HIGHLAND COWS

Our first 2 were girls called Dot (red) & Flo (yellow) - their pedigree names are too long for here. They came pregnant and both produced boys. Next followed our bull Dewi (dun with yellow highlights) from north Wales - we first saw him at the Royal Welsh Show, he was only 2, but has since fathered 4 boys (Smokie dun with yellow highlights and prize winning Fergus who is a brindle - both have gone as pedigree bulls) and 6 girls (Coco black, Grace silver dun, Mary yellow, Diane dark red, Willow red, Emma white, Emily black and Fiona yellow). Lizzie (brindle) arrived pregnant in Jan 2019 and had a calf in the summer - Rosie (brindle). Highland cows may be born one colour and can change during their first year or so (as have quite a few of ours - Coco went from red to black). They have a 2 layered coat and moult most of it in the summer (for the wet and needle felters, it felts very well). Dewi has gone onto pastures new near Bristol and in 2023 we got a new bull called Freddie, also from Wales - we have had 6 calves from him in 2024 and 8 in 2025 hope to have 2 early this year. We lost Dot in 2023 due to calving problems, but bought in Holly (red) Autumn 2025 and she has produced 2 boys so far. Our new bull arrived in December 2025 - Smokie Joe - after Freddie went to Totnes.

We occasionally have pedigree heifers and pedigree bulls for sale - they have excellent blood lines from some of the top folds in the country.

We now open up our farm to pre-booked visitors (except not during lambing) - see Farm Visits - and will shortly be having regular free visits from local primary schools.

SHEEP

Our first 4 sheep (White Ryelands) were called Bossy (she was bossy and very expressive), Katie, Trousers (as she kept nibbling our trousers) and Daisy. We have since increased our flock and now have white and coloured Ryelands, Oxford Downs and 2 Shetland Sheep. Our oldest ewe is a Ryeland called "Missy" who was our first ever lamb (Bossy’s daughter), quite a character. Our flock is now made up mainly of home bred ewes and only a few bought in ones left.

Sheep are supposed to be stupid, but we have found them to be very intelligent, quite crafty when it suits, they have friends and know their family (Missy, Bossy’s daughter, always lambed in-front of her mum if she could).

Ryelands are an ideal small-holder breed with a very soft fleece loved by hand spinners and they produce great tasting meat which when slow grown on grass is not too fatty. They may be small in appearance (compared to commercial breeds), but their weight is not much different to other breeds - we have had some boys over 110kg. They are not usually escape artists and love grass.

Oxford Downs are an ’at risk’ rare breed with approx 115 registered breeders in the UK. They think they are posh (well ours do) and their fleece is very soft.

Shetland sheep - ours are called Badger and Naomi - they both know they are posh and strut around as though on a cat walk. Their fleece is also very soft.

We usually have shearling ewes (aged 12-24 months) for sale from late spring and occasionally rams. See Livestock For Sale

ALPACAS

Our 4 original boys - Henry (white), Oliver (fawn), Harry (chocolate / brown) and Mazda (white) arrived aged about 3 years old and quite timid in 2013. They quite rapidly calmed down and were a lot more friendly. Unfortunately all but Oliver have since died, so in 2023 we bought 4 more boys (aged 1) - Pilot (black), Challenger (Brown), Nugget (Fawn), and Ernie (white) - they are a lot more friendly than the original ones. We keep the best fleece for yarn and roving and the poor quality is now used to mulch and protect flowers and veg from slugs which it does really well.

Our alpacas love posing for photos! and often get people coming just to see them. We hope to be able to offer an alpaca walking experience soon.

CHICKENS AND DUCKS

We have a variety of chickens who lay a range of coloured eggs (white, several shades of brown, olive and blue). The chickens lay eggs for most of the year, but during the winter moult they stop. Ducks only lay from spring until autumn, usually, and their eggs are slightly larger than hens’ eggs. Ducks eggs make great sponge cakes.

As we are still setting up our new site we currently only have one duck who is living at a friend’s, but are hoping to get some Khaki Campbell ducks in the near future.

GEESE

We have West of England geese - 3 girls and boy - they can be sexed at birth due to their markings - the females are black marked, whereas the males are single colour. They are an ’at risk’ rare breed. Egg laying for geese is usually late Feb to May (though ours haven’t heard about that) and they lay an egg more or less every 2 days - eggs are the size of 3 medium hens’ eggs (2 duck eggs) and their shells are sometimes decorated by skilled artists. We hope to start breeding them in a year or so. The eggs make great cakes and an 8 minute boiled egg is wonderful. Each goose lays a different shaped egg fat, thin, rounded end. They usually moult a month or so after egg laying. They mainly eat grass and grain (if offered) and may try and have a nibble at the sheep if they get too close!