Chick Lit

We now have our second henhouse in production. So we should be more able to meet the demands for Charli's Chooks eggs over the coming months. 

It has been a lot of hard work getting to this point — not least because of tortuous planning applications and one planning appeal. Then there was a henhouse to take to pieces, remove, repair and reassemble. Plus some cleaning and creosoting of the main henhouse.

At the moment we have a small second flock of white- and blue- egglayers. They are very young but should come into full lay in the next month. We'll expand this flock in the late summer to keep egg numbers up over winter.

We are making a few changes during the pandemic. We are continuing to deliver eggs to White's at Calver Crossroads and the Grindleford community shop. Our egg-round also carries on — with a few minor changes set out below:

Apologies the website has been quiet for a few months – but it certainly hasn't been quiet around Rocklands.

Our second hen-house is now in use. The other shed is currently empty while we wait for some decent weather to expand the flock.

Bridge Inn

Our eggs are now featured on the menu at the Bridge Inn, Curbar – thanks so much for this local vote of confidence. 

We can now take contactless (and Chip & PIN) payments from our egg-round customers. Hopefully that is good news for those of you who, like us, are a long way from the bank.

The hay is in for 2019. Our meadows are relatively 'natural' — we don't muckspread or spray. The wildflowers are amazing with yellow rattle, birdsfoot trefoil and many others I don't know. This makes a very rich hay which the horses and sheep love. It raises a few quid but the cutting also keeps the grasses in check and allows the wildflowers to flourish. 

That also helps our bees! In addition we move the hens around as they scratch up the ground and open up the sward a little.

Eggs and walls have a chequered history together (think 'Humpty Dumpty'). But sales of Charli's Chooks eggs actually help us repair the many dry stone walls around Rocklands. Defra also chip in with a Countryside Stewardship Scheme: Hedgerows and Boundaries Grant. Here is three tons of locally reclaimed stone ready for Dave at Trees and Walls to get to work.

So keep buying the eggs and we can help maintain one of the traditional features of the Peak District.

We are planning a small expansion of Charlis Chooks. We'd like to bring the henhouse pictured (5m x 2.6m x 1.7m high) down to Rocklands Farm at Curbar. Please could you spare a few words of support for our planning application with the Peak District National Park?

You can comment online.

The extra hen house will help us meet the demand for our eggs and put our business on a more sustainable footing. Other points we consider support our plans:

We have had a few snowy days up in the chicken field this winter. Here are our girls last week.

We moved our hens onto new pasture this week. Regular rotation keeps the pasture fresh, the hens healthy and the eggs tasting great. It also gives the hens a different view of one of Derbyshire's famous millstone-grit edges.