Hatching and brooding - Housing - Feeding & health - Incubator hire - DIY brooders

Greenmeadow Poultry

I believe that the preservation of 'traditional' breeds of poultry is very important, particularly varieties that are classed as 'utility breeds' - ie, are kept for either or both egg production and meat production. Since the advent of 'hybrid' layers and broiler chickens a few decades ago, 'traditional' breeds are increasingly becoming 'rare' breeds and the strains that survive are often bred for their looks rather than their usefulness. I feel that it's really important to keep as wide-a gene pool as possible going.

I keep Barnevelder hens, all of which run with unrelated Barnevelder cockerels that I change every couple of years to avoid inbreeding and ensure healthy chicks.

Purebred Barnevelders from a good laying strain will produce around 200-220 eggs each hen per year and the cockerels make a good killing weight of about 7lb after about six months. Barnevelder eggs are dark brown. They are a good-tempered, friendly breed suitable as garden hens and our birds come up and eat out of our hands.

I would recommend them as the ideal smallholder's bird, or for someone starting with chickens for eggs and/or meat.

The Small Print

I feel that this gives the yolks a better chance of staying intact during the journey and the best chance of hatching - although the polyboxes are very good at keeping the shells whole, there is a theory that any shocks to the box are transferred directly to the inside of the egg. Wrapping the box in an extra layer is supposed to help prevent that.

For the same reason I now only send eggs 'Special Delivery', which means that they do not go in the bag with the rest of the post (as recorded delivery does) and therefore are handled more gently.

If you hatch cockerels and don't want to keep them, I will take them back and cull them, but no refund will be made.

Eggs will be less than seven days old when they arrive with you. I check fertility regularly through the season but as always when eggs have been through the postal system, fertility cannot be guaranteed.