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Combined Meat and Egg Chicken Course £115

This course is exactly what it says in that the Chicken Keeper Course is in the morning, followed by the Kill, Pluck, Gut and Bone course in the afternoon. The morning course will start at 9.30am with breakfast and finish around 1pm. The afternoon course will start at 2.30pm, leaving ample time to enjoy lunch at one of the many local establishments.The afternoon meat chickens course will finish about 4.30pm.

The Chicken Keeper course is aimed at anyone wanting to keep chickens for the first time and will give you the confidence to start on a very rewarding hobby. With simple and thoughtful care your chickens will be a pleasure to keep, with the wonderful bonus of all those delicious eggs. Even if you have kept some hens for a while you will also benefit from the course as it provides helpful tips on making hen keeping easier and answers to those questions which inevitably crop up.

The course runs for 3 hours with a maximum of 6 people to ensure that it is tailored to each delegate’s needs. You will be inspired to picture your set up at home and be given the confidence to go shopping for hen houses, or indeed build your own, in the secure knowledge that you know what to look for and how to plan your exciting new hobby. You will enjoy meeting other people with the same excitement in keeping chickens and previous delegates have made some firm friends on the course!

The objective of the course is to provide you with all the information you need to keep your chickens happy and healthy. It is a practical course and discussion is actively encouraged! Keeping a few chickens can be the first step towards self-sufficiency and those delicious eggs will encourage you further!

The following topics are covered:

• Housing
• Predators and Pests
• The Best Chickens for You
• Meat Chickens
• Getting Home
• Feeding and Routine
• Eggs, to include selling eggs
• Children & Chickens
• Health Check
• Problem Solving

Our day will start at 9.30am with an eggy breakfast and a chat about the course to come. If you had doubts before coming, fresh tasty eggs will do the trick. We then have a practical look at housing outside, reinforced by an informal and friendly classroom session. That is followed by a practical session on wing clipping, applying louse powder and how to handle a hen close up. After a break for a drink and home made lemon curd tarts, the session closes on hen health and lots of information on eggs and egg formation. If you have any queries or problems after the course you can phone or email Alison and she will research the answer if she doesn’t know it on the spot.

After a break for lunch the Kill, Pluck, Gut and Bone Course will start at 2.30pm.

If you have raised meat chickens, or are thinking of raising them, then this course is an absolute must. Participants take home one chicken ready to cook and eat and a second to finish preparing a few days later. The course is relaxed, informal and friendly.

You will be taught to kill a chicken quickly and humanely in a way that you will be able to use easily at home. Killing a chicken does not require strength and the technique is easily learnt. If you are at all worried about killing a chicken, this is the place to do it where there is expert help on hand to explain the technique clearly before you have a go. You are then helped individually when it is your turn. You will then be shown how to pluck the bird and then that chicken is put aside for you to take home. This is followed by a 'Blue Peter' moment where 'one we have already killed and plucked' is produced. You will gut and bone the previously prepared chicken as it is difficult to work on a freshly killed chicken. You take home the boned chicken ready to stuff and roll, together with your freshly killed and plucked chicken and instructions on how to prepare it at home. Gutting and boning at home (with the instructions) will reinforce what you have learnt on the day. Remember to plan the stuffing for the chicken you take home on the day and be prepared for a feast!

It takes about an hour to pluck a chicken carefully, despite what you read in magazines! The course start finishes around 4.30pm.

The cost of the course is £115, to include breakfast, a book and two meat chickens.You don't need to bring anything with you except a pair of wellies or old shoes that don’t mind mud. Further people from the same household will only be £80 each as you will only need one book and the meat chicken course will be shared, with only one doing the killing.

The next course dates are on the right hand side.

Email us from the Contact tab below to check availability and book your place. If you are on the Smallholding Skills website you can book online using the link under the course date on the right hand side. If you aren't on the Smallholding Skills website, but want to book online, click on the link and it will take you to the booking page.

Smallholding Skills

We very much look forward to seeing you on a course soon.