Out of Quarantine

Say hello to two beautiful boys - Jack and Dave.

With all new arrivals, we have to quarantine them for 30 days as a standard procedure; contamination and illness is always a risk with new animals, no matter how healthy they seem, as we can never be 100% sure of their backgrounds, genetics or past lifestyle. Don't worry, though - we keep quarantined animals in a cosy, warm stable catered to their needs. The boys had a treat being pampered by our keepers and being able to listen to the sounds of our farm; all the better for them settling in!

Now though, they are free out of quarantine, and loving their new enclosure in our Walled Garden! Dave, being the friendly boy he is, loves to perch on our shoulders and have a bit of a cuddle (who would have ever thought cockerels would love cuddles?), while Jack is a true adventurer - he can usually be found exploring his enclosure, searching for dips in the ground, and logs to clamber on and let out his mighty calls!

So what's the story with this pair? They were found dumped on-site, outside the gates in a cardboard box, in the early hours of the morning. Although frightened at the time, they've settled in brilliantly now; all the better, for the adventures they're bound to have with us, and their neighbours (or rival clan!) the turkeys.

Why not pay them a visit before we close for winter?

Photography Competition

Our Photography competition - There were many, many good entries, and it took us a while to choose the ones that best stood out to us, but Jay's photo of Duke, Sally's of Leo the Shetland Pony, and Leanne's close-up photo of Henry the Rooster, now hold the exciting title of 'winner'. They won a free place on our photography course; a lovely day of beautiful photos, scrumptious food and the Proteus Reptiles.

Thank you so much to everyone that entered; some of our favourite photos are now on our Facebook page!

New Aviary!

It's been a labour of love but our brand new Cockatiel aviary is now complete, and the birds moved into it. It is truly wonderful to have an enclosure that makes us smile to walk in to! We always want the best for our animals, and find ourselves walking into their enclosures each day thinking about all of the things that need fixing and making better for them, and at times that can be quite disheartening. To see what CAN be achieved has been a big morale boost for us, and we can't wait to start work on all of the other enclosures. In time we'd also like to build more, but the animals here now have to come first.

The Cockatiels are settling in well!

A big thank you to those who made it happen... the kind people who made donations and everybody who entered our summer raffle - YOU, as well as our very hard working volunteers and staff, made this possible!

We also took great pleasure in dismantling the old aviary next door once we'd moved the birds, ready to build a new one here too... and slowly get them ALL up to this standard one-by-one! The future's bright, together we can do this!