The Farm

Farming

The farm at Auchinellan is a hill system, with 700 acres of hill and 60 acres of in-bye fields for silage and hay. We run about 300 ewes and ewe hogs all year. Lambing 230 ewes in the spring, which means that through the summer there are over 500 sheep in total. The lambs are then sold through the markets at Dalmally and Oban in August and September. This then brings us back to our base flock for the winter.

We also keep cattle. How many and what types vary according to livestock market conditions. You may meet some Dairy Shorthorns on your walks, these belong to our son. He has ambitions for a small scale dairy unit here in the future.

There is a small flock of chickens and ducks kept on the croft here, and the eggs are available to buy at a stall on the drive. They are very free range, and you ought to see them about if you are staying anywhere other than Maida’s Cottage, which is rather set apart.

Turkeys

Here at Auchinellan we produce ’the best turkeys in the world’. Kim has produced turkeys since 1992 initially while at Auchencruive Agricultural College where he studied Poultry Husbandry. He has produced turkeys to roughly the same formula for all these years which bases their diet on barley rather than a compound feed. After finishing the birds are hung for up to 3 weeks to intensify the flavour. The method has gained them the above accolade- given by Fergus Henderson, chef and restaurateur of St Johns in London in a couple of write ups in the national press.