History

I started keeping chickens when I was very young after my Nan brought me two black rock pullets. These hens proved to be good layers and hardy during the winter months. My little flock soon expanded with a few ex battery hens, which were surprisingly hardy and good layers with a few even going broody.

My interest in chickens grew and I soon wanted a 'proper' breed so my brother brought me a little silkie hen that was advertised in a local paper. She was a feisty little bird that proved to be a good broody looking after her chicks well.

                                                                                  

Silkies soon expanded into every coop I possessed after I was given a handful of mixed silkie chicks, which included blacks, partridges and whites. Great characters and an interesting appearance I enjoyed this breed immensely. However I was also experimenting with other breeds including the bantam Australorp and Light Sussex.

I scaled back my poultry enterprise to concentrate on my studies and just had a laying flock for a little while. This soon changed when I decided to have darker eggs and went to purchase some Cuckoo Marans as I also brought a pair of Lavender Araucanas, which I couldn't resist. After the purchase of my Araucanas it wasn't long before I wanted to hatch some of my own, so I borrowed a broody pekin hen who was a fantastic mother. Unfortunately after she was returned to her owners she was lost in a fox attack, thus I brought a mixed bunch of pekin chicks and a black pekin pair to sit on my eggs. However due to the pekins having great characters it wasn't long before people started to ask me for some, so I had to invest in an incubator to keep up with the demand.

During 2007 I took the plunge and entered my first poultry show with a pair of gold partridge pekins who did extremely well. Exhibiting poultry has since become an enjoyable hobby allowing me to compare my birds against the standards to ensure that the birds I am breeding are of good standard and type as well as providing a chance to catch up with other poultry fanciers.

 

 

In 2008 I decided to expand my little collection of different chicken breeds to include a few more rare breeds which I had been interested in previously. I hope to help preserve these rare British breeds for the future and develop my own strains thus helping to ensure their future survival.

 

2008 was a hetic year with both my collection slowly increasing to incorporate the rarer breeds and been involved with various media programmes. I was privileged to have been asked to talk on various media programmes including BBC Radio Shropshire with Eric Smith and been interviewed by BBC Radio 4 Farming Today about poultry keeping as more people are deciding to keep chickens for the first time. Later in 2008 I was also asked to have my picture with some chickens for the Shropshire Star, which was lovely.

 

I hope you have enjoyed visiting my website and please come back soon.