Baby Animals On The Farm

On The Farm is one of the two-part series of Baby Animals programmes, outlining the attempts by Doodle the puppy and Bungie the kitten to find babies of animals that live on farms. It was released onto VHS by Dorling Kindersley Vision on 4th May 1998.

## Episode

### Episode outline

The episode starts with Doodle the puppy as he tries to find ducklings. The first animal he finds is a herd of white park cattle, which are nothing like ducks. He passes by a goat kid on his way to find the second animal, a group of baby ostriches. While they have beaks and feathers, they are much bigger than ducks. The third animal Doodle finds is a sheepdog and its puppy. Finally, Doodle finds a mother duck and her ducklings. To close out this segment, an old cartoon is shown of a duckling falling into a barrel of cider and getting drunk as a result.

The second segment follows Bungie the kitten as she tries to find piglets. The first animal she finds is a lop-eared rabbit, which don’t have curly tails and have ears that are too long to be a pig. The second animal Bungie encounters are chickens, which also have very little in common with pigs. Bungie now looks for an animal with four legs, and soon finds a herd of Highland cattle with their calves. The narrator briefly tricks Bungie with a guinea pig, but the kitten soon finds some real pigs and piglets. A pot-bellies pig is also shown. To close this segment, a cartoon is shown of a piglet playing tricks at a day-care.

The third segment follows Doodle the puppy as he tries to find a calf. The first animal he finds is a llama, which has longer ears, a woollier coat and a shorter, fluffier tail than a cow does. After briefly passing by some ducklings, Doodle finds the second animal. Shire horses have hooves a bit like a cow, but are otherwise quite different. Looking for an animal with horns, Doodle soon finds the third animal, a herd of goats with their kids. Finally, Doodle finds calves from both white park and dairy cattle. To close this segment, a cartoon is shown of a cow playing with a butterfly.

The fourth segment follows Bungie the kitten as she tries to find goat kids. The first animal she finds is a heavily pregnant donkey. Bungie then passes by some chickens before finding the second animal. She finds a calf from a belted Galloway cow, living in a herd with its mother. Bungie then finds an animal with horns, just like a goat has. Except this is the third animal, a herd of four-horned Jacob sheep, with their lambs. Finally, Bungie finds a herd of goats and their kids. To close this segment, a cartoon is shown of a goat chasing a cat and eventually butting a sitting man.

The final segment follows Doodle the puppy as he tries to find a foal. The first animal he finds is a pair of geese and their goslings. While geese eat grass like horses, they otherwise have little in common. Doodle briefly passes a llama. He then finds the second animal, a herd of American bison. They also eat grass, but unlike horses they also have beards and horns. Doodle then finds the third animal, a group of piglets with their mother. Finally, Doodle finds a herd of Exmoor ponies consisting of both adults and foals. To close out this segment and the whole episode, a cartoon is shown of a young donkey trying to copy birds by building a nest and trying to fly.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* Domestic dog, *Canis familiaris*
* Domestic cat, *Felis catus*

### Location footage

* Muscovy duck, *Cairina moschata*
* Domestic horse, *Equus ferus caballus*
* Common ostrich, *Struthio camelus*
* Domestic cattle, *Bos taurus*
* Domestic goat, *Capra hircus*
* Domestic dog, *Canis familiaris*
* Llama, *Lama glama*
* Domestic chicken, *Gallus domesticus*
* Domestic pig, *Sus domesticus*
* European rabbit, *Oryctolagus cuniculus*
* Guinea pig, *Cavia porcellus*
* Domestic donkey, *Equus africanus asinus*
* Domestic sheep, *Ovis aries*
* Chinese goose, *Anser cygnoides domesticus*
* American bison, *Bison bison*

## Stock footage sources

Molly Moo-Cow and The Butterflies (1935) – Third segment cartoon

Felix the Cat: Felix Strikes it Rich (1923) – Fourth segment cartoon

## Making this programme

Parts of this programme were filmed on-location at the Cotswold Farm Park, which continues to keep and breed domestic animals to this day, with over fifty rare breeds present.