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Farm Animals

Our small 1 hectare farm in the city has a wide range of typical farm animals and birds. You will meet a horse, cows, several goats, a flock of sheep, pigs, hens, ducks, turkeys and also an owl and a pussycat!

About Our Animals

The Cows - Bunty And Fudge

BUNTY is a pure bred Jersey cow, with the typical fawn / pale ginger colouring. She was born in February 1997 and came to the farm when she was 2 days old with rearing being completed by her foster Mum, Dinky.

Bunty has had 2 calves herself and has fostered an additional 6. The most recent, Shadow and Snowflake, were sold to a suckler herd in March after c15 months at the farm.

FUDGE, the calf, was born in December 2008 on an Ayrshire dairy farm, and came to Gorgie when she was 6 weeks old. Like Bunty, she is a pure bred Jersey and shares her fawn/pale ginger colouring - hence her name, Fudge.

She was initially bottle fed milk, but has now been weaned onto a diet of cereal plus hay and water. She has also started to share a pen and field with Bunty and they have bonded well - Fudge quite happily more or less following Bunty up to the field in the morning (getting cheeky in her teenage stage)! 

Pony

Red came to Gorgie in 2007, and has been happily partaking in Childrens' Birthday Parties ever since! He is a 14 hh gelding, and his welsh-arab breeding means he is hardy enough to go outside in the winter.

Sheep

We have three breeds of sheep on the Farm: Suffolk; Ryeland; and Shetland. Due to grazing needs, not all of them are on site at any one time. We rent a field at Riccarton, this allows growing lambs and (in the early stages) expectant mothers to get plenty of grass. Pregnant sheep are brought back to the farm when they are close to giving birth so we can keep a closer eye on them.

SUFFOLK SHEEP are a large lowland breed usually kept for fattening or crossing with finer breeds. They have distinctive black heads and legs, and a white fleece and are known for their greed! We lamb them early, January and February, in common with most commercial farmers in order to have large male lambs for sale in the summer. The ewe lambs are kept for breeding.

RYELAND SHEEP are a medium sized lowland breed. They have white dense wool all over - body, face, legs and all! We lamb these in Gorgie between March and April as they tend to be less hardy than the Suffolks. We have two tups, Beau who we have had for several years and a shearling, Kenny (shorn once i.e. just over a year old) who recently achieved a third at the Royal Highland Show. We are very proud of our Ryelands as the flock is now mostly pedigree. This ensures entry into the "flock book," and a premium price at market.

Our only SHETLAND SHEEP is Rambo, pictured above. Shetlands are a small breed suited to uplands. They come in a variety of fleece/face/leg colour combinations and the males, like Rambo, usually have curled horns.

A particularly special member of the flock is SAM THE LAMB. He was born early in the 2009 lambing season, his mother was a Suffolk ewe and his father, Beau, the Ryeland tup. Shortly after his birth, the Farm was approached by the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company who needed a lamb for a forthcoming production. And Sam was the obvious choice, because of his size and age. Little did we know then that he also had serious star quality! After a few rehearsals, the show went live. And early reviews were favourable. The Times called him "cute" and other broadsheets intimated he'd stolen the show from his older, more famous and human fellow cast members. Over the three week run, Sam grew physically and professionally. And by the last night, he was bleating right on cue. If there was an Olivier Award for best ovine performer, we're sure he'd have got it! Like all actors between plays, Sam is now "resting." And will be on the Farm for all his adoring fans to see.

Goats

Three characteristics identify goats from sheep: beards; divided upper lips; and tails which point upwards. We have two fields of goats on the Farm, one at the Pet Lodge and one near the cows.

In the PET LODGE FIELD, we have JESS - a white Saanen cross and TOBY and JOJO, a couple of pygmy goats. Pygmy goats are particularly good climbers, so we have built a climbing frame in the field especially.

In the COW FIELD, we have BRAMBLES - another Saanen cross - and Olly - another pygmy. Like Toby and Jojo, Olly likes to climb - and came to the Farm in 2003 when his then owner found he had escaped from his pen and clambered on top of a car! The other cow field goat is LEGGIT, an angora goat. Angoras are famous for producing mohair wool, and Leggit's fleece is shorn twice a year. She also has sensitive hooves, so receives regular pedicures!

Pigs

We have 2 main types of pigs: LARGE WHITE/LANDRACE CROSSES, which are commercial types; and BERKSHIRE, a more traditional breed. The former are pink in colour and slightly bristly, whilst the latter are black with lots of course hair.

Pigs farrow in the summer - 5 sows have recently farrowed (49 piglets in all)! Two of these sets were fathered by a Gloucester Old Spot Boar and are the most fabulous mix of colours and patterns- punk as they are now known on site! The punkiest of the first litter have been weaned and sold on to good homes and will hopefully breed themselves. Some of the other piglets will be fattened for taking to market at various stages over the following twelve months with the largest ones tending to become bacon, and the smaller ones pork joints.

Ducks

There are numerous breeds in DUCK CITY. Firstly the CALL DUCKS, which are small in stature but big in voice. The AYLESBURY(/CROSSES,) the big white ducks which look a little like geese are present in two pens. There are also the KHAKI CAMPBELLS, which are brown in colour and the INDIAN RUNNERS, with their upright stance. Finally we have a lone MUSCOVY - a large domesticated breed which has fleshy coloured markings like goggles round its eyes and above its beak.

Bronze Turkeys

We currently have 3 turkeys, 1 male and 2 females. The male (stag) is a very handsome specimen, with the green/ bronze tinged feathers that are typical of the breed. Whilst relaxed he is similar in size to the hens, but when puffed out and showing off, he looks nearly double the size and his snood enlarges to droop over his beak.

We are currently machine incubating duck and turkey eggs with most due to hatch in mid September. We hope a high percentage of the eggs are fertile and the precess goes to plan.

Poultry

We have a large variety of chickens on the Farm. On top form, our hens can lay two dozen eggs a day - most of which are sold on the Produce Stall (link.)

The most prolific layers are the ISA BROWNS, a commercial hybrid. We also have WELLSUMMERS, MARRANS and RHODE ISLAND REDS - all of which are good layers, as well as being attractive hens and cockerels. Amongst the fancy breeds, we have SILKIES with their fluffy white feathers and an OLD ENGLISH GAME BANTAM, a cockerel who is half pint sized but full pint in attitude!

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