The following post is an archive of our GoFundMe campaign which began in 2020
Hello everyone,
I think this might be the longest time you haven’t heard from us since the start of this campaign. During the COVID-19-health-crisis and all its accompanying side effects, time seems to have its own way to float by and then sneak up on us. And now very recently the world truly has taken another “crazy” turn and I don’t really find the right words to express how shocked and saddened we are about the events in other countries. Our sympathy, prayers and good wishes go out to all the people of Ukraine and everyone else who has been affected by this war. Please let there be peace for everyone.
Most of our daily lives revolve around our animals and they keep us very busy – and then of course there was another spell of cold weather which always seems to double the work. But the freezing temperatures only lasted a short time. We are very happy that all our goats passed another health check up last month and with that done we’ve already started to bring the first few back into town. Just in time before they came to Beacon Hill our big goat barn got a thorough spring clean up – all is ready now to welcome old and new friends.
The first four goats to move in were our pregnant ladies Tinkerbell, Periwinkle, Cupid and Diamond, they joined our little goat herd of last year’s babies who now are slowly growing into teenagers. Getting reaquainted didn’t take long and I can share the happy news with you that it also didn’t take very long until we could welcome the first new member of our goat herd. On February 23rd Periwinkle gave birth to a healthy, gorgeous big boy. Since he was born on “Pink Shirt Day ” we called him Mr. Pink and with the marking of a little heart on his back he is reminding us to always lift each other up. SPREAD LOVE – STOP BULLYING!
Mr. Pink is playful and trusting, curious and brave, he loves to explore and play and then he has a good drink from his mum and snuggles up beside her when he gets tired. Periwinkle just adores him, she constantly likes to have him in her sight – he really is the apple of her eye.
Soon after, Periwinkle’s sister Tinkerbell gave birth to 3 beautiful babies, one girl and two boys. The two mums live in stalls side by side and it was really too cute to listen to the two of them chatting along and keeping each other updated. We could just imagine how Tinkerbell was telling her sister about her labour and what Periwinkle’s responses were. They were carrying on a real conversation. Tinkerbell’s first born boy is very little, his entire body just fits into one small hand. But all the babies are doing great – even the tiny one is drinking often, he is very playful and already tries to climb onto and over his bigger siblings. Because of the cool weather and the small size of the little babies they spend the majority of their time inside the barn with their mum Tinkerbell. They have a heat lamp to keep them warm and plenty of privacy and time to bond. However, mum and kids enjoy short visits to the bigger world of the rest of the barn and to the outside area, and so several times a day they have a bit of an adventure (for the babies) and free time (for their great mum). Once the kids are tired and Tinkerbell has met her friends and caught up with her sister again, they always seem very happy to go back to their cozy and quiet stall.
This past week the chickens were the next ones to join us back here at the farm – and they are only the beginning. The arrival of the chickens always reminds me how great diversity is and how important it is to value every possible colour, size, gender, ability, emotion and origin. Our chickens are all so different and together they form a diverse but awesome flock!
And now finally to the questions that we’ve been asked very often these past weeks. When will the farm open this season? We are actively working on preparing everything and as always that is a big team effort. Getting this farm ready for the season and moving all the animals and their equipment is like a big puzzle of many small components that all have to work together. There is after-winter/ spring clean up, renovations, improvements, reassembly, training of new and old staff, making plans on when, who and how to return, preparing new signage, compiling feed and shopping lists, etc. – while at the same time always taking care of the animals at both farm locations, everything interrupted by several vet calls and assisting the new baby goats to come into this world. And all that doesn’t even include any transport of the animals yet. Moving them is a bigger endeavour that requires multiple trips and will happen over several days. I guess it might compare to the moving of an entire community hostel with young and old members to their summer home.
Sounds like a lot? Yes, I guess it does, it always seems like an enormous mountain of tasks ahead of us and very many steps to climb. The good thing is that we’ve done it before and this experience helps. What might some days just resemble pure chaos will all end up being a somewhat organised purposeful and well-thought-out effort that will result in the return of all our animals to Beacon Hill and the farm being ready for this new season. With most of this still ahead of us and while we are also keeping an eye on the current health situation we are unable to announce a precise opening date, but we are trying to reopen the farm between the middle and the end of this month.
Because we strive to make the farm a safe environment for everyone – humans and animals alike – as well as because after two slow seasons in a world with COVID-19 and a winter break most of our animals (especially the goats) are currently not used to having contact to a lot of people, we might still keep some restrictions in place. We are all hoping that these will be only temporary and we can open up step by step and through that allow everyone to adapt to a busier daily farm life. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
With the spring ahead of us and the prospect of a new season where we can share our life and experiences with the animals with all our visitors again, we are all filled with hope and gratitude. We all know that we and the farm would not have made it through these two difficult years without your loyal and continuous support and encouragement. While the farm had to close and only operated at limited capacities, I really worried that the community surrounding the farm would become smaller and that being not able to visit and see our animals would result in people starting to forget about their needs and necessary care and how special they are. Let me assure you that I’ve never been this happy to be wrong about something. I feel certain that the “farm family” grew in number and in strength, and you all became part of this strong safety net that has never let us down. Our story clearly shows that many people together can make a difference and how much this community cares about the animals and the farm. For that you will always have our greatest respect and deep gratitude.
Now, it’s back to work for us, we have a very busy time with lots of tasks ahead, so that we can open the farm gates again and welcome back old friends and make new ones.
Four-legged and two-legged: Everyone at the Beacon Hill Children’s Farm is looking forward to seeing you all soon.
Stay safe, be kind to each other and look for a bright and peaceful future,
Claudia
