The rainy, after-supper dark gave way to a bright indoor arena.
The soft sandy floor was freshly raked for the guests, who were front and centre.
Two spotted goats with floppy ears and two pigs - one pink, one a lovely shade of brown - were in temporary pens. Two hens were cooing to each other on a fresh bed of fragrant timothy, in a carrier resting on a block of woodchips. All of the animals were quiet and curious.
The human guests were equally welcomed with coffee, tea and sweets served in the arena’s warming room.
The P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture and the province planned a series of workshops to talk about animal care. They started with a classroom session and the next two were more hands-on.
Around 30 people gathered Nov. 22 to hear veterinarian Kim MacDonald, chicken-keeper Bob Glover and beef farmer Alec Dixon talk about the various needs of each species.
Several members of the North River 4-H club were in the audience.
“I had to load the pigs,” says Jamie Hughes. “I want to see how they’re handling them tonight.”
Most of the 4-H-ers had animals of their own. Katie Hughes, 13, and her sister Grace, 16, work on their family diary farm. The sisters often milk all 24 cows by themselves while their dad does the other chores like feeding.
“Get a more professional understanding of farm safety, farm animal safety,” says Grace, about what she hopes to learn.
She already had an idea of how to handle her cows.
“Not putting a lot of stress on the animal, that’s really important to me. And just, smooth operation, keep everybody under control and happy.”
Cassidy Cudmore wanted to know more about goat and pigs, her family has sheep and beef cows.
Her brother Cody, who has 60 laying hens of his own, wanted to hear more from Glover and his experience with backyard meat chickens and laying hens.
Xandra van der Greer and her son Iddo were there to learn about the goats and chickens. Iddo is a fibre artist and would someday like to produce his own wool and feathers for his felting, spinning and weaving. They hoped to learn how to take care of the animals.
“The proper way,” says Xandra.
“And get kind of the idea of how much effort it’s going to be on top of what I’m already doing,” says Iddo.
JoaAnn Pineau with the Federation has seen an increase in the number of people interested in backyard and hobby farming or even owning a farm animal as a pet.
“It’s important to animal welfare standards, and to the efficiency of a farm, that producers fully understand the importance of animal care.”
The recent gathered 30 experts and amateurs to discuss the care of the goats, pigs and chickens.
The questions ranged from basic anatomy to the best brands of feed.
“It’s nice to have all the back and forth, because it’s really the most important part,” says Pineau.
“We want a comfortable environment for people to ask questions,” adds Carolyn Wood, with the department of Agriculture.
“Our society is a generation or two out from small mixed farms as they were in the 50’s and 60’s and 70’s,” says Wood.
“There’s something about raising livestock that needs to be learned.”
The organizers hope people learn from the speakers, but also find mentors for the future.
