Every year in April, the NC State College of Agriculture hosts a free Farm Animal Days at the Beef Educational facility located at 4505 Mid Pines Rd. It’s a great time for kids of all ages, and gives them a chance to see and touch farm animals and learn about agriculture. If you have a kid who loves tractors they will also get to see some up close and sit in the driver’s seat. It’s become an annual tradition for me and my kids, so definitely put it on your calendar if you haven’t been before!
Farm Animals
One of our favorite activities at Farm Animal Days is holding the little baby chicks. They let each child hold a chick in their hands, and who can resist that?! Even when my kids were one year old they enjoyed holding these cute little balls of fluff! If you’re lucky, you may also see some eggs hatch while you’re there!
If you’re looking for bigger animals, they also have cows, horses, turkeys, sheep, and goats onsite as well. Pretty much any farm animal you can think of is here for you to get up close and personal! There are also trained students onsite to answer any of your questions about the animals.
Dairy Demonstrations
You can’t actually milk the cows at Farm Animal Days, but periodically throughout the day they will have milking demonstrations at the dairy truck. They will hook up a cow to the milking machine and answer all of your questions about the process. My young kids haven’t been able to sit through this entire presentation yet so I can’t give you all the details, but it should be pretty educational for your school-aged children.
If you want to get your hands wet, so to speak, with milking a cow, they do have practice areas setup with wooden cows and water. Your kids will get to learn about the milking process without actually climbing under a giant cow, so I say it’s a win-win for all!
Costumed Characters
Throughout the day you may also get a glimpse of Molly the Cow and Porky the Pig. These costumed characters can be well-received by some kids, but not so much by others. My kids loved running up and high-fiving the characters, but some of my friend’s kids ran away in fear. Just a heads up if your kid doesn’t love costumes!
Touch a Tractor
Once you’re done with the animals, be sure to visit the field of tractors so you can check out all the various farm machinery. The kids love climbing up and sitting in the driver’s seat just like a real farmer! There are usually about 6 different machines available so the lines aren’t too long.
Virtual Reality Farm Tour
New last year, you can take a virtual reality tour of a hog farm. It was pretty basic, but cool if you’ve never experienced virtual reality before! They wiped down and sanitized the goggles between use, which everyone appreciated due to how hot it was outside!
Free NC State Ice Cream!
But probably the highlight of the day is that everyone who visits Farm Animal Days gets a free cup of NC State Howling Cow Ice cream! If you’ve never had it before, Howling Cow Ice cream is made at NC State with cream from the cows you are seeing right there at Farm Animal Days! The line at the NC State Fair to get this ice cream is always a mile long, but here you can get it for free with barely no wait at all! You get your choice of strawberry, vanilla, or chocolate.
When to visit
Farm Animal Days can get pretty busy, so probably the best time to visit is after lunch when most people leave for naps. You do not need to register in advance, but they will ask you to fill out a short registration form upon arrival.
The event runs Wednesday through Friday from 9am-2pm. It only takes about an hour to go through all of the exhibits so it’s a short outing. They do have a picnic area available if you want to pack a lunch and stay longer.
You can get the current dates and times for farm animal days at https://youthlivestock.ces.ncsu.edu/farm-animal-days/
If you’re looking for more animal encounters in the triangle, check out our list here: https://www.raleightotspots.com/category/animalencounters/