At South Yeo we have a range of poultry breeds chosen for their character, looks and importantly to help preserve rare and traditional varieties. Our birds are kept on grass and are guarded devotedly by our border collie who first learned to round up chicken rather than sheep. We sell hatching eggs, young birds and free range coloured eating eggs.
Houses were hand made to our specifications by Walter Baileys in Par (Tel: 01726 812245)
We also have a few non-breeding birds kept for their colourful eggs or broody characteristics. Breeds include: Lavender Araucana for blue eggs, White Star hybrid layers of large pure white eggs, Black Rock, Araucana x Maran layers of olive green eggs, Buff and Black Pekin, Cuckoo and Black Silkies.
Breeds
Andalusian
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We have only recently acquired some Andalusians to add to the breeding pens, but they are quickly becomming my favourite. They originated from Spain and breeding the desired ‘blue’ colouring is difficult as chicks will be either blue, black or ‘splash’ coloured, so developing their numbers takes some time and dedication. They lay a surprisingly large egg for their size; eggs are white tinted, and they are inquisitive friendly birds.
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Barnevelder
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Our Barnevelders come from 3 different bloodlines and are beautifully attractive birds with a double laced pattern in their mahogany/black feathers. The edge markings of the cockerel’s feathers shine iridescent green in the light. Both the hens and the cockerel have rich yellow legs which develop more as they come into lay. They are a heavy docile breed that tends to be one of the quietest we keep; the cockerels learn to crow later than other breeds. Their eggs are a lovely mid-dark brown and chicks can be sexed from an early age, the cockerel’s stripes being fainter than hen chicks’. The hens will go broody and one of ours raised some Aylesbury ducklings this year.
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Ixworth
RBST Watch list; Category 1, Endangered.
(less than 250 registered breeding females)
Click here to see the Rare Breeds watch list |
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The Ixworth is one of Britain ’s rarest breeds; they are not particularly special to look at, being all white, but they mature quickly and are good layers of slightly tinted white eggs. They were developed as a table bird around the time of WWII but were surpassed by American breeds as Britain had other things on its mind than promoting chickens. Their mature weight 7-9lbs means that excess cockerels are our table bird of choice – whenever we cannot sell them to help preserve the breed that is…
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Lakenvelder - Rare.
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Our bantam Lakenvelders are real characters, bustling around the run but can be shy and flighty. They are our smallest birds, bordering on miniature and are strikingly marked. We like to keep them next to the Vorwerks for the contrast they provide. In fact, Lakenvelders were used in the development of the more practically coloured Vorwerks. The body should be pure white with crisp black head, neck and tail. The tail is held high and wings are slanted downwards giving them a bossy appearance. They lay small white eggs.
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Dark Cuckoo Maran
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Marans lay the darkest of brown eggs and are often found strutting around farm yards. The egg colour tends to fade slightly towards the end of the laying season but reappears as a rich reddish brown in the spring. We keep the traditional cuckoo type rather than the French feathered leg varieties. The day old chicks can be sexed with relative accuracy as the male has a more pronounced yellow spot on his head. Along with the Welsummer, they were my first chicken and I remember keeping them as a child and carrying around my chick ‘Hermione’ and giving her extra corn around behind the chicken house! We have birds from 3 bloodlines.
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Old English Pheasant Fowl
Watch list; Category 1. Endangered.
(less than 250 registered breeding females)
Click here to see the Rare Breeds watch list
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These are quickly becoming my favourite birds; they are extremely smart and have definite pheasant tendencies – you only have to see them glide when flying to see where they get their name from. Their colouring is a rich bay and mahogany with lacing on the males and crescent shaped spangles on the females. They are a mid-sized old breed that originated in Yorkshire and on the fell farms of Cumberland and Westmoreland. The eggs are slightly tinted off white.
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Silver Grey Dorking
Watch list; Category 4. Vunerable.
(less than 500 registered breeding females)
Click here to see the Rare Breeds watch list
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Dorkings are an attractive heavy breed that are very friendly and can be dated back to Roman times. The cockerels are a splendid with white hackles and dark under parts, while the hens have a salmon coloured breast and silver patterned back and tail. They lay a medium sized white tinted egg. We have birds from 3 different bloodlines.
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Silver Spangled Hamburgh
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Hamburghs come in a number of colours and we have the smart black and white silver spangled variety. Each white feather is tipped with a black spangle – the males tail feathers are beautifully arching and have a black spot on the end of each. They are a light bird laying tinted cream eggs. Beware, they do like to roost in trees if they can and getting them down at night can be fun…
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Speckled Sussex Bantam
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We were given a pair of Speckled Sussex bantams as a wedding present and were captivated by their cheeky character. I prefer the bantams to the large fowl and have continued to keep them. They are a lovely mahogany colour with each feather tipped by a white spot and a glossy black bar dividing the white from the mahogany part of the feather. They lay small cream coloured eggs.
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Vorwerk
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We started keeping Vorwerks as we were given a set of place mats with these strikingly beautiful birds painted on them and were instantly smitten. We tracked down some bantams initially but switched to keeping large fowl and are especially pleased with the quality of the markings we have been able to develop. The breed standard calls for pure black head and tail with a buff coloured body; often the body feathers are tipped with black and this is regarded as a fault but we are gradually breeding this out – some breeders will actually pluck out imperfect feathers prior to showing their birds! They have slate grey legs and their eggs are tinted cream. Our 2007 fertility testing shows 7/7 eggs fertile on candling at 7 days.
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Welsummer
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The first chicken I had were Welsummers; in fact I still have one of them living out her retirement here. They are the traditional farmyard bird laying super dark and often speckled eggs. We have tried to select well marked dark egg laying birds to breed from and have birds from 4 bloodlines.
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Ducks
Aylesbury
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These large white ducks are good layers and mature quickly if being kept for the table. We have birds from several bloodlines but have unfortunately suffered from visits by the fox… they have wonderful characters but do have to be encouraged to go to bed each night.
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Cayuga Ducks
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We will have Cayuga ducks and eggs available from 2008. These beautiful ducks are a heavy breed from the USA and are best recognised by their black plumage that shimmers iridescent green in the sunlight. The ducklings are pure black and their eggs are also very dark, almost black and the shell colour fades to a blue-green through the laying season. These are the exception to our rare/traditional rule, but we just couldn’t resist them…
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Hatching egg / bird sales
Large Fowl |
| Breed |
Hatching eggs (each) |
Day old chicks* |
6 weeks ** |
Point of Lay pullets / cockerels |
Andalusian |
£1.50 |
£3.75 |
£8.25 |
£18.75 |
Barnevelder |
£1.50 |
£3.50 |
£7.40 |
£16.50 |
Dark Cuckoo Maran |
£1.00 |
£3.00 |
£6.00 |
£13.00 |
Ixworth |
£1.75 |
£4.00 |
£9.10 |
£21.00 |
Old English Pheasant Fowl |
£1.75 |
£4.00 |
£9.10 |
£21.00 |
Silver Grey Dorking |
£1.75 |
£4.00 |
£9.10 |
£21.00 |
Vorwerk |
£1.50 |
£3.75 |
£8.25 |
£18.75 |
Welsummer |
£1.00 |
£3.00 |
£6.00 |
£13.00 |
Mixed box of pure bred hatching eggs |
£1.00 |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
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Bantam fowl |
| Breed |
Hatching eggs (each) |
Day old chicks* |
6 weeks ** |
Point of Lay pullets/ cockerels |
Speckled Sussex |
£1.00 |
£3.00 |
£6.00 |
£13.00 |
Lakenvelder |
£1.50 |
£3.75 |
£8.25 |
£18.75 |
| Silver Spangled Hamburgh |
£1.50 |
£3.50 |
£7.40 |
£16.50 |
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Ducks |
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Hatching eggs |
Day old ducklings |
3 weeks (off heat) |
6+ weeks (fully feathered) |
Aylesbury |
£1.00 |
£2.50 |
£4.00 |
£7.50 |
| Cayuga |
£1.50 |
£3.50 |
£6.50 |
£9.50 |
We are not yet selling the West of England Geese - Revised February 2008
* unsexed
** off-heat / away from the broody & sexed where possible
Prices for birds increase weekly by a set incrament each week until they reach adult prices at Point of Lay around 20 weeks
All live birds including chicks are offered on a collection only basis.
Hatching eggs are collected twice daily and stored in a cool room before dispatch. Eggs sold for hatching are always the most recent eggs laid and are within 3-4 days old at most. Eggs are said to remain fertile up to 10 days after laying but fertility does begin to drop off as each day passes.
Hatching eggs can be collected from the farm or delivered by post in special polystyrene egg boxes to minimise chance of breakage: P&P cost is £4.50 per ½ dozen eggs by standard 1st class post. Special delivery can be by arrangement. When eggs arrive, they should be removed from packaging, place pointed end down in a cool place to settled for 24 hours, then brought up to room temperature before setting under a broody or in the incubator.
Please phone or email for availability on all eggs and stock as laying periods tend to vary between the breeds. We do take orders for hatching eggs on a first come first served basis but do not believe in forcing the birds to lay continuously by using artificial lighting when they come to the end of the laying season or beginning of moult.
We only sell hatching eggs when satisfied that the breeding group is proving to be fertile. We test for fertility regularly by hatching any surplus eggs but cannot be held responsible for eggs that do not hatch – particularly after eggs have been sent by post or courier. Because we take these precautions, we cannot make refunds or replace eggs that do not hatch.
Wherever possible, we hatch and raise our chicks naturally under a broody (from our ‘team’ of pekins and silkies) rather than in the incubator. All young birds are reared on grass once old enough to survive away from heat.
Our parent stock are unrelated and are selected to match the breed standard and we are constantly striving to improve the quality of our birds.
Birds are sexed as soon as possible but this can be several weeks in some breeds; we aim to select the correct sex for your order and will exchange any incorrectly identified.
Payment for hatching eggs can be made by cheque or postal order (payable to G Dixon ), PayPal (but request an additional 2% be added to the total (including P&P) to cover PayPal fees) or cash on collection; we regret we are unable to accept debt/credit cards. We request payment in advance to allow cheques time to clear before eggs are dispatched.
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