The fun-filled weekend returned in-person to WCG’s Nethermorton Farm last year after two years of being held remotely due to the global pandemic.
Across the two days more than 4,000 people attended and the positivity of the event is still being felt a year on after proceeds were put towards improving facilities for learners.
A total of £6,000 was split evenly between two departments, with the animal welfare centre creating a new enclosure in its reptile room and adding a black tree monitor lizard that is native to Indonesia.
Rachel Holland, senior instructor technician, said: “The funding was extremely welcome. We chose to spend the money on our reptile room because reptiles are a growing area within the industry and our students really enjoy working with those types of animals.
“We’ve created two bespoke enclosures with the idea of having more challenging animals in there, so that our students have access to a better range of animals like they might find in a more complex collection like a zoo.
“What’s been done is just amazing and it looks great. It's really made the room more modern and interesting for student delivery and visitors.”
The other £3,000 was awarded to the agriculture department that boasts a commercial flock of 500 ewes. Their share of the money was spent on a mobile sheep shearing pen.
“The shearing trailer gives an ideal teaching platform to be able to train the next generation of shearers how to do it safely in the right environment,” said Jack McDill, head of agriculture
“It also allows the farm to have its own shearing facilities and it can complement both the commercial side and the teaching side of what we do.
“There’s three access points to the trailer where we can attach shearing machines and it's got spring loaded doors so we can bring the sheep out from three different compartments as well as shear them on wooden boards just outside the pen. It’s a fantastic addition to what we can offer our students.”
Tickets for this year’s Lambing and Animals weekend event are on sale, with advanced family tickets prices at £18 (two adults and two children). Tickets on the day are priced at £7 for adults, £4 for under 16s and £5 for OAPs. Children aged under two can enter free of charge.
Jack added: “Last year we had about 4,000 people through the doors. It gives you access and opportunity to view anything and everything that's going on within the lambing process with sheep.
“As you enter the farm, we've got tractors for people to look at and sit on. We walk through our beef unit, so there's cows and information about what we're doing with our beef animals as well so you're getting a whole inclusive farm experience.
“Down in the lambing shed itself we will have around 500 ewes either in the process of lambing, having recently lambed or waiting to lamb.
“Visitors will be able to see newly-born lambs, possibly lambs being born while you're there, as well as learn about how we look after them and how we implement our animal welfare standards. There will also be an opportunity to get inside a slightly larger pen to have a bit of a cuddle and a stroke of a lamb as well.”
For more information and to book advanced tickets visit www.wcg.ac.uk/lambing
Pictured: A black tree monitor lizard named Dug was purchased by the animal welfare centre at Moreton Morrell College using money raised from last year’s Lambing Weekend.
