Visiting Barleylands Farm Park During Lambing Week

Visiting Barleylands Farm Park During Lambing Week

This half term as well as visiting the London Transport Museum we were also invited to visit Barleylands Farm Park in Billericay Essex. Having visited Barleylands when we started to plan our wedding over eleven years ago we have never visited the farm. I was looking forward to our visit and the chance to see lots of little lambs.

Visiting Barleylands Farm Park During Lambing Week

Things To Do At Barleylands Farm Park

barleylands farm park sign

There is so much to see and do at the farm. We visited for a full day and still didn’t get the chance to see it all. Daily activities include

  • Animal Feeding
  • Animal Meet and Greets, including the new exotic animals
  • The Barleylands Speedway
  • Decorate a Biscuit
  • Birds of Prey Flying Display
  • Bumpy Tractor Rides
barleylands entrance farm park sign

Play Areas at Barleylands Farm Park

There are lots of play areas on the farm, both inside and out, these include

  • Bouncy Pillow
  • Indoor Soft Play Barn
  • Ball Blasting Barn and Undercover Sandpit

There is also a Discovery Barn where you can learn about the history of farming as well as the new nocturnal and exotic house.

reptile house discovery barn sign barleylands farm park

Extra Activities For Lambing Week

As it was lambing week during our visit to the farm there were also extra activities available at the farm. These include

  • Sheep Hunt
  • Visit the Lambing Nursery
  • Lamb Bottle Feeding

Our Visit To Barleylands Farm Park

As we entered Barleylands Farm Park we were offered the chance to purchase some animal feed. It costs ÂŁ1 a bag so we brought two so that both Ethan and Little E had their own bag. On the farm, you can feed all of the animals apart from the pigs and the donkeys.

As soon as you enter the farm there are goats wanting you to feed them. Little E loved this Ethan wasn’t so sure at first. As he has gotten older he has become more unsure of animals. It is such a shame as he loved feeding animals as a toddler.

darren little e feeding goats barleylands farm park
goats barleylands farm park

There are even more animals to feed in the animal barn. Here we discovered more goats, sheep, rabbits, guinea pigs, cows, donkeys, and pigs.

white sheep barleylands farm park
alpaca barleylands farm park
brown face sheep barleylands farm park

This is also where the orphaned lambs are kept. These are the lambs that you also get the chance to bottle feed.

baby lambs barleylands farm park

We visited this barn quite a few times during our visit Little E loved feeding all the animals. Ethan did also warm up to the idea of feeding some of the goats with our support.

little e feeding goats barleylands farm park
little e feeding sheep barleylands farm park
darren ethan little e feeding cows barleylands farm park
little e feeding white goat barleylands farm park

Birds of Prey Flying Display

We wanted to watch the birds of prey flying display as we thought this would be something the children would like. They introduced us to a Barn Owl, a Vulture, and a Falcon.

barn owl flying display barleylands farm park
vulture flying display barleylands farm park
falcon flying display barleylands farm park

It was quite a windy day which at times blew some of the birds off course. This did actually give us some moments up close with the birds.

The Bird Aviary

There is also a bird aviary at the farm. We took the children in here to see which birds they could spot. There is a handy spotting guide as you enter the aviary.

aviary bird spotting guide barleylands farm park

There are also bird spotting sheets available for you to take through the aviary. We enjoyed walking through here and it also gave us a bit of a break from the windy weather.

dove bird aviary
java sparrows bird aviary
bengalese finch bird aviary

The Barleylands Speedway

The children were very interested in having a go at driving on the Barleylands Speedway. This was a big step for Ethan and the first time we have really let him have a go at driving cars without extra support.

ethan little e barleylands speedway

He learned this driving skill from Little E. It was nice to see them racing each other even if Little E declared herself the winner!

little e winner barleylands speedway

There is an extra charge for the Barleylands Speedway. One pound coin is required to power each car.

Feeding The Baby Lambs

This was the activity I was looking forward to the most. As was everyone else visiting the farm that day. A big queue had gathered when it was lamb feeding time. Darren took Ethan for a walk around the animal barn whilst I waited with Little E. He was happily reading all the animals’ names out to Darren.

little e lamb feeding

To feed the lambs each child would help to hold the bottles with the farmhands. They said they would have approximately 60 seconds each. It didn’t feel like a long time but there were so many people waiting to take part in this activity.

little e feeding lambs

Both Ethan and Little E fed the lambs and even if it was 60 seconds the experience didn’t really feel as rushed as it sounded.

ethan feeding lambs

The Indoor Soft Play Barn

We visited the indoor soft play barn just after 1.00 pm. We hadn’t brought any lunch with us but we knew that there was the option to buy food inside. The play barn was packed with families that all had the same idea. We managed to find ourselves a spot and brought the children the packed lunches they have on offer.

After they had eaten and we were settled we treated ourselves to a cream tea. The children played in the soft play barn for over an hour. As it was so busy it did take Ethan some time to adjust but he happily went off and played in the soft play for a while.

The New Nocturnal and Exotic House

Barleylands Farm Park has recently opened a new nocturnal and exotic house. During the day they host exotic animal talks. This is something we also wanted to see. We got the chance to meet a chameleon and even see how he eats his food.

chameleon nocturnal exotic house

After this is was time for us to go home, something that we were all quite sad about.

What Did We Think Of Our Time At Barleylands Farm Park

We all really enjoyed our time at Barleylands Farm Park. There really is so much to see and do that we didn’t get a chance to do it all. The children didn’t get the chance to take part in the biscuit decorating. Or even go on the bumpy tractor rides. There are also lots of playgrounds we didn’t visit including the bouncy pillow or the ball blasting barn and undercover sandpit. We did visit the lambing nursery as we left the farm as this is situated outside of the main entrance.

baby lamb lambing nursery
newborn lambs lambing nursery

We would love to visit the farm again. They do offer the option to buy an annual pass. If we lived nearer this would definitely be an option that we look into purchasing.

ethan little e barleylands lambing week

You can watch our video of our visit to Barleylands Farm Park below…

DISCLOSURE – We received entrance tickets for Barleylands Farm Park as a gift. This was for the purposes of this post and to create our YouTube video. We always share our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, and experiences.

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