All of our pigs are Kune Kunes’, born on the farm but the breed originates from New Zealand. Their name in Maori means “fat and round”! They were specifically bred for smaller domestic dwellings, where space was limited. Kune’s are well known to have a friendly temperament and are much easier to look after than large commercial pigs. They are the closest you can get to a miniature pig but its amazing what they can do to lovely grassy paddock, turning it into a mud bath in a matter of days!

Our Donkeys and Shetland Ponies are much loved animals on the farm. They love to be groomed, especially Bethany the donkey who takes part in grooming sessions every day we are open. They are all different ages ranging from 15 – 37 years old and spend a lot of time together in the same paddocks. Bethany, Thistle and Elvis have been here since we opened in 2007 and are well known by our visitors. Esther and Mary our two larger Donkeys arrived at the farm in summer 2022 and we have been working closely with them to get them into shape and developing their confidence with our visitors!

Valais Blacknose sheep are some of the cutest sheep in the world! Originating from the Valais region of Switzerland, they are a dual breed, bred for meat and wool. They are well adapted to grazing on the stony pastures of the hills and both male and females have horns. As they are used to changing mountain conditions they dont mind colder weather, their fleece keeps them toasty warm!

We have a small herd of mixed breed cows from Belted Galloways, Shorthorns and Herefords. We have always tried to have more traditional British breeds in our herd. Elliot our new short horn breeding bull arrived last year and is getting to know the girls. You will be able to see our cows on the tractor ride. We have some amazing views up there, you can see all the way to Durham and across to the Cheviots.

Domestic sheep are hardy animals and usually live outside most of the year. This is due to their oily, waterproof coat of wool so they are not bothered by the rain. We tend to bring ours in during lambing season in case the lambs get cold. They graze on grass, clover and other pasture plants. A male sheep is called a Ram, a female sheep is called a Ewe. There are over 1 billion sheep in the world today!

According to fossil records, Red deer have been around for almost 12 million years! They are one of the largest species of deer in the world, the males are called “stags” and the females are called “hinds”.

Red deer are originally forest dwelling animals but can also be found on the moorlands of Scotland. They can be quite timid but they feel much more confident when they have a stag in their group. They like to browse on grass, moss and young shoots.

The stags have “antlers” on their heads. They use them to express their dominance during the breeding season. Sometimes they have to fight with them. Antlers drop off each year around May, at which time the stag loses his position as the boss! He will grow another set after the summer as the breeding season starts again.

Our pygmy goats are super friendly – in fact we would say they love to be fed by our visitors more than any other animal on the farm! Goats are very inquisitive creatures and are very hardy animals, used to running up rocky mountains. They have an amazing ability to climb which is why we give them a tower to play on. Would you believe that after all our visitors have gone for the day, they have a mad half hour where they chase each other up and down the stairs!  They have been known to sneak out and munch the grass in the farm park too. Cheeky but very loveable too. 

Toby the Kune boar is also a new addition to the farm. Although he looks ancient he is only a few years old! Boars tend to be much bigger than the sows and Toby has some fantastic tusks. We are quite lucky with toby because he is what we call a grazing pig – he loves eating grass and doesn’t  rut the ground with his snout like the other pigs on the farm. If you put a rutting pig in a field it will turn to mud in no time but thankfully toby isn’t bothered by all that!

Alpacas are a domesticated species of South American Camelid. They look like a small llama.

They are very social animals and kept in herds. In their native setting they roam the foothills of the Andes, grazing on grasses. They can graze up to 5000 metres above sea level!

They are covered in “fibre” not wool. We shear them once a year and their fibre goes towards making beautiful clothes and garments which can be quite expensive! Their fibre is hypoallergenic which is ideal for people with allergies.

Do Alpacas spit? Yes they do but its only if we get too close to them. If we give them a bit of space they are usually very friendly!