17/11/2025
What the APHA housing order really means for our resident birds and the new reality they face:
At Ferne, we pride ourselves on giving our resident animals as much freedom as possible to choose how they spend their day. But, with a housing order now in place, our birds can no longer free range as they normally do.
Even with our fully roofed runs and strict biosecurity - disinfectant foot mats, controlled access, and constant care - their world suddenly becomes smaller.
The wider impact of restricting movement 💔
On the day the order came in, we faced a heartbreaking decision: letting two of our elderly, arthritic geese go. A Winter of restricted movement would have been unbearably hard for them, and sometimes kindness means saying goodbye.
For the rest of our flock, it will be a long, enclosed season of adaptation, changes, upturned routines and no pond time. We’re preparing as much enrichment as we can, but for one special resident little Pendleton - our call duck who was hatched by a chicken, raised by chickens, and absolutely believes he is a chicken - the change has already caused confusion.
Every morning after breakfast he would waddle straight off to find his chicken friends and spend the day with them. Now, with species kept separate, he’s not able to visit them at all. We can’t speak for how the chickens feel about his sudden absence, but we can see that Pendleton certainly feels it.
Housing orders safeguard our birds, yet they leave also them confused and unsure why the freedom they’re so used to has suddenly gone.
Here is a little video of the ducks in their enclosure and our eldest cockerel Mojo enjoying a bit of apple enrichment time with his flock! (Apples kindly donated).
