A Week on the Estate: Bird Boxes, Giant Jack & Tree Turkeys

Kickstarter Jake planted a new black mulberry tree (Morus nigra ‘Wellington’) on the south lawn last week. In years to come, maybe Jake will be able to show a mature, fruiting mulberry tree to his kids or grandkids and say, “I planted that back in 2021”.

Ian Cordwell and Harry Marshall of Billinghay Forge were photographed hard at work by Damian Furlong. These chaps – with their ten-ton roof jack – tackled a skilled and hefty job that will keep South Ormsby Hall structurally sound for future generations.

The east-facing frontage of South Ormsby Hall dates to the 1750s and was designed in the Palladian style by influential 18th-century architect James Paine. Over time, rainwater seeped in through defects in flat areas of the roof, and the fine rococo plasterwork on the drawing room ceiling became detached from the laths.

When the ceiling was opened up and investigated, the job only got more complicated. Additional rot was found on most of the beam ends and they needed to be spliced and replaced. Once done, steel supports above the beams future-proofed the structure.

Secondary beams had become detached from principal beams in the worst-affected area and the ceiling had to be jacked up so that everything could be re-attached and the ceiling ‘sag’ corrected. With the timbers stabilised, the plasterwork will be carefully resecured to the timbers with steel pins and washers, and fine repairs made where required. Thanks to Cragg Management and all who helped with this tricky and important piece of work.

Is it a kettle of buzzards or a bevy of woodpigeons in Charlie Winship’s image of birds in a tree? It’s neither. Instead, it’s our free-range turkeys getting arboreal. Our pasture-raised Norfolk Black and Norfolk Bronze turkeys can fly passably well and occasionally take to the trees for a different view of their pasture. As we rear them to organic standards, we don’t clip their wings.

Have you ordered yours yet? As we let our birds hang to develop their deep and succulent flavour, the deadline for ordering both turkeys and chickens is 11th December for collection on 22^nd. Find out more HERE.

Finally – and sadly – avian flu is back. We’ll be adhering to official guidelines and keeping our turkeys and chickens indoors with strict biosecurity. Here’s an extract from the DEFRA guidance:

‘The Chief Veterinary Officers for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have agreed to bring in new housing measures to protect poultry and captive birds from avian influenza following a number of confirmed cases across Great Britain in recent weeks.

‘The new housing measures, which will come into force on Monday 29 November [2021], mean that it will be a legal requirement for all bird keepers across the UK to keep their birds indoors and to follow strict biosecurity measures in order to limit the spread of and eradicate the disease.’

If you’re a bird-keeper yourself, you can find more detailed guidance HERE.

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