Norfolk 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.
Soay Sheep
The Soays are going from strength to strength and it is at this time of the year that our Rams start to think in terms of covering the ewes with an aim to producing Lambs in 2010. Already the tell tale signs are there and again we hope for a great 2010 lambing season.
Ramases (our bottle fed Soay Ram lamb) continues in full strength and wins the hearts of all those who visit us – he will not be for sale, ever! Or else Jane will sell me as well!
Buff Sussex Bantams
The rearing programme has been so successful for these rare little hens that we have raised a whole load of young chicks so that they will be ready for sale in the New Year. The egg laying of these Bantams is so prolific that the incubator is almost always full at the moment with their eggs. We are really proud of the quality of our birds that are emerging from our Bantam breeding flock and we look forward to an even more successful 2010 for them.
Other Poultry
Our breeding programme has been very strong in 2009 and we have been able to add new lines of poultry to our small holding. The Welsummers and the Araucanas are now out on range and the Barnvelders are now laying eggs and look just superb. The Rhode Island Reds and the Vorwerks will follow in due course. We will update the web site when we have some good photos of the new additions.
Tags: Buff Sussex Bantams, Norfolk Black Turkeys, Soay Sheep