School excursion to Rabbit Farm in Semenyih

August 30th 2012

I don't even know where to begin.

Earlier this year the school organized a field trip to somewhere I forgotten, but just as all school trips (especially kindy ones) they are mighty interesting!  But unfortunately, the younger kids in Year 3 and Year 4 were not involved.  Then a couple of months back we receive the a note in the Message Book that the school will be organizing a field trip for the Year 3s and Years 4s and limited spaces for parents who wished to join.

Yaaayyy!!  And the kids will be visiting Rabbit Fun Land in Semenyih.

Since this was PROBABLY going to be my last field trip with any of my kids, and also my first (hehehe, I'm a child at heart) I signed up for both myself and William!  Yippeess, we were going to feed some rabbits.  William apparently had "insider news" that there will be goats there too, as he was talking about it.

We assembled in school at 8am, and four big (and new) school buses were already parked in the school compound.  The kids were briefed and simple rules and parents too (do not stray, do not walk off, must follow the teacher, etc) then allocated into the buses (2 classes in each bus, kids sit with their parents, kids without parents sit with other kids).  By 830am we left the school compound.  I forgotten to track the journey time, because we were all too excited, hehe.  William and I were happily snapping pictures, chatting and munching at the back of the bus. 

When we arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to see the place well kept, with spacious parking allocated, kitchen and toilets clean and easy access to sinks to wash our hands. We were immediately greeted by the proprietors of this Rabbit Farm which is family-run. As you see, they even have their own website. Our two guides consist of a English-speaking father-and-son team whilst the mother handles the kitchen, souvenirs and food.

I will now let the many pictures do the "talking".

Getting the kids ready to visit the toilet before the journey

We were given buns and water for snack.  Kids were told to bring only their water bottles on a sling, so my handbag became the food bag too that day

It's a lonely road... with four busloads of excited kids and parents!!

As we walked in, I peeped into their kitchen and saw how clean they were.  Honestly.  The food, which we were provided later taste good too.

Part of the farm.  To me, this was a good place for an outing.  Clean, no mosquitoes, weather was pleasant and no foul smell of animal poo

The grandfather billy goat sits majestically on a platform, oblivious to all the visitors snapping photos of him

This is the picture that went on Facebook, of William and his first attempt at milking a dairy cow.  I did not think that my boy or even kids their age would pay attention to what the guide speaks in front, but he did, and when the guide said a few kids are allowed to milk the cow, I heard William told his teacher immediately that he wanted to do that.  The guide showed how a calf suckles the mother cow first, which he further explained that this was to stimulate the milk flow, so it will be easier for humans to milk her later.  

The technique, apparently is to slide and tug at the same time, so the milk will flow out.   But William did not slide, he tugged and he pulled but no milk came out.  It was really quite hilarious but I love him more for being so sporting!  He even washed his hands BEFORE and AFTER touching the cow's teats.  Hygiene mah...

Fed some free range chickens.  Also quite funny to see the chickens running away, and the kids with grains in each of their hands waiting anxiously to feed 'em chickens, and the parents (well, me mostly) making all the chicken sounds to entice the chicken to come to us...  In the end, the teacher just told the kids to sprinkle the grains on the ground so we can move on...

After the cow, the chicken, it was the goats.  The kids were given carrot sticks to feed the goats.  William grab a couple without prompting and he went off to find a hungry goat.  No scared ler...

Sayang sayang...

Couldn't resist this "family picture" of daddy goat, mummy goat and baby goat... hehehe

The goats are friendlier than the chickens, thank God. 

And finally, the star of the show... RABBITS!!  We took turns (in two groups -  4 classes in each group) to go into the rabbit enclosure to feed adult rabbits.  These are called the meat rabbits (the common ones that we see) as they are bred for their meat.  To be slaughtered.  Sadly, the rabbits did not seem to be hungry as they hardly ate the carrot sticks offered by the kids (we were the first group too).  They ran away and around and William was busy finding rabbits to feed (picking up untouched carrot sticks from the ground) and also trying to carry them.  I had taught him the theory of carrying a rabbit the correct way, so I guess he wanted to try it out.  

Aaahh, finally found a rabbit who nibbled on his carrot stick.  

And mummy went chasing rabbits just to get good picture shots.  Finally this bunny pitied me and gave me a much appreciated few seconds pose!

One with William's good friend, Eviana.  Does William look shy or what?

A little bit of education for the kids.  We were a lucky group, as there was a batch of newborn bunnies at 7am that morning.  So these here are only a few hours old.

And these with a thin layer of fur, eyes still closed, are only 4 days old.

Moving on... the 10 days old rabbits here have just opened their eyes that day. 

And William hesitates NOT when it comes to carrying the 14 day old bunnies.  He seems like a natural, taking one bunny up then another and another.  I have to tell him that's enough.  In the bus, he told me he was not afraid, and the only fear he had was crushing the rabbit soft bones. 

Adult rabbits in rows of cages.  I think they are for sale and for slaughter. 

This is a lionhead rabbit - imported breed but tropicalized.  I asked the proprietor separately if he sells them for pets, and he offered me RM380 for a pair!  Sounds reasonable, and I was contemplating on how to rearrange my small garden to allocate the 3ftX3ft recommended space for 'em bunnies, but in the bus William said he didn't like the lionheads as they were not as cute.  A quick search on the net changed my mind too, as some people were offering as cheap as RM50 for the same breed.  Huh, and I already thought RM380 for a PAIR was a bargain!  Just shows how blur I am with market prices on pets. 

We saw a 1000kg bull too, apparently the 2nd heaviest in Malaysia.  Not that the kids or we cared anyway, but worth noting lar.  Give the bull some credit.  Next to the bull enclosure was this play-thing.  Kids love them!

We were all provided lunch and food was more than sufficient.  The kids had the usual - fried rice, nuggets and rabbit meat sausages.  We adults had more choices, and I took meehoon (yummy even without the dark sauce), crunchy juicy bean sprouts, rabbit meat sausages, chicken drumstick. 

This was not part of the package.  After lunch, we had the option of a short 3 minute ride for RM3.  William says, "yeee haawww!"  on this pony.  He wanted more, but I said no, looking at the long queue.  

We left the farm slightly after 1pm.  The kids were obviously exhausted, except for William and a few boys in the bus who couldn't sleep.  William slept just 10 minutes before we arrived school.

A wonderful trip indeed.  Oh, and I bought a packet of 10 rabbit shoulders for cooking, already cleaned.  They cost RM45.  For your information, they sell whole rabbit meat too and rabbit sausages.  A few mothers and I suggested to the proprietor to delivery or open shop in PJ area so we can patronize but that's another story la...  Right now, the rabbit shoulder meat is still sitting in my freezer.