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Sunday, June 27, 2010

Chestnut Farms!

A long overdue post about our trip to Chestnut Farms!

We visited dear friends in western MA about 2 weeks back. On our return trip, we traveled to Hardwick, MA to "meet the meat" from Chestnut Farms.

These are the sheep we saw from where we parked our car. The property is gorgeous and so peaceful. It was like walking into a calming breath.

We started at the barnyard, where we met baby goats, baby turkeys, chicks (1 day old!), piglets, pigs and the master boar, one of 2 roosters (THE rooster as they call him for his antics), and saw several wandering chickens in addition to the "pretty ones" that I think Rich keeps for pets.

Aaron is not a fan of touching or holding birds. Yet he held a baby turkey. I'm pretty sure he's thinking about Thanksgiving.

Ellie loved all the animals, but the goat loved her equally.

Caleb and I both want a goat.


The kids insisted on riding a tractor. I insisted on watching them play with the piglets.




Apparently piglets like shoelaces. They rooted at Ellie's shoes despite her loud protests.

For me, the highlight of the trip was to see the school bus chickens. I had learned from the farmers who came to the Natick market that they keep their chickens safe from non-human predators in converted school buses. I believed them, but I still wanted to see the buses with my own eyes. Now that I have, I share the bus-converted to-chicken coop with you!

Chickens doing their chicken thing, out in the open air.


Stop - Chicken Crossing. :)

Inside one of the buses. The buses are open in the day, surprisingly clean considering their residents/riders.
We had a great time seeing where our chicken comes from. I feel even better than I already did supporting this farm and encouraging others to do the same.


3 comments:

  1. Love the chicken buses! And the goats are adorable. Some day I will have a couple of those too.

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  2. Technically we could get 1-2 goats here in New England suburbia. I'm not sure it is a wise move given the size of our plot. Aaron has suggested sharing the goat(s) with neighbors. It certainly would be a greener way of keeping our lawns trim. ;)

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  3. I would love to have a goat!!! Or sheep. Almost everyone had one in their yard in Ireland when I was there many years ago.

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