THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 19, 1994 TAG: 9407190056
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E4 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: MOM, I'M BORED
SOURCE: SHERRIE BOYER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
AT OUR HOUSE, we have always admired Fern. Remember the farm girl in ``Charlotte's Web'' who got to cradle a piglet in her arms?
Well, last week we held milk bottles for the calves at Bergey's Dairy Farm. And while they weren't cute little pink things tucked into our elbows, it was just marvelous to give these overgrown babies their dinner.
Each baby weighs more than 80 pounds at birth, so holding one on your lap isn't quite possible. But Allio, 5, and her friend Marlee, 4, were thrilled to tend these big babies, each girl struggling to hang on to half-gallon bottles while the calves sucked mightily at the other end.
``Whoa,'' shrieked Allio. She giggled and shrieked for the next minute, all it took for the calf to empty the bottle and nudge for more.
The girls each feed three calves, running empty bottles back to the farm wagon for replacements, then racing back through the double row of calf pens to the next baby.
Maddie, 3, was too little to hold one by herself because the pull by the calf is so strong. Sam, 21 months, giggled in my arms as the bottle bumped against his stomach while I tried to hold him and help, but not override, Maddie's effort. And little friend Madison, 22 months, just hid in her mom's arms, terrified of these not-so-little babies.
Calf feeding is at 4 p.m. sharp (because it only takes a few minutes), and helpers are welcome. Sara Joy Bergey, 14, usually puts the bottles on wire racks in the 18 pens that house the baby animals. But she likes for others to enjoy the pleasures she has every day. So when the children rounded the chicken coop and ran toward her full wagon, she smiled and handed each a bottle.
Bergey's is a terrific farm, home to cows, pigs, horses, goats, chickens and lambs. At the little store there, you can buy children's cones of homemade ice cream for about 60 cents, quarts of homemade strawberry milk for 97 cents, and cream cheese, butter, bacon, scrapple, eggs and buttermilk.
There are a few tables in the store, so eating in air-conditioned comfort is possible. There is also a picnic area with a small, empty playhouse for the children.
At Bergey's, you can watch every dairy process from feeding to milking to pasteurizing and bottling the milk. We sat on overturned milk crates and peered through a screenless window as the farmhand washed each cow and hooked each to the pumping machine.
The cows are milked from 4:30 to 6 p.m. daily, a process that didn't interest the little ones but captivated Allio and Marlee for about 20 minutes. Sam was mostly captivated by the vehicle barns where the ``big truckies'' are kept.
Anyone can visit the farm Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Families may wander through the area of the buildings, which includes the site where the cows are brought for milking, barns, the horse pen and the calf area.
Watch for an electric fence at the horse pen and in the area beyond the cows and calves. There are signs but it's hard to notice the thin wire until you come quite close. Teach children not to touch the wooden fences until you give a go-ahead.
Groups can make reservations for a tour, including an explanation of the entire process and a cup of chocolate milk. Groups must call in advance and are limited to 15 to 50 people. Families may join a group but only by calling ahead. The fee is $1.50 a person. Tours are Wednesday and Friday mornings.
On Saturdays at 4 p.m., the farm offers horse-drawn wagon rides, costing $2 for adults and $1 for children.
To get there from Norfolk, take Interstate 464 until it ends, turning left on Route 190 East (Great Bridge Boulevard). Follow that to the intersection of Business Route 168, then turn left and make an immediate right onto the entrance ramp of 168 Bypass. Take the bypass to the Mount Pleasant Road North exit and follow. The farm is at 2221 Mount Pleasant Road, a little more than a mile past the Centerville Turnpike intersection. Call 482-4711 for more information. The farm is closed Sundays. by CNB