Our Rare & Traditional Birds
We take great pride in the welfare and environment of our traditional breeds. We breed all our birds on the farm and sell hens, cockerels and hatching eggs. The breeding flocks live as family groups with a maximum of 10 hens to one cockerel. We take great care to select the birds for breeding and use any surplus hens in our laying flocks.
We have had some of these breeds for over 20 years so we are pretty familiar with them and we will often bring in new blood to freshen up the breeding lines from other select breeders. We do this usually by introducing a new cockerel to the flock although we will occasionally bring in a new hen if we particularly like them.
What are Rare and Traditional breed birds?
Traditional breed birds to us are any birds that are mentioned in the British poultry standards book. Rare breeds are breeds within this book that are classified by the rare breed survival trust (RBST) as on their watch list. We are members of the RBST.
Light Sussex
Sussex chickens are upright, alert, and usually docile. This English heavy breed has been around since the turn of the century but the roots of the breed go back to Roman civilisations in England, as domesticated poultry crossed the continents from Indo-China.
Hamburg
The Silver Spangled Hamburg is one of the most alert breeds on the poultry list. These small-size chickens, with light, sweeping, graceful outlines are elegant and beautiful. They are consistent layers, have a bright cheerfulness when foraging, and love a free range setting.
Araucana
The Araucana comes from South America and are named after the Araucano tribe of Native South Americans. There are records of blue egg laying chickens in South America going back to the 1520's.
Cream Legbar
Hardy, great characters, very friendly and active foragers and frugal eaters. It is quite unusual for them to go broody. This is a great bird for beginners.
FIND OUT MORE
Old English Pheasant Fowl
The breed is very nimble, energetic and the most flighty of all British chicken breeds. Although a small light breed the OEPF is classed as a large fowl and does not exist in a bantam version. When mature the OEPF is exceptionally hardy and a reliable layer.
French Silver Cuckoo Marans
Our French Cuckoos are extremely hardy will thrive in almost all climates. They are generally docile and quiet in nature and pretty active. They are good foragers and do well in free ranging system. They are also tough and disease-resistant.
Rhode Island Red
They are both friendly and active birds. We have a breeding flock of about 10 birds and a number of others in the laying flock. We hatch all our stock on the farm for each new season from the best birds that meet the breeding standards.