In my recent post about The Old Third Vineyard, I told you about the “Golden Mile of Prince Edward County”, Closson Road, which is home to a number of different tourist destinations within walking (or cycling) distance of one another: wineries, cideries, bed-and-breakfasts, a lavender farm, and even an alpaca farm! I adore animals of all kinds, so when we were touring some wineries on Closson Road and saw the sign for SHED Chetwyn Farms, we knew we had to stop by.
Chetwyn Farms is a 55-acre alpaca farm located on Closson Road between Broken Stone Winery and The Old Third Vineyard. The owners, Ted Pickering and Shauna Seabrook, are passionate about animal welfare, as well as shopping locally and sustainably. Their shop, The SHED at Chetwyn Farms, sells a variety of small-batch, handmade items using wool sheared right from their own alpacas!
I quickly learned that alpaca wool has many benefits compared to regular sheep’s wool: it’s warmer, more resilient, and best of all, hypoallergenic – a plus for folks like me who get easily irritated by sheep’s wool! The SHED shop sells various alpaca wool products: from sweaters, socks and hats to duvets, throw blankets and even yarn, if you’re crafty and want to try knitting your own alpaca wool goods. Their products make great gifts, and you can purchase them online if you can’t make it to the shop in person.
Chetwyn Farms is open daily from 11am-4pm, and visitors are welcome to come visit the shop and to take a peek at the alpacas in their enclosure. They are so cute and seemed so relaxed and stress-free – I’ll have to take a page from their book!
If you’re looking to get more up close and personal with the alpacas, Chetwyn Farms offers alpaca encounters, yoga sessions, and farm stays. I’m particularly intrigued by the alpaca yoga sessions and look forward to returning to try one out – although I’m not sure if I’ll be able to focus on yoga poses with adorable alpacas wandering all around me!
There are so many farms in Ontario that offer unique animal experiences – Haute Goat in Port Hope is another one that’s been on my list for a while. I’ve also been to the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada in Guelph and really enjoyed it. With any animal experience, it’s important to make sure that the animals’ welfare is top priority, and the animals at Chetwyn Farms are clearly very loved, respected and well cared for.
Have you ever had a unique animal experience? Let me know in the comments or send me an email – I’d love to hear about it!