Chicken fencing with Wild Penwith Volunteers.

Thanks again to the Wild Penwith Volunteers, organised by Cornwall Wildlife Trust, who came to work on the farm for a day on Tuesday 22nd March, this time to begin construction of the new chicken runs. Although not strictly a "conservation" task they were keen to add fencing to their list of skills, and as always it's amazing what a team of enthusiastic people can accomplish in one day.

Strainer posts gradually working their way around the field.

Wild Penwith volunteers digging post-holes.

Since November we have had 50 chickens on the farm, who are now producing about three dozen eggs per day, and we are finding it difficult to supply the demand for them! So our plan is to have at least 100 more laying hens on the farm sometime in May, which means a lot of fencing work beforehand. Each flock needs two runs, so that they can be rotated between the two, allowing the grass in each to recover before the hens return. So we are now building fences for our current flock's second run, plus sufficient runs for two more flocks, to increase our egg production. Throughout April we will be interspersing chicken fencing sessions with vegetable bed digging sessions, so please come along and lend a hand!

Collecting stones to anchor the posts with.

Also thanks to pupils of St. Just Primary School who came down to the farm to measure out where the posts should go beforehand, as part of their maths class.