A few "families" are playing the waiting game at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley these days, as several ewes, goats and cows are all due to deliver the future adorable stars of Farm Babies. The popular annual exhibit kicks off the Year of the Farm at the zoo in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Wells Fargo Family Farm.

We asked Dean Treanjen, who was raised on a farm in southeastern Minnesota and has been farm supervisor at the zoo for seven years, about timing, the exhibit's popularity with visitors of all ages, and whether there have been any unexpected surprises in the barn (we're looking at you, billy goat).

Q In the real world, animals don't have to meet exhibit deadlines. How do you help the process along?

A It definitely requires a lot of planning (laughs). We have to make sure we put the males with the females in time, so that the babies will be here. The cows are artificially inseminated. The gestation times vary: For the cattle, it's nine months; for the goats, it's five, and for the pigs, it's three months, three weeks and three days. Some of the animals that are giving birth this year were born here themselves -- we have two pregnant ewes that both arrived during the first year of the exhibit.

Q How many baby animals will be added to the farm's population in the coming days?

A We have 10 pregnant goats, and typically goats have twins. We have three ewes and they are also likely to have twins. By the end of Farm Babies, we'll have five calves, although two have already been born. There was a litter of nine piglets born [the week of March 22], and we'll have ducklings and chickens hatching during the month of April as well.

Q How long does a delivery usually take?

A There are definitely no "behind the scenes" areas, so many people will have the chance to see an animal give birth when they are here. A lot of times, visitors will sit for two or three hours waiting to watch a calf being born. Pigs are the quickest to deliver. Piglets plop out, for lack of a better term, every 10 or 15 minutes during delivery. As much as we deal with birth, we also deal with death. Sometimes, a goat or ewe will deliver twins and only one is born alive. It is how life is on the farm and you can't do anything about it.

Q What makes the farm so appealing to visitors?

A This farm is really like a typical 1950s family farm. Chickens were raised, the eggs were collected and used, the cows were milked, things like that. We have a lot of grandparents who bring their grandchildren out here and say, "I remember this is the way Grandma and Grandpa's farm used to smell." Kids don't have the opportunity to learn about farms the way they used to. I've heard kids call horses 'cows' -- they aren't sure what they are. We have so many school groups that come out at this time of year, so this is a good opportunity for kids to see a real farm. We sell milk through a local dairy. We sell some of the animals. It's part of our mission to be a working farm.

Q Do any memorable incidents come to mind?

A We've learned over the years that the male billy goat likes to go visiting. Last year, we ended up with more baby goats than we wanted, so we really keep an eye on that now.

Julie Pfitzinger is a West St. Paul freelance writer. Got an idea for the Your Family page? E-mail us at tellus@startribune.com with "Your Family" in the subject line.