Bird Lockdown Lifted!

It’s been a very busy two weeks here at Tiny Steps with so many exciting additions to the farm.

Firstly, we’re happy to report that the mandatory housing measures for birds, due to bird flu, is to be lifted on Monday 2nd of May, so for any bird fans, whether that be chickens, geese, or even, wait for it… ducks, our newest addition, then Tiny Steps is the place to be as of Monday.

As soon as the measures were announced to be lifted, our volunteers started resurrecting the chicken enclosure that was so popular last year. This will allow visitors to be guided into the enclosure and feed and pet the chickens. We found last season, for the children especially, being given the opportunity to have a chicken, or even our rooster Cocky, eating out of their hand was a first for a lot of them which as volunteers we always find so gratifying to be able to facilitate that experience.

As many of you will have seen on our Facebook page we recently acquired some ducks! We have one female, named Kali, and two males named Medusa and Lilith, they’ve settled in wonderfully and all the volunteers love looking after these new animals; new additions are always exciting. In other bird related news, our geese have laid some eggs. They’re currently sitting on them, so we’re mostly leaving them to it to look after them, and soon we hope to see them turn into goslings!

This week we had a visit from Willoughby Scouts who really made everyone’s day, there were 17 visitors, so we needed a few more volunteers to guide them round than usual, and it’s safe to say the animals didn’t need dinner that evening.

It was amazing seeing them interact with our animals and leave with smiles on their faces – after all that’s what Tiny Steps is all about. With this in mind, we now offer gift vouchers for any occasion, so if you want to treat someone you know who loves animals then why not come down to Tiny Steps and purchase one for them. In addition to this, we are now also offering meet and greets for the goats, donkeys, and alpacas, which will last an hour. With this you will be able to enter the enclosure with the animals and groom them, feed them, and in general just have some quality time with your chosen animal.

In previous blogs, and on Facebook, there was mention of goat trekking, and whilst we’re still practising this with the goats, we have recently also purchased some goat agility equipment. This is in an effort to train the goats, offer a new experience for visitors, and for the goat’s enjoyment. Billy and Buddy in particular have really taken to this and the goat trekking so once we get them a little more used to it and comfortable being lead we hope visitors can enjoy this soon too.

Lastly, as the Summer months approach, and Summer Holidays with it, the Tiny Treats Van is almost ready. Our fantastic volunteers Des and Paul, of course among others, have really turned it from a plain white van into what we hope will be a flourishing kiosk. There are just the last touches to do, the vinyl is being cut at the moment which will hopefully make it blend in with the farm a bit more, and once that is on feel free to visit it during or after a tour for a break to chill out in the sun, when it eventually comes out!