Tail-ling Hills Farm has quickly become known in the southeast for having a high-quality nursery with a variety of products to meet customers’ needs.
But it is also becoming known for something else: a petting zoo that has animals waiting to get to know the public.
Melissa Murphy, the co-owner of Tail-ling Hills, which is located west of Bienfait, said they have been trying to create awareness of the petting zoo.
“I think because it’s the first year doing it on our farm, a lot of people still don’t know we’re out here,” said Murphy.
After having a travelling petting zoo for the past couple of years, Tail-ling Hills realized there are a lot of people who don’t get to see their various farm animals. Tail-ling Hills enjoys seeing the reaction from families from seeing the animals and interacting with them.
So they created an area on their property where people can come out, interact with the animals, have fun and enjoy different activities and games.
Animals that people get to interact with include cows, donkeys, llamas, goats, sheep, chickens, geese, rabbits and even turkeys.
Tail-ing Hills has been to Bienfait’s Canada Day festivities, activities at the Bienfait Museum and Mainprize Regional Park, and events in the Estevan area.
“We have really good feedback. Usually everyone’s pretty happy. People are starting to get to know who we are. I think overall the feedback’s good,” said Murphy.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, they are not able to have the travelling petting zoo this year.
To accommodate the petting zoo on their grounds, a new permanent petting zoo area is being created. They are working on building permanent pens for the animals. They also want to develop fun, farm activity games for the kids, and a picnic area with a fire pit.
“We have a whole plan in our heads that we’re working towards developing over the next year to two years.”
The animals are currently in summer pens, and are moved to the petting zoo area when people book appointments.
“I don’t feel it’s fair to our animals to move them to the temporary fencing, and let them sit around if there’s nobody around.”
If people want to view the animals that are in the petting zoo, they can contact Murphy by calling 306-421-2375. People can visit Monday from 1-5 p.m., or Tuesday and Thursday from 11 a.m to 5 p.m.
Murphy asks that people please give them 24-hour notice when booking a visit.
As for the nursery, Tail-ling Hills had a good spring, with a lot of customers, and they have had a lot of positive feedback from the public, not only for what they had at the nursery, but for the floral arrangement that they provided to Estevan through the flower contract.
