Chickens and Ducks

Meet Bill and his lovely ladies; Flo, Daisy, Beyonce, Betty, Hilda, Gertrude and Mo, to name but a few! We have a large flock of chickens here, most are traditional breeds such as Jerry the Speckled Sussex and Daisy the Rhode Island Red, while others are ex-battery hens finally enjoying freedom and fresh air. Each chicken lays a different size and colour egg, including Lulu, who lays pale blue ones! These eggs are sold to the public to help support the farm.

The chickens share their paddock with the ducks which are also traditional breeds including; Aylesbury, Khaki Campbell and Welsh Harlequin. These ducks lay large white eggs and love nothing more than swimming in their pond all day.

To sponsor a Chicken or Duck only costs £10 a year which will go towards keeping their paddock safe and secure, keeping them fit and healthy and feeding them. It's suprising how much food a chicken can eat!

Pigs

Our Gloucester Old Spot and Kune Kune pigs came to the farm in November 2010. The Old Spots are a rare and traditional breed and the Kune Kunes are a particularly friendly breed from New Zealand. Both love having their backs scratched and they will poke their noses into everything, including the camera lens! Pigs grow very quickly and they cost around £25 a week to feed.

Sponsoring a pig for £30 a year would not only help feed their monster appetites but would also help cover vets bills and fencing which can suffer a lot of wear and tear from these playful pigs.

Goats

We have 4 goats here at the farm, all of whom have been donated to us. Honey, a Golden Guernsey Cross and Ashley, a British Saanen, are two attention seeking ladies, while Chalkie, a black and white Pygmy goat, thinks he's a sheep! All 4 are very friendly and are often taken into schools and nurseries to support the education programme. Most of the time it's hard to tell who enjoys the visit more, the children or the goats! During the summer months the goats graze on grass and bramble as well as being fed fruit and vegetables.

Sponsoring one of our goats costs £30 a year, which helps to pay for vets bills, food and stopping the crafty escape artists making their way up to the Co-Op shop (again!).

Sheep

Our flock of Soay sheep are the farms longest tenants, having been here since 1999. Soay sheep are a rare breed and originate from the Isle of St. Kilda in the Outer Hebrides. They are a very hardy breed which are well suited to the cold weather in Bath and in the summer they naturally shed their wool to keep cool. Unlike the goats, these sheep are much more shy around humans but will follow you everywhere if they think you have food. As with the other large animals on the farm, these sheep are more expensive to look after. Even though they graze the grass during the summer they still need a lot of care especially during the lambing season.

For £30 a year you can adopt your own sheep and help keep the flock healthy all year round, and well fed during the winter months.

Why Adopt An Animal?

Having animals at the farm benefits the farmland and allows adults and children alike to understand more about living things and the food chain. Children can learn directly how to care for other creatures and experience up close animals they may never otherwise see.

Sponsoring an animal at the farm will allow members of the community to support the farm and its rare and traditional breeds of animals. The adoption fee will go directly to the animals through food, vets bills, fencing and shelters.

The sponsorship will last a year and you will be able to visit the animals and even help to take care of them during the holidays and volunteer days.(contact a staff member for more details).

The adoption programme is open to everyone from business groups and schools to families and individuals.

If you are interested in participating in this scheme, please click here for an application form in PDF format

We will send you:

• A certificate to confirm your support
• A photo of your chosen animal to show your friends
• The first instalment of our quarterly newsletter
• An annual update of your chosen animal

We will also inform you of any events that involve your animal, for example, if your sponsored sheep is going to give birth.

If you are sponsoring an animal as a gift for someone else you might like to surprise them by bringing them to the Farm to collect their certificate. They can meet their new friend at the same time (subject to the farm opening times).

Please note:

All decisions about the animals will be made by Bath City farm. The sponsor will not own the animal. The sponsorship does not include any offspring the animal may have during the year.