The chick came to us in reasonable health, although he/she would not have survived long on the ground with no parents. After a hours or so in an incubator to get him warm, we could feed him. Owl’s have to be fed on as natural food as possible. They normally rip parts off their prey and eat all of it, including the fur, feathers and bones and later bring up a pellet of bones and feathers.

We keep a stock of bird of prey food in the freezer, ready for such occasions. After three feeds where we has to force feed, he now readily takes prepared food off us. It will be another few weeks before he will eat completely on his own and several more before we can consider moving him to an aviary to prepare him for release.

She is doing well in an incubator to keep her warm, she is eating and putting on weight. Cat bites can be very infectious, this infection too often kills wild animals, especially when their immune system is weakened by shock. This lucky rabbit is over the worst, we hope we can release him/her in the next few days.

It can be quite difficult to rear single ducklings as they can become quite stressed and withdrawn on their own, constantly crying for their parents, fortunately this chap has done well and is now out of danger.

Initially we had to tube feed him, and put him with a feather duster for comfort in a warm incubator.  It’s over a week now, and he’s eating himself and bathing in his water bowl.

Billy is a 12 year old castrated male, he came from a dog rescue centre where he has been living for the past few years on his own. Billy is now with other goats, he is very friendly and looking for a permanent life-long home.

Goats make very good pets, but there are a few critical things you need to consider;

1. Goats are herd animals and should be kept in groups of at least 2.

2. You need very strong and high fencing, at least 1.5m.

3. Goats hate rain and mud, they need good shelter, away from the elements.

4. Goats need to be wormed and vaccinated annually and their hooves trimmed every few weeks.

5. They will eat plants, trees and shrubs, beware of poisonous ones, goats can easily be poisoned.

6. Goats should never be tethered or kept on their own.

Please contact us for advice if you are considering re-homing goats.

These castrated male Kune Kune pigs  are so obese that they can barely move, its very likely that they have been fed too much of an inappropriate diet and not had space to exercise and enact normal pig behaviour. All too often people feed commercial pig food to their pets, although cheaper than pet pig food, it is very high in protein and formulated to get pigs fat for slaughter. Pet pigs need a much better diet, one for long term health, to stop them from becoming so fat. Horace and Roland are now on a very strict diet.

They are very friendly, we hope that once they have lost weight, have been wormed and treated for lice they will be ready to look for a permanent life-long, loving home, where they deserve to be treated better than the life they were once use to.

This poor girl is Mary, her owners made contact the day they were moving house, desperately needing a home for poor Mary.

Although we were reluctant to take on any more sheep, as we now have 2 rams and 6 ewes, how could we let her down!

When safely at the sanctuary, we managed to cut off some of the worst of her coat, to cut out the matted  mess from around her back end, where she could have easily got fly strike. Then after a once over, we united her with our flock where she is now settling in.

Once she has settled in a while, we will sheer, vaccinate and worm her as well as tend to her feet.

Mary bonding with Badger, they have just met.

Mary meet the flock.

Shaunie runs over to meet his new girl.

The hedgehogs literally inflate, as air or gas is trapped under their skin, they inflate so much that they end up like a balloon, and cannot roll up or even walk. In this condition they cannot move, let alone eat or drink and the internal pressure makes it difficult for them to breath.

Balloon syndrome is a secondary issue, the primary being either severe internal infection causing gas to build up, or damage to the respiratory tract.

The first priority is to deflate him, we did this by inserting a Syringe and literally sucking out the air. Now deflated and the pressure off hi internal organs, we can treat the primary cause with antibiotics. The last picture shows how much better he looks after 30 minutes of deflating.

After 30 minutes of deflating him, he can now roll up in a ball and his breathing is much better, but we’ll have to check him every hour now for the next 24 hours, generally we have had to deflate them 3 or 4 times before they have fully recovered.

This chappie has a break quite high up and so he’s in sling to support his weight. He’s quite happy in this position, he can easily feed and drink. In a matter of a couple more weeks he will be moved to the aviary until we are confident with his recovery, then he’ll be released.

After a few hours in an incubator he had picked up, allthough still very weak. In the morning we forced fed him and have continued to do so until Thursday when he has thankfully started eating by himself and he was moved to an aviary.

After 9 days of treatment, this guy was released last night after making a full recovery.

The local villagers were obviously concerned when he hadn’t left after a week, and tried to call the RSPCA with little response. Eventually we received a call, how could we not try and help?

After a few days with us to assess his health, we gave him the all clear today and then released him, in a location with other single swans where he’ll hopefully find a partner.

Micro-pigs are not a recognised breed, in fact many people have been miss sold these animals, thinking that they will remain small. These so called “Tea Cup Pigs” often grow into a pig larger than the average Labrador, but many times more powerful.

The reality is that, these inter-bred animals often do grow large, even the smallest pigs if not looked after correctly, by keeping them in social groups and providing them with stimulation, can very quickly destroy your home and garden and even become nasty through frustration and boredom.

In the past week alone, we have been asked to take on 15 pigs, some of which are the so called micro-pigs. We cannot possiblyrescue them all, but these are 4 boys we have managed to rescue.

If you can offer a life-long loving home for a pair of pigs, please let us know, we are aware of several of these beautiful animals that will be euthanised if we cannot find them homes.

Although Shaunie has half of his rear right leg missing from birth, he is a very capable ram and his birth defect has saved his life. Shaunie is this years lamb, but when it came to sending the lambs to market, he was left behind. We don’t mind, we love all animals, all animal are very special to us.

Shaunie did take a while to settle in, having come from a farm to a rescue sanctuary. He has now bonded with our other boys and girls and has become a real star.

Today was a big day for 2 little foxes we have hand reared.  One of the foxes came in with awful mange and had ongoing treatment for 9 weeks!  We have really struggled to find a suitable site for these foxes be released at.  Other sanctuaries are also having difficulty finding suitable sites.  Thanks to a very kind couple we have set up a temporary pen in their garden where they will be fed for a few nights before eventually being allowed to go as they please.  This form of release is called ‘soft release’ and means that the animals will be fed and have continuous access to food until they can fend for themselves.  There are plenty of sources of food at the site and an amazing nature reserve for them to spend the rest of their lives.

If you know of a potential release site for future foxes then please get in touch as we have had such difficulty trying to find somewhere for this beautiful pair.  It is very sad that some people choose to kill these amazing animals in the name of sport and thanks to this country’s slack laws, continue to do so illegally!  Foxes are such stunning creatures and it has been so rewarding to have known these two.

Battery hens, just like free range hens, are sent for slaughter at around 18 months old, they are replaced with younger hens to keep farms’ egg production rates high.

The 175 we have taken on have been spared being turned into pet food; they will be rehomed and will live the rest of their natural life in loving homes.

If you want to adopt some ex-battery hens, please get in touch with us. Ex-battery hens make very good pets, are easy to look after and all have their own character.