Our Working Farm
Life On The Farm
Heath Farm is much more than just a great place to stay. It’s a small fully working family owned farm with grounds covering 35 acres of the wonderful Sussex countryside. Once upon a time we had 9,000 free range laying hens, but now the operation is a little different, with 500 free range roasting chickens and a breeding flock of 30 Beulah Speckleface ewes.
Free Range Chickens
After many years of raising meat chickens, we have gone back to keeping free range laying hens producing eggs for sale at the gate. We have raised our layers from day old chicks and they are housed on a part of the farm which was an old pear orchard. In fact, there is still one pear tree which must be at least 70 years old and which still produces a good crop of fruit each year.
Beulah Sheep
Children will be particularly enamoured of our sheep as well as the lambs which appear in April each year. The Beulahs are great mums and their lambs are strong, feisty and full of personality. Depending on the weather our ewes will lamb outside, barely needing any intervention from us. Throughout their lives our lambs eat a completely natural diet of grass.
The other main activity is haymaking in the summer. Our hay is very important winter feed for our ewes, but it is also a commodity in constant demand from our regular customers in the local horse-owning community.
Taking Care On The Farm
We like our guests to feel welcome at all times, so we are happy for you to stroll around the farm. We must stress that, as this is a working farm, it does present its own particular hazards, so children must be supervised. In particular, we would ask you to co-operate in preventing your children from climbing on the bales of straw and hay. Of course it’s enormous fun but unfortunately it’s also very dangerous. However, there’s plenty of space to play and plenty more to see and do, especially if you’re lucky enough to visit when we have some new chicks.