Has anyone been to storrs poultry in Barnsley?

[PamperedPets]

Just wondering if anyones been and what you thought. Thanks

[Priorylady]

Storrs at Penistone? I bought a couple of chickens there last spring. The road to it was like driving on the moon!! made sheffield potholes look amateur. The individual barns where the chooks were houses had very clean floors. The birds all looked healthy and the 2 I bought have been great.I would go back for more if I needed any

[iamwoody]

I'll second that I've had chickens for years and the ones from storrs are amongst the best but fetch them in a four wheel drive

[PamperedPets]

I went up last week for some birds and it was horrific. Very cramped and dark living conditions, birds pecked completely bare of feathers all bloody skin and looking like they're dying. No signs of food around and the birds were skinny with empty crops. Spoke to a few friends and they've all said they've been in the past and its been really bad and they haven't been back

[Chez2]

I have had concerns about Storrs after going to buy ducks at Penistone show some years ago. It was a sweltering hot day and the ducks were in a small wire pen without shade or drinking water.

 

Having said that, growers do peck each other bare and can draw blood. I have had this problem once they reach about three weeks old. They peck the new feathers that are emerging out of interest or boredom. They need an awful lot of space to prevent this but still often do it when they have sufficient space. They need some method of distraction to stop this. I usually put a red apple in with mine and large chunks of polystyrene for them to peck at and play with. If any of them get pecked you have to spray with purple to cover the blood otherwise they can kill each other.

 

This is quite normal, ask any experienced poultry breeder.

 

I would also like to add that young birds are usually very skinny as are the mature gingery hybrids. Its only meat birds which have a lot of weight on. You should be able to feel the breastbone and bones either side of their vent quite easily. You can tell if a bird is in lay, coming into lay or not close to laying by feeling the distance between these bones.

 

Article on feather pecking

http://www.organicvet.co.uk/Poultryweb/disease/feath/feath1.htm

Edited January 19, 2016 by Chez2
link to feather pecking

[Priorylady]

the chooks I bought had space, they were sods to catch all the birds looked really healthy when I was there

[PamperedPets]

Yes I'm aware of all of that having owned poultry for a while now and being a breeder of quality Brahma and mixed breed chooks I know exactly how birds should be housed/fed/looked after and none of my growers have ever pecked each other because I provide ample space and boredom busters like you yourself do, but these conditions were not just bad (I've seen bad) They were horrific. No decent poultry place should keep their birds in such cramped, dark and filthy conditions. At least 100 quail in a 1metre square pen. There was a dog there with a bad leg, in so much pain it could barely stand to walk and the stone outhouse it lived in was wet, full of big holes and freezing. It would have had better shelter sleeping under a car.

 

I spoke to a few friends who are also poultry breeders when I got home and they all told me they'd been up there and were shocked by what they saw. Wish I'd known this before I went! I called the council who said defra have been out several times and told them to get the place cleaned up and sorted out. But it seems nothing been done about it. It might be worth having a wander up there and seeing for yourself what I mean. It's not the coops that you can see as you approach that are the problem. It's in the sheds that are closed off where things are really awful.

 

 

 

 

I have had concerns about Storrs after going to buy ducks at Penistone show some years ago. It was a sweltering hot day and the ducks were in a small wire pen without shade or drinking water.

 

Having said that, growers do peck each other bare and can draw blood. I have had this problem once they reach about three weeks old. They peck the new feathers that are emerging out of interest or boredom. They need an awful lot of space to prevent this but still often do it when they have sufficient space. They need some method of distraction to stop this. I usually put a red apple in with mine and large chunks of polystyrene for them to peck at and play with. If any of them get pecked you have to spray with purple to cover the blood otherwise they can kill each other.

 

This is quite normal, ask any experienced poultry breeder.

 

I would also like to add that young birds are usually very skinny as are the mature gingery hybrids. Its only meat birds which have a lot of weight on. You should be able to feel the breastbone and bones either side of their vent quite easily. You can tell if a bird is in lay, coming into lay or not close to laying by feeling the distance between these bones.

 

Article on feather pecking

http://www.organicvet.co.uk/Poultryweb/disease/feath/feath1.htm