A Sad Farewell and some Happy Events

RIP Kerry Cow 

For over twelve years Kerry cow has been a firm favourite with the visitors at Longdown, not only because she was such a quiet animal who enjoyed all the attention, but she was a real film star having worked with Nick Knowles in Animal Rescue and also in Heinz soup and PG Tips advertisements. Kerry cow was very special to Dawn and I as she was the last remaining family member of the Deerleap herd of Holstein cows, which originated at Longdown in 1977 when we had a large dairy herd. We had been hoping that Kerry was going to produce a calf to carry on the herd's name, however, just before she was due to calf, she died of Grass Staggers - another name for magnesium deficiency. This is caused by a lack of magnesium in the grass, which in turn affects the cow's nervous system causing sudden death. It was quite sad to see how Fudge, her Jersey cow friend, pined for Kerry, pacing the field and bellowing day and night.

On a much happier note, Kylie had to turn into a midwife unexpectedly on the day of our Vintage Rally as FiFi, our donkey, decided it would be a good time to give birth in front of a very large group of visitors. As we debated if FiFi required a helping hand, or to let nature take its course, we noticed a young girl collapsed on the floor in front of the large group of visitors who had gathered to witness the birth. We think that the sight of this natural birth had proved too much for the little girl. As I went to the young girl's assistance, Kylie looked horrified. "I have never foaled a donkey before". she stuttered. By the time I had completed the first aid, FiFi had produced a healthy young girl foal with a helping hand from Kylie. I'm not sure who looked the most exhausted - FiFi or Kylie! And guess what? We named the new donkey Emily, after the young girl who fainted. Do come and see FiFi and Emily at the Farm and take a look at the birth video on YouTube.

Look out for the New Forest Tour buses which start their service from Sat 28th June. We have a bus stop right outside the farm gate where you can hop on and off at hourly intervals using the red route bus. There are three routes around the forest - each inter-linking with each other, meaning you can reach the whole forest on one bus ticket per person. Show your valid New Forest Tour Bus Ticket at admissions to receive 20% off entry to the Farm (cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer). See The New Forest Tour website for further details about the tours.

 
Our annual Vintage Rally was great success once again with perfect weather conditions. There were many different tractors and engines on display, as well as all sorts of working attractions such wood sawing machinery and a crane. The children's tug o' war is always a highlight, and this year didn't disappoint with the children ending up as victors (with a little help from Shaun the Sheep!). The tractor parade was great too. Horse-drawn wagon rides took place alongside tractor rides, and the Victorian kitchen produced some tasty biscuits, which I simply had to sample on a regular basis - just quality control, you understand!
   

At last, our Pygmy goats have produced some kids: one giving us a set of twins and the other a single boy.
The pictured twin Pygmy goats were named Hugo (left) and Maisey (right) after we launched a competition on Facebook. These little kids like to show off as they chase around their paddock, making it extremely difficult for our visitors to take photos of them. It's all a lot of fun for the little kids - both human and goat variety!

Hope to see you soon, Farmer Bryan.

C C COLD WEATHER AND EASTER ANTICS

With the previous bitterly cold weather, the daily job of keeping all the animals warm has been a challenge. We’ve had heat lamps on the guinea pigs and chicks, and even the goat kids had their own centrally heated areas. Once the gates were open to visitors, it was an even larger challenge to keep our visitors warm, but we managed with electric heaters in the Tea Room and shops. These were much appreciated by the staff and visitors alike. I imagined that I could see the smile on the faces of the Electricity Board as the meters spun round out of control! Not all our visitors are under the age of seven: we have seen an increase in the older type of visitors from local nursing homes. As the guests are taken around the farm, we hear some of the same comments that we hear from the children, such as: 'Phew, it smells here" and "Wow that cow’s big!" However, the older visitors really do like to join in, and love being kids again. It is heart-warming to see how the older guests communicate with the animals - some love to hold a chick or a rabbit, whilst others just like to watch the goats play. Easter was extremely busy—the weekend beat all attendance records since the Farm opened to the public thirty years ago. Visiting families joined in with the egg hunts, with a lot of competitive dads looking for the golden eggs that I had hidden (some eggs probably hidden far too well in some cases). I even resorted to Facebook to give out further clues - oh, how times have changed in those thirty years! Stuart has taken on the role of Poultry Keeper - I call him Doctor Dolittle because early in the morning we hear him talking to the animals! We hear his voice beaming from the chicken houses: "Come on girls, out of the way. How can I clean you out when you’re stood on my spade?" We then watch him carry the chickens around under his arm as he introduces them to his duck friends. One thing’s for sure, I am convinced that we have employed someone who really does enjoy working with the poultry. The ewes decided to lamb a little later this year, which considering the weather, was a good choice. At least ours were inside the sheds and not outside in the appalling weather conditions that some of their cousins up North had to endure. I heard one farmer from North Wales quote that finding his dead lambs in the thawing snow was as heartbreaking as losing his flock to Foot and Mouth disease back in 2001. At least the weather has warmed up now, and is kinder to all the little ones. The cows, not wanting to be last, have now started to calf, geese are hatching, and even the Kune Kune pigs have decided to join in and give birth to a litter of piglets. So, at last, spring is in the air with all these new arrivals. I think we’re owed a sunny summer don’t you? Hopefully, the grass will start to grow soon, and we can put the cows back out into the fields to graze for a few months. To the astonishment of all the staff, on Saturday 6th April, Tilly decided to give birth in front of a group of visitors. It is very unusual for donkeys to give birth in front of people (let alone a group of 25) however, she slipped her foal out very quietly as the cameras clicked and astonished visitors watched. Since it was born, the foal’s long legs and equally long ears have been the talking point at the Farm, and visitors have been helping us choose a name for this little girl….. Well, that’s what I thought she was: a week after it was born, Kim and Louisa were watching the foal playing in its stable when they noticed a little extra bit! “Look at that—that little girl is a little boy!”, they laughed. We had created a fun competition on Facebook to name the little donkey foal, and it wasn't until after over 250 suggestions for a girl’s name that Farmer Bryan had to confess on Facebook that he couldn't tell the difference between a boy donkey and a girl donkey! And yes, it’s true, I should have gone to Specsavers! And no, I still haven’t lived it down!

BIRTHDAY FUN, EASTER EGGS AND GOATS GALORE!

What a start to the new season! Despite the very cold weather it seems that lots of families have had enough of the long, cold winter and just want to release the children! They visited the farm in their hoards during February half-term, and also over the Easter weekend (more of Easter later). We have also been very busy with school groups. Despite the cold weather, everyone seems to be having a great time. Most of the children come wrapped up nice and warm, and do not notice the chill, but some of the adults come in their summer attire and wonder why they feel so cold! The birthday parties are back in full swing; it still amazes me that children come back year after year knowing just what the party involves, yet never tire of it. Maybe it's because I make the birthday person the "Farmer" or "Boss", as we call it, for one and a half hours! One of those who has had birthday parties with us for the past few years is Farmer Sam. Sam is six years old and is completely paralysed. He spends the entire party in his wheelchair, unable to speak and his vision greatly reduced too. What is very touching about Sam is the smile he gives when I put a chick or guinea pig next to his ear. Sam wriggles his fingers in delight when the goat kid that I put onto his lap bleats at him, which makes me realise that all our efforts to communicate with him are so worth it. Most of Sam's friends also have disabilities - some more severe than others, but it is amazing how they all respond to the animals. This year we have taken on four new members of staff to help look after the animals. Their job involves cleaning out the stables and chicken areas before we open the gates at 10:00 o'clock. Tom and Katie look after all the poultry on the Farm, and Kylie and Poppy have the task of looking after the horses and donkeys. Hopefully this will enable the other staff to spend more time assisting our visitors with the daily activities. We say goodbye to Rachael, who has been looking after the goats for the past two years. She has got the travelling itch and is off to New Zealand to work on a large sheep farm assisting with lambing. We wish her well in her adventures. We have been busy planning what we are going to take to the New Forest Show in July. We have lots of ideas and are currently discussing them with the show's committee. Thank you for all your messages regarding Billy the Shire. We have commissioned a craftsman to design a play structure in the shape and size of Billy to go into the outdoor play area. After several meetings, I am confident that John will come up trumps, and produce this for us by the beginning of the summer holidays. Our goat sheds are crammed full at the moment with more young kids than we have ever had before. Poor Kim is at her wits' end wondering where to put them, and also desperately trying to train them to drink off the bottles before the next batch arrives. I stand my distance when I inform her that another group of kids are due to arrive any moment; I'm not a trained lip-reader, but I can guess what she's calling me! The problem this year is that all our suppliers have decided to kid their goats at the same time, when normally they kid down at different times. At least we can guarantee that everyone will get a go at giving a goat a bottle of milk at feeding time. The Easter weekend was a great success with many visitors taking part in our fun Easter egg trails. The little ones enjoyed looking for the nests around the farm, and counting up the eggs inside - although, I suspect they enjoyed the little chocolate treat at the end just as much! We had much rivalry between the visitors to find the hidden golden eggs - and that was just from the dads! As usual, I made sure that the ten golden eggs were hidden at the beginning of each Easter weekend day - NO ONE was allowed to know where they were hidden - not even Dawn! However, they had all been found by the end of each day - you must be getting cleverer! We are open for the rest of the school holidays, and of course, daily after then. Hope to see you soon. Farmer Bryan.

IT WAS HARD WORK, BUT WE'RE OPEN!

It’s surprising how many tonnes of material are brought onto the Farm (and off it) in preparation for re-opening. In the few weeks before the gates opened, 72 tonne of grade two hogging arrived for the levelling of the car park, then 26 tonnes of stone the duck area to replace the 30 odd tonne dug out in an attempt to reduce the smell, followed by 18 tonne of Barley straw to re-instate the Straw Den. Also 80 tonne of play bark for the play areas and animal pens, and besides all this coming in, there was over 100 tonnes of good old farmyard manure, which we dug out of the sheds and sent down the road to Sunnyfields Organic farm! All our staff joined in with the painting, or should I say, splashing on paint, as all the indoor areas have had a coat or two to tidy up the tired wood. I seemed to have a permanent job of driving up to B&Q to top up on the supplies. It was on my third visit in one week that I arrived at the checkout with my loaded trolley, (now bear in mind that I simply do not like shopping at the best of times, and find it difficult to get these trolleys to go in the direction that I need them to go), when this young lad then directed me to the scanning device on the side. I politely explained that I would prefer to be served by a "real person" only to be told that there was no one available and that I needed to use the scanner. As I desperately tried to get the trolley to reverse out of the till area (doing my best not to swear), the young lad excitedly showed me the way to the dreaded scanning machine, and then disappeared as I loaded my 23 items onto the small space in front of me. The machine started to blurt out at me to put an item on the scales; my young friend turned up again explaining that only one item should be put on the table at a time, and watched me as I started to throw all the goods back into the trolley. As the prices showed on the screen and five products went through my confidence started to grow, well, that was until the machine blurted out: "Call for an attendant". When my young friend arrived, this time quite sheepishly, he explained that I had a multiple purchase and waved his yellow card and the machine started to proceed again. I looked over my shoulder at the long queue forming, and I whispered to the lad: “If it calls you again, this trolley will stay here and I will buy my goods down the road”. Well, blow me as he walked away again, the dreaded machine told me to call for an attendant! Using his well-rehearsed customer care, he informed me that he would need to know my age as I was purchasing white spirit! He must of seen the steam coming out of my ears as he tried to persuade me not to walk out. As I apologised to the waiting crowd, he discreetly called in a supervisor who finished putting through my goods. Got some service in the end! The Farm is almost fully stocked again with piglets, goat kids, chicks, and all the guinea pigs and rabbits (or fluffies, as I call them), Kerry is excited about the introduction of some Continental Rabbits and her French Giants. More of these later... It has been a very long winter with the never-ending rain making life very difficult. The Farm has been so very quiet without the sound of noisy children, so we were all delighted to welcome back our visitors at the beginning of the half-term holiday. And what a lot there were! Unfortunately, due to the saturated ground, we were unable to use our overflow car park, so we did have a few parking issues. Apologies to those that experienced problems. Hopefully, the overflow will be in use over the Easter period. Farmers are known to be hardened when it comes to losing one of their animals, however, I will admit losing Billy, our Shire, certainly hit us all hard. He was such a great character, and the celebrity of the Farm. We are searching for another Shire, but we certainly will never find one with the same qualities that Billy had. As I have mentioned before, we will be adding a permanent memorial to Billy on the Farm. In the meantime, there is a small tribute display on the wall between the tearoom and gift shop. This is DARIUS— officially, the world’s largest rabbit! He is The Guiness World Record holder of the title: “largest rabbit”. He measures 4ft 3in from nose to tail and was only 12 months old when he took the title! We are the proud owners of BRUNO, one of Darius’s babies. We are really hoping that he will reach the size that Darius has achieved. Find Bruno and his other rabbit friends at the Farm next time you visit. When Bruno is a little bit older, and he has settled in to his new home, we will be introducing him to the visiting children during the small animal handling sessions. Hope to see you soon. Farmer Bryan.