What's New at the Farm this Summer?

Summer Farm Collage

Wow… what a Summer we are having! The exceptionally hot, dry weather and lack of rain brings it’s own challenges for farming and keeping our animals healthy. Thankfully we managed to get one decent cut of hay in but the fields are now looking brown and barren. The good news is the animals have coped amazingly well, it’s the staff who can’t get used to it! Cold hose showers aren’t just for pigs and horses you know

We have been so excited to launch our Winne The Pooh exhibition and trail, alongside our fun-filled Summer Activity Programme. Make sure you come along this Summer for all the action.

Equines

We haven’t been having a good time with the horses. Unfortunately our mare Sensation went down with laminitis at the start of the summer and has been on box rest and restricted grazing ever since. Laminitis affects the hooves and can be very dangerous if not managed correctly so we have been very worried about her. This meant that Friar was supposed to be going off to the Cheshire Show on his own and then he started with a hoof abscess just a few days before and in the end we took our 18 year old mare Tabitha! She hadn’t been to a show in years but she rose to the occasion like a pro and we were so proud of her. The donkeys are all well and can cope with the heat better than most of the stock, it’s the flies that annoy them!

Pigs

There has been some changes in the piggery as we have brought some new young stock in. Lola had her first litter of piglets and proved herself a very good mum. Our youngsters Orla and Sadie are both pregnant for the first time and due their piglets in September. Susie and Martha, our older girls, are having a well earned rest. Plus we have a brand new Tamworth weaner just arrived. She is so cute with a gorgeous ginger coat. We just need to name her now!

Sheep

Lambing seems like a lifetime ago now. In fact this year’s bottle fed lambs are now the stars of the show in our daily Sheep Racing activity which is always good fun and never predictable! We had a really good lambing and the lambs have grown well despite the heat, in fact we have just weaned as the lambs were nearly as big as their mums! Sheep racing is daily at 3pm until 28^th August.

Cows

We wanted to try again with the implantation of some Native Jersey embryos into our dairy herd as part of British Breeds Revival Trust. Native Jersey cows are extremely rare now and this is part of a project to increase their numbers. Success rate for embryo transfer is only 40% so it’s not easy. Unfortunately the vet decided the cows were just not fertile enough to risk wasting an embryo so this year they have been AI’d and we have everything crossed that they will hold. We are also getting the Red Poll here bull next week for the Red Poll cows. We are very excited about lots of calves next year. Gestation is 9 months, the same as humans.

Goats

The goats have been stealing the limelight this summer with both Emily and Rose having gorgeous goat kids. Emily had triplets – Honey, Basil and Barnaby and Rose kidded for the first time a pair of lovely twins – Hazel and Holly. Visitors can meet them daily at 2.30pm. There is nothing cuter than a goat kid and these ones are very special being very rare Royal Golden Guernsey Goats. They were even featured on Granada Reports!

Poultry

Our hatchery is in full flow with several clutches of chicks hatched and grown and ‘flown the nest’. Visitors get the chance to ‘Meet the Chicks’ up close twice a day and learn all about the hatching process. Our free range flock of hens are busy trying to steal visitors picnics and are always good fun to watch as they dust bath and roam around the farm.