About Amelia

Fabric to feathers…

At the age of 18 I went off to university to study Fashion Design. Yes, you read correctly, I graduated from the University Of Central Lancashire in 2017 with a first class honours degree in fashion design. I then worked in the fashion industry for 2 and half years before my dad approached me with the opportunity to live and work at our rare breed chicken farm in Lymm, Cheshire.

I’d already been working at Higher Oak Farm part time. Collecting the eggs, feeding and cleaning the chickens before and after my working day. As the farm business was growing, it became increasingly harder for me to juggle my full time day job with my part time job at the farm. 

I joined the farm as a full time employee officially in January 2020. As a child my parents had always kept chickens and I’d grown up recognising that working outside in the fresh air is vital for your mental and physical wellbeing. I was always the girl to be playing in the compost heap making a new den! I’ve always loved the outdoors, so it was an easy decision for me to make to join the family farm. 

I wasn’t quite expecting the lifestyle change that came along with working on the farm. We work in the daylight hours, which in January, isn’t very much! Moving into a small, family run business from a big corporation was a strange but a very rewarding move. I find myself working so many more hours, even when I don’t have to, just because I love it and it genuinely doesn’t feel like a job!

When I first started to help my dad out I didn’t know an awful lot about chickens. I find myself learning so many new things each day. I’ve already completed my first hatch on my own and successfully hatched 50 chicks! We’re also looking at entering some birds into the Cheshire Show Poultry competition. It’ll be the perfect opportunity for me to learn more about the breed standards and to get to know more people who have the same desire to help conserve the rare breeds.

I definitely wasn’t confident with handling birds, especially cockerels. I’d had a cockerel attack me a few years ago and it took me a long time to build up my confidence in even going in the same run as them. Now, although I’m cautious, I can pick them up, carry and even give them a health check without freaking out! I know it’s only early days for me in this job role, but it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made. I can’t wait to see what this year brings on the farm.