Staff at Trotters World of Animals are celebrating the arrival of four rare spring time babies at the park this week – just in time for the Easter holidays. Both nannies in their small herd of rare Guernsey goats have given birth to twins!
The Guernsey Goat has been absent from the park since 2001, but Park Manager Richard Robinson finally managed to locate three last autumn: two nanny goats and billy called Mick. They were brought together to form a new herd and both nannies gave birth within a week of each other – one had a pair of billies and the other, a pair of nanny kids.
Adam Henson presenter of Countryfile, highlighted the rarity of the Golden Guernsey Goat only last week and Trotters has already approached the TV presenter to see if he is interested in swapping nanny kids so they can both continue breeding and extending the Golden Guernsey population. The park is yet to hear if a suitable swap can take place, but it will be several months before the nanny kids would be old enough to move to the Cotswolds where Adam keeps his goats.
Richard Robinson said “The kids were born the day after the Adam Henson highlighted the breed’s rarity on last Sunday’s Countryfile programme. Next day we had a pair of nanny kids born so it seemed an obvious thing to do to contact the presenter. They are a very docile breed, smaller and finer boned than other British goats and their coats can vary in colour. We have two that are quite dark and two (the nanny kids) that are very pale. They are out on the park and have been enjoying the nice weather – it’s the perfect way for people to see them.”
Especially for the Easter holidays, the park has also filled the Discovery Centre with a range of farm yard babies including chicks, lambs, rabbits and guinea pigs. “These have been family favourites for years and it wouldn’t be Easter without them” said Richard.
