Ask Farmer Anthony at White Post Farm

We recently asked our Facebook and Twitter following for some great questions for Farmer Anthony at White Post Farm. Here, read all about his role including how he counts the ducks, to how the farm keeps the animals cool during those hot summer days... The winning question (as chosen by Farmer Anthony) came from Amelia age five who wins a complimentary family ticket to the farm! Harrison, aged 5 asks: Why are ducks feet not cold when they get in the water? Ducks have very special feet. They can keep them warm even in really cold water. The warm blood circulates around their feet so they can enjoy swimming, even in winter. Lucky ducks! Nottingham Organic Gardeners aged 7-50+ ask: Is White Post Farm organic? We are not an arable farm and do not grow crops so we are not really an organic farm. But we do sell lots of delicious organic food in our Farm shop from some other local farmers. It’s nice to work together with local people and businesses. Kirsty Marie Betts' child, 4 asks: Why can't chickens fly when they are birds and have wings? Chickens can fly! But only a little bit. When we feed the chickens in the morning they often fly up on top of the Farmers barrow, so they can sneak some extra wheat. They are the wrong shape to fly properly like other birds but they are free-range here at the Farm so they do lots of walking instead. Tracey Richardsons' granddaughter asks: Which came first, the chicken or the egg. Good question. Lots of very clever people think that the egg came first. We watch chicks hatching everyday in our incubator room but it hasn’t helped me make my mind up. Next question!!! Rebecca age 7 asks: how do you know how many ducks you've got? We count our ducks a few times a year and then every night we make sure they are all ok. At the moment we have just over 100 ducks with ducklings hatching in the incubator room every day. Amelia age five asks: What are Farmer Anthony's favourite animals? I always look forward to baby goats being born at the Farm. We had two sets of triplets this year born at the same time. That was really exciting and they are very friendly. But I think my favourite animal at the Farm is Hero, our Longhorn Bull. He’s our biggest animal and he has lots of cows and calves to look after. A very important job. Roanne Adams asks: What's the things you love most about being a farmer? There are lots of lovely things about being a Farmer at White Post Farm. It’s full of surprises and we have new baby animals every day. Every season is different so we always have something to look forward to. I think my favourite time must be lambing. It’s so nice to see new life. Our next lambing season is Christmas and I’m looking forward to it already. Caroline McCabe asks: How do you help the animals cool down during the warm weather? There are lots of things we can do for the animals to keep them cool. Every paddock has a big shelter for the animals. This means they can keep cool in the summer and shelter from the rain too. Our pigs are the only animals apart from humans that can get sunburnt so they have big wallows full of water to help them to keep cool. They roll around and coat themselves in the muddy water and it works like suncream! They’re very clever animals. You can visit White Post Farm all year round (closed Christmas Day). Why not take a trip and see if you can count the ducks for yourself? - you may need more than two hands to count on..