THANK YOU FOR FARMER SAM'S WONDERFUL WHEELS

Farmer Sam 

I don't normally request money from our visitors or friends unless I feel there is a worthwhile reason to do so, but last month, my request for help to raise money for Farmer Sam's wheelchair was one of those exceptions. It's true, I did stand up and tell the wedding guests at our son's wedding that they wouldn't be able to leave the premises until they'd emptied their pockets into the milk churn placed at the exit of the marquee, but I was simply amazed by the generosity of Aaron and Lou's wedding guests. I have been stunned at the generosity of so many of our family, friends, and visitors - even Charley, our granddaughter, raided her money box saying: "Farmer Sam cannot talk, he cannot walk, and I can do both, so the least I can do is let him have all my money." Wow, that brought a lump to my throat. With all the goodwill from so many people, we managed to raise £1200.00 in just 18 days and I'm pleased to report that Farmer Sam's wheelchair has now been ordered complete with all the accessories that he requires. You have helped to make one little boy (and his family) very happy, so a big thank you to all.
FARMER BRYAN'S CHICKEN SITE
What do you get when you put a very skilled illustrator and a talented website designer together with a farmer? A fantastic new chicken website! Even if you don't keep or intend to keep chickens, it's still worth taking a look as Simon's cartoons are hilarious and will make you 'cluckle'! Click onto Farmer Bryan's Chicken Site if you're a keen poultry keeper, you will find lots of useful advice, news, and opportunities to buy chicken products. Do keep re-visiting the site as we intend to build our product range quite substantially.

HOP ABOARD
The weather has been perfect for the New Forest Tour's open-top bus, and the start to the season has got off well. The bus drops off visitors at the Farm gate and collects them again later to go to their next destination. It is a perfect way to see the Forest, and I am looking forward to having a trip on one when the holiday season is quieter.

VALUABLE VOLUNTEERS
Our volunteer scheme has been a great success with over thirty volunteers on our list now. We've had such a range of people joining us: some simply wanting to have a reason to get out of bed in the morning, others who have professional jobs but feel a need to escape the rat-race once in a while. There are also those who wish to expand on their animal skills. It seems that all of them enjoy working alongside our regular staff, and are quick to take on the banter thrown at them.


SEE US AT THE NEW FOREST SHOW
Some of the animals are packing their bags to visit the New Forest Show again this year. See us in our show tent from Tuesday 29th July through to Thursday 31st July. This year the theme of the show is hands-on, and you will be able to get close up to a variety of animals including day old chicks, calves, kid goats, donkeys and rabbits in our tent. There will also be lots of fun interactive games with Countrywide, and drawing with cartoonist Simon Chadwick.
Look out for scarecrows this year, which will feature throughout the show ground, but especially at the front of our show tent!!

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.

A Large New Arrival and a Poorly Goat

Dora and her calf

Dora, our Highland cow, has given birth to a large boy calf weighing in at 36kg. She 
quietly wandered down to the bottom of the field and had her calf early one morning. Once the calf was born, she wanted to tell the world, bellowing very loudly. Conor was like a proud dad as he went down to check the baby calf. We have brought Dora and the calf up to the main farm so that we can monitor them and put the ear tags into the calf’s ears, as this is a legal requirement and must be done within the first seven days after birth. The calf will then be issued with a passport – yes, all cows have a passport!

My farming friends will give me grief when they realise how much I spent on veterinary bills on one of our smaller goats. Louise was feeding the goats one morning and noticed that one of her favourites (bear in mind she has over 300 goats) was limping badly. When we looked at it more closely it was obvious that this poor little fella had broken the bottom part of his leg. At this point a ‘real’ farmer would have this small goat put down as it is only worth £20, but as I watched Louise trying hard to hide the tears, I phoned Sarah the vet to come out as soon as possible to try to splint the leg. Even vet  Sarah sounded surprised as she questioned me about the possible cost of this procedure. “Let’s give it a try", I said. Now you can look out for ‘Leggy’ hopping around the yard with his pink bandage on. Would anyone like to purchase a goat which is now worth over £400?

Talking of babies, it seems that Kylie has now realised her donkeys are simply too fat and that they are not so heavy in foal as she had once thought. She has now put them on a diet, poor things.

We have started to think up new ideas for our area at the New Forest Show - our aim is to make it as "hands on" as possible and have considered many different activities, however I'm not sure how the Health and Safety executive will react to some of our ideas! 

Spotty, the Kune Kune pig, and her piglets have outstayed their welcome in the animal encounter area after she decided to remove the boards along the outside wall and then kept turning her water trough upside down. She was given her marching orders and sent back to the Farrowing unit, which is where you will see her with her litter now.

Ducks and ducklings seem to be the 'in' pets this year: we have sold so many despite us warning people that they are the muckiest creatures on earth. We also have had some cute houses made to keep them safe from the fox, so they’ve been popular too.

New Forest Tour - we're on the Red Route

We’re now on the  New Forest Bus Tour (red route) from 28th June—to 14th Sept 2014, so hop on for a fun trip around the Forest after your visit to the Farm. 

It's always a bit of a struggle to make sure that everything is complete before opening the gates for the new season, and this year was no exception. With the dreadful weather making our annual task even harder, we were trying to drive fence posts into sodden ground, and pump out water from the livestock pens. Ben the electrician was balancing on his ladder whilst the wind whipped around him, and Chris and Gareth, the plumbers, were paddling around in the mud whilst they dug out the old pipes. Bearing in mind that these tradesmen only normally see the wind and rain on the golf course, we are grateful that they didn't give up on us, and they completed all their jobs successfully!
For the first time in the 30 years that the farm has been open to visitors, we have had to close off the outdoor play area. This was a decision made by me after the third time I had slipped up on my  backside whilst I inspected the grounds. With slightly wounded pride, I decided that it would be far too risky to open that area up to the public.
The day before our season started the heavens opened flooding the goat pens and the pathways, so with an early morning start, we pumped away the surplus water and cleared the debris that the gale force winds had deposited around the farm. With minutes to spare we were able to open the gates. Guess what? One of our first visitors complained that the car park was very wet; I did employ the ‘customer care smile’ as I explained to her that it was something to do with the weather!
It hasn't helped our staffing situation having Dawn off for the first few weeks of the new season: whilst on holiday she managed to slip up on some rocks and break her wrist. She now has a bracket and some stainless steel screws inserted into her lower arm and is on the road to recovery. It has made all the staff appreciate just how much we all rely on her.
Our main area for improvements this year has been the seating area for eating, which has been extended by over 30 more seats. Not only that, we have really spoilt you by installing heating and air-conditioning units in as well. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that the farm staff have been creeping in there to have their lunch in comfort.
The farm is fully stocked again with over 100 small chicks, rabbits and guinea pigs, 50 new young goats (which were rescued from the floods in Oxfordshire), 20 calves, and 40 or more hungry pigs... all looking forward to being fed by our visitors. Sandy, one of Kune Kune sows, decided to produce a litter of 11 piglets on one of the first days of opening, so there will be a chance that you will be able to cuddle a piglet. In fact, it feels like a real farm once again!
Louise has returned to take on the goat area, which she will find challenging as we are expecting 250 young goats in during the next month or so. Kayleigh will continue to look after the stables, and has inherited the poultry as well, which should keep her very busy! Coner prefers the real animals, so he will continue looking after the pigs and calves. Callum has joined us to relieve the other stock people when they have a day off, and we also have employed some new weekend staff as well.  
Our season ticket promotion went very well this year with record numbers of visitors purchasing season tickets for this season. This increase is partly due to our new online purchasing facility, which we think makes life easier for everyone - although it does amaze me what time of day people are on their computer parting with their money! Despite having a 'cut off period' for our discounted season tickets, we still had phone calls from people who had forgotten to renew their tickets, giving imaginative excuses such as: "My letter had a different date on it", "My dog ate the form" , and "I thought that you were not opening until Easter".
Our thoughts go to all the farmers throughout the country who have suffered during the extreme weather conditions. Only half the story can be seen on the television: the devastation of finding your sheep floating down the river, sheds full of cattle wading belly-deep in sludge, and whole houses of chickens being drowned are just some of the cases that the farming world has been confronted with. It will take a very long time before this will be rectified. We are very grateful indeed that we seemed to have missed the brunt of the weather here in Ashurst. 
Hope to see you soon, Farmer Bryan

Most farmers have working dogs, which in most cases are Border Collies. These animals work extremely hard and all they want to do is please their master. Due to Health and Safety reasons our dogs have to be kept away from the visitors, so they are out on the farm early in the morning and again when the visitors have gone home. Most working dogs round up sheep and cattle, but my two dogs like to put the chickens and ducks away at night and also love to tease any escaping goats. The goats simply don’t want a dog to direct them back into the pen, so they give the girls a hard time trying to head butt them. Unfortunately we lost our "old girl" Jade, as she developed a tumour on her stomach and our vet decided that it would be kinder to put her down. At least you can do that with an animal to prevent them suffering. Now, poor Sky is constantly looking out for her mate.
Over the last few months we have been targeted by petty thieves - a very young rabbit was taken from its pen by a visitor, and unfortunately it would have been too young to survive without some loving care and attention. Let’s just hope that’s what it was given in its new home! When we did our regular inspection on the fire extinguishers, we were surprised to find that someone had even taken a few of these!
Calves are no different to humans and sometimes they go down with viruses. We had a batch of calves that looked completely healthy one day, then all of sudden 6 of them fell ill all at the same time. We went to feed them and found all 6 of them flat on the floor gasping for air, so we called in the vet as it's extremely rare to see a bunch of animals to go down this quick. After dosing them up with a bucketful of antibiotics and enhancers, they gradually made a full recovery. The blood test proved inconclusive, leaving it a complete mystery why these calves were so poorly. I'm pleased to report that they’re all fit and healthy now, and the vet has presented me with a bill for over £1000 for her troubles!
Our goats are travelling all across the country at the moment, with enquiries coming from as far as Scotland and North Wales. As our kids are hand-reared, we are finding that smallholders like them as they are easy to manage. Lots of people request them to go in with ponies to keep their old pony company, but what they don’t realise is that goats do have a habit of chewing on the pony’s tail until there is no hair left at all! Others buy them as lawn mowers, but find that they will demolish the garden without touching any of the grass! One family has purchased two of our stronger goats to pull a cart around their garden.
Well, after the school holidays, we had to check that Father Christmas was going to visit the farm again this year, so we called him up. He says that he would like a quiet corner on the farm and that he enjoyed having the animals close by him. He did have a grumble about the turkeys being a bit too loud next to his house last year, so it looks like we’ll have to move all the straw out of the Straw Den to accommodate him once again.
The new term will bring a different group of students to the farm; some with severe learning difficulties and others with physical disabilities. Brockenhurst College have a group that are going to help with some of our maintenance projects and Southampton College are sending two groups to assist with the animal-related projects (that’s another way of saying mucking out!). Great Oaks school is targeting social skills for their students, and are using the animals as an aid for the students to learn how to communicate. It’s always a challenge taking these students on, but it is soon rewarded by the enthusiasm that they put into their work; even if only one or two of these students find full-time employment after completing the course, it's got to be worth it.
Because we have had so many people enquiring if we sell animal housing, we have linked up with a family company in Devon who make Poultry houses and rabbit hutches, and even stables and field shelters. It’s nice to deal with a family who are passionate about making quality goods and deliver good old-fashioned values!
Hope to see you soon. Farmer Bryan.  

SHE'S A PEARLER!

After months of searching, I'm pleased to be able to tell you that we have found a new Shire to put into Billy's stable. We found Pearl, a 17.5 hands pure Shire, in Wales. Alan, who buys most of our larger animals for us, phoned me one Saturday afternoon saying that he was at an auction in Wales, and that this wonderful mare was up for sale. He said that he had been watching her for a long time and she appears to be bomb-proof. Unfortunately, I didn't receive his
message as I was busy taking a group, so by the time I phoned him back she had gone through the auction ring and failed to reach the reserve price. My message to Alan was to find the owner and see if he was prepared to accept a private bid; it seemed like hours before I got a reply and a after a few heated exchanges, we agreed a price. She was then loaded onto a lorry and made her way back to Longdown. As the tail-board dropped, I waited with bated breath as she slowly walked down the ramp: have I made a mistake? Had I been conned? To my amazement, this horse was just what I had been looking for since January when Billy had died. As we led her down the yard she nudged me as though to say “thank you”. Pearl is a pedigree Shire, her official name is Catwe Duchess Pearl. She was hand-reared when she was a foal, then eventually trained to pull timbers out of the woods in Wales where, apparently, she struggled with this work, so she was then sold as a riding horse. She was so large, her new owners found it very difficult to feed her so decided to sell her on, meaning that this great horse will now spend her retirement at Longdown - and she seems to be loving every moment of it.

Our Vintage Rally was a great success this year with lots of exhibits and a small food hall. The blessing of a sunny weekend bought a record attendance of visitors and the atmosphere was tremendous. It seems that the decision to change it from the autumn was the right one - for this year at least. I was called into hospital the day that the Rally started, and was kept informed of the progress. I was told how well it was going, how well everyone worked together, and what a great success it had been - I got a complex that things seemed to work better when I wasn't about! During my absence, the staff have been tremendous, taking over the day-to-day activities, and organising the school groups and birthday parties - it really has proved what a dedicated team we have at the moment

Our incubator has been busy hatching  ducklings and goslings during the last few weeks, so we are currently using them at the Animal Encounter sessions. The goslings seem to be a great hit as it's not very often that you get the chance to hold these fluffy little creatures. It's also
amazing the rate that they grow—when they are too large to hold, they will go out into the
paddocks to clear the weeds and grass.

We have been doing a lot of planning for the New Forest Show and are hoping to have an area which will be more educational and interactive than last year. We are taking some of our larger animals along - which ones in particular will remain secret, but I can confirm that Samuel the donkey did not get an invite to attend the show this year after he upset the cows and sheep (well, at least their owners) with his very vocal outbursts last year! We hope that you can come along to the 2013 show, and we look forward to meeting up with you all. Unfortunately, The Queen says she may not be able to attend this year, but I'm sure that we will have some important person come to our display.

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!