As Britain bakes, how city farm animals cope

Описание: (19 Jun 2025)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4584260

ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, UK - 18 June 2025
1. Various of 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
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Charlotte MacDonald, Head of Programmes at Vauxhall City Farm:
"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."
4. Various of sheep grazing
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Jade Mortimer, Education officer at Vauxhall City Farm:
"This is an ice treat designed by our young farmers that come in on the weekend. So in here we've got apples, lettuce, fruits and cauliflower, ready to keep them nice and cool in the heat, so hopefully (gives block to sheep)"
6. Close of sheep eating ice block
7. Various of alpacas eating ice block
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Charlotte MacDonald, Head of Programmes at Vauxhall City Farm:
"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."
9. Various of goats eating ice block
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jade Mortimer, Education officer at Vauxhall City Farm:
"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."
11. Various of farm worker adding water and making the pig's wallows more muddy
12. Various of Mortimer applying sun-cream on Bonnie the pig
13. Various of Bonnie the pig eat a block of ice with frozen fruit and vegetables

STORYLINE:
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, forecasts temperatures could reach 32 degrees Celsius in southern England this weekend.

That’s above the official heatwave threshold for London, and hotter than predicted conditions in cities such as Lisbon and Barcelona.

With the unexpected backdrop of high-rise buildings, recently shorn sheep graze beneath a man-made shelter chewing on straw.

Charlotte MacDonald, Head of Programmes at Vauxhall City Farm says: “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 climbs so that’s perfect timing."

To manage the heat, animals are given ice blocks filled with fruit and vegetables.

These frozen treats are prepared by young volunteers who help at 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.


Staff apply sun-cream and refresh the wallow with extra water. Other animals, like goats, are fed frozen fruit blocks.


Inside the rabbit enclosure, rabbits explore the shaded sections of the pen.











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