Guinea Pigs

Guinea Pigs are great small pets as they are good natured and easy to care for. They are the most popular small pet in many countries

South America (Peru) Guinea Pigs were kept by the Incas and were found in houses when the Spanish conquistadors conquered South America.

Our Guinea pigs you can handle in our Hutches and Aviaries corner. They have their food given twice a day, along with fresh vegetables such as carrots and broccoli. Also, the farm staff will go on the hunt for some fresh dandelion leaves for them to munch on.

The Guinea pig was first domesticated as early as 5000BC for food by tribes in South America. Even to this day they are still considered a source of food in some countries and cultures. It was the Spanish, Dutch and English that first introduced them into Europe as exotic pets among the upper class and royalty, including Queen Elizabeth 1.

Guinea pigs have a similar diet to that of rabbits, grass is their natural diet but pets are fed on soft pellets and hay. Dietary wise Guinea pigs are like humans are require Vitamin C in their diet or they will develop scurvy.

Guinea pigs shouldn’t be raised as a single they are a pack animal and are prone to loneliness so they like to have company, in Switzerland owning a single guinea pig is considered harmful to its well-being and forbidden by law.

Banjo & Boris

August 12, 2017 Super User 18804

Meet Boris

Banjo The Bearded Dragon

Then we have our Bearded Dragon; Boris, and no they don’t breathe fire…. well not yet anyway

The name "bearded dragon" refers to the "beard" of the lizard, the underside of the throat which turns black if they are stressed or see a potential rival. They are adept climbers, spending time on branches and in bushes and near human habitation.

They have the ability to change color during rivalry challenges between males, in response to ambient temperature changes such as turning black to absorb heat, and other stimuli. Males grow up to 60 cm (24 in) long, and females up to 51 cm (20 in). Bearded dragons also produce a mild venom originating from primitive venom glands. Although generally harmless towards humans, it is effective towards smaller-sized animals.

The Beard dragons are like our other animals and do eat daily, they mainly eat insects and have a mix of plant based food, mainly leafy greens and they love dandelion leaves which we pick of our village green for them. Also a key element of their diet is calcium which we have to supplement for them as none of the food we feed them contains enough of it, so to do this we coat the insects in a calcium powder before we put them into the enclosure, they also require UVB light to process this calcium so we have UVB blubs in the enclosure to help aid them in digestion of the calcium but to help them even more, when it is sunny we take them outside to the ferret park and let them have a run around in the sun, where they absorb the natural UV light from the Sun which is much more effective than that from the bulb.

Borris The Bearded Dragon

Billy & Bunter

September 04, 2017 Super User 45764

Billy

Billy & Bunter

Billy and Bunter our Barn Owls have been with us for just over 2 years. They came to us very young after being abandoned and are very tame. They live on a diet of chicks and are fed daily.

Barn owls do not hoot they make a screeching sound. Barn Owl feathers are super soft! This helps them to hunt silently, but they are not very waterproof and get soaked if it rains

Cornflake

August 12, 2017 Super User 57735

Meet Cornflake

Cornflake

Our fantastic, and friendly Corn snake, Cornflake is a North American species of rat snake that subdues its small prey by constriction. Corn snakes found throughout the southeastern and central United States. Their docile nature, reluctance to bite, moderate adult size, attractive pattern, and comparatively simple care make them popular pet snakes. Though superficially resembling the venomous copperhead and often killed because of this mistaken identity, corn snakes are harmless and beneficial to humans. Corn snakes lack functional venom and help control populations of wild rodent pests that damage crops and spread disease.

Our snakes aren’t like a lot of our animals, they don’t eat daily, instead they eat weekly, on a Friday we normally feed them after we close, and we feed them small mice that we buy frozen as in England we aren’t allowed to feed pet snakes live food, so on a Friday morning we must get two mice out of the freezer and defrost them ready for eating in the evening.

Digby

August 12, 2017 Super User 22243

Meet Digby

Digby is our Miniature Shetland Pony, he’s a Stallion and originates from the Shetland Isles, Scotland.

Shetland ponies originated in the Shetland Isles, located northeast of mainland Scotland. Small horses have been kept on the Shetland Isles since the Bronze Age. People who lived on the islands probably later crossed the native stock with ponies imported by Norse settlers. Shetland ponies also were probably influenced by the Celtic Pony, brought to the islands by settlers between 2000 and 1000 BCE. The harsh climate and scarce food developed the ponies into extremely hardy animals.

Shetland ponies were first used for pulling carts, carrying peat, coal and other items, and plowing farm land. Then, as the Industrial Revolution increased the need for coal in the mid-19th century, thousands of Shetland ponies traveled to mainland Britain to be pit ponies, working underground hauling coal, often for their entire (often short) lives. Coal mines in the eastern United States also imported some of these animals. The last pony mine in the United States closed in 1971.

Today Shetlands are ridden by children and are shown by both kids and adults, also more recently starting to be used by young jockeys now making appearances at county shows and game fairs.

Breakfast, Hard feed, hay and apples as a treat

Fun Fact

When Digby goes out at night into the field the first thing he does is drop to the floor and roll over in the dust

Eric, Ernie, Morecambe & Wise

August 12, 2017 Super User 4024

Meet Eric, Ernie, Morecambe & Wise

Pygmy Goats

Meet our Pygmy Goats. Pygmy Goats originate in Africa, they were developed from the west African dwarf goat and a landrace of central Africa and they were taken to Europe by the British during the colonial era then later imported to the US. They then became very popular as backyard pets for keeping grass down in large gardens and small paddocks.

They are adaptable to most climates so can be kept across the globe, they require a shed to provide shelter in bad weather and need access to open areas always, they also need a companion but it doesn’t have to be of the same species, they also require clean water as they won’t drink dirty water. They enjoy having things to jump on and have been known to jump on to small vehicles.

They are very friendly and affectionate animal, especially if you have food.

Females weigh between 24 to 34 kg and males 27 to 39 kg, they stand between 41 to 58 cm tall.

Our pygmy goats are very cheeky and love to go on people’s prams if they are unattended as they see it as a small climbing frame that they must have a go on, so if the goats are about make sure you keep an eye on your prams as you may be taking a goat home with you!!

Ferrets

September 04, 2017 Super User 2233

Ferrets

Our ferrets are fed twice a day on wet cat food and sometimes dried biscuits too. The average ferret lives to be 6-7 years old.

The majority of “working” ferrets are used to eradicate vermin, but they have other less obvious purposes. Their ability to worm their way through confined spaces has led several institutions to use them for running wire.In the 1960’s, aircraft manufacturer Boeing used ferrets to string wire through planes!

Our ferrets love to play in their large tunnel tubing and, be outside as much as they can, they also like to dig holes in the soil. They can be quite mischievous!

Our ferrets are called Slinky, Bandit, Rascal, Eddie and Nibbler.

George, Pepper & Tinkerbell

August 12, 2017 Super User 9074

Meet George, Pepper & Tinkerbell

Donkeys

Meet our fantastic donkeys. George, Pepper and Tinkerbell. Donkeys were probably first domesticated by pastoral people in Nubia, and they supplanted the ox as the chief pack animal of that culture. The domestication of donkeys served to increase the mobility of pastoral cultures, having the advantage over ruminants of not needing time to chew their cud, and were vital in the development of long-distance trade across Egypt. The donkey has been used as a working animal for at least 5000 years. Of the more than 40 million donkeys in the world, about 96% are in underdeveloped countries, where they are used principally as pack animals or for draught work in transport or agriculture.

The donkeys live outside at night so they have grass as their main diet but when we bring them in during the day for donkey rides, they get a hay net and some apples.

Donkeys can be quite stubborn and ours are no exception to that, as an example if we are doing donkey rides George doesn’t like going first, he likes to follow the girls and can be quite a cheeky fellow and diverts of course when he sees some nice grass he wants to have a chew on.

Geraldine

August 12, 2017 Super User 22891

Meet Geraldine

Geraldine is our Mangaltisa pig, they originate in Hungry, and they were developed in the mid-19^th century by crossbreeding a Hungarian breed with a European wild boar. They grow a thick woolly coat like that of sheep, the only other pig breed noted for its woolly coat is the extinct Lincolnshire Curly-coated pig of England.

The Mangaltisa pig produces very little lean meat so it has been widely replaced by modern domestic breeds in the commercial market to get better quality lean meat cuts but is still used for sausages and minced meat.

In hungry this pig is still very common and easily found and farmers produce and rear about 60,000 Mangaltisa pigs each year. Pig hair can be used in paint brushes, so if you buy hog hair paint brushes, it is made from pig hair.

Her diet consists of a mix of pellets, vegetables and hay to provide fibre.

Golden

August 12, 2017 Super User 43294

Golden 12/10/2001- 23/08/2020

Golden

It is with heavy hearts we announce the passing of our beloved Golden, our Holstein cow.

Golden was born at Greenlands Farm when we were a workingdairy farm back in 2001.

Golden went on to have calves herself and was a milking cow here for many years.

When Greenlands Farm diversified into a petting farm in 2009, Golden became a star attraction.

Not only was she large is size but her personality shone throughout.

A gentle giant we called her, although sometimes very stubborn.

There was even one time where she wandered off and got stuck in a building,

for us to then to remove part of the wall to get her out.

Her and Cee Cee one of our Kune Kune pigs also had a great partnership.

Then only this week she met our New calves Beatrice and Ernie, which Golden loved.

She was adored by children and adults who could not believe her size.

She will be greatly missed and a massive part of the Greenlands Family

Guinea Pigs

August 12, 2017 Super User 18714

Guinea Pigs

Lenny

August 12, 2017 Super User 22958

Meet Lenny

Lenny

Meet Lenny, our very friendly, very popular English Springer Spaniel. As the name suggests, he is from England, the purpose of the breed is to serve as hunting dogs, the larger spaniels, the springers, are mainly used for flushing or ‘springing’ the game birds into the air for the falcons and hawks to bring back to their handler, whereas the smaller spaniels, the cockers, were used to hunt smaller birds like the woodcock.

The typical lifespan of a springer spaniel is about 12 to 14 years. They are an affectionate and excitable breed. Nowadays the breed has split into separate show and working lines. Show dogs tend to have longer furred coasts whereas the working dogs have a shorter coarser coat.

Lenny, our springer spaniel lives with Roger in the main farm house and comes out during the day to say hello to everyone, but when he comes out he occasionally takes a trip down the paddocks and has a swim in the pond and comes back all wet and smelly.

Lenny has a bowl of dog food twice a day and if he’s lucky some of the staff will sneak him some sausages from the kitchen out as a treat, which is very naughty of the staff but I’m sure Lenny won’t be complaining any time soon!

Mary & CeeCee

June 17, 2017 Super User 42785

Meet Mary & CeeCee

Mary

Mary and CeeCee are our fabulous Kunekune pigs. The Kunekune pig is one of the most well-known types of domesticated pig in the world, however it is actually classed as a rare breed with less than 2,000 pure bred Kunekune’s in the world - at one point they even faced extinction! Domesticated Kunekune’s originate from New Zealand but it is thought their wild ancestors came there from Asia in the 1800’s, on trading ships and whaling boats. The Maori people of New Zealand gave them their name ‘Kune Kune’, which means fat and round.

Here at Greenlands we have two female Kune kune pigs, CeeCee & her daughter Mary. Kune pigs are not a very active species, so you will most likely find them sleeping, wallowing in mud, or looking for her food.

Fun Facts:

In the 1970’s the species faced extinction, with only nine pure bred Kunekunes left in New Zealand!
Unlike other pigs, they can survive on grass alone!
Some Kunekunes have wattles (small fleshy tassles) called ‘pire pire’, hanging under their chin!
They are one of the smallest species of domestic pig, and are often referred to as ‘teacup pigs’ or ‘mini pigs’, even though they will grow to be up to 100kg!
Pua in the Disney film Moana, is actually a KuneKune pig!

Cee Cee

Oudoo

August 12, 2017 Super User 63102

Meet Oudoo

Oudoo

Meet Oudoo, our lovely little Border Terrier. The border terrier originated on both sides of the Cheviot Hills in Great Britain. These hills form the border country between England and Scotland. As hills are abundant in this area, farmers' stock was terrorized by the powerful hill foxes.

To hunt and kill these foxes, the farmers and shepherds needed a plucky terrier with enough length of leg to follow a horse but small enough to follow a fox to ground. The dogs had to be strong and tireless with a weather-resistant coat to withstand the mists and bone-soaking rains of the hills. This small, hardy, working terrier could be found in the homes of almost all border farmers, shepherds and sportsmen in this region.

Oudoo lives with Lenny and Roger in the main farm house, and comes our during the date to say hello to everyone. She loves being fussed over!

Oudoo has a bowl of dog food twice a day and if he’s lucky some of the staff will sneak him some sausages from the kitchen out as a treat, which is very naughty of the staff but I’m sure she won’t be complaining any time soon!

Oudoo