Winter continues, not too surprising really as it is February, but I really cannot remember us having such poor weather for many a year now. Hopefully we will turn the corner soon and March will reward us with good weather.
The Stile Guide – February
February 11th, 2010The Stile Guide – January
January 10th, 2010Happy New Year!
Here we are again in a New Year and what a start to the year it is proving. Here in East Sussex we have been pretty hard hit with all the snow. We have had well over one foot of snow and in places it has drifted to almost two feet in depth. It makes walking over the fields quite laborious but the animals have to be fed whatever the weather!
The Stile Guide – December
December 8th, 2009Happy Christmas
At this festive time of year we wish all of our customers a very Happy Christmas and a very Turkey filled New Year!
This is a very odd time of year. The evenings draw in and the rain just seems to keep on falling – it a rain thing!
The Stile Guide – November
November 2nd, 2009Turkeys
The Turkeys continue to grow and grow! They are really piling through the food at the moment with a sack of growers disappearing in just a day. We intend to cull 10 Stags for the table in December and already have ‘homes’ for the birds. Hopefully the reduction in the Stags will cut down on the feed needed as well as cutting down on the mating fights that will take place in March!
The Stile Guide – September
October 19th, 2009Norfolk Black Turkeys
The Turkey enclosure has been built and the Turkeys just love it. They are completely free ranging now and have really grown quickly which we attribute to being outside with plenty of fresh air and natural food upon which to forage.
We really hope that this will feed through into an excellent egg laying programme for 2010. Our rearing arks have arrived and so we really are all set for raising upward of 1,000 Turkey poults which will be for sale in 2010.
Its very exciting at the moment. We also have a few too many Stags in the pen which we intend to slaughter for the Christmas table for 2009 but these will only be marketed locally. We aim to raise maybe 100 for the table in 2010 which we may sell through the web site.
The Stile Guide – August
September 2nd, 2009Free Range Turkeys
The Norfolk Black Turkey enclosure is starting to take shape. A huge enclosure of 2,500 sq metres is being built with 7 foot high wire and anti fox wire below. It is just going to be a matter of days before the Turkeys will be out and free ranging. They are going to love it! Either that or just simply fly away!
The Stile Guide – July
July 22nd, 2009Its been another busy month here at the Over the Stile small holding. With plenty to keep us occupied.
Norfolk Black Turkey Poults
The response to our Norfolk Black Turkey Poults was excellent and exceeded all expectations. We sold all of our hatched stock for 2009 and could have sold more but then there would have been no layers left for 2010 year!
We feel that people are really starting to understand more about Turkeys. If you go for large commercial breeds that develop quickly then the result will be a dry uninteresting Christmas dinner.
The Norfolk Black is slower growing has fine textured meat and has a small layer of fat under the skin which ensures a moist and tasty meal!