Organic Meringues, Eggs, Hens at Laydilay Farm, Devon

Our flock called the Treasures are now for sale (Jan 2012).  They are breed called Rhode Rock (black hens) and werebought by us in April 2010 as day old chicks, making them just under 2 years old.  They are laying reasonably well (3 - 4

Hen Management and Welfare

All our hens are housed in mobile houses that can be moved to fresh ground during their laying life.  We bed the hens on straw that is turned and changed regularly - all houses have perches and nest boxes.  Our smallest house houses 100 hens and our largest 300. Hens have access to the range from dawn to dusk.  We have automatic pop holes that are light sensitive that rise at dawn and close at dusk.  This ensures hens can go out at dawn (the best part of their day) in the summer without us having to get up at 4 in the morning!  We open up the houses at around 7 in the morning and always close them up securely at night.  Although the hens are behind electric fences, just one rogue fox can cause a lot of damage.  We also have 2 alpacas that help keep foxes at bay.

As well as ample access to the range, we give the hens extra wheat as a scratch feed, and layers pellets to ensure they have adequate proteins, vitamins and minerals to ensure optimum health.  We give our hens access to pellets both in the houses and on the range - feed on the range encourages the hens outside - we are convinced that access to range and natural daylight contributes to good quality eggs.  We also provide poultry grit outdoors to ensure good quality eggshells.

We select breeds that are hardy and adapt well to our environment.  Our young hens, or pullets, start to lay at 18 weeks old and we spend the first week or two training them to lay in nest boxes.  We use 'roll away' nest boxes so the eggs 'roll away' from the hen into a collecting area - this helps to keep the eggs clean and helps control broodiness.  To start with we straw up the nest boxes to entice the young birds in - they like to lay in dark, cosy corners - once they get used to laying in there they don't seem to mind the straw being taken away. The young hens really get into their laying stride at about 24 weeks old and will lay nearly an egg a day until their first moult at around 52 weeks after starting laying.  She will start by laying small eggs that will get larger throughout the laying year.  A hen will last, commercially for one laying year, possibly two before she becomes commercially unviable. Because hens can live for years and years we sell them on to people who would like a few in their garden/ smallholding.

REARING CHICKS

We rear our own laying birds from day old chicks as we believe this produces a stronger, hardier bird adapted to any disease burden we may have on our land.  At the moment we buy 3 breeds, H&N White Nick (white hen that lays a brown egg), Brown Nick (brown hen that lays a paler egg) and Coral (white hen that lays a creamy white egg) - these breeds have proved to be hardy and very good layers in our system.

We brood the chicks under gas brooders for about 3 - 4 weeks depending on the time of year.  Depending on the weather, we like to let our chicks out at 5 days old as at this age they get inquisitive and really benefit by having extra space to explore and scratch around in.  Their first week outdoors is limited to a shelter pen where they have access to grass but are sheltered from the elements.  The lamps are on so they go back indoors if they feel chilly or damp and we are constanly on hand to help train them to go in and our their houses.  Once they are fully familiar with running in and out of their houses we allow them into a larger area which is fenced off with chicken wire and covered with bird netting to protect them from overhead predators.  Once they are off the heat we give them access to extra housing and open up the paddock so they are free to roam and explore.  Generally this is 5 - 6 weeks old but depends on time of year.  We have always marvelled how chicks as young as 2 - 3 weeks old can wander off and always find their way back!  If they can't find their peers their cheep is loud and indignant enough to inform the nearest village!

Once the chicks are off the heat we basically ensure they are well fed and watered, have enough space and are growing well.  The young hens (pullets) start to lay at 18 weeks and we like to get them into their laying houses at 14 - 16 weeks old to give them a chance to get used to their new house.  Moving hens is very stressful for them so we try to keep any movement to a minimum so we brood and rear in the same sheds so we move the pullets only once - at point of lay.