https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/27850691

Collins Farm Cotswolds, Collins Farm, Abson, Wick, Bristol (2024)

31/01/2023

Still one of our favourite recipes - breast of lamb 👌.

We’ll be sending out another batch of our lamb and mutton boxes tomorrow - the last of this season’s, but will have boxes available again in the Autumn. Please do get in touch if you’d like to be added to the waiting list.

We’ve decided to experiment with some of the mutton this time, mincing it and making burgers. If it’s a success, these will be available for locals and visitors to the holiday lets to buy, so we’ll keep you posted!

19/11/2022

In the next few days we’ll be putting the ram in with the ewes.

This is a bit later than some of the other farms we know but, as we lamb outside, we want the lambs born when the weather is milder, later on in the Spring.

We’ll be using the same ram as last year because we’re not tupping any of the ewe lambs. Normally we’d use a different ram every year to avoid inbreeding, but this year’s conditions mean that the ewe lambs aren’t quite ready.

Here’s Fred checking on some of the ewes with Charlie - he’s been helping to deliver the last of this year’s lamb and mutton boxes this afternoon too.

13/11/2022

On Tuesday 22 November we’ll be heading to the Beaufort Christmas Fair with our blankets.

This will be our first time as stall holders and, of course, it’d be lovely to sell some of the blankets, but mostly we’re looking forward to putting Collins Farm out there a bit more.

We’re hoping to be able to talk to people about what we do - both the sheep side of things and the holiday lets - and hopefully meet lots of other small businesses like ours.

If you’re heading to the fair, please come and say hi!

24/10/2022

Why we tag sheep…

By law, all breeding sheep need to be double tagged before they reach 12 months old or when they leave their holding of birth - whichever comes first.

The tags display our flock number and the sheep’s individual ID number. This information is also contained electronically in one of the tags, making identifying the animal much easier as a scanner can be used. Being able to keep tabs on individual sheep is crucial for flock management. For example, we can keep track of any health issues that a sheep may have and also what type of medicine/treatment they might have received.

The lambs in the picture are this year’s ewe lambs which were recently tagged and which we will be keeping for breeding.

26/09/2022

Yesterday was shearing day for both the ewes and for the lambs born in April (like this one).

Unlike the Hampshires and Mules that we had before, the Romney produces more wool which is why we shear twice a year. Although shearing the sheep just before going into the colder months seems counterintuitive, it does mean that the sheep won’t be carrying a big wet fleece around in the winter. It also increases the growth rate of the lambs.

Once again we had and a friend help with the shearing, so that Charlie could focus on sorting the fleeces. Sorting the fleeces means that we won’t be sending loads of crappy bits off when we’re at a point where we can process the wool again.

Thanks too to .pearce, and who helped with the sorting - it was all hands on deck yesterday to keep up with the shearers!

Tomorrow we’ll be getting our first batch of this year’s lamb back ready for meat boxes so if you’re local to the Bath/Bristol area and interested in one, please do get in touch.

🇬🇧🐑🇬🇧

14/09/2022

The Taylor Family shared a post on Instagram: "A sneak peek of Collins Farm’s new holiday let - The Cowshed! We’re really pleased to say that we’re now taking bookings through Airbnb and will be adding the property to our website very soon. We’re sorry for the radio silence over the past cou...

19/07/2022

What a day to be announcing that our wool blankets are finally available to buy 🥵!

Thank you to everyone who has shown an interest and for all of your support and patience!

This has been completely new to us as the blankets are made from the first batch of wool that we’ve ever sent for processing.

Available in three colours - sapphire, ochre, and magenta and measuring approximately 190 cm x 150 cm, we have a limited number of blankets available and they can be purchased directly from our website https://collinsfarm.co.uk/wool/

Please feel free to share with friends and family and thank you again for your support.

07/07/2022

The chicks are just over a week old now and have settled nicely into their new space in the shed. We’ll keep them here under the heat lamp until they’re fully feathered and ready to go out and explore the orchard.

It was the fox that prompted us to get the incubator out and hatch more chicks, after killing pretty much all of the hens a few weeks ago. Charlie has since finished fencing the chicken area and electrified it so 🤞this will keep the fox out.

26/06/2022

Earlier in the week Charlie was lucky enough to meet with the founding members of Emorsgate Seeds at one of their flower farms near Bath.

Established in 1980 by Donald MacIntyre, Emorsgate Seeds are the oldest and largest producers of wild seeds in the British Isles.

Throughout the course of the afternoon with some of the MacIntyre family, Charlie learnt about how and what they farm, and also had the opportunity to ask questions relating to our own wildflower concerns.

We have two aims really - the first is to establish and maintain areas of wildflowers at Collins Farm - both for aesthetic reasons and also to support the wildlife here. Over the years, with a fair bit of trial and error, the number of wildflowers have increased and we currently have this beautiful display of poppies and cornflowers in the drive.

The second aim is to support wildflowers within the sheep system. In other words, what we want to do is farm in a way that not only encourages but enhances the species-rich land that the sheep graze over on Lansdown.

Again, not only do wildflower fields look nice and support wildlife, but it’s also a positive thing for the sheep who benefit from some of the plants’ high protein content and medicinal properties.

We will shortly be making hay from the fields which will be used for feeding the sheep over the winter. Any seeds in the hay will pass through the sheep and will be deposited back onto the land which we hope will increase the number of wildflowers in the fields. 🤞

19/06/2022

It was such a nice surprise to receive a handwritten card from the other week, along with a candle from their beautiful range of homeware.

I often see terracotta pots like these in their posts and stories so thought it’d be a perfect way of displaying our lovely gift.

I had thought about using moss to fill the pot, but couldn’t find any so picked up some gypsophila from Sainsbury’s this morning instead. I do love gypsophila but it doesn’t smell very nice so I added some roses for scent a bit later on… adds a nice bit of colour too.

Talking of flowers, Charlie’s attending a wildflower meadow management course on Wednesday, so we’ll let you know how that goes later on in the week.

12/06/2022

Look at that face!

The lambs born back in April (like this one) are growing well and we’ll be moving them on to fresh grass tomorrow.

We would normally have vaccinated the lambs by now for clostridial diseases (diseases caused by bacteria in the soil) but because there’s currently a shortage of the vaccine that we need, we haven’t been able to do this.

We’re not too worried about it at the moment - we work closely with a vet which is always reassuring but especially so when things like this happen. We’ve been advised that, for now, as long as we continue to keep a close eye on the health of the flock and are carefully managing the land that they’re on, we needn’t be overly worried.

If we’re unable to source the vaccine, there are other options in terms of what we can give the lambs, but we’re going to hold fire for now and will reassess in a few weeks’ time.

02/06/2022

Very happy to be celebrating 70 years of Her Majesty The Queen.

Happy 🇬🇧

19/05/2022

We think lambing’s over now but because we don’t scan the ewes, we can’t be sure that another lamb won’t make an appearance…

We still have 5 ewes that haven’t lambed but because they were put to the ram in their first year, it’s not unusual for them to be empty. We’ll just have to wait and see!

Last year we had a real issue with prolapses and I’m pleased to say that, although we still had more than we would have liked this year, the percentage was much lower.

We’ve been working with the vet and an agronomist to try and figure out what was causing the issue but there doesn’t seem to be a clear cut answer. Instead it seems to be a combination of issues:

- When we bought the ewes, the tails were quite short. Going forward, we’ll still be docking the tails (a very common practice to keep the backend clean) but will make sure that they’re on the longer side.

- We keep the sheep on fairly steep ground and it was suggested that the incline wouldn’t have been helping things. This year we lambed in the flattest field on the farm and will continue to do that going forward.

- The sheep were carrying a lot of wool and the weight of that wouldn’t have helped. Next year we plan on shearing pre-lambing for the first time ever.

These seem to be the three main points that we can work on. There was no evidence of nutritional/mineral deficiencies in the sheep and they’re not overweight.

Any ewes that prolapse are removed from the flock to avoid the issue reoccurring and so the ewes that pr*****ed this year will now go for mutton.

13/05/2022

Yesterday was shearing day for our ewes and it couldn’t have come soon enough!

We missed our second shear last year so some of the ewes were carrying a lot of wool. We’d also noticed that a couple were showing signs of flystrike so it’s such a relief to have them shorn.

Charlie usually shears the sheep himself but had help this year so that he could instead focus on sorting the wool.

Thanks so much to for shearing for us - he did a brilliant job and made it look so easy!

Since deciding a couple of years ago that we want to have our wool processed, our aim is to focus on learning how to grade the wool so that at shearing time we can handle it properly.

Charlie’s job yesterday was to skirt the fleece, picking out the crappy bits so that we’re not sending off wool that can’t be processed. We didn’t do this the first time we sent raw fleeces off for processing and ended up with a lot of waste.

We’ve also been thinking about how we can look after the wool whilst it’s on the sheep’s back. For example, we’d like to minimise the use of sprays - not just fly spray but also marker sprays. Again, the idea is that we’re sending off as clean a fleece as possible and we’ll aim to focus on this before our next shear.

We aim to shear the sheep again in the Autumn and then hopefully send the wool, along with yesterday’s, for processing into yarn.

05/05/2022

Flowers from the garden for our next guests 🌿.

01/05/2022

A set of newborn twins today.

The ewe in the picture is eating the afterbirth. This is very common and the sheep does this so that it doesn’t attract predators such as foxes.

Research has shown that the placenta is also very nutritious so it’s a good snack for the ewe after giving birth. 👌

25/04/2022

One of our orphan lambs, Elsie, went back to her flock this weekend.

How lovely is this photo of her!

Thank you to for taking it during her recent visit to Collins Farm - it’s a really nice reminder of Elsie’s time with us.

Thank you.

❤️

22/04/2022

Every now and again I mention a farmer called Pete on our stories. Pete’s farm, on the outskirts of Bath, is where our sheep are kept and it’s only really because of Pete’s generosity and his love of the land that we’ve been able to give the sheep farming another go.

Pete’s love for the farm is something that we both really admire. Not only has he worked hard to fence the fields, rebuild drystone walls and maintain footpaths, he’s also replanted hedges, planted trees and invested in the sheep flock so that the farm can thrive.

Keeping sheep on the farm means that the land is being naturally fertilised. The result is, amongst other things, improved soil health - something that’s key to tackling some of the environmental issues that we’re being confronted with today.

The land that we farm over at Pete’s and the work that’s done there, is part of the countryside stewardship scheme. This means that we work with the land to nurture it and to allow the wildlife on the farm to prosper. The sheep are a key part of regenerating the farm and improving its biodiversity.

For us personally, we owe a lot to Pete - not just because he’s enabled us to have a second chance at farming, but also because he’s taught us a lot about how farming can benefit the environment. I’m definitely very grateful for this lesson - it makes it feel as though we’re doing a bit of good and has opened my eyes to the really important work that other farmers are doing to help the environment. Thanks Pete!

16/04/2022

Our latest little orphan ❤️

15/04/2022

We had our first lamb last weekend and now they’re coming in thick and fast!

I mentioned on our stories the other day that one of the smaller lambs born last week was taken by the fox. When lambing outside, foxes are always going to be a risk but lambing in the field was always the number one choice for us.

Outdoor lambing means that we don’t need access to a shed. As we rent the land that we use, it’s much easier for us to find a field to rent than it is to find land with a barn or lambing shed attached.

The other reason for us lambing outdoors is that the sheep have access to grass and therefore don’t need feed. If we lambed indoors we would need to be buying food or paying for hay to be made, which would increase our costs.

Our aim with the sheep has always been to have a low input system in order for it to be viable for us - not only in terms of cost but also in terms of lambing intervention. In our minds, this means that if we ever had the opportunity to scale things up, we wouldn’t be dealing with a huge increase in expenses or logistical difficulties at lambing time.

After a not very successful few years with Hampshire Downs, we wanted to make sure that we chose a breed that, as well as producing good meat and wool, would also make good mums. In our experience, the Hampshires would often wander away from their lambs, leaving them vulnerable to foxes and unable to feed when they needed to.

In the end, we decided that the New Zealand Romney was the breed for us. Although this is only
our second year lambing them, there’s a noticeable difference between them and the Hampshires. Even the first time mums seem to know what they’re doing and stick close by to their lambs which is refreshing!

I can’t say that it’s all been perfect though - like last year, we’re still getting a high percentage of prolapses. We think we have a better idea of how to deal with this going forward though so will share that in the coming weeks.

All in all though, we’re very happy with the New Zealand Romney and are looking forward to more lambs in the coming weeks!

06/04/2022

We’ve done a bit more Easter decorating at the farm today, including putting this bird’s nest wreath on the front door.

It’s Herbie’s last day of school before the Easter holiday’s tomorrow and I’m looking forward to having him around full time for the next couple of weeks.

We normally do an Easter egg hunt for the family here on the farm and I’ve got a few other ideas to keep the boys entertained, but the main thing on the agenda for the Easter holidays is, of course, lambing.

I’m hoping to be able to help Charlie out as much as possible this year, having avoided it last year due to pregnancy.

The ewes are due to start lambing early next week but really it could be any day now.

Lots of lamb pictures to come no doubt!

31/03/2022

Feeling pretty deflated today about the situation with our wool.

If you’ve been following our stories, you may know that in September 2020, we sent off some of our Romney wool for processing.

When we started to think about doing something with the wool, we began by contacting local yarn retailers to ask if they would be interested in our yarn (we really didn’t have a clue whether or not there was much of a market for it). Turns out there is and people are mad for knitting!!

One of the businesses that we contacted said that they’d be able to take our raw fleeces and turn them into blankets for us - they would take care of the entire thing every step of the way and would be able to do that within 10 weeks. Perfect! The only thing that we needed do was be able to provide enough fleece (at least 300kg) in order to be eligible for commercial processing. This meant saving fleece over several shears but the commercial prices seemed like a no-brainer and the fact that we would have a product returned to us that we could retail straightway was really attractive. We were also told that we could have some of the wool left as yarn, so that we could experiment with dying, etc.

Anyway…

It has now been 18 months since we sent our fleeces off. We had our blankets back at the end of last year and I can’t say that they’re not beautiful. However, we’re still waiting on about 35 kg of yarn.

Perhaps it’s because we went down the commercial route, but we haven’t been able to get a straight answer for months about when we can expect it back. My emails have been repeatedly ignored and I was hung up on this morning when I called to chase things (the straw that broken the camel’s back!) It seems that being told that we’ve been ‘forgotten about’ should suffice as an explanation…riiiight.

I know I’m whinging here but it’s so frustrating to be told that we’re small fish in the commercial world - we know that, but we’ve still invested financially in our wool and Charlie has worked hard to get it off the sheep’s back!

I’ll continue in comments…

30/03/2022

It isn’t just the sheep that keep us busy…

Here at Collins Farm we also have a holiday let and are currently in the final stages of renovating a second.

The Dovecote sleeps up to 3 guests and The Cowshed, which we hope to have finished by early summer, will sleep 4.

We’re located between Bath and Bristol, so are perfectly situated for those wanting to explore these cities. We’re also fortunate enough to be just a few miles from some of the beautiful villages, such as Castle Combe, that the Cotswolds has to offer.

Please visit our website (link in bio) to learn more and to book your stay.

❤️

22/03/2022

Little Elsie ❤️

Elsie is a Romney x Hampshire Down orphan lamb that we’re looking after for our friend Pete over the next few weeks.

An orphan lamb doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s lost its mum. It could be that the mum doesn’t have enough milk, isn’t interested in the lamb or, in Elsie’s case, it could be a triplet and the mum would struggle to feed all three.

We’ll keep Elsie with us until she no longer needs to be bottle fed and then she’ll go back to Pete’s farm and rejoin the rest of her flock.

🐑🐑🐑

17/03/2022

Unfortunately today we lost 2 lambs that were born prematurely.

The ewes aren’t due to lamb for another month or so but Charlie came across one this morning that was lambing and had a prolapse.

I’ve mentioned before that we had a problem with prolapses last year, so we’re feeling a bit on edge that this has happened again already.

Due to the difficult lambing and the ewe requiring stitches, Charlie called the vet who was able to help him treat the ewe. Sadly, however, the twins that she was carrying had already died.

The ewe is now recovering in the stable and we’ll keep a close eye on her over the next few days.

Last year any ewes that pr*****ed were sent to market. This time, however, they’ll be sent for mutton.

We feel it would be a shame to send the ewe to market when the meat could be enjoyed by our family and local customers. In fact, the vet’s already registered an interest!

I know it might sound harsh but we don’t want to keep anything that has problems breeding. Not only does that involve more costs and time, it’s just not fair on the animal.

We’re still waiting to discuss the results of the soil tests with the agronomist to see if a deficiency is responsible for the prolapsing issue but, in the meantime, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that it doesn’t happen again.

Hopefully happier lambing times are on the way.

13/03/2022

It’s taken us a little while to get our website fully up and running (understatement of the century) and there are still a few changes to make BUT you can now book to stay with us directly through the website.

This means that there’s no booking fee to pay and you have the ability to manage your booking, choosing to add extras such as fresh bread and ‘homegrown’ sausages.

Guests will also be able to let us know in advance if they have any special requirements or if they need items such as a cot or highchair, so that everything’s set up before arrival.

At the moment this only applies to The Dovecote but we will add The Cowshed as soon as we are ready to take bookings.

Head to our page where you can find the link to the website in our bio.

09/03/2022

In preparation for lambing in April, today the whole flock was vaccinated and the ewes were foot bathed and dagged out. Dagging involves removing the wool from the back end. We do this so that everything’s nice and clean and also so that we can see what’s going on when the ewes lamb.

Charlie was assisted by the lovely .pearce who’s been helping out as part of her work experience. Thank you, Ruby!

Tomorrow we’ll be taking our blankets to ’s studio where they’ll be photographed. It’s the first time that we’ve ever had the wool processed so we’re excited to be taking the last step before we finally upload the blankets to our website.

🙌

05/03/2022

I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since our photoshoot at Collins Farm with . Fred looks so little!

We’ll be meeting with Kitty again at her new studio next week, where she’ll be photographing our blankets for the website.

The new holiday let, The Cowshed, is coming on well too so that should also be going live on the website in the next few months. Exciting!

02/03/2022

The OG.

Now 14 years old, Connie doesn’t work anymore but she’s still by Charlie’s side whenever he’s out and about with the sheep, keeping a watchful eye on her daughter, Pan, who now works alone.

Today Charlie met with the vet for the annual review of the sheep. I mentioned the other week that we were having samples of the soil tested so that we could manage any deficiencies that may be affecting the sheep. The results are back so we’ll discuss them with both the agronomist and the vet in the coming days.

It was good to hear that the vet’s happy with the sheep though - there aren’t any visible signs of deficiencies, but we’ll take a closer look at the test results to make sure.

The main thing that we’ve been concerned about with the ewes is prolapsing. We had quite a high percentage of ewes prolapse during lambing last year and can’t figure out why. We spoke with several vets at the time and they couldn’t explain it either - it’s one of the reasons why we want to check that the ewes aren’t lacking anything.

Aside from that, we’re really pleased with how the sheep are doing. The vet had a record of our antibiotic use and is happy that this is nice and low.

If any other farmers have had the same issue with prolapses pre-lambing, did you find out what the cause was? We’re all scratching our heads here and spending a small fortune on prolapse spoons!

23/02/2022

A few pictures of the ewes over on Lansdown.

It’s still fairly grim here, but we’ve fared pretty well in the recent storms - there are a couple of trees over on Lansdown and some roof tiles off here at Collins Farm, but all’s ok other than that.

Charlie has just collected some of our blankets from Carillion Print in Bristol where they were being labelled. Next it’s to have them photographed and then finally, FINALLY we can list them on our website.

It’s taken a while but we’re very nearly there!

🙌

Collins Farm Cotswolds