The people
Pheasants Hill Farm is a third generation Northern Ireland family pig farm. Alan grew up with Saddleback pigs in the farm yard, and then experienced more intensive pig farming on his father's farm in Fermanagh. He has reverted to his roots and allows his pig herd maximum freedom, fresh air, a natural life and a pig social life - the pigs are born on the farm and live all their lives in their social family groups. Julia is an expert chef and has developed the meat business, produces her own range of homemade preserves and runs our outside catering business.
All the meat, poultry and eggs we supply are produced on our own farm, or by a small band of enthusiastic Northern Ireland farmers and breeders of rare breed animals, who in the main produce only a few animals a year. We know each one of our suppliers individually, and if you wish to know, we will tell you the breed, the age and the diet of any piece of meat we supply. As these breeds are still endangered, only surplus male animals or young females who have had trouble breeding are used for producing meat, as the females are still required for breeding purposes to build up herd and flock numbers. All the meat and poultry we supply is fully outdoor reared, free-range, produced non-intensively using traditional farming methods, on small farms. The animals range freely in fields and woods, living healthy lives without the use of hormones, routine antibiotics or growth promoters. They grow naturally and slowly, producing meat that is superior in flavour and texture to that of modern commercial breeds and of intensively farmed, indoor-reared animals.
