Well, where do I start? Firstly, we breed horses. Most of what you will see are the adorable Welsh "section A" (or Welsh mountain) ponies. There are presently four stallions standing at stud and a breeding group of over twenty mares, so from September on there are always some foals around. These ponies are the ideal first horse for any child wanting to ride. We also have an Arabian stallion that we mate with Thoroughbred and occasionally Welsh mares to produce what we call Anglo Arabs and Arabian ponies respectively. This season we hope to produce up to ten foals.

We also breed a lot of cats. For over twenty years Janine and I have been improving our lines of Burmese, Siamese and Oriental cats. All of these we exhibit with a great deal of success. In fact, we currently have a Burmese cat in the United States that went to take out second place in their annual point score competition. It was a stunning effort considering he was there for only the last ten weeks of the year long competition. Well done 'Billabong Bill'. We also breed Devon Rex cats to order. This breed is suitable for those people who would love to own a cat but are allergic to cat hair. All of these breeds are very 'dog like' in their nature, and are sure to win you over when you cuddle one. We board cats too and have a couple of cats living in the house as well. One is a seal point Siamese and the other a semi long haired moggy. They are real characters!

Around the farm you will also see sheep and lambs, pigs and piglets, as well as our studs of Rex rabbits and Dalmatian guinea pigs. There are always baby chickens hatching in the brooder room, and sometimes ducklings as well. Some of them look a little bit strange, but they're all cute, and you can try and guess what breed they are! Children can hold these and many other little animals in the 'Touch and Feel' nursery.

We even have three different breeds of mice and occasionally European hooded rats as well. In the near future we hope to add some other birds including budgerigars, cockatiels and finches. There are also two fish tanks, one with African cichlids (tropical fish), and the other with different varieties of goldfish.

Our house is shared with four dogs, two Italian greyhounds and two Maltese/Shih Tzu crosses. Outside that we have Scarlet, our border collie, who replaced our beloved Rosie when she passed away, and we have a number of Miniature Fox Tenterfield Terriers which we use regularly on television. Our daughter Heidi has Belle, her Cavalier King Charles spaniel and there's a Papillon as well.

My passion of late has been with poultry. I used to breed and judge budgerigars, but it was time for a change. I have set my mind on trying to preserve some threatened breeds. There are Polish, Houdans, Sicilian buttercups, Faverolles, Phoenix and Yokohamas, the likes of which you have probably never seen or even heard of. There in now quite a large range; in fact we probably have upwards of fifty rare breeds and varieties on the farm. Visitors are usually blown away by the wonderfully varied colours and shapes of these rare birds.

We've planned the whole brooding programme as an educational experience. Eggs are set and chickens hatch on a regular twice-weekly basis. You can see the chick developing within the egg, right up till the very day it hatches. This is done by opening the incubator and 'candling' or illuminating the inside of the egg with a bright light. With a bit of luck you may be there the very day the chicks hatch from their shell.

We also have other birds on the farm, including a huge variety of ducks, some truly massive turkeys, weird and wonderful geese as well as fascinating pigeons. >> next