Smallholding experts: Meet the breeder (From Smallholder)

Smallholding experts: Meet the breeder

10:35am Wednesday 4th August 2010 in

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t was a treat to meet Colin Clark at his lovely home in Norfolk, he has been a keen enthusiast on keeping a wide variety of poultry including Old English Game, Modern Game, Orloff and Wyandotte just to mention a few, his other passion is the keeping and breeding of Belgium Hares.

The hobby started for Colin at the age of 13 and the dedication is still as strong today as it was many years ago.

He was the founder member of the Swaffham Fur and Feather society and was its acting secretary for many years.

Colin keeps his birds on a one and a half acre site that allows all his stock ample room to exercise; they are well protected in individual enclosures and electric fencing to keep out the predator’s surrounds the main areas.

He strongly recommends the birds be given plenty of freedom and fresh ground for them to thrive and grow, the space he has allows for this freedom to be available.

When I visited I was amazed at the variety of breeds being kept and the quality of the breeding, the birds are not only in excellent condition but are bred to a standard set by the poultry Club for each individual breed.

This is not surprising as Colin is one of the top judges in the country, he is classed as a panel A judge, which means that he is one of a few people who can judge the main poultry shows in the UK.

He is the chairman of the very active Norfolk Poultry Club, and helps at club shows during the year and attends the club meeting which take place on the first Monday of each month.

He is also heavily involved alongside club members for the poultry show that is held during the Royal Norfolk Show, this is a premier event that takes place in June/July on the Royal Norfolk Show Ground.

During my visit I spent some time viewing his studio were he keeps a huge selection of prints covering many subjects, there are all types of animals including some amazing prints of dog breeds, parrots, horses and wild British birds but as expected the poultry prints are the main subject covered, whatever breed you keep I am sure he will have a print of that particular breed.

Colin has been selling prints at shows all over the country for quite a number of years and is very well known for being able to obtain some quite rare special prints for the keen collector. He would be pleased to hear from you should you be interested in purchasing any prints, contact details are at the end of this article.

As you look round the house and grounds it would be hard to find a better place to view many of the best examples of poultry breeds.

The Columbian Wyandotte’s and the Orloff are some of the best I have seen, there are also a wide variety of hard feather breeds both large and bantam as well as some rare breeds including Yokohama and Sumatra both very stunning in appearance and also becoming very rare.

It is becoming more difficult to find breeders who are totally dedicated to the conservation and protection of our rare and pure breed poultry but Colin must rank as one of the top breeders in the UK.

Contact 01760 724169 for details of Colin’s prints or information on the Norfolk Poultry Club.