The first year we took on 12 orphan lambs of various cross breeds and a purebred Wiltshire Horn. At first this was extremely hard work, some days were rewarding, others very difficult. The lambs found it hard to bottle feed naturally, and so it was a stuggle to make them get enough milk to get them growing. After a lot of perseverance, they all fed well.

It was great to watch them bouncing around in the paddock, they all come as soon as they see you hoping that milk is on the menu.

After not much success with the Ryeland ewes , we have now got some crossbred ewes which we hope will be more successful than the pure bred sheep. We have also acquired a Badger-faced ram and a Jacob ram which will be used next in the breeding program.

We have now obtained 4 grey-faced ewes, all in lamb to a suffolk ram. Should be a good combination, roll on the spring.

Laying chickens

We started with Twelve Battery Hens in September 2008 which performed tremendously without a letup in eggs until 2009.

The hens are a consistent source of amusement, it took them a while to get used to "freedom" and it has been a great pleasure watching them develop and get used to things as simple as wind and rain. Watching them with worms is quite funny, and now as soon as they see you they run up expecting a treat. They are very docile and easy to handle.

We have also purchased some other birds to supplement our egg production. We have also successfully hatched out somechicks from our own eggs too.

Aylesbury Ducks

These are a wonderful bird to keep, which produces excellent meat for the table. Their growing rate from week 1 to week 6 is phenominal, you can almost see them growing. They love swimming and splashing around in their pool, and look so elegant when fully grown. We sell these birds live or prepared for the table.

Wessex Classic/Supreme Table Chickens

These are table chickens, which also grow at an immense rate. They are a complete contrast in character to the laying hens in that they are more difficult to handle and very heavy. We sell these prepared for the table, they can weigh in excess of 10 lb.