Translation of an article published in the newspaper Põhjarannik:
Located on the edge of the Muraka bog, Rabatalu is a place to go for saunas, adventure hikes, smartphone-free children's camps and Christmas land. Now you can also visit Rabatalu to see dwarf goats, alpacas, wallabies, rabbits and ostriches.
Last summer, the owner of Rabatalu, Ronaldo Sildnik, studied where to get reindeer moss. In the autumn, reindeer were supposed to arrive from Finland to Estonia.
Unfortunately, the plan, which had been prepared for a long time, did not come to fruition: at the last minute, it became clear that these animals would not be allowed to leave Finland after all.
However, the farm building with the hay barn had already been built for the reindeer (with the support of PRIA) – it simply could not have stayed empty.
It is better to keep away from the legs of ostriches
When the owner unlocks the farm door, the three menacingly large beaks and imposing heads are the first to look over the high perimeter of the enclosure. Especially because of these beaks, Ronaldo Sildnik wears thick gloves. His fingertips are quite frayed as the beaks nip and peck at them when the host tries to make friends by stroking their neck.
"Don't get too close, they can take your hat off," he warns.
Three ostriches – Jüri, Mari and Kairi – are the newest inhabitants of Rabatalu zoo so far, having only been brought from Lääne-Viru County just two weeks ago. Their beaks pinch painfully, but you need to be much more afraid of their powerful leg kick. They say their powerful kick can split the wolf's spine in half.
Ronaldo Sildnik doesn't walk into the enclosure of these animals for no serious reason. You can communicate with and pet the birds on their necks when you are outside, but you must have a smart way to feed them and clean their enclosure.
"You shouldn't go near them at all between May and September, it's their laying season, and the male will protect his female partner's eggs and get angry."
At Rabatalu, outdoor enclosures need to be ready before May, as a larger area makes it easier to navigate the ostriches. You need to be clever to get those eggs out of there.
There must be two enclosures for them: if one's ground is completely trampled – with such powerful legs it will not take very long – they will move to the other until the grass of the first enclosure recovers. Female birds should lay eggs every other day. There are two females, so there is one big egg for each day.
Two rabbits became twelve
Opposite the ostrich enclosure are bustling rabbits, the first inhabitants of the animal farm.
In the beginning, there were only Juta and Liisa. Then Kiki, the farm cat, often spent time with them, even enjoying salad from the rabbits' food bowl.
It so happened that after a while, Karla and Tarmo Junior arrived, and now they also have eight tiny baby rabbits in one nest. The enclosure was built higher by the owner, so that the cat could no longer reach them.
One dwarf goat is missing from the herd
In October, the animal farm was replenished with Cameroon dwarf goats, Maali and Aadu.
Maali was pregnant when she arrived, and Ronaldo Sildnik was excited for the new lamb to be born.
Unfortunately, nature decided otherwise, and on the last day of the year, Ronaldo had to go looking for a new vet – his own vet had travelled to Tallinn for New Year's Eve – in order to get the dead baby goat out and to keep at least Maali alive. He acted on his own, as much as he could, until two vets rushed to help after a request for help posted on social media.
"I don't think I have ever cried like this before in my life," says Ronaldo Sildnik and still tears up every time he thinks about it. "It was a very nice big baby goat." Fortunately, Maali recovered quickly.
Now the owner is looking for a second dwarf male goat to keep her company. Due to the fact that Aadu is related to Maali, Aadu has already been castrated.
"If anyone knows someone who has a dwarf goat for sale, let me know," he asks.
When can I get alpaca yarn?
Next, the alpacas Sass, Juss and Kaisa arrived from Muhumaa to enrich the farm life. These are Ronaldo Sildnik's undisputed favourites, especially Kaisa's son Sass, born at the end of the summer, with whom both the owner and the farm guests go for a walk outside.
"Juss was born last spring, and he is our future breeding goat. He is very curious, approaches you by himself, looks at you and wants to kiss you. Kaisa is a little shy – just like girls. Sass has a very expressive face, especially his eyes, and I call him the Prince."
The alpacas are very clean animals, the owner boasts, and they only pee and poop in one specific place, from where it is easy to pick up with a shovel and put new sawdust on.
In March–April, Juss and Sass need to be shorn (Kaisa was already shorn in her previous place of residence). How this is done remains to be seen. For example, we can ask advice from our uncle who has many sheep. And from the alpaca keeper in Muhumaa, whom Sildnik often asks for advice. Alpaca wool, or more precisely yarn, is already of interest. So, we might have more of these animals in the future, there is demand for their wool.
Kangaroos now live in Ida-Viru County
In mid-December, the wallabies of Rabatalu, or Bennett's kangaroos, arrived: Guido with grey and Albert with white fur. They are the shiest of the animals, they still do not come to take food from your hand.
Although wallabies are significantly smaller than ordinary kangaroos, they still have a very good ability to jump. After the owner found Guido poking around in a haystack, he built the pen higher and nailed boards to the bottom of the window, just in case. Wallabies are happy to eat oatmeal. They do not like carrots, but they do appreciate cabbage leaves and apples. They tend to eat apples like people do, holding an apple between their front legs.
The husky girl Mia adventures between the enclosures, picks up all the cabbage pieces that have fallen from the beaks of ostriches, and also comes to pick up cabbage, apples and carrots from the feeding ground of goats and alpacas. "It is true that our Mia is a vegan," the owner laughs and says there is no need to clean anything from the ground, it is the dog that cleans the area.
Moving into the outdoor enclosure for summer
The main diet of the farm's inhabitants consists of hay and species-specific pellets, plus oats, cabbage, carrots and apples, as well as concentrate feed when needed. For the ostriches, the owner also cuts the hay silage thinner with scissors, but the birds don't think much of it.
Of course, clean water must be available at all times. When the weather gets colder, you need to remove the ice layer from the water container and replace ice with warm water.
There is no heating in the farm building, but all the residents there have been born and/or grown in Estonia and have adapted to our climate. It will work as long as there is enough hay and sawdust in the enclosures, say those who have more experience with such animals. In spring, Ronaldo Sildnik will build a large enclosure in front of the farmhouse, covering at least a hectare of land. The ostriches will have their own sectors, goats and alpacas their own and common, and wallabies their own sectors.
The enclosure will be made of 1.7-metre-high welded panels, and no one can get over it, in or out, just like that. Our four-legged animals will go indoors for the night anyway, the ostriches will be out all the time, but if a wild animal should somehow get close to them, then that wild animal will surely regret that.
Animals bring more visitors to Rabatalu
Ronaldo Sildnik started working with exotic animals in order to have more visitors at the sauna house of Rabatalu. People need to be offered something new all the time, otherwise they will not come for the second and third time.
"My friends say that I used to be a normal guy who used to throw parties and go to the tavern, but now I have become something else here in the woods," he laughs. "Now I live full-time at Rabatalu, I can no longer go on ski trips or go on holiday ... But I can make enclosures here at the farm for half a day or do something else, talk to animals and pet them, and I like that."
According to him, they are currently not adding any new animals.
No new species would fit in the farm building anyway.
But then again, it's just a question of building an additional section...
We thank Põhjarannik and journalist Külli Kriis for this awesome article!
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