Poultry

There are many different types of poultry at the Farm.  Poultry means domestic fowl, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, or geese, raised for meat or eggs*.  Most of the time, we have examples of each of these!

Please note that we ONLY deal with poultry enquiries (sales, etc) between:

11.30am and 12pm

and

2.30pm and 3pm.

Chickens

There are several different breeds and cross breeds on show at the Farm.  Some are good for eggs, some are meat birds and some are just for show!

Our Light Sussex chickens (left) are utility birds, which means that they are farmed both for meat and for egg production.

All our chickens have plenty of space to roam around but would be classed as 'barn' chickens as they don't have the free range of the entire Farm.  The nearby foxes are too alert to have our chickens strutting around the place.

Our more elaborate breeds include Aracuana (left) and Golden Brahmas (right).

The latter is a breed that is usually referred to as light, dark or buff.  In fact, in America, they don't recognise the Golden Brahma breed!

They are usually large birds with feathered legs and feet

Ducks

At any time, the Farm has a real mixture of ducks of all shapes and sizes, usually including some Indian Runners, Aylesburys, and Call Ducks.

Our ducks do waddle around the Farm, taking pleasure in joining gardeners when they are digging in the ground in the hope that they can pick up a worm or two.  They are at risk of the fox, but tend to stick in a large group so can alert each other to danger.

Geese

Long-term fans of the Farm will remember Buster, the loyal but aggressive goose that used to walk around the Farm with his white, female partner.  Buster was a Chinese-cross and there were rumours that he'd been at the Farm with Mrs Buster for over a decade.

For the safety of our visitors, we took the decision to rehome Mr & Mrs Buster to Mudchute City Farm where he'd have more space to wander around and therefore be less prone to aggression.

Instead, we have Will & Grace, a pair of Toulouse Geese - a much more friendly breed.  Even these two, however, can bite when they feel threatened (though if really confronted, they will back off sharpish).  It's mainly because Geese mate for life and are therefore very protective of their partners.

Turkeys

The Farm was selected by Rules Restaurant in 2005 to be the recipient of "Holly", a female turkey, spared from becoming a Christmas dinner.  The Town Crier of London attended the Farm to make the presentation.

Holly was soon joined by Sprout and as a result we had five turkey pullets hatched this year in our incubators.  Most of these have been sold as pets to people who like keeping unusual animals at home! We hope to have many more of these birds in 2007.

Did you know?: The word Poultry comes from the Middle English pultrie, from Old French pouletrie, from pouletier, poultry dealer, from poulet, pullet.