Free Range Organic Broiler Breeders

The breeders are in flocks of 700 birds, laying eggs for our new hatchery. The resulting chicks are either reared on the farm at Wytham, or sold on to other farmers as day-old chicks. There is one cockerel to every 10 hens and their range area is planted with trees and grasses to replicate their natural environment. As well as providing natural shade and shelter, the trees harbour bugs and grubs which provide an additional source of food for the birds.

The Hatchery

Our Hatchery is the former dairy unit, and the fertile eggs from the breeders are hatched each week. Some of the chicks are sold on to other producers, the rest are grown on the farm. The Hatchery is one of the few truly organic hatcheries in the UK, producing organic chicks from organic parent birds.

Broilers

After the hatchery the young chicks are housed for four weeks while they grow their adult feathers. During this time the birds have access to verandas to get used to the sights and sounds of the outdoors. In addition a hi-fi system plays a recording of farmyard noises, again to get the young birds used to the challenges of their future life on the range. Our birds are slow growing, taking 12 weeks to reach weight, about twice the time of a conventional bird. This slower growth gives the best eating quality.

Along with the sounds we also provide extra perching space so the young birds can exercise, and dust baths for preening and scratching about. As with all the livestock enterprises on the farm, the principle is simple: keep the animals in a natural environment, stress free and happy, and they are more likely to thrive. The broiler range is also planted with hedges and a strip of herbs to provide shade, shelter, additional nutrition and medicinal plants for the birds to self select as they desire.