Lorna May with Poppy the dog and Davina in among the alpacas. Photo / Tania Whyte
Writer Jodi Bryant and photographer Tania Whyte visited the enchanting animals at Bates and Keen Family Farm, ahead of their popular appearance at Whangārei A&P Show.
The unsmiling faces of her ancestral womenfolk in the black and white photographs speak volumes to an empathetic and appreciative Davina Keen who, together with husband Bruce, has built up a unique Northland farm they now call their piece of paradise.
It wasn’t without the hard yakka – hence the empathy for those who sculpted and worked their own farms before them, sans modern machinery.
“I look at the photos and, I mean, people didn’t exactly beam away back then but the men had a slightly proud satisfied look, whereas the women looked completely shattered with their 10 kids around them and you can tell they were thinking, ‘Please take me back to the Shetland Islands!’ tells Davina.
“It must have been so hard in the 1800′s arriving to the scrub and swamp in New Zealand after coming from a productive farm back in England, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden and the Shetland Islands, where our ancestors came from.”
When she and Bruce purchased the 11ha near Hikurangi they intended to dig out the gorse by hand and carry out the labour manually and organically like their ancestors. But that “city-folk attitude” didn’t last long as reality set in, providing a deep respect for those before them.
“Bruce and I both had ancestors into farming,” Davina explains.
“Bruce’s ancestors were at Waiotira in Northland and mine were from Canterbury and you look at what they achieved and think, ‘Wow, how did they do that with none of the fancy gear?’ It’s just amazing and I honour what they did. I think, ‘If only they could see their descendants’.”
While Bruce grew up in Auckland, he spent many farm holidays in the north, as did Davina who grew up in the North before her parents moved to Auckland. After many years dreaming of owning their own farm together, the animal lovers’ dream came to fruition when they moved from Auckland to purchase their Northland plot in 2015.
There they have built a unique and beautiful environment with rare animal breeds and heritage produce which tastes of nostalgia while honouring their ancestors by continuing their work in the field of farming.
The Bates and Keen Family Farm is now a popular destination for both tourists and locals after they opened it to share with the public one year after establishing.
Its residents are not your average farm animal. They include the smart and docile Red Devon cattle, the curious and playful Swedish Gotland Pelt sheep and the intelligent Finnish Landrace sheep with their soft, crimpy fleece which comes in white, cream and pale apricot.
“Lucky Spot” separates herself from the herd and trots around behind Davina as she wanders the farm. Lucky Spot gained her name after she was born with a spot that her mother tried to wash off and subsequently rejected her, Davina explains.
There’s llamas with personality-plus, the enchanting alpacas – both Suri and Huacaya breeds - with their fascinating social connection, chooks – brown shavers and Chinese silkies, who have fur as well as feathers, budgies, cats, Bandit – the Welsh mountain pony stallion and Flicka, the formerly mistreated Welsh cobb cross and Poppy the lovable West Highland white terrier/poodle.
Though an eclectic mix, there’s one thing all the animals at Bates and Keen Family Farm have in common; contentment.
“It’s a trust thing,” Davina explains. “I’m a huge believer in trust, whether it’s with people or with animals. The animals need to trust that you are not going to do anything to harm them and our motto on our farm is ‘gentle farming’, but sometimes you’ve just got to do something they don’t like, such as shearing or injecting them.
“There are processes that are unpleasant but we handle them with gentleness and respect and always with a treat at the end. Then hopefully they forget that their nether-regions were washed and squirted with cold water!”
It’s clear Davina loves all her animals – each have names – but it’s Flicka, currently pregnant, who she has a particular soft spot for.
“Flicka was mistreated at her previous home and it breaks my heart that anyone could have been cruel to her. But she’s got a very good home here and she’s just cherished and we adore her. Oh, and Poppy is my other favourite – she mothers all the animals.”
Living with them on the farm is their daughter Hannah and her daughter Lorna May, 12, who breeds and sells the budgies. They sell many of their other animals too, though with animal welfare paramount to their farming, only to approved homes. An online shop sells items crafted from local elderly ladies using the fleece from their animals.
As well as tourists, the farm hosts groups from schools and organisations, including the mental health sector.
“There is something very calming about the animals for those with mental health challenges, especially with the alpacas because alpacas invite calmness.”
Which brings us to what Davina describes as the “extraordinary” social practices of the alpacas and llamas, both camelid species.
“Although they’re big, they would never hurt you, but they really look after each other in their groups. Anna is the matriarch and they always let Anna get first pick of the pellets at feeding time. Then there’s Saba, who was mistreated at her previous home, so you can’t touch her, but she will always eat last and keep watch while the others are eating or sleeping. They always take turns at sleeping. No one hurts anyone but they each take their role seriously.”
Davina recalls the time a new alpaca mum wouldn’t stand still to feed her baby so two older alpacas positioned themselves against her so she couldn’t move, enabling the baby to feed. Another time, a baby had gone missing from its mother’s paddock and was found in a nearby paddock housing the males.
“When we arrived, the boys started calling out making noises and had made a circle around the baby alpaca and they moved slowly toward us with the baby in the middle so we could take it out of their circle.”
Visitors absolutely love their time on the farm, Davina says.
“It’s just a working place – there are no footpaths or handrails, it’s just a natural farm, it is what it is. You get the occasional person who gets a bit freaked out by things because they haven’t realised how big the animals are but 99 per cent just love it. Overseas visitors really get a lot of pleasure from seeing animals up close and they really want to learn but I do wish they wouldn’t spend so much time looking at their phone cameras.
“Locals love coming up too. There are a lot of people coming up from cities, particularly Auckland. There is still that quite big disconnect where a lot of people are way too separate from the rural environment and I think that’s one of the great things about the A&P Show is that people can come along and see where it all comes from.”
Davina and Bruce have been taking their beloved animals to the Whangārei A&P Show for the past five years where, together with friends, they combine their animals under one big petting area called The Bates and Keen Family Farmyard. The farmyard includes sheep and lambs, poultry, puppies, kittens, baby goats, mice, rats, Kunekune pigs, budgies, rabbits, guinea pigs and llamas – depending if they go willingly on the float that day.
And the effort is worth it from visitors’ responses.
“The looks of absolute delight and huge smiles on both children’s and adults’ faces … But you also see these staunch-looking blokes waiting reluctantly in the queue with their arms crossed and the next thing, they’re holding a rabbit and their faces just melt. And it’s almost like the sheep think, ‘I’ll win you over mate!’
“Some overseas visitors are completely unused to farm or domestic animals and they get sensory overload and don’t know what to do but the animals are so responsive and I love being able to share what we’re passionate about and what is so neat about the rural lifestyle and having animals in peoples’ lives. I’m a real believer in, even if living in suburbs, having a pet for your kiddy. They learn about responsibility and nurturing.”
Davina continues: “A generation or two ago, everyone had relatives in the country. Every holidays, we went to stay on the farm and help. When my parents moved to Auckland, I really missed the north. When you’re connected to the north, you’re connected forever. The north has got a very different kind of beauty and it’s not always immediately recognised. There’s something that captures your heart up here and I love how I can walk on the deck in the morning and breathe in the beautiful morning fresh air and look at my animals and greet them and they answer me.
“My gardens are not immaculate but we can always find something to eat among them and the bird life is wonderful. I’m doing what I’ve always felt I needed to do.”
And, it would seem, there were happier days ahead for her ancestral womenfolk as Davina, a keen historian, discovered in old newspaper clippings.
“The newspapers used to report on parties where they’d drink high tea and play croquet and it would detail their outfits and I loved reading about their cattle and sheep breeding success!”
Whangārei A&P Show is on Saturday, December 2 from 9am-4.30pm. For more information, go to: www.whangareishow.co.nz
The House was suspended briefly after the haka disrupted voting.