Small Boy Meets Small Animals

This morning Mom and I took Jack to MSU's Small Animal Day, a chance for community members to visit the farms and pavilion of the College of Agriculture. It was a really neat experience, which unfortunately meant that there were TONS of people there. We had to wait in line for pretty much anything... lines for the buses to take us to the pavilion and farms, lines to pet the cow, lines to pet the piglets, lines to pet the lambs, lines to sit on a tractor.

Needless to say, Jack was a little overwhelmed by everything. He did, however, enjoy petting a duckling at the pavilion. He freaked out when it came time to pet the cow and sheep, so Mom and I wandered back into the 4-H area (not part of the exhibits) to look at the horses in a quieter environment. Jack warmed up enough to pet a gentle horse on its nose.

After getting a soft pretzel for a snack, we caught the bus for the poultry farm, where Jack saw turkeys, geese, ducks and emus outside, pet two chickens inside, saw lots of chicken breeds (that was my personal favorite part because the chickens were beautiful!), saw quail, chicken and duck eggs hatching (another favorite of mine, but too crowded for Jack to enjoy) and hold a baby duck, chick or turkey (he was too scared to do anything more than pet them).

All in all, it was a really neat experience, but I'd like to have removed at least 3/4 of the people in order to really enjoy it. I think we'll just need to go back to Mooville (the dairy farm) or find another farm to visit where Jack can be in a relaxed, less crowded environment.