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Estimated 5,000 attend Farm Animal Baby Shower
By LINDA M. LINONIS
CANFIELD
Children sat, squatted and knelt down on the barn floors and around outside enclosures to get an eye-level view of the fuzzy, feathery and furry creatures featured at the annual Farm Animal Baby Shower at Mill Creek MetroParks Farm.
Visitors were asked to sign in at the event till 4 p.m. Sunday so the staff could get an official count, but people were still arriving at nearly 4 p.m. and were allowed to enter. Brenda Markley, agriculture education manager, estimated the crowd at “easily 5,000.”
“It’s a beautiful day,” she said of the balmy high-60s weather with a slight breeze that provided a pleasant time for walking in and around the barns. Markley recalled one year the event was canceled because of 10 inches of snow and 400 people still came. They weren’t turned away, she said, though the animal display was smaller.
The baby shower began in 1992, she said. “It’s become a tradition for many families,” she said. “Many children don’t have any opportunity to have this experience except here.”
Markley said the farm staff and volunteers inform visitors about the animals. “We want them to know many of the animals have a use and purpose,” Markley said. “The baby animals show the life cycle. We also want to teach respect for life.”
Markley said the feedback about the event is positive.
Lisa Clarke, along with her daughter, Sarah, and mother-in-law, Cindy Cupac, traveled from Beaver Falls, Pa., to the event. Clarke said a friend told her about it. Four-year-old Sarah liked the ducklings.
“We would come again. I liked the interaction. ... My daughter was able to touch the animals. That was the best part,” Clarke said.
Hollie and David Jones of Youngstown and their children, Elijah, 7, Ethan, 2, and Brooklynn, 4 months, also were touring the barns to see the animals. “They’ve never seen animals like this up close before,” Hollie Jones said.
“I like the sheep,” Elijah interjected.
“It’s a nice chance to show them something about nature. ... It’s good for them to see,” David Jones said. “It’s a way for them to learn about other creatures.”
And there were plenty of critters to behold. Petting the brown-eyed Jersey calves born April 5 was popular as children crowded around the enclosures and mothers of the two-legged kind reminded youngsters to “wait your turn.”
Black and white and light-tan Nigerian Dwarf goats also got “oohs” of pleasure as children reached through the enclosures to touch them. A donkey and pony got their share of attention.
A ewe and her twin lambs also attracted a crowd, though the woolly babies, a bit shy, often hid behind their mother.
Signs posted on the enclosures helped visitors learn the correct terminology for young animals such as goslings for geese, ducklings for ducks, chicks for chickens, lambs for sheep, calves for cows and piglets for pigs. Signs also noted the birth dates of the young animals — some in early April. Visitors also learned cute feeder piglets, weighing 3 to 5 pounds, eventually would top the scales at more than 200 pounds.
Among surprises for visitors were a 20-pound Flemish giant rabbit, who was a popular companion for picture taking, and a baby kangaroo.