How city farm animals cope as Britain bakes

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 was provided by The Associated Press.