A STRONG CORE
The backbone of any nutritionally balanced diet for our flock is a good quality pelleted chicken food that is suitable for our mix of chickens. There are many quality brands on the market including Heygates, Allen & Page and Marriages amongst others; this list isn’t exhaustive. All of them have spent great amounts of money on both developing and quality controlling their feeds so they take the heavy lifting and guesswork out of the selection for us.
We mentioned that we also choose a food that is suitable for our mix of chickens. As breeders, this changes month by month. You might be surprised to hear that we do not use the most common pelleted food which is Layers Pellets. We like our chickens to have access to the entire free-range area. That means we have chicks with their broody hens mingling with the laying hens, mingling with the cock birds, all of which have different nutritional needs.
To allow the varied mix of chickens to run together, we select two mixes of food. The first is when chicks start hatching and we fill the communal feeders with food suitable for chicks. Essentially, we are feeding to the youngest flock member, after all, chicks can’t eat adult pellets (growers or layers) but adult hens and cockerels can eat chick food.
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How to Buy a Smallholding in France- Long-time smallholder Lorraine Turnbull looks at the practicalities of moving to rural France
Aspiring smallholders are continually thwarted by the prices of smallholdings and property with land located within the UK. Even the humblest croft in Scotland comes with a substantial price tag and conditions which would make even an adventurous wannabee consider carefully. But all is not lost. For those willing to take the adventure of a lifetime, there is always Europe, and one of the most popular places is France.
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Claire Waring advises on doing the best to make sure your colonies survive until next spring
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Wade Muggleton, smallholder and author of The Orchard Book, shares his practical experience so you can create your own fruit collection
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As autumn approaches, Joanna Palmer, nutritionist at the Smallholder Range, offers advice on choosing the right feed to support your adult birds through their annual moult and ensure your young birds grow and finish well at this time of the year.
Vet advice from an experienced poultry vet
Reflecting on how much the humble hen has helped people world wide plus advice on stopping the scourge of red mite
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