Children’s Farm Piglets Are A Double First!

Odds Farm Park’s Tamworth pig, Thistle, has just given birth to her first litter of piglets and all can be seen cuddling and nuzzling mum in the pig sty outside the Tea Room.

This is also the first litter for dad Fletch, a visiting Saddleback boar from Reading. With mum 100% pure Tamworth, the cross between mum and dad have made the piglets extra cute. All of them have the traditional Saddleback striped markings and a longer Tamworth snout.

Said Clare, Livestock Manager at Odds Farm Park; “Thistle is doing a brilliant job at rearing her new babies. You would never know she was a first time mum.”

Elsewhere at this children’s farm, youngsters can find out more about the Odds Farm Park pigs at Piggies Tea Time which is always a favourite activity for children.

Easily reached from London, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, Odds Farm Park provides a great family day out. More activities for children can be found by visiting the farm park’s Day Out website.

Baby Lambs and More Baby Lambs

At Odds Farm Park, Spring is one of the cutest times of the year, with plenty of adorable baby lambs. Born across different breeds, some lambs are pure white, some are black with white markings and other new arrivals have curly coats and black noses.

Twenty one lambs have been born so far this year (including 5 sets of twins) and with plenty more births expected, families enjoying a day out could even see one born.

We currently have baby lambs expected across the following breeds; Herdwick, Whitefaced Woodland, Balwen, Castlemilk Moorit and Jacob sheep.

For those visiting on a family day out, they can also help bottle feed some of the farm’s older lambs. Bottle feeding lambs is twice daily at present and is a great children’s activity to take part in.

Odds Farm Park is one of leading farm parks in the area and easily reached from Berkshire, Oxfordshire, West London and Buckinghamshire.

Odds Farm Park Heated by ICE

For the first time ever, Odds Farm Park is using renewable energy to heat their indoor Playbarn Gallery and children’s soft play area. Generously donated by Ice Energy, the new heating system releases stored solar energy held up to 85 metres beneath ground.

The ‘green’ heating is all made possible using Ground Source Heat Pumps and their 7 different sensors. Through measuring temperatures at different points, it dynamically releases just the right amount of energy from below ground to warm the Playbarn Gallery and soft play area.

Said Odd Farm Park’s Neil Scott “We are very grateful to Ice Energy for their support. Our pipes go far deeper than usual Heat Pumps and I am amazed how warm and toasty the Playbarn Gallery is. Installation was quick, easy and feedback from visitors on a day out has been excellent!.”

How does it work?
Stage 1 Odds Farm Park have 2 pipes installed 85 metres underground that contain a water/glycol mix at a low temperature. Below ground the surrounding soil is at a higher temperature, typically 12°C and gently warms the glycol mix as it is pumped around the ground loop.
Stage 2: As the liquid leaves the ground, it is fed into a heat exchanger that takes the heat out of the liquid and returns the cooled liquid to the pipe for it’s next cycle.
Stage 3. The heat is moved into the compressor which increases the heat of the gas by reducing its volume. Temperatures of between 75°C and 125°C are achievable through this process.
Stage 4. Feeding the hot gas through a condenser allows the gas to turn back into a liquid. As it condenses it cools and releases its heat through a heat exchanger, directly into the central heating system.
Stage 5: To release the pressure in the Condenser, an expansion valve is used.

Odds Farm Park provides a fantastic day out and is located just off the M40. It is one of the closest farm parks for Berkshire, Oxfordshire, West London and Buckinghamshire.