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We have chickens for both egg laying and meat.
All our chickens live in mobile huts which are moved around the
farm. This gives the chickens plenty of fresh foraging and they have
access to the pasture from first light to dusk when they take themselves
back into their huts. They
are protected from foxes by electric fencing which is moved each time
the huts are moved. We
take great care to ensure they have plenty of dry areas for dustbathing
and in the winter we provide them with additional straw and dry areas. Wherever possible we provide natural shade from the rain and
the sun. They are fed on
our own homegrown cereals.
Our table chickens (reared for meat) are a slow growing
variety. They live in groups of 100 or fewer birds and each batch is
raised on fresh pasture. Unlike so many chickens which are finished
in six weeks our chickens are matured over a period of at least twelve
weeks and often up to fifteen weeks. This gives texture and flavour
to the meat and well formed carcasses making excellent stock. The birds
are dry plucked in a small processing plant and hung for three to four
days.
We rear our ducks on a seasonal basis buying them in as day olds in the spring and bringing them along on the grass and clover during the summer. Unlike so many reared ducks they have access water and are matured over a long period. We usually have a couple of batches during the summer.
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We have two Saddleback sows, Bella and Octavia (named after their mother and grandmother). They live outside in fields with access to well strawed trailers so they are able to root, wallow in wet patches and indulge in their natural behaviour. Only in the worst of wet winter weather or if they are farrowing are they brought into the traditional Victorian pig sties in the yard which give them access to a well strawed bed and outside yard area.They are fed on our own homegrown cereals.
Sheep
Our sheep are hardy native breeds that live outside
all year round. They lamb outside in the spring and their
offspring live with their mothers until they are weaned in late summer
when many have already weaned themselves. The lambs are ready from the
end of June throughout the autumn, they are taken to a local
slaughterhouse and the meat is hung for about a week.
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We have a small herd of traditional Hereford cattle which calve each year outside in the spring. They stay with their mothers until they are 10 months old at which time they are weaned before the next calf is born. The traditional Hereford is a slow growing beef breed, and it produces a well marbled texture with an excellent flavour. The steers are matured over 30 months (the maximum time allowed under Government regulations) and the beef is hung for three to four weeks.