Yorkshire Pasture Poultry – Holmfirth, West Yorkshire

Rebecca Robson raises Certified Animal Welfare Approved by A Greener World (AGW) meat chickens at Yorkshire Pasture Poultry, a small high-welfare chicken farm in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire.

A first-generation farmer, Rebecca left her marketing career in 2015 and found a love for farming after volunteering at a local dairy farm. She became very interested in high-welfare systems and regenerative agriculture and, after many hours of researching and self-teaching, she established Yorkshire Pasture Poultry at the end of 2020 on just one acre of overgrown grassland. Today, she raises over 500 chickens on about 9 acres and is in the process of moving the business to a nearby working farm where the chickens will graze alongside a grassfed beef cattle herd.

The seasonally reared chickens enjoy a life outdoors on pasture, where they spend their days foraging and pecking at the ground, eating insects, worms and different types of vegetation to naturally supplement their grain-based diet. Housed in secure mobile coops at night, they are moved to fresh pasture every day, ensuring they have access to young nutritious grasses and preventing the build-up of potential diseases and parasites. As they move through the fields they trample grass and their droppings provide much needed nutrients for the plants and other life. Rebecca uses slow-growing breeds of bird that are naturally excellent at foraging and ranging in an outdoor based system.

Yorkshire Pasture Poultry’s Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW chicken meat is available to pre-order and collect from several designated drop-off locations, or for local delivery in Huddersfield, Wakefield and Leeds/Bradford north, or weekly at the Food Circle Huddersfield and Food Circle York producer markets. Check the AGW directory for details.

For more information about Yorkshire Pasture Poultry, visit www.yorkshirepasturepoultry.co.uk. Follow Yorkshire Pasture Poultry on Facebook and Instagram. For more information, contact Rebecca on info@yorkshirepasturepoultry.co.uk.