Free Child Entry at the Festival of the Naked Sheep: 14th June 2015

It's a busy week on the farm this week, as we are preparing for our annual Festival of the Naked Sheep which takes place this Sunday, 14th June.  The Festival of the Naked Sheep celebrates shearing and all things wool related, with lots of demonstrations and opportunities to get 'hands on.'  There is even free child entry with each paying adult, for the event day only. You will be able to see live shearing demonstrations throughout the day, with Shepherdess Kate.  There will also be a number of spinners, felters, dyers and weavers who will all be demonstrating their skills and all of the amazing uses a fleece has.  There will be plenty of opportunity to have a go yourself, including the chance to roll a fleece and try your hand at felting. As usual, you will be able to meet and feed all of our animals.  There are also some extra special activities happening throughout the day including:

• Feed the chickens and hunt for freshly laid eggs.
• Meet the Baylham Bunnies in our Bunny Barn.
• Greet the Goats and their new kids.
• Cuddles with Tommie and Freddie, the Miniature Shetlands.

Opening Times: 10am - 5pm.  Don't forget, free child entry with each paying adult.

Tilly causes a stir down on the farm

We frequently have lots of new arrivals at the farm; from lambs, to kids (the goat type, not the human kind), to chicks and piglets (otherwise known as pigerlets according to Farmer Neil), but one particular new arrival has been causing a bit of a stir. Born four weeks premature on the 27th March 2015, a very small Hereford x Guernsey calf found her way into the world.  Being a premature arrival, she needed a lot of special attention and Shepherdess Kate decided to adopt her, with the little calf arriving at the farm just after our Easter Speggtacular event. After many suggestions for a name on our Facebook page, Kate decided to name the little calf Tilly.  As she wasn't born at the farm she doesn't need to follow the farm naming system.  The naming system dictates that each animal born in the same year will have a name beginning with the same first letter - for example, all the calves born in 2015 will have a name beginning with the letter U. Tilly has been causing quite a stir at the farm.  Running through the lambing tunnel our ewes called 'mothering' noises to her, as did our White Parks who were very interested to meet Tilly as you can see below. [caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Tilly meets our White Parks[/caption] Tilly is much smaller than normal because she was premature so she is currently being bottle fed by Kate and the farm staff four times a day.  In between feeds she loves to explore the farm as well as having a good scratch, ideally a belly scratch from Kate but if not, various logs around the farm will suffice as you can see below. [caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="165"] Tilly having a good scratch![/caption] Tilly's developing some amusing habits including licking soil (probably in search of minerals) and playing with straw bales.  She is enjoying meeting all our visitors and she will be available for cuddles and grooming very soon - watch this space for more details. Tilly is being fed four times a day with special powdered milk which is very expensive as I'm sure lots of Mums can relate to.  To help with this cost we are accepting sponsorship for Tilly at just £40.00.  Sponsorship includes an annual pass (worth £35.00) to the farm which entitles you to free entry for a year to visit Tilly and the rest of the animals. Sponsors will also receive a sponsorship certificate and a cuddly toy or Baylham Farm mug.  When you come and visit Tilly you will also see your name listed as a sponsor on her paddock/stable.  For more information about sponsoring Tilly please contact us.