Garden Club

Chesterfield Farm Excursion

Last week on Tuesday 15th of October, the Garden Club students along with Bev, Nola and Judith, the Garden Club supervisors, visited Chesterfield Farm.

Visiting the animals

When we first arrived at the entrance of Chesterfield Farm, we were greeted by some chickens who were roaming around in their pens. There were also two peacocks, one male and one female. As we walked past, the male was showing off its beautiful blue and purple feathered tail. It was an unforgettable sight for most of us!

During the middle session we had the opportunity to ride on a tractor as part of a mini tour of the animal enclosures. We got to take a closer look at the farm animals which included pigs, birds, camels, a llama, deer and many more.

Our Instructor, Bridget, was the first to introduce us to the farm animals. She gave each of us a cup with a mixture of pellets, grains and hay to feed the animals. To feed the birds we held the cups out through the fence so they could peck at it. However, some cheeky birds stole most of the food. To feed the other farm animals we had to hand feed them otherwise they would take the cup. First, we fed the emus and then the sheep. My personal favorite was the camel because it was unforgettable, although it was a weird experience. Next was the sheep who would push and shove each other to get the food. Afterwards, we walked up the hill to find the kangaroos sunbathing on the flower beds. At the beginning, none of the kangaroos came up to the fence to get fed. Eventually, one of the smaller kangaroos came up to us.

Milking the cows

After the middle session, we went to watch our first show which was milking the cows. We all had a turn to milk the cow. Even though we all had a turn, there wasn’t much milk in the bucket. After we all had a turn, our instructor told us there was an easier way to milk a cow, by using a pump to get the rest of the milk out.

Soon they brought in another cow, and the teachers had a competition to see who could milk the most milk in the least amount of time. Some people got kicked by the cows (aka. Mr Nguyen) because they didn't listen to the instructor.

Shearing the sheep

Our last show was watching the sheep being sheared. Bow, the sheep dog, put on a show for us by rounding up all the sheep in one group to get ready for shearing. There was even a race between the group of sheep and Bow. Surprisingly Bow caught up with the pack which was incredible given the sheep had a head start. 

After the sheep had been rounded up, the sheep shearer picked out a sheep to shear. He steadied it on its back to start the shearing. Since the sheep shearer had to hold the sheep in between his legs, he had a harness to help him hold the weight. He began the shearing by holding the sheep so it wouldn't move around. He used the shearers to cut the dirty parts of the wool off first, and then sheared all the wool off in one piece. 

The shed

After all of our activities, we went to a shed where we could experience what life at Chesterfield Farm was like in the 1800s and the 1900s. 

There were a lot of artefacts that were preserved, including a real ostrich egg, stag antlers, skulls and a lot more.

By Carina Sottile-Roxas and Elaine Xia