Britain's rarest breed of cattle, the Vaynol, was boosted further last week by the arrival of the first two calves of eight expected this year by the Rothesay herd, at Dumfries House, headquarters of The Prince's Foundation.

Farm manager John Rowell was delighted to welcome a bull and a heifer, with the bull calf described as an excellent example of the breed and likely to go on to be a stock bull for another herd, helping to increase genetic diversity nationally.

The farm team of John and wife Denise, who is education farm manager, as well as shepherdess Charlotte Darwent and John Irwin, have been working round the clock to help deliver calves.

Valentin’s Education Farm on Dumfries House estate, the charity's headquarters, is home to a dozen rare breeds of animal. Typically, each month, the farm welcomes hundreds of school children, who learn about animal husbandry, the provenance of food and by-products of farm animals as part of our education programmes there.

"Rare breeds of animals are the basis of the education farm, and we give the kids a rare chance to see animals up close and enjoy a sensory experience,” said Denise. “The vision here allows us to teach children about interactive skills – it's a fantastic opportunity for them to engage with the real world.

The commercial Home Farm and the adjacent education farm are also home to Beef Shorthorn, Whitebred Shorthorn, and Aberdeen Angus cattle, as well as Castlemilk Moorit, Cheviot cross, and Lleyn cross sheep.

In the coming weeks, there will be more rare-breed newborns, including Tamworth and Landrace piglets, Shetland goslings and Shetland ducklings, and Scots Grey and Scots Dumpy chicks.

The Prince’s Foundation’s president, HRH The Prince of Wales, is patron of The Rare Breeds Survival Trust.