The Jersey Barnyard

During our week at Camp Lonestar, our family spent one morning touring The Jersey Barnyard, a local farm just outside the city of La Grange. It was a little pricey, but we were excited about all the opportunities the boys would have to see, pet, and feed many different farm animals. Jaden and Cody loved the outing! Here are the boys right outside of the gift shop, awaiting the tour's beginning. I know, they're just exuding excitement. :)

A handful of hens and roosters were roaming the grounds nearby. The animals seemed very accustomed to visitors.

First, we got to tour the chicken coop (is it still called this when it's a large barn-like facility?).

We received a few handfuls of chicken feed for these feisty birds. Their aggressive pecking and noisy clucking were a little overwhelming for our boys.

The bunnies were much more docile. :)

The pigs and ducks didn't mind a little petting...

.... but we were told to keep our hands away from these turkeys.

Jaden took this direction very seriously. :)

The best part of our tour was stopping to bottle-feed these calves. We had to pay extra for the milk bottles, but it was well worth it.

Our tour guide advised us to keep a firm grip on the bottles. These calves were strong-- and hungry!

The bottles served as just a small snack for the calves.

Jaden and Cody took turns feeding the same calf, and then proudly displayed their empty bottles!

Next, we saw these eager-to-be-fed goats.

Throughout the tour, our boys were very hesitant to have the animals eat right out of their hands. Cody, I think, finally let this goat have some food. 

 Jaden preferred instead to pick blades of grass from the ground and happily toss them in the goats' general direction. As you can tell, the goats weren't too thrilled with Jaden's plan.

Next on the tour was a hayride. It was after 11am by this point, so it was a hot journey!

The tractor pulled us all the way to the farm's milking facility. Seeing all of the high-tech equipment and hearing about their procedures for milking was fascinating. We've come a long way since the days when a farmer had to milk all of his cows by hand!

The final perk of the tour was getting an opportunity to milk this very pregnant cow. Cody and Jaden each requested a bit of guidance, but both of them, to their extreme delight, were able to successfully squirt out some milk.

It was a memorable day out on the countryside! :)