A Shropshire farm has welcomed some new arrivals that they hope will add some fresh experiences for visitors.
John and Natalie Franklin-Hackett have been running Frankly Alpacas in the surroundings of the Willey Estate in Broseley near Bridgnorth since 2021.
The farm has been holding Alpaca experiences but has now diversified by introducing a flock of Shropshire sheep to the farm and a herd of Dexter Cows - the smallest breed in Europe.
John and Natalie Franklin-Hackett have been running Frankly Alpacas in the surroundings of the Willey Estate in Broseley near Bridgnorth since 2021.
The farm has been holding Alpaca experiences but has now diversified by introducing a flock of Shropshire sheep to the farm and a herd of Dexter Cows - the smallest breed in Europe.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 So my name is John Franklin Hackett. I own this farm with my wife Natalie.
00:06 We are frankly alpacas and for the last two years we've been doing alpaca experiences.
00:14 So we're offering meet and greets with our alpacas to the general public and we've started
00:20 branching out into other things like afternoon teas and date nights with Prosecco and chocolates
00:25 with the alpacas. And this year is a big year, this is our third year and we're taking a step up
00:32 and we're offering multiple animal experiences. So we still have the alpacas over there in the
00:38 field behind me but now we've actually got these Dexter cows and we are also acquiring some sheep.
00:46 And so this week is the start of our springtime fun on the farm festival which runs this weekend
00:53 at Easter this year where we have a converted barn area with some beautiful lambs and ewes
01:01 for people to get up close and personal with. And then people will come and meet these cute
01:07 little Dexter cows which are the smallest cows in Europe and then go meet the alpacas.
01:11 And what we're offering is the opportunity to see two traditional farm animals up close and personal.
01:21 One of those farm animals is a normal farm animal as in Shropshire sheep. The second,
01:28 these cows are unusual because they're a variation on a typical cattle breed. They are Dexter cows,
01:33 the smallest cows in Europe and you see they're only this high so they don't look like a normal
01:39 cow, they're much much smaller. And then the third animal, the alpacas, is not a traditional farm
01:43 animal in the UK at all. They're a very unusual thing and they're a new entrant into the UK,
01:48 they've only been here for 25 years. So what we're hoping is that we will be able to educate people
01:54 about the animals, allow them to get up close and personal with them and see some interesting
02:00 variations on the whole theme of farming.