Another British Free Range Hen Farmer closing down

16% is fine Rhiannon, that's what most layers pellets have in them.  I prefer pellets as its less wastage with messy eaters like chooks, but if yours won't eat them, then the mash is fine.

I've never used garden blend, but have heard it mentioned as not being particularly good protein wise.

Folks pick up boxes of supermarket eggs without bothering to look where they come from, mostly abroad 

I used to run my own B & B and was appalled that Somerfield only stocked French eggs!  So, I took things into my own hands and grew my own eggs from then on.  Somerfield at the time were bragging in their mag about how marvellous the British high street was.  I wrote to them but funnily enough they never replied   

Hi,
Whilst I agree that it is a terrible shame for yet another farmer to go out of business I feel I have to defend the feed prices.  Arable farmers are struggling too and the price rise in feed needs to reflect this.  Wheat prices are only just coming up to being on a par with what they were over 10 years ago and yet with the rise in inflation production costs have gone up hugely. 
The real problem, yet again, in all of this is the British public for not being prepared to shop fairly and wisely.  I would like to blame the supermarkets and also feel that the government should take a much stronger stance in protecting the heritage of farming within the UK but it really is down to shoppers.  Whilst we as the British public are always trying to find the cheapest deal, we are risking the livelihoods of even more farmers and the future of British farming.  I understand that we don't all have incomes to be frivolous with but our priorities have changed so much in what we spend our money on that food is one of the lowest proportions of expenditure.  People who claim that they can't afford to buy higher welfare foods and reasonable prices for vegetables, etc. often have the new must have gadgets, a new plasma TV, piles of games for the game consoles and enough left over for a few bottles of wine and perhaps even some cigarettes.
So, I'm sorry that it is costing more to feed the chickens but I'm glad that feed prices are going up as it reflects a very real need to pay for what crops are worth, not what the merchants are prepared to pay for them.

Hi,
Whilst I agree that it is a terrible shame for yet another farmer to go out of business I feel I have to defend the feed prices.  Arable farmers are struggling too and the price rise in feed needs to reflect this.  Wheat prices are only just coming up to being on a par with what they were over 10 years ago and yet with the rise in inflation production costs have gone up hugely. 
The real problem, yet again, in all of this is the British public for not being prepared to shop fairly and wisely.  I would like to blame the supermarkets and also feel that the government should take a much stronger stance in protecting the heritage of farming within the UK but it really is down to shoppers.  Whilst we as the British public are always trying to find the cheapest deal, we are risking the livelihoods of even more farmers and the future of British farming.  I understand that we don't all have incomes to be frivolous with but our priorities have changed so much in what we spend our money on that food is one of the lowest proportions of expenditure.  People who claim that they can't afford to buy higher welfare foods and reasonable prices for vegetables, etc. often have the new must have gadgets, a new plasma TV, piles of games for the game consoles and enough left over for a few bottles of wine and perhaps even some cigarettes.
So, I'm sorry that it is costing more to feed the chickens but I'm glad that feed prices are going up as it reflects a very real need to pay for what crops are worth, not what the merchants are prepared to pay for them.

Though I agree with what you are saying about it ultimately being down to shoppers, these days they are being given a lot more choice because of the open trade regualtions between us, the rest of the EC and other countries. We can see this almost everywhere, not just with groceries. Just think what is left with our manufacturing industry!

I am not an expert here and somebody tell me if I am wrong, but in a supposedly animal loving country why can't we restrict the importing of eggs, meat etc from countries where perhaps welfare standards are lower than our own? Surely if there were limitations on what animal based foodstuffs could be imported then prices of our own produce would settle down.

I live in Wales and as everybody knows it has more than its own fair share of sheep but I struggle to afford Welsh lamb and usually end up with New Zealand lamb (not that I am suggesting their welfar standards are low). It just seems crazy.

Sorry for the rant!

Are you a farmer? 

My in-laws have a small farm that has been in the family for generations.  Even with the fact that they had no massive over heads they had to retire from milking several years ago due to it costing more to produce the milk than what they received for it, even without paying themselves wages for the many hours that they worked.  They currently have about 100 head of cattle which they manage as a suckler herd for beef production.  Again, there is no money in it but it keeps them busy and they couldn't dream of any other way of life.
My husband, having grown up on farms all his life, works for a medium sized arable farm.  Whilst I agree that there is terrible waste I feel it is generally unfair for the farmer to be blamed as they have a living to make and if they can earn sufficient money without having to go through the constant worry of the weather, the pests, the diseases and then not guaranteed a fair price at the end of a year of hard work then I think we can all understand why they may choose to do this. 
Just 6 years ago the farm on which my hubbie works suffered a loss of over £300,000 on potatoes alone after tying in to a contract with a well known potato product firm who then refused to take many of the loads of potatoes (claiming them to be unfit but when the same load was submitted at a different time they would be accepted, funny enough it was a year when the potato yields were very high and so there were plenty available).  He therefore ended up dumping hundreds of tonnes, not getting the money that had been promised for the production and then to cap it all off was fined over £100,000 for not meeting the contract.
The government should certainly do something, including ignoring the EU on many policies, but if buyers didn't want such cheap products there wouldn't be the demand to the supermarkets and large producers to give farmers such a raw deal.
I forget the exact calculations but bearing in mind the price of bread keeps rising and is blamed on the increased price of wheat... the average loaf contains just 7p of wheat.
 

I would love to get some of those hens! where abouts is it?