Farmer plants organic orchard for his free-roaming chickens

A Tyttenhanger farmer is transforming six hectares of his estate into a new organic orchard.

Sion Hunter of Highfield Farm in Highfield Lane has started planting a mix of apple, pear, cherry and plum trees on a section of his 80 hectare site, with the aim of building a healthy, natural system over time.

He explained: “Arable farming is proving to be more and more difficult with wheat prices crashing and input costs soaring [fertiliser/seed/sprays], so I was looking to add a new diversification and introduced chickens onto the farm.

“We currently have around a thousand laying hens, all their eggs are sold through our onsite vending machine and they normally roam freely around a few grass fields we have on the farm.”

While attending Groundswell Festival, an agricultural show in Hitchin, he attended a seminar which promoted grazing animals under trees and illustrated some of the economic and environmental benefits.

“I decided that I could introduce this onto my farm by planting fruit trees and grazing my hens and sheep underneath the trees. This would provide shelter from adverse weather for the hens whilst out foraging, and also adding protecting from birds of prey. Once the trees start to fruit, they will hopefully also be able to clear up/eat any fallen fruit that I have failed to collect or are unsuitable for juicing.

“Part of the reason for choosing an organic orchard is the benefits to our hens not grazing on fields that have been treated with chemicals, and we already had this ethos with our grass fields.

“Although we do not have an organic chicken flock, we do follow a lot of organic principles regarding ranging space, welfare and not allowing chickens to graze on sprayed or fertilized fields.

“An organic orchard will also mean we have less risk on costs of inputs, like fertilisers and sprays etc.

“Letting the hens roam through the orchard should mean better-tasting eggs too, with a more varied natural diet from grasses, insects and whatever they find scratching around between the trees.

“We chose a variety of different apple, cherry, pear and plum trees. The majority being apple trees, which we hope to turn into our own organic bottled apple juice to sell in our on-farm vending machine alongside our eggs and honey.

“The majority of our orchard won’t be ready for harvesting for four to give years, however the hens will happily graze underneath them throughout their growing years.”

Find out more at https://highfieldfarm.co/