We currently have one shire horse at the Farm – he is called Herbie and he is a “grey”
The Shire is a British breed of draught horse.
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Rupert is a 13 year old, Irish Draught Horse, who was rescued by the World Horse Welfare Charity and has come to live his retirement years here at Church Farm.
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Originally the donkey came from Africa and Asia, hot dry countries where they roamed in their wild herds before they were tamed and used by man.
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Introducing our three, wooly alpacas, who you may see roaming around the farm with the staff.
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Mainly found in the North of England, the Wensleydale is the result of a cross between the now extinct Teeswater Muggs and a Dishley Leicester ram, this produced “Bluecap” the foundation ram of the Wensleydale breed (1839).
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Originally this sheep came from the island of Boreray off the west coast of Scotland in the St Kilda group of the Hebrides.
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Descended from the local breeds, which grazed the low ground in and around Dartmoor, they are a slow maturing breed taking some 3 years to reach maturity.
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Jacob
The Jacob Sheep breed is steeped in history with origins in the Middle East and is quite possibly the oldest sheep breed in the World, with historical references dating back to the Old Testament, Book of Genesis.
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The Llyen breed originate from Ireland in around 1750. It is believed that they were bread to gain the best meat, milk and wool from other breeds at the time.
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The Manx Loaghton is a primitive breed of sheep that has roots way back, probably to the Iron Age, and although it was once found in many parts of Britain it only survived on the Isle of Man because the island was relatively isolated.
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A hardy, active sheep, bred to graze the heathlands and the poorest soils.
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The most northerly of the Orkney islands is North Ronaldsay where this small and endearing sheep is found and from where it gets its name.
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The Southdown is one of the oldest Downland breed and enjoyed its heyday from the late 1700s up to the Second World War when farm after farm changed over to dairying.
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Swiss Valais Blacknose
Although the earliest mention of these sheep dates back to the 1400’s this large framed docile mountain sheep was first recognised as a separate breed in 1962.
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The Whitefaced Woodland is one of the largest British hill breeds.
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As its name suggests this breed of goat evolved on Guernsey in the Channel Islands and was brought to the mainland for breeding when numbers had become low in 1965.
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Pygmy Goats have developed from the interbreeding of wild goats found in Africa and were originally called the Cameroon Dwarf Goat.
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The Berkshire breed is believed to have originated from Wantage in 1790, which was then in Berkshire.
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The British Lop Pig is currently the rarest of all British pigs, and is classified on the RBST list as “Vunerable” meaning there are less than 300 registered breeding sows.
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The Gloucestershire Old Spot or Orchard Pig has been around for about 200 years.
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Kune Kune pigs (pronounced Kooney Kooney) were probably brought from Southern Asia to New Zealand by whalers who traded them with the Maori people.
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Originating in the Midlands, the Tamworth is the closest to the traditional pig that would have roamed the woods of Britain in medieval times and whose ancestor would have been the wild boar.
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The Orpington is a sweet tempered bird and because of it’s size does not need very high fences to stop it straying.
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A complete mixture of breeds which are much more flighty than the docile pure breeds in the other pens.
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Pekins are a “True Bantam” meaning they have no Large fowl counterpart.
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The Pekin Bantam is a British breed of bantam chicken. It derives from birds brought to Europe from China in the nineteenth century, and is named for the city of Peking where it was believed to have originated.
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We have a number of domestic rabbits at Church Farm, we keep these so you can hold them and give them a stroke during Animal Encounters.
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It is thought that the Flemish Giant Rabbit is a cross between large rabbits from Flanders and giant Patagonian rabbits.
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Originally the wild guinea pig came from the coast of South America, where the Incas (16th century) kept them for food.
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We have a few pet fancy rats at Church Farm, who have have settled in well and come out regularly for animal encounters, which are a huge hit with visitors of all ages.
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