Fernleigh Free-Range was established in 2006 by Fiona Chambers.  Having operated a certified organic vegetable farm at Daylesford with Nicholas since 1990, the brand name of Fernleigh was already well known. Accordingly, Fernleigh Free-Range was an obvious name for the pioneering meat enterprise that grew from our early specialisation in Wessex Saddleback pigs and Shropshire Sheep dating back to the mid 1990’s.

Since relocating away from Fernleigh Organic Farm in 2013, Fernleigh Free-Range is no longer able to source certified organic rare breed pigs.

What continues to set Fernleigh Free-Range apart from other free range pork businesses is;

• Our strong belief in the need to conserve rare breeds of farm livestock to secure the biodiversity of our food and hense the resilience of our food production systems.
• Our commitment to pure bred livestock – you will always get a pure-bred heritage breed when you buy Fernleigh Free-range meats. Cross-breeding gives faster growth rates but it does not help to secure the global gene pool. When you buy “heritage meats” always ask if it is guaranteed to be a pure breed.
• Our commitment to pedigree recording and the registering of stud livestock to encourage and enable strategic breeding decisions and the benchmarking of performance.
• Our commitment to supporting genuine free range production systems where the animals are free to roam for the entirity of their lives (not just the first few weeks as is the case with pigs that are “bred free-range”)
• Our commitment to independant auditing and free range accreditation to ensure compliance with the national free range standards.
• Our commitment to the highest animal welfare standards where the animal is central to the definition of animal welfare and the animals’ enrichment needs are the driver of the production practices.
• Our belief that all animals should to be free to exhibit their innate behaviours.
• Fernleigh Free-Range DOES NOT SUPPORT:

X Nose-ringing

X Teeth clipping

X Tail cutting

X The use of farrowing crates

X The use of sow stalls