For nine days every spring, humans on the Seacoast dissolve into baby talk against a chorus of barnyard bleats, grunts and chirps.
There are 300 years of history behind the doors of the period homes at Strawbery Banke Museum, but the oohs and aahs this time of year spill out from a tent on the lawn.
It’s clear from the cacophony that there’s something extremely cute inside.
“Baby Animals: Heritage Breeds at the Banke” is a big draw, especially for families.
“When all the strollers are parked out in front of the tent, it looks like a motorcycle roadhouse,” event founder and guest curator Peter Cook said with a laugh. “It’s wonderful.”
Cook, of Berwick, Maine, is a retired museum curator, educator and academic who has been interested and engaged in heritage animal husbandry and flax cultivation for 60 years.
Among the many babies and mamas making the trip to the museum’s grounds are hogs and piglets, sheep and lamb, cattle and calves, chicks and turkeys, goats and their kids, and rabbits and their kittens.
This year’s “Baby Animals” event opens Saturday and runs through Sunday, May 5, at the museum, 14 Hancock St. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Over the course of the event, “Baby Animals” draws anywhere from 4,500 to 6,000 visitors each year, according to Strawbery Banke Museum’s market director Veronica Lester.
“While all of the baby animals are quite adorable, I’m particularly fond of the piglets — both the American Guinea Hogs and the Gloucestershire Old Spots. There’s something really sweet about watching them sleeping in a big pig pile next to mom,” Lester said. “And, when they decide to take a mud bath or scratch an itch on their backside against a fencepost, it never fails to bring a smile to my face.”
This rite of spring is more than adorable. It’s also a lesson in history, agriculture and preservation of the breeds of domestic livestock that have populated farms on coastal Northern New England from the 1600s to today.
Cook’s engaging sense of humor and his knowledge of heritage farmyard breeds makes his presentations feel less like a lesson and more like a fun chat.
He and his wife own and operate Tare Shirt Farm, a property that has been used for 250 years to cultivate flax for linen.
That’s something the couple didn’t know until they signed the papers to purchase the antique homestead 25 years ago.
“It was serendipity at its best,” Cook said of learning they had much in common with a long lineage.
Today, the farm is home to sheep, cows, poultry and ponies, with a flax field at the ready.
Cook launched the “Baby Animals” program 10 years ago and still steers the whirlwind event.
That means he’ll be at the event every day, circulating through the crowds to answer visitors’ questions, and giving presentations on wide-ranging topics involving animal husbandry and about specific breeds.
He also works with more than 35 volunteers, as well as veterinary personnel, who do 24-hour monitoring and care of the animals. That’s in addition to Strawbery Banke’s collaboration.
“It shows the magnitude of human preparation involved to share the incredible animals. There’s a lot of rare genetic material in the tent, some with less than 250 percent (of the breed) alive today. It’s good stuff,” Cook said with another chuckle.
Cook is bringing in heritage animal experts from states including New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Missouri.
Several Granite State farms are doing presentations at the “Baby Animals” event:
Gentile Farm Homestead in Fitzwilliam is bringing Gloucestershire Old Spot piglets. The breed arrived in New England in the 1900s.
See To It Farm in Plymouth is showing off Oberhasli goats and kids, a breed from the mountainous regions of Bern, Freiburg, Glarus and Graubunden in Switzerland. The breed was introduced to the United States in the early 1900s.
Riverbank Farm from Salisbury is bringing Clun Forest sheep and lambs, a breed that stems from Shropshire, Northern Wales, and was introduced to the United States by migrants from Nova Scotia. Riverbank also will bring some of the smallest cattle in the world — Dexter cattle and calves that are only 40 inches tall and weigh 700 to 900 pounds.
Rocks and Rills Farm in Hancock showcases Lincoln Longwool sheep and lambs, which were the foundation for many of New England’s early textiles.
Tiny Hills Farm in Milton Mills will show Nigerian dwarf dairy goats and kids, which were popular in New England since they were big milk producers that were easy to keep in small spaces.
The breeders share details about the characteristics of the heritage breeds and the special needs the animals require, as well as why they’ve chosen to champion the sometimes-endangered breeds for future generations.
A few things to know before you go to the Portsmouth event.
First and foremost, don’t pet the animals.
Secondly, don’t bring food and drinks into the tent. Visitors can pack picnics and sit outside at tables and on the Kennebunk Savings terrace, organizers said.
Admission to “Baby Animals” is $12; it’s free for tots under age 1.
A combination ticket allows entry to the event and the museum’s historic structures, exhibits and heirloom gardens. Tickets range from $12 to $34 or $80 per family.
There will be sessions for children to see the baby animals up close from 9 to 10 a.m. on select Saturdays and Sundays — April 27 and 28 and May 4 and 5. Afternoon sessions on those days run from 4 to 5 p.m.
Tickets are $20 for museum members and $25 for nonmembers.
For more information, visit StrawberyBanke.org.
