Thanksgiving Point hosts annual Baby Animal Festival

What was once a one-day festival has grown into a celebration that lasts the entire month of May.

This is the best time to come to the farm because we have so many baby animals and people love to see the baby animals, Stephen Ashton, Director of Curiosity Farms, said.

Right now, the farm hosts baby goats, bunnies, calves, pigs, emus and more. Each year the festival brings in a new type of baby animal with this years animal being a baby mini horse.

Right here weve got this little Boer Goat with me and this is just one of many many, Ashton said.

For the first time ever this year, the festival features an opportunity for in in-the-pen experience. For an additional cost, guests can brush and pet the goats.

But its not all fluffy fun. Some serious preparation goes into the festival.

"I take care of all the animals here. I plan out their feed schedules, I plan out baby animal days, Logan Jensen, Livestock Manager, said.

Making sure that all the babies are born around the festival is an important responsibility.

"I need to know all their gestation periods and everything so we can plan it so they have babies during April and May, Jensen said

Curiosity Farms has a huge team of staff to take care of all of their animals.

I think we've got probably between 20 and 25 sheep. About the same goats and then we've got 6 or 7 cows, and we have 30 ponies that we use for our little pony rides, Jensen said.

The farm sees between 1,200 and 2,000 guests each day.

What we love to see when guests come, especially during baby animal festival, are the kids just absolutely in love with all of the baby animals, Ashton said.

The baby animal festival has tickets available for the public and Thanksgiving Point members. Admission can be purchased at a discount with a SNAP or WIC card as part of their Every Kid Counts admission program.

The festival is running through May 30.