Children Farm in Braintree, CM7
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Boydells Dairy Farm
matoqah, Mother of 1
4 Oct 2011 3:52pm
Boydell's Farm, a working sheep dairy, is a taste of real farm life for your animal-loving children, and the antidote to the (admittedly pleasant!) fakery of other local 'children's farms'. A few minutes' drive north of Braintree, Boydell's is fly-blown, muddy and not altogether fragrant, but the intimate 'ask-anything' tours and demonstrations by the farmers get to the heart of their world in a way accessible to the youngest guests.
Open 2-5pm Fri-Sun from April to September, and daily in the summer holidays, the main event is the industrial sheep-milking (bet you've never seen that before!), but children and adults can also try their hand at milking a cow, feeding chickens and - in season - bottle feeding the adorable lambs. Little ones enjoy a ride in the donkey cart and splashing in the very shallow brook that runs through the picnic grounds.
Boydell's is a small diversion without all the usual infrastructure of an open farm, though they have loos and you can usually help yourself to a cuppa with the kettle in the sparsely-stocked shop! I have visited Boydell's a couple of times with my under-3's, and they are delighted to get so close to so many animals in such a short space of time and in a small area. The intimacy of the place is lovely for preschoolers. Ideally, though, this would suit your school-age kids or any who like to know where their food comes from. The farm's own dairy produce is on sale and well worth a try, and might even please your fussy eater if they assisted in the milking themselves!
Take a picnic and take time to enjoy the pretty grounds with roaming llamas and other animals just there for the petting, but most of all enjoy introducing your children to a genuine working farm and its farmers.
