Plaw Hatch laying hens
Louisa Ellerker
The rain has finally come! On the first Monday when it rained the farm crew sat inside the workshop gleefully listening to the rain fall and enjoying the dust not blowing into our tea.
With the grass already looking greener, it also gives a nudge to start thinking about the inevitable autumn. The unpredictability of the weather mixed with our clay soils means we have to pre-empt when the last days will be when we can drive in our fields with machinery and not ‘make a mess’ (leave tire marks in the mud). Those of you who have walked around Plaw Hatch will have seen our mobile chicken tunnels, which we move up and down the fields using the telehandler (that big green machine). In the wetter months we have to manually carry everything to the chicken houses. Including everyday feed like oats & whey as well as carrying up to 150 eggs back to the track where the truck is parked. To ease this load, we position the tunnels further down the hill, closer to the track. In my time here I think I’ve only tripped and dropped a few trays of eggs twice! To make it easier though, our chicken tunnels will need to be moved swiftly to the bottom of the hill before too much rain falls!
Towards the autumn we should be rehoming some hens. If you’d like to give our lovely ladies a peaceful retirement, please get in touch with Kitty at info@plawhatchfarm.co.uk
