We moved to Chew Valley in 2005, never owning any land or without any farming background, our daughters asked if they could have Pygmy Goats as pets. We couldn?t really refuse as we had so much space we felt they would be a wonderful addition to our family. We fell in love with the goats and then decided to purchase our first three pregnant Alpacas to begin our first breeding programme as a hobby.
The next year we bred our Pygmy Goats and began a business called Chew Valley Alpacas. When our first Cria?s (baby alpacas) and kids (baby goats) were born, friends and family flocked to see them. As we collected more animals like chickens and ducks etc many people suggested that we open to the public and allow schools to visit. As our hobby became more and more time consuming we decided to give this a go.
In 2010 we opened a very small farm shop in our small brown shed in the car park also using an outside toilet in our garden. Serving tea and coffee from a kettle and 2 or 3 seats outside, we allowed people to visit our animals for free and hopefully purchase farm fresh goods such as homemade jams, homemade cakes, homegrown vegetables etc. Unfortunately this venture was not very successful and as our collection of animals grew and became more time consuming we decided to diversify and open a children?s petting zoo.