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REARING PAGE AND BREEDS
We Incubate all our own eggs collected daily from our brood stock pens and only our best eggs are selected to be incubated. Once the chicks are hatched they are reared inside on shredded paper until they are off heat at around 4 weeks (depending on weather conditions) the birds are then transferred to our 15 acre rearing field where the birds are reared in large grass pens on fresh ground. All our 8 week old birds are wormed before they are sold.
A pen of mixed breed 12 week old cockbirds on the rearing field
A large pen of Black and White Silkies enjoying the rearing field
Day old chicks in the brooder house
OUR BREEDS
COPPER FRENCH BLACK MARANS
which consist of 8 hens running with 2 unrelated cockbirds that have been hatched by us from the best utility stock available in Dorset. The breed are friendly creatures that are very suitable to roam free range or for runs. The hen birds are black with gold edging to their hackle feathers along with some reddish brown on the chest while the cockbirds have a lovely coppery head, saddle and shoulders. Both our cocks and hens have lightly feathered legs. Our hens lay a lovely dark brown egg which will wow your neighbours, family and friends.
COPPER FRENCH BLUE MARANS
more friendly and less flighty than our pen of blacks, our blues are superb specimens and lay the most amazing dark brown eggs. Our stock came from the best Welsh stock available. We are at present running 8 hens with 2 cockbirds and getting excellent fertility in 2023. The hens are blue with copper neck hackles, while the cockbirds have copper head and neck hackles with copper saddles. Although bred from a pen containing only blues the chicks will be 50% blue and 50% black or splash.
WHEATEN MARANS
We have picked what we think are some of the best Wheatens in the country from several sources and are at present running 2 pens of brood stock. One contains 6 second year hens and an unrelated cockbird, while the other pen contains 10 pullets with 2 second year cockbirds. Believe me you won’t be disappointed by these birds and they regularly lay huge double yokers the size of duck eggs!
CUCKOO MARANS
everybody loves these large friendly marans that lay lovely brown speckled eggs. We have 10 pullets running with 2 unrelated cockbirds from a Devon strain that has been breeding them for 10 years.
CREAM CRESTED LEGBARS
These lovely birds are one of the few varieties that are auto sexing at day old with the males being distinguishable by being a lighter shade with a yellow spot on their heads and the females have a darker back and darker stripes. They are a very friendly chicken which do well free range. They are very much in demand due to them laying blue or olive coloured eggs, of which they lay around 180 to 200 a year.
WHITE LEGHORNS
These birds lay the most exceptional pure white large eggs and lay for most of the year, averaging 280 eggs. They rarely go broody and are good flyers so make sure your pen is secure.
LIGHT SUSSEX
no chicken run would be complete without a few Light Sussex hens which are one of the oldest and most popular breeds. Our Light Sussex are out of the Frome Market Supreme Champion and 3 pullets from 2020 from the same breeder and cost £550.00 to buy. They are top show quality, great layers and also good table birds.
SPECKLED SUSSEX
we tracked down our fabulous Speckled Sussex from a Devon breeder who has specialised in these fabulous birds for a number of years. Both the hens and cockbirds are of a deep reddish brown with many feathers having a black bar and ending in white tips which get whiter with each moult with age. The egg numbers produced are excellent and the unwanted cockbirds make good table fayre.
SWEDISH FLOWER
these very friendly birds come in a multitude of colours and are both exceptionally friendly and very hardy and love to be out free range all day foraging. They are excellent layers of medium size and lay a white to cream coloured egg.
WELBAR
for the first time this year we are now offering Welsummer/Cream Crested Legbars which are olive egg layers and very popular. They are also excellent layers.