Up Close With The Animals At Calmsley Hill City Farm

By: Kylie Purtell, ellaslist explorer

Calmsely Hill City Farm is a great place for a fun family day out. We headed over one Saturday to see what was on offer and boy, were we in for a treat! When we arrived we were greeted by the super friendly staff and Noah, who knows more about the farm and how it works than anyone you’ll meet.

Rain On The Plain

The Farm is really easy to get to (it’s just off the M7 near the Western Sydney Parklands) and so so open. It was raining when we visited but that didn’t slow us down one bit. As soon as we got there we jumped on the tractor for a ride around some of the paddocks with Farmer Jess (tractor rides happen twice a day), and heard all about how the farms works and in particular we learned about the sheep they keep at the Farm and how they are looked after.

After the tractor ride we headed in to the Farmyard Nursery where we ended up spending a large majority of our visit. In the Farmyard Nursery you’ll find the cutest goats and other animals such as rabbits, mice and baby chicks. When you enter Calmsley Hill City Farm you can buy some bags of feed to take in to the Nursery and have a go at feeding the goats yourself by hand.

Goats With The Most

The goats are super friendly and very keen to make new friends, a handful of feed certainly helped in that regard as well!If the kids aren’t quite up for going in to feed the goats you can also stand outside their pen and feed them through the fence as well, a good option for smaller kids who might get a little scared by the animals enthusiasm! Miss 7 did not want to leave the goats at the end of the day and she gave a lot of hugs to her new furry friends when it was time to leave. Miss 5 had to be dragged away from watching the mice in their cages and hasn’t stopped talking about them since we got home!

As well as getting up close and personal with the goats and other animals in the Farmyard Nursery you can take in the demonstrations that take place throughout the day. We watched 3 demonstrations and learnt about how these skills are incorporated in to farm life, the stock whip show, the sheep shearing and the working dog demonstration. There are also milking demos and a koala talk.

Roo Won't Believe It

As well as the usual farm animals there is also a large selection of Australian birds and reptiles to check out, and a chance to visit and hang out with some beautiful kangaroos. There is enough to do that you could spend the whole day there taking it all in.

Calmsley Hill City Farm has lots of open spaces and tables available for stopping to feed your own hungry animals, with the option of taking a picnic lunch or buying a hot meal at the on-site cafe. They also serve great coffee at the cafe and have a good selection of drinks, snacks & ice-creams to suit everyone.

The toilets are conveniently located around the Farm and are clean and well-kept. And when the kids need a break from feeding the animals and the adults want to sit down and enjoy a coffee break there is also a playground with lots of room for the kids to play.

Calm Your Farm

Admission prices at Calmsley Hill City Farm are really affordable and an annual pass would make a great gift idea for the animal lovers in the family. We will definitely be heading back again to get-up close with the animals, and learn more about the important work Calmsley Hill does in educating people about farm life. For kids who may not get another chance to experience life on a working farm, Calmsley Hill City Farm brings the experience right to the doorstep of Sydney without the need to travel hours to get there.

The Details

Where: 31 Darling St, Abbotsbury NSW 2176
Cost: Adults $27.50, Kids (3-16) $15.50
For more: see the website