Wilga Farm Stay, Donnybrook

Farm stay fun

We are enjoying our time at Wilga Farm Stay. We arrived late November and will be here all of December 2025.

As part of being able to stay on the property at Wilga Farm stay for no cost, I help with chores and others jobs around the farm while Steve works on-the-line.

I’m loving it!

The routine, the animals, the caretakers and learning new skills. Watching the chickens run and how they follow me when it’s time to go into their coop for the night. I crack up seeing cows gallop and frolick and herding sheep is fun!

We have been for walks in the nearby forrest area, explored local towns like Collie and Donnybrook – having a lovely time!

Farm lessons

We quickly learnt that fly nets are a must if we want to avoid eating and breathing flies.

Our gum boots from the boat have come in handy for tromping through paddocks and farm poop from cows, sheep, geese, chickens and guinea fowl.

Plus we have learnt the best way to store our boat boots to avoid anything crawling inside.

Did you know…

chooks eat anything?

geese poop every 12 minutes?

guinea fowl sleep in trees at night?

chooks make birthing noises when laying eggs?

abattoirs take 50% of the animal they slaughter plus their fee?

Above: We quickly learnt that fly nets – no matter how fuggly – are very useful on the farm.

Below: this is how we store our boots outside so nothing crawls inside them. Yep, it’s a thang.

Introducing the cocka-doodle-doo gang – shows start daily at 3.30am! AND yes that’s is a snake skin – it’s about 2metres long.

Daily chores

My day starts at sunrise, when my alarm wakes me at 6.05am or if the roosters cock-a-doodle-doing are particularly noisy and wakes me, despite earplugs and eye mask.

My first chore is to let them out of their overnight hutch, called a chook tractor here because it moves around the field to spread the chook poo love so to speak.

The chooks then following me to their hen house, all crowding around my feet as I shuffle from one place to the next cluck, cluck clucking as we go. When in the hen house they fight over pellets that are a treat to encourage them to lay in the hen house. Them gals are aggressive. If I go to check for / collect eggs and they are still laying you should here the racket they make, telling me off to leave them be. Plus the birthing egg noises get pretty loud too. I’ve learnt to leave them be until about midday to minimise the drama – haha!

Second chore is watering grass and plants around the homestead. This takes a couple of hours and is spread out in the morning and evening. It makes the area around the house green and pretty for farm stay guests but is mainly a fire break if a fire ever enters the property.

Others chores or fun includes cleaning and making up rooms for guests, mowing lawns and moving the cows and sheep.

Water at Wilga Farm Stay

It’s worth noting here that all water on the property is either from a dam or from rainwater that is captured from the roof tops of buildings and sheds on the farm. The dam water is used to water the gardens and fill water troughs for the animals while rainwater is for drinking and human use. Knowing and understanding this literally means that every drop counts.

Natural farming practices

Wilga Farm Stay ethos focuses on natural farming methods which is a major driver for the farm activities and practices.

The farm follows a no-fertiliser, no-chemical, no-drug, regenerative-inspired farming system. All animal feed is off the land. That is, whatever feed is in the paddock or food scraps for chickens. Owners set up the farm this way with the intention of higher food security around the beef and lamb produce.

Farm caretakers

Wilga caretakers are Brett and Nat. Brett does the day to day farm running stuff – yep that’s a technical term. Anyhoo, they are great people, down to earth, and part of the tribe type. We get along well and help out where we can.

Check out the potato haul they dug up recently from the garden – fresh taaties!!

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