Poultry Discussion

Why poultry discussion? Well we are chicken farmers and all too often when we talk with family and friends we start with talking about chickens then end up talking about anything from food and food safety, climate change, wildlife, birds, our farm. We started this blog to communicate what we are finding out about the world around us and how we try to farm in a sustainable way so that our farm is here not only for ourselves and our neighbours but for the future too.

Saturday, 27 December 2014

Sunrise on Christmas Eve

Saturday, 20 December 2014

Shortest day tomorrow then back towards the summer ...

A summer picture to reflect on on the shortest day. The bumble bees like sweet clover!

Sunday, 14 December 2014

New labelling rules

I have been doing some detailed work on food labelling and allergens. This new poster from the Food Standards Agency was a bit of light relief!

Saturday, 6 December 2014

Sainsbury's farming Conference 2014

Great day yesterday at the Sainsburys Farming Conference 2014

Sunday, 30 November 2014

Talking at Olympia this week

Sunday, 23 November 2014

LEAF Presidents Day

I went to the LEAF President's Day at Canary Wharf in London - this was the equivalent of the sweet trolley - amazing work by the chef! Carrot cake in the chocolate coated carrots!

Sunday, 16 November 2014

Visited a tomato nursery

Sunday, 9 November 2014

Houses of Parliament

At the Houses of Parliament this week

Sunday, 26 October 2014

Harvest festival

Friday, 17 October 2014

Sheep again!

Saturday, 11 October 2014

The one Brown Swiss calf has been affectionately named Roger

Friday, 10 October 2014

Late flowers

Saturday, 4 October 2014

New tups and ram lambs for the coming season

Saturday, 27 September 2014

Catering at Hampton Court

Saturday, 20 September 2014

Happy calves

Saturday, 13 September 2014

Dragonfly - well camouflaged

Thank you to the photographer who is far more capable than I of taking this photograph on the farm

Monday, 8 September 2014

Lovely autumn day

Sunday, 31 August 2014

Harvest is started amidst the showers

Sunday, 24 August 2014

Nature at its best!

Sunday, 17 August 2014

Wheat ready to harvest!

Sunday, 10 August 2014

Misting system in Morrisons caught my eye

Saturday, 2 August 2014

Enjoyed making these with children during a farm visit

Sunday, 27 July 2014

Hedges are laden with nuts

Sunday, 20 July 2014

Bee feast!

Sunday, 13 July 2014

Tiddlers not so small now!

Sunday, 6 July 2014

Beef Day

Went on a beef day in Yorkshire and spied these individuals.

Saturday, 28 June 2014

New arrivals

New arrivals on the farm - Herefords in Herefordshire!

Saturday, 21 June 2014

Speaking at the Natural History Museum

It was great to spend the afternoon and evening at the Natural History Museum talking about world food and listening to other researchers talking about their research during Universities Week.

Sunday, 15 June 2014

Nature at its best!

Saturday, 7 June 2014

Calves are growing

Friday, 30 May 2014

Vines

Wheat growing fast and the leaves are appearing on the vines

Friday, 23 May 2014

Beautiful sight in Stratford

This beautiful tree was outside the Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford.

Sunday, 18 May 2014

Blossom walk - just beautiful

Sunday, 11 May 2014

Lunch for BYU group

Lilac in bloom

Saturday, 26 April 2014

Tups enjoying the sun

Sunday, 13 April 2014

Rather large Tiddler!!

Hill Farm, Castle Frome, Herefordshire

Hill Farm is about 300 acres in size - an acre is about the area of a football pitch. This year we are growing feed wheat; winter beans, spring beans and oats. We also have 50 acres of woodland.

The wheat was planted in the autumn and will be harvested in August. We will feed the wheat to our chickens and sell some of the straw to other farmers who will probably use it for bedding for their livestock. We will bale some up for ourselves and chop the rest and incorporate (put it back) into the soil to improve soil structure. Beans were planted in the spring along with spring oats.

The woodland areas are traditional mixed woodland with conifers and areas of deciduous trees. There is a myriad of wildlife on the farm - mammals, birds, insects ... we will tell their story in this blog. They live in the woodland, fields, lakes, and streams. We hope that you will enjoy the story of our farm.