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.

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Start of spring??

Monday, 2 January 2012

December podcast 2011

2012

Well its a new year and we went for a walk yesterday around the farm - it is sleeping but will soon be ready for the new season. The sunrises have been spectacular over the Malverns this last week. We have our first visitors of the year this weekend for a farm walk so we have gone full cycle. There hasn't been much to report in the December podcast about the farm so I will just review the best of 2012.

Saturday, 24 December 2011

Christmas time

This Christmas time is very different to last christmas - no snow and despite the rain the ground is still very dry with no water yet getting down to the land drains.

Sunday, 18 December 2011

Quiet time on the farm

Quiet time on the farm, but it is raining which is great news.

Sunday, 11 December 2011

Conservation Grade

Keep an eye out for Conservation Grade products.

Friday, 2 December 2011

Water management video

I have been working with LEAF this week discussing with farmers how the impact of farming on water supplies can be reduced. Check out this video made by Jake Freestone on water management. It brings discussions of scrapes, and swales alive. I will watch the progess with interest.

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.