Our Small-holding
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This page is dedicated to our small-holding and we would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to some of our animals who reside with us here at Meadowbrook Cottage bed and breakfast.
Our Gorgeous Girls - some of these hens are ex-bats. (Battery hens which have been rescued thanks to the Volunteers of the Battery Hen Welfare Trust). We like to hatch our own chicks from our own eggs too but we also very much like to help re-home some of the ex-battery hens who otherwise would face slaughter. |
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The Guinea Fowl
We also have guinea fowl who patrol the field keeping an eye out for intruders. They certainly let you know when an intruder enters the field! The Ducks
We have a selection of Saxony, Cayuga, Aylesbury, Muscovy, Khaki Campbell and Indian Runner ducks. They are great fun to watch and have some beautiful colours in their feathers when the sun catches them at different angles. The Indian Runners are rather amusing to watch if you have never seen them before. In fact it is great fun to see them all waddle up the field to get to the pond in a straight line - it is very amusing to watch. As well as "Donald", who you can read about below, we also have one other Mallard Drake who happily resides here with all the other ducks. The Rheas The Rheas are relatively new to us, we only got these in early February 2018. We have three - 1 male and 2 females. |
The Geese
We have two geese, one gander and his lady. He gets very protective over his lady - especially during the egg laying season! 
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Mr Muscovy & his Family Mr Muscovy is probably the craziest duck I have ever owned! He really is a character. I can call him and he will waddle up to me from across the field. He likes to have his head rubbed and his tail wags backwards and forwards just like a dog! He is very strange - as he "hangs around" with the two geese all the time! He even goes in with the two geese at night-time too. Muscovy's are silent - they do not quack but they also have their own funny little ways of doing things! Mr Muscovy's companion, Mrs Muscovy, hatched six ducklings at the end of August 2017 and here are some pictures of them for you to enjoy. |
And lastly - but not least - we are going to introduce you to Donald!
Donald is actually a wild Mallard Drake. His story is as follows. He was brought to us as a tiny little duckling back in April 2011. He was being viciously attacked by a swan had been rescued by some passers-by who brought the tiny duckling to us to see if we could possibly help him. We took him in and to begin with he was in a cardboard box under a heat lamp in the house until one of our hens hatched 5 chicks of her own. We waited for a couple of days and then he was put under the hen with the chicks at night. She successfully adopted him and to date he is still with us. He is a very special little duck and is a really great character.
Donald is actually a wild Mallard Drake. His story is as follows. He was brought to us as a tiny little duckling back in April 2011. He was being viciously attacked by a swan had been rescued by some passers-by who brought the tiny duckling to us to see if we could possibly help him. We took him in and to begin with he was in a cardboard box under a heat lamp in the house until one of our hens hatched 5 chicks of her own. We waited for a couple of days and then he was put under the hen with the chicks at night. She successfully adopted him and to date he is still with us. He is a very special little duck and is a really great character.
A very young Donald.
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Still quite young.
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Getting a little bigger.
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We still weren't sure whether Donald was a "Donald" or a "Donna" at this early stage!
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Donald - he's a real ladies man! He is also actually saying "Help! How do I get out of here?"
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