I spotted this bird at the far end of the bull paddock.
I'd never seen one on the farm, but after some research found out it was a Cattle Egret. They fly over from Australia in autumn to over-winter and are usually found around cattle and sheep.
A small stocky egret similar in size to a white faced heron, with a shorter neck and hunched posture. This is the smallest egret found in New Zealand and their numbers are dwindling after poor breeding seasons in Australia.
Another visitor to the farm is this white goose. We don't know where he came from but he seems to be enjoying the bull paddocks too.
This little lady is one week old. My son had to help deliver her because she was a huge baby and the mother was having difficulties. He named her Hilda (because she was born on a hill).
The mother abandoned her afterward so we now have a pet to raise.
My daughter has been the surrogate mother this week but she is back to University tomorrow, so I will be sheep mother from now on.
Meet the new team for 2016. These little chicks are 1 week old.
Delilah is doing a great job with her first lot of chicks. She is a nice calm hen (unless you are threatening her babies), so the chicks should grow up nice and calm too.
Delilah photo-bombing the picture of her chick!
The poser. There's one in every group isn't there?
"It's mid summer here and it's hot, hot, hot. So i must sleep, sleep, sleep." In this heat he is an expert sleeper, he doesn't wake up until the end of the day, and then he's off for the night.
This is our pet lamb from 2015. Ivy was born in September and orphaned so we bottle fed her.
The first photo is Ivy at 2 weeks old. She only had one speed - FAST - so getting a photo of her that wasn't a bit blurry was impossible.
These 2 photos were taken 3 months later, in mid December. She has been weaned and is now back with the main flock. She still loves the people that come to talk to her though.
