I've been that I've not heard any tears because the kids are entertained at every stage; although we did see one child having a strop because he couldn't pet the goats...we couldn't help but laugh!