Summer 2026

Summer is my busiest period of the year, the laying hens are on the move and my seasonal meat chicken operation is in full swing..

The laying hens have done brilliantly so far this year, they arrived in March and they have probably been the best hens I've had yet. I currently buy all my laying pullets in from another farmer and this year I switched suppliers so will definitely be using them again. I'm so pleased with how well they are doing as in recent years I have suffered some problems with other flocks. The health of the flock has meant I've been able to take on 2 wholesale customers, establish an honesty box on the driveway at the farm and open eggs up to be one off purchases as well as subscriptions.

The meat chickens are also doing wonderfully and in part I feel like when is the disaster of 2026 going to arrive, there is plenty of time yet! I decided to run a couple of flocks this year for meat, in previous years I have done several. With the second flock now only a couple of weeks away from their slaughter day, the end of the season is closing in. By the end of September I'm usually ready for a break from them. All of the chickens are of course a 7 day a week commitment but especially in summer that means I tend forfeit any days off or holidays.

Heres a bit of interesting info, when you rear and sell chickens commercially you have to keep a record of them, everyone that is coming in and out, anybody that passes away, the reasons why, the dates and so on and so forth. When you take chickens to an abattoir you have to record for the attending vet, the mortality rate in that specific flock at both 2 weeks old and over the course of thier life. The indutry standard for a normal mortality rate is considered to be around 4% over thier life time. I usually get around that. This last flock of the year I have reared is at a mortality rate of just 1.81% across their total lifetime. That is exceptional, that means I only lost 4 chickens out of 220. Of course over the years I have learnt from my mistakes, got better at understanding chicken health problems, become better at managing my system but I cant help but think its in part due to the weather.

I don't need to tell you its been hot and dry, and sure enough this has to led to challenges and complications for farmers not only in the UK but across the world. My grass is struggling and will take along time to recover from these recent summers. I can't see the situaion improving in future years to come. But heres the thing, when the chicks arrive at the farm as tiny 1 day old hatchlings, they dont have feathers, just a thin covering of yellow fluff. At that age in a wild setting they would be in a nest and spend a lot of time sitting under mum. The skin under her feathers is a microclimte of 37 - 39 degrees, an ideal heat that baby chicks need. So this year when that last flock arrived on the farm and their first week was a steady 35 degrees for several days I can help but think it gave them an excellent first start. Of course when it's not that hot I provide heat for them but it's quite tricky to get the ambient temperature to be consistent and spread evenly.

I'm desperately looking for a second 2nd hand poly tunnel before autumn really sets in, the hunt continues.