How city farm animals cope as Britain bakes

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Category: (Self-Study) Science/Environment

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As much of the UK experiences its first official heatwave of the year, Vauxhall City Farm in central London is putting measures in place to help its animals stay cool.

The UK’s national weather agency, the Met Office, forecast that temperatures could have reached 32 degrees Celsius in southern England in June. That’s above the official heatwave threshold for London, and hotter than predicted conditions in cities such as Lisbon and Barcelona.

To manage the heat, animals are given ice blocks filled with fruit and vegetables. The frozen treats are prepared by young volunteers who help on weekends.

The same cooling method is offered to other animals, including pigs like Bonnie, who are also given access to wet, muddy areas known as wallows.

Jade Mortimer, Education Officer at Vauxhall City Farm, says, “In the hot weather, we make sure that we have stable doors open so that the animals can access shade. With our pigs just behind me, we create a wallow, so we make sure it’s nice and muddy and wet so they can get inside and cozy and soaked. We also make sure that they have suncream. Pigs have the same skin as us, so we sun-cream them in the morning, ready for the sunshine, and make sure that they have access to water all day.”

In the alpaca enclosure, frozen fruit is also offered, though the animals appear curious, they are reluctant to try the icy treat. Chickens also peck at fruit frozen in ice, as ducks take to the water in their pool.

Charlotte MacDonald, Head of Programmes at Vauxhall City Farm, says, “City farms in general have a lot of different challenges to rural farms. When we think about the heat, we’re thinking of less natural shading than from the trees, less access to air flow. We’re on quite a small little road here. We don’t have the lovely country air, so we definitely have to be a bit more inventive of ways to keep them cool and provide man-made shade and shelter as well.”

This article and video were provided by The Associated Press.

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[Sheep, which are freshly shorn, grazing confined field at Vauxhall City Farm, London as they eat straw under a man-made shelter, with London skyline tower blocks in the backdrop]

[Single shorn sheep eating straw on farm with city skyline in the background]

Charlotte MacDonald (interview): “As you can see our wonderful sheep have just had a haircut ready for summer, so they have been shorn and now (have) a much lighter coat, they’re cooler for these climes so that’s perfect timing.”

[Sheep grazing]

[Jade Mortimer, Education officer at Vauxhall City Farm, feeding sheep a block of ice with fruit and vegetables]

[Sheep eating ice block]

[Bonnie the pig eat a block of ice with frozen fruit and vegetables]

Jade Mortimer (interview): “In the hot weather we make sure that we have stable doors open so that the animals can access shade. With our pigs just behind me we create a wallow, so we make sure it’s nice and muddy and wet so they can get inside and cosy and soaked. We also make sure that they have sun cream. Pigs have the same skin as us so we sun-cream them in the morning ready for the sunshine and make sure that they have access to water all day.”

[Mortimer applying sun-cream on Bonnie the pig]

[Farm worker adding water and making the pig’s wallows more muddy]

[Goat being fed block of ice with fruit and vegetables]

[Alpacas in farm enclosure]

[Alpacas inquisitively trying frozen fruit but refusing to eat them]

[‘Carrot kingdom’ rabbit enclosure]

[Black rabbit crawling and sniffing camera]

[Rabbit sitting still]

Charlotte MacDonald (interview): “City farms in general have a lot of different challenges to rural farms. When we think about the heat we’re thinking of less natural shading than from the trees, less access to air flow. We’re on quite a small little road here. We don’t have the lovely country air, so we definitely have to be a bit more inventive of ways to keep them cool and provide man-made shade and shelter as well.”

[Chicken enclosure]

[Chickens eating frozen block of ice containing fruit and vegetables]

[Ducks swimming in pool at duck enclosure]

[Ducks and a goose waddling around duck enclosure]

[London skyline view of Thames with London Eye in distance]

[London Eye to Thames]

[Ferry carrying passengers]

[Shard]

[People walking on Vauxhall bridge, some running and cycling, others walking a dog]

This script was provided by The Associated Press.

The related lesson for this video will be published next Tuesday.