Our animalsOur animals are an important part of our family here at Birchill Farm and recently we have welcomed some new arrivals. Ruby and Prudence are our cheeky little Kune Kune piglets. They are very funny to watch and let out squeals of delight when visitors approach. Ember and Taco are gorgeous, little, Miniature Mediterranean donkeys. They are very friendly and love having their backs scratched! Our older residents include our three alpacas, Porridge, Fudge and Treacle. They are gentle and friendly, yet quite shy. They are also very curious and will approach you, staring intently! They do not like being touched but will sometimes (if they are feeling brave) eat from your hand. They are shorn once a year usually during May or June. Alpacas are kept for their fibre (hair) which is used for making knitted and woven items.We have two ponies called Pebbles and Amber who are mother and daughter, and a Welsh Dartmoor cross. They are very friendly, always happy to say hello and to share an apple or a carrot with you! Pebbles is ridden by our daughter and Amber is kept as a companion. They enjoy being groomed, so let us know if your child would like to join in and help out. We have two goats, Flora and Merriweather, who are also mother and daughter. They are very interested in people and Flora particularly, enjoys a cuddle. They are quite greedy and seldom refuse food! We have a variety of different breeds of hen (including Exchequer Leghorns and Cuckoo Marans) and most of them are good layers – although they do have a short break during the Winter. We shut them in at night to keep them safe from the fox. In the mornings they need to be let out, fed and their eggs collected. So if there are any young (or old!) volunteers out there who would like to help Simon, animal feeding begins at about 9.15 every morning. Our ducks have the same routine as the hens, although letting them out in the mornings is a much noisier affair! We have some Indian Runner ducks who like to charge around together and are great fun, also an Aylesbury and some Muscovy ducks. The male Muscovies are unusual to look at but they’re very friendly. Dotty our sheep is perhaps Birchill’s best loved character (apart from Simon!). She was hand reared by us from a day old. She used to think she was human but since she’s been living in the same field as the alpacas she has joined ranks with them. The most friendly of all our animals she’s always there at the gate by the car park to say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye.’ We have four cats at Birchill Farm. Daisy, Molly, Lucky and Lottie. They are all very friendly and happy to be stroked. We do ask guests not to invite them into the cottages – even if they ask politely! This is because some of our guests suffer from allergies and also because despite the cats being treated with frontline the odd flea or tick can still hitch a ride occasionally. Last, but by no means least, we have three dogs, Rosie and Pluto, both black Labradors and Nell, a blue merle Border Collie. They are always eager to greet guests. You will probably meet them going or coming back from their twice daily walks. Don’t worry if your children are afraid of dogs, we always keep Rosie and Pluto on a lead around the farm and Nell is quite shy until she gets to know you! They are very gentle, Pluto sometimes wears a muzzle when he’s out and about because he is on a special diet and we have to ensure he doesn’t eat anything that we don’t feed to him!
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