Small Animals
Small animals are kept on the Farm for educational purposes. The rabbits and guinea pigs are ideal for younger children to meet, and while they are here as our pets rather than working farm animals, even they have to go out and ‘work’ too – travelling with the mobile farm to shows, events and small animal handling sessions.
Ferrets were traditionally kept on farms to help catch rabbits, our ferrets are here for education purposes but also bring a lot of joy! They love going out on their leads for walks and it’s great fun to watch them exploring the Farm!
Rabbits
The rabbits you see here are domestic rabbits, bred to be kept as pets. They eat grass and hay, and their teeth are continuously growing because all the chewing wears their teeth down. Pet rabbits are kept in hutches, but in the wild make their homes underground in burrows and warrens and spend most of the day grazing above ground. Rabbits are the third most popular pet after cats and dogs, but need more space and care than many people realise!
Guinea Pigs
We have four short-haired guinea pigs named Puzzle, Cocoa, Kinder and Bueno.
Despite their name, guinea pigs are not pigs and not from Guinea! They are large rodents, and originated from the Andes in South America. They live for 5-6 years.
Ferrets
Our ferrets are brothers named Loki and Thor.
You’ll find the ferrets in their own enclosure, for good reason — on many farms, ferrets are kept to deter rabbits. Being agile and inquisitive tunnellers with a long lean body shape, they can access burrows and warrens to chase rabbits, which are a great pest to plant crops. As pets, ferrets are fun but demanding. Like dogs and cats, they need to be well handled to become socialised.
As they are curious with a strong urge to smell and taste everything they come across, they may nibble, so we recommend you avoid putting your fingers in their cage! Ferrets can spend up to 20 hours a day resting and sleeping, but when awake, they are playful and lively. They need a lot of interaction with their owners and opportunities to play and explore, otherwise they can become bored and unwell as a result.
Meet the small animals
We offer ‘Meet the Small Animal’ sessions from 12:30 – 1pm every* Saturday and Sunday from April-September.
Please head to the grassy area next to the horsebox, where we will set up a small area for you to get up close and stroke the rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets and chickens.
This is a fundraising activity to help contribute to our increasing animal care and utility costs. As such, while entry to the Farm remains free, we do charge £3 per person for this activity. Cash or card will be accepted and no prior booking is needed.
*This activity may be cancelled at short notice if it’s raining or we don’t have enough volunteer support on the day!