Our Animals
Dog - We have a dog called Oscar. He is a large Foxhound/ Otterhound cross. Whilst he will make a lot of noise, he is actually very friendly - honest. He should not be out off the lead, but he sometimes escapes or comes back from a walk without the walker!!
Cat - Our cat is called Oliver and is always hungry. He thinks that we starve him - we don’t.
Animal Feeding
Every morning at 10am we feed our animals - chickens, pigs, goats, donkeys and horses. All visitors are welcome to come and watch or help. For those who have not been close to animals before this will be a new experience.
Chickens - We have a number of free-range chickens (currently about 10). The small brown ones are Isa Browns. These are egg producers. We have one Maran Cockrell who is a bit lonely since his ladies died.
We sell the eggs at £1.50 a dozen.
Goats - We have 3 Angora Goats, which produce Mohair (not Angora - that comes from rabbits) and are sheared twice a year.
They are: -
- TAMMY – A castrated male, who is big, fat and has very wide horns.
- JUNIOR – A small doe - born in Spring 2002, with a very curly fleece. We bottle fed her from when she was born, because her mum wasn’t interested.
- JENNY – A doe born in Spring 2002, that we had to feed extra milk to, because her mum did not produce enough.
Pigs – We have three pigs (from April 2007), which are being fattened for the freezer. They have no official names, but are sometimes referred to as “Pork”, “Ham” and “Bacon” or, depending on how much digging they have done, “Rotavator” and “JCB” and “Digger”
Ponies – We currently have one horse, Digby (official name Captain Pugwash)- he is the coloured one, and is the “BOSS”. He is an 11 year old gelding, and is ridden by all of us.
We also have two ponies. The largest brown one is Cedar (official name Dunsford Cressida) and she is a Welsh Section B mare. She is 21 now, but still quite lively, our youngest daughter still rides her. Please do not feed her as she is prone to Laminitis (which means her feet get sore).
The small dark brown pony is Arabella. She is believed to be an Exmoor/Shetland cross, but this is not certain. She is an 11 year old mare and likes to think that she is the “Boss” of the others.
Donkeys – We are fostering two donkeys from the Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth, Devon. They are geldings and are called Truth and Grace. They are four years old and are very friendly.