Kids get up close and personal with the animals

CHILDREN are getting up close and personal with llamas, sheep and chickens at Basils Farm.
The “Meet and Feed the Animal Sessions + Lunch” are proving popular with adults and kids alike enjoying being able to feed Basil and Houdini the llamas, chickens and southdown “babydoll” sheep, and then helping collect eggs for the café.
On Wednesday last week, about 20 children and their parents took part in a session, where tour guide Mark Telfer took them through a safety briefing before they all headed down to the feeding area.
The children then enjoyed a delicious lunch back at the café to complete the visit.
Serene and her son Riley, pictured, took part in the session with the rest of their family and said they had heard about the experience all the way from Queensland, and that this was a must do activity during their stay.
Melisa Thompson from Basils Farm said the animal sessions were a fun morning out on the farm and there was lots of space where the kids could run around.
“Our llamas Basil and Houdini are always a hit and are not shy, therefore happy to be hand fed.”
The animal sessions have been running for almost two and a half years now.
Ms Thompson said in the past Basils Farm had run seasonal gardening workshops and also ran a kids’ gardening workshop, which included animal feeding.
“The kids really loved getting up close to the farm animals and helping Mark feed them, so we decided to offer more feeding sessions and also added in lunch.”
The children’s sessions are held every Thursday during school terms until the end of November, and also every Thursday during the school holidays (weather dependent).
An additional school holiday date has also been added on Friday, October 4.
Book online at basilsfarm.com.au/bookings.