June Update
Well this has been a very busy month. I have been hatching out lots of chicks and along with Poultry Talk, The British Hen Welfare Trust, and representatives from Unipet and Dengie, we had a fantastic display at Gardeners World Live. I took with me adult birds for the general display. The breeds represented were Scots Dumpies (of course!), Painted Silkies, Mottled Pekins, Bantam Welsummers, and in the pen with the Scots Dumpies were 2 Marans, a Black Leghorn and a Cream Legbar, so the public had plenty to look at. We had a separate little cage containing a trio of Seramas. These were the star of the show, with the cockerel being handled and taken round to show off and be petted.
To arrange this display we had to of course comply with the new rules brought about by the recent Avian Flu outbreaks. We had a disinfectant mat to enter our area and lots of hand gel, and getting the licence wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be. The hard work was transporting everything and setting up the day before the show opened. Jamie Toms and Ian Farrar, gave three talks every day on general poultry keeping as well as the work of the The British Hen Welfare Trust. There were chick handling sessions for the children (and bigger children!!) and the four days proved to be extremely successful.
There was a lot of interest in Peck and Feather and sales were excellent. Now we move forward to the next major event which will be Countryfile Live at Blenheim Palace on August 3-6. We have been asked to put on an even bigger display than last year, with displays of birds, chick handling and informative talks. We now have an extremely good and experienced team, so feel we can really deliver! Please do come and see us, admire the birds, and come and start your Christmas shopping.
On the subject of Christmas I shall once again have a stand at the National Trust Christmas Shopping Event at Stowe. I shall be there for a week this time from November 17th-24th. This is a great place to come and shop, with the event running for 6 weeks with many different retailers attending. My Open Days at home will be on November 2nd-4th and I will be joined by some others this time. More details on this later.
Many of the Summer agricultural shows are going ahead with poultry sections being well attended. Let us hope that there are no more outbreaks of the dreaded flu and all the Autumn and Winter shows can go ahead uninterrupted.
Toddy
