Farmyard Nursery Heritage Highlight

The Farmyard Nursery – Bringing the Country to the City

With a range of cute and furry baby animals on show, waiting to be petted by delighted showgoers of all ages, the ‘Animal Nursery’ had debuted at the Royal Easter Show in 1965. An initiative of late RAS Councillor David White, the nursery was run every showtime for the next 30 years by Mr Pat Birchall, ‘That was my holidays from Mudgee Shire for thirty years… we used to buy sixty lambs…we’d bring them down here and break them in to drink out of a bottle and we used to feed them four times a day…and there’d be kids lined up to bottle feed.’

In 1974, a brand new version of the ever popular animal nursery was launched. Housed in the Hawkesbury Pavilion with a much bigger floor space, it was sponsored by the Bank of NSW.  The new ‘Wales Farmyard Nursery' was a huge hit and almost 400,000 visitors to the Show that year, took the opportunity to ‘pat a pet’. Lambs, piglets, foals, calves, puppies, chickens, and kittens were all on show to delight kids and adults alike. The fun duckling slide, a popular feature at the nursery since 1965, was still providing a much-loved comical highlight. The baby ducks were encouraged by food to the top, then plunged headlong down the slippery slide, splashing into the waiting pool. 

After the Bank of NSW became Westpac in 1982, the ‘Wales’ became the ‘Westpac’ nursery, but by 1995 the RAS was seeking new sponsors for the popular exhibit. The program was increased from 12 to 16 days and was by then attracting over 4,000 visitors each hour of its opening during peak Show periods.

By 2000 and following the relocation to Homebush, Dairy Farmers had taken over sponsorship of the popular Show attraction. Today, as part of the RAS fold, the Farmyard Nursery continues to thrill little showgoers with a unique opportunity to get up close and cuddly with baby animals of all shapes and sizes.