H F & J H GLOVER

Since December the 16th 1998, in addition to the farm and our equestrian shop we opened the butcher's shop.

Our cattle are all reared from our own dairy herd. The Cows and calves graze free-range in open pasture land throughout the spring, summer and autumn.During the winter months they are housed in large open straw yards, through which they are free to roam, but which give them protection during harsh weather.

The sheep are bred from our own herd and graze free-range in open pasture land throughout the year, only coming back to the farm during the months of February and March to be housed for lambing. This enables the shepherdess to give close attention to the ewes during this critical time. Once the lambs have been born and are strong and healthy, they are turned back out to pasture to run with their mothers.

The pigs are also bred from our own herds and run free-range in wooded pasture throughout the year. The sows are penned singly into outside runs with huts when they are ready to have their young, and remain with them until the piglets are old enough to be weaned.

The welfare of the animals is of paramount importance to us. The ethos of our breeding and rearing programme is that each animal should live as natural and comfortable a life as possible. To this end, no additives or hormones are fed to our animals. If any animal is unwell, they are treated naturally where possible. If it is necessary to treat any animal with antibiotics, then this is done for as short a time as possible, and then only under the strict supervision of a vet.

All feed given to our animals is mixed and ground on this farm, and made from our own home-grown cereals. A small percentage of mineral concentrates may also be added to promote optimum health in the animals.

To minimise stress to our animals, we take them from the farm in our own transport to our local abattoir, which is a small family-run business. An inspector from the Meat Hygiene Service and a ministry vet are present at all times. The carcasses are returned to the butcher's shop in a refrigerated unit the following day. The carcasses are then hung in our own refrigeration store for a minimum of 14 days to ensure that the meat is matures to full flavour and tenderness before environment in which we live.