Beacon Hill Children's Farm

11/06/2025

👻 Rosie, the Goat Ghost! 👻

Rosie is a bit of a different goat. Unlike most goats, who wouldn’t like it at all if you tried to put something over their heads, Rosie is totally unbothered and ready to take on this new game.

Rosie’s upbringing was unlike that of most of our other goats. Sadly, she lost her goat mom soon after birth and was then raised by the humans at the farm. While we did our best to fill that role, Rosie grew into a special being, with her role models being both goats and humans, and she often seems to think she’s one of us, humans.

This Halloween, Rosie quite enjoyed playing dress-up and scaring her friends a bit. Watch her haunting the farm and showing off her big personality!

11/01/2025

🎃 Happy Halloween from all of us at Beacon Hill Children’s Farm! 👻
We hope your night is full of treats (and maybe a few friendly tricks).
Reminder to keep pets and farm friends safe tonight; loud noises, costumes, and candy can be spooky for them.

🐐💛 Stay safe and have fun!

10/29/2025

The chickens have been asking to be included in Halloween activities. They really want to join in, but since chickens can’t have candy and we couldn’t find any tiny chicken costumes, we compromise and gave them a pumpkin to carve! It’s the perfect mix of artistic expression (very important for chickens) and a chicken-safe treat. 🎃🐔

We set up the pumpkin near the fence, so if you stroll by you can check in on their progress.

🎃

10/28/2025

Today is National Black Cat Day and we would like to use this opportunity to honour one very special member of that group and to share his memory with you.

Unfortunately, the closing for our winter break was followed by the loss of a very special farm resident. With a heavy heart and lots of tears we had to say goodbye to our senior farm cat Leo ”the Lion”.

Leo has lived for so many years at the farm, that we can’t really say if he was 16 or 17 years old - clearly for all of us he was an ever-constant presence at the farm. He was just always there with his big personality and plenty of opinions
- Acting grumpy when the weather was bad - and in his mind it was definitely always our fault
- Demanding his food on time - he always made us feel late
- Insisting on his share of our lunch - he ate rather strange things for a cat
- Asking for cuddles and giving head bumps - riding around on our shoulders
- Being a really good hunter and taking his job of rodent control very seriously
- Getting older and stubborn and finding it very hard to accept help that allowed him to be more comfortable
- Being always watchful, not missing a thing - except when he was sleeping off the night’s adventure?
- Looking gorgeous and simply being awesome

Leo has lived his life as he wanted - a free spirit with a lot of independence who knew where his safe home and people were.
Leo chose us as a feral, scared and testy kitten at first, then he learned to trust and to recognize the farm as his home - a place where he could belong and be loved forever. And the biggest honor he presented us with is that he allowed us as his humans into his life - he never entirely gave up his feral ways as a part of him remained ever alert, but he took his people into his trust and into his heart and that is a real privilege.

There might be many visitors who have never seen Leo during their farm visit, he could be secretive, always liked his privacy and like most cats followed his own agenda. I remember people asking about him and how special it was when they caught a glimpse of him - often taking a nap after his night shift.

We would have loved to keep Leo with us forever, but sadly this season his arthritis kept on getting worse and while he was monitored by our vets and he was on regular pain medication his ability to move around declined rapidly. Since we knew that the time to say goodbye with the approaching colder temperatures was creeping up quickly, we made his last summer at the farm and especially his last few weeks the best we possibly could. He had a warm and cozy building with soft beds overnight, lots of yummy food and for the daytime we still brought him out to keep an eye on “his” farm and watch everything around him. Leo was put down surrounded by his friends and we all shed lots of tears to pave his path over the rainbow bridge.
He will be forever missed by all of us - including his little cat companion, our youngster Elsie who has been rather out of sorts since his passing.

“Leo, our friend, thank you for this life that you have shared with us. We know you have eight more, so hopefully one of them brings you back to the farm - this will always be your home!”

Thank you for remembering Leo together with us.

10/23/2025

A curious buck wandered up to the farm fence to say hi to Osmond the alpaca; quite the sight seeing these beautiful animals rubbing noses!
We hope everyone’s enjoying the beauty of fall as much as Osmond and his distance relative who came by for a visit. 🍂🦌🦙

10/17/2025

🐐 Thank You for Another Wonderful Season! 🐐

The gates are closed, and the animals are settling in for winter. We often get asked what happens to the animals in the colder months and how we keep them warm ⬇️scroll down to read all about it!

As a reminder, the Farm still needs your support throughout the winter. We’ll be announcing our sponsorship program soon, but in the meantime, donations can always be made through our website. ❤️

Your generosity helps us care for all our special animals, keeping them cozy, happy, and well-fed all winter long. Thank you for being part of our farm family!

? Commonly asked questions?

Where do the animals go when the farm is closed?
All of our animals actually stay right here at the Farm all winter! Our dedicated staff work 365 days a year (yes, even on Christmas) to make sure the animals have everything they need.

How do the animals keep warm in the winter?
We take special care to keep all of our animals safe, warm, and comfortable during the winter months. In our aviary and guinea pig buildings, heat pumps keep these more delicate friends cozy. The pigs get extra bedding to curl up in, along with their very own heat lamp. Our elderly donkeys wear heavy winter blankets on chilly days, and both the donkeys and alpacas enjoy a heated mash to warm their bellies. The hardy goats grow their own thick winter coats that keep them warm, they always have access to their barn to stay out of the wind or rain and they love to snuggle up close together. All our animals have continuous access to fresh, unfrozen water, lots of food, soft bedding, and safe, sheltered spaces inside a barn.

10/11/2025

🍂 Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Beacon Hill Children’s Farm! 🦃

We’re celebrating Thanksgiving and our last day of the season on Monday October 13th with family fun for everyone from one year old to 100!

It’s rainy right now, but it looks like Monday will be the perfect day for one more visit to the farm!

🕙 Open 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
🐐 Goat Stampedes at 10:10 AM & 4:10 PM
🎉 Thanksgiving Activities from 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM (or while supplies last!)
📚Storytime at 11:15

🔎 For older kids there will be a challenging scavenger hunt with prizes of youth-sized shirts and hoodies
🦃 For younger children, join our turkey-themed storytime at 11:15 AM and enjoy some fun colouring activities!

We can’t wait to celebrate with you this Thanksgiving Monday!

10/10/2025

🍂 Thanksgiving Weekend at the Farm! 🦙🐷🐐

We’ll be open all Thanksgiving long weekend, so come celebrate the season with us! 🍁
Monday, October 13 will be our last day of the season, and we’d love to see you before we close for the year.

In the spirit of gratitude, we’d love to hear from you — tell us in the comments what you’re thankful for this year! 💛

Stay tuned for our special Thanksgiving activities, which we’ll be announcing on Saturday!

From all of us at the Beacon Hill Children’s Farm
Happy Thanksgiving! We’re so thankful for our amazing visitors and community. 🧡

10/08/2025

Time just flies and somehow this is already the last week of our fabulous 40th farm season.

There are just a few days left to visit!
Come by to …
🐐 Cuddle and relax with the many goats: young and old
🐓 Welcome the many new members of our chicken flock
🦙 Observe how are little herd of four alpacas are getting along
🐈‍⬛ Admire our gorgeous old boy Leo and his “mini me” Elsie
🐷 Talk with our piggy girls about the different moods in chilly cold fall weather
🦆 Watch our ducks during their exploration of the farm
🐴 Witness how our senior donkeys are enjoying their warm lunches (and how jealous little Rosie 💗gets)
🦜 Take a peek at our colourful flock of finches and budgies
🐹 Enjoy the warm cozy environment of the guinea pig house
🐐🐐🐐 Cheer the goats on during the daily goat stampedes

🍁A few more days to enjoy a fall farm visit in beautiful Beacon Hill Park!

🦃 We are still open daily including all through the long Thanksgiving weekend with the very last day of this season being Thanksgiving Monday, October 13th.

We are looking forward to seeing you at the farm!

10/02/2025

🌍🐐🐓🐖 Happy World Farm Animal Day from all of us at the Beacon Hill Children’s Farm!

This special day celebrates the kindness, care, and respect all farm animals deserve around the world. 💚

We’d love to know: do you have a favourite animal here at our farm or perhaps at another farm, or maybe even at your home?
Let us know in the comments and help us celebrate the amazing creatures we care about!

09/26/2025

One of these furry friends doesn’t quite look like the others (but she thinks she does). 🤣

Can you spot her?
And for our regular visitors: do you know who it is?💗

09/25/2025

Our deepest sympathies go out to the family of Ernie Skinner.
This great man will be dearly missed, and we are so grateful for his support of the Beacon Hill Children’s Farm over the years.

In lieu of flowers, the family has kindly asked that donations be made to the farm. Contributions can be made directly through our website at beaconhillchildrensfarm.ca or in person at the farm.

We extend our very deepest gratitude for this act of generosity, which helps us continue our mission of caring for the animals and providing a welcoming space for the community.

View Henry "Ernie" SKINNER's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.