Why not join the fold?

Poultry-keeping is going full circle as the many benefits of traditional methods, such as ‘folding’ poultry on grassland and in stubble fields after harvest, are once again appreciated, says Jeremy Hobson

- Jeremy Hobson

Long thought to be the domain of the farmer’s wife, it wasn’t until the early 20th century that chicken-keeping was considered a profitable agricultural concern. John Grimbaldeston, author of The Farmer and The Hen: A Lancashire Love Story, and part-time curator of the Fylde Country Life Museum at Fleetwood, says that his research shows that it wasn’t until around then that experts began to suggest “hens could be combined with other products: about 100 per acre on pasture used for grazing stock; 200 per acre on orchards” and that “fruit and hens were believed to be a profitable combination…”.

In his book, British Poultry Husbandry – Its Evolution and History, published in 1930, Sir Edward Brown commented on the financial practicalities of poultry — in particular chickens — around the farm and noted that: “No other crop or stock need be displaced, and they can be kept on pasture, arable land or orchard; they can also obtain much of their food themselves, and houses and other equipment can be basic … [and] returns are good for very little output.”