Doonies Rare Breeds Farm, Aberdeen, has one of Scotland’s largest collections of rare and endangered farm animal breeds. The farm is nationally recognised as a breeding centre for rare breeds. There are 23 rare animal breeds on the farm. The farm holds a number of endangered and rare breeds of pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, chickens and ducks. During the Easter time of year, new arrivals can be seen such as lambs, calves, chicks and foals.
Doonies farm stands on the coast, just past the old fishing village of Cove in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Doonies farm is operated as a family-run business; however, the farm used to be owned and operated by Aberdeen City Council and is run as a working farm, although it is open to the public. Due to council cutbacks, it was earmarked for closure in the summer of 2008; however, there have been many petitions and protests to persuade the council to save Doonies, and an agreement may still be reached. Aberdeen City Council had ownership of the farm for some twenty years, until in 2008 budget cuts faced potential closure for the farm. Recently, the farm’s manager of fifteen years had taken over the business as “Doonies LTD.”, which means that the farm is no longer Council-run, but a family business establishment.