t was a cold Saturday morninglate last October and I had justcompleted the 3-hour journey toBarnard Castle. I felt good

because I was half an hour early. Itwas Chris’ birthday and for somestrange reason we were celebrating itby heading off to the RiversideStadium to watch Middlesbrough vsDerby County. Ian and Chris arelifelong ‘Boro’ fans, for their sins, andChris kindly got my ticket. There wasjust time for a quick brew, and thenIan came round all booted and readyto go. I was pre-warned that thefootball wouldn’t exactly be like Brazilin the 90s, and to be fair, two owngoals and a 1-1 draw later, theyweren’t wrong. But a greatexperience nonetheless. On the wayinto the match, walking amongst thecrowd as we got soaked, most peoplewere talking about manager TonyPulis’ tactics for the upcoming fixture,but our discussion was incubators andhow Ian and Chris use MS machinesfollowed by Brinsea Hatchmakers forhatching. Ian commented that healways waits for one batch to finishbefore setting another, despite fertilityrates. We called in at DavidNewbould’s on the way home (Tom’sDad), who made us very welcome,

but that’s for another day.

We passed some other fanciers’houses on the way to and from thematch, and Ian and Chris regaled afew tales of good times past. A mealout later that night in the local pub,courtesy of Ian, was very muchwelcomed. Chris and I had been out

earlier in the evening walking thedogs, and the conversation continuedin the pub about breeding principlesand fanciers we looked up to; it washeartily enjoyed. The next morningwas bright and would entail a tour ofthe local area in Chris’ van, followedby a very welcome fry-up kindlyprepared by Chris’ wife Regan.

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I

At Home with…

FeAture

When it came to seeing the birds, Iwas eagerly anticipating what wasahead. A field that adjoins bothproperties from behind was full ofpoultry houses, and non moreimpressive than the walk-in cabinswhich boasted heaters, extractor fans(for air quality) and an inner lining tokeep the occupants at a desirabletemperature during the cold wintermonths. On top of that, they werecoated heavily in creosote and clearlybuilt to last. Chris asked me at thatpoint whose was the best set-up I’dvisited so far, and I had to say thattheirs was definitely up there with thebest!

After looking at a couple of BlueLeghorn bantam males and females intheir respective houses, it was time tosee the Partridge and PencilledWyandotte females. When Ianopened up the shed door, it was asight to behold: some were in moult,some were shaping up nicely, somewere older birds, but collectively itmade for an enthusiast’s sight for soreeyes. Included in amongst them wasthe 2017 National Partridge &Pencilled Club winner; a Partridge henthat still looks good today.

The pair explained that they obtaineda trio of Partridge and a trio of SilverPencilled Wyandottes from GeoffParker in January 2014. They swappedthe males around and enjoyed thebenefits of sex-lined offspring fromthe Partridge male over Silver Pencilledfemales, and also made use of theoffspring from the other pen todevelop their own lines with, as theyput it, ‘their own stamp.’ Handlingthe birds, it was clear just how much

emphasis they put on depth of bodyand bone, as well as type andmarkings. They aren’t messing about,and it’s certain that they’ll be strongcompetition in those classes for futureexhibitors. Seeing how impressed Iwas, Ian remarked: “Well, if youaren’t ‘Premier League,’ thensomeone like Geoff Parker will be,and you won’t stand a chance ofcompeting for the major trophies. You have to give it your all!”

Ian & Chris MillsNow showing separately under their own names, the formidablefather-and-son team of I & C Mills needs little explanation in thePoultry Fancy. They’ve secured countless Breed Club Champions in theLeghorn Club with their esteemed White bantams as well as Blacks. Infact 15 in total to date, with 6 Reserves. They are also rather keen ontheir Wheaten Carlisle Old English Game bantams, with which they’vewon 7 ‘best of colour’ awards so far at Carlisle. Talking to the duo, theycould easily fancy other varieties such as Brown Leghorns or Buff Rocks,but are very disciplined and understand the need for focus. It was,then, perhaps as much of a surprise to the pair when Ian suggestedgetting some Partridge Wyandotte bantams (Silver Pencilled too), and Iam told that these ‘relatively new additions’ are definitely the lastvarieties to be taken on. So far, they have already secured 2 Breed ClubChampions (including overall best soft feather heavy bantam at theFed) and 3 Reserves with their Wyandottes…

Ian (right) with theirPartridge hen and Chriswith a Leghorn pullet

The 2017 NationalBreed Club Champion

The Wyandottefemale shed

Inset: The 2015 Best SoftFeather Heavy winner at the Fed

By: Grant Brereton Additional Photos: Ian Mills

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don’t see that many qualityWheatens about and I’d never seenthat many together. Colour varied alittle between specimens, but manywere like peas in a pod; particularlythe lighter ones, which Ian informedme that you need to use a malewith a little colour on the breast tobreed. Their original Wheatens camefrom Cliffe Lowe in 2007, who hadalso set them up with Leghornsback in 1986. Ian added: “Once abreed arrives here, it never leaves!”

So, already impressed by what I’dseen, I knew that I hadn’t yet takena gander at the variety Ian and Chrisare best known for: their WhiteLeghorn bantams! We headedacross to a stone purpose-builtoutbuilding which comprised of 3

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integrating sections. In these werehoused older breeding Black andWhite Leghorn hens, followed by amind-blowing pen of White pulletslocated at the end. These hadeverything: a calm demeanour, brightwhite plumage, good yellow legs andeye colour, and very desirable typeand overall conformation. They werevery happy for all 3 of us to be intheir presence and had clearly beenhandled, but as Chris put it ‘havebeen bred and selected to be calmand friendly.’ Ian pointed out theimportance of wattles being of equallength and said that they don’thesitate to wash a bird twice if sorequired, and no blowdrying!… theydry each bird with a towel and leavethem to finish off naturally in a warmbox overnight.

I was warned about the next shed wewould come to - which was equal insize and situated right next to theone we’d just viewed. This shedhoused the many Wheaten OldEnglish Game bantam females andapparently ‘they all fly out and youhave to get out of the way.’ I don’tthink I quite realised just howenergetic they all would be - as Iducked to get out of the way of theflying stampede… I was warned!

According to Ian and Chris, the OEGdon’t much bother or mix with thePartridge and Pencilled females, buthave ample room to do their ownthing. Being an admirer of theWheaten colour, especially acontrasting trio, I could see manybirds that I’d have taken home. You

The Wheaten shed,with occasional White

2 Wheaten OEG in the paddock

Wheatens andWhites out on grass

1 Club Trophies won in 2011 2 National & Federation 2017 Class-winning White Pullet 3 National First White Pullet 2011 4 Chris assessing the 2018-bred White Pullets 5 National and Federation Class-winning Black Pullet 6 Shaping up nicely 7 A pen of quality 8 The purpose-built (by Ian) Leghorn building 9 2010 Nat & Fed Champion Light Breed

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Next stop was the Black Leghorncock-breeding females in pens in aseparate paddock. The duo explainedthat surplus of these go to familymembers for layers, being particularlyhard to get hold of, so ‘back up’ ifand when required. Many of thesefemales had straight combs, asexpected, but Ian pointed out thedensity of their tail cushion/covertfeathers which had a big impact ontheir corresponding sons. “To double-mate properly, you have to look atevery aspect of the fowl, and not justthe obvious points like plumage orheadgear.” I was in completeagreement. To further our discussion,Ian showed me an older BlackLeghorn exhibition male that haddone well at the shows. He was veryimpressive in terms of headgear, type,and tail conformation, but most of allfor me was the dark under-colour allthe way to the skin whilst not a traceof dark pigment in the legs. “Aye, ittook me 15 years to create my ownline of these,” said Ian. “They havebeen a complete labour of love andquite a bit of trial and error to getright!” How nice it was to see themat this finished stage. And this was

compounded by the fact Ian hadmade great progress a few yearsearlier, only for next door’s dog tocome and put paid to the project, andhaving to go back to the drawingboard. As a response, Ian put up aperimeter fence that would ensure nosuch disasters could happen in future.

One thing I picked up on was thatevery bird on site balances perfectly inyour hand, which is yet anotherfeature that Ian and Chris breed andselect for. They don’t rock back andforth, despite removing yoursupporting hand, and they don’t flaptheir wings in panic; no, they just sitthere assured and perfectly happy inyour hand. Not every breeder, yourstruly included, can lay claim to that.This point was noted when I washandling a Black Leghorn male andthen the conversation came round tostrains and why some people feel theneed to outcross when perhaps it isn’talways necessary. Ian said: “You hearfanciers saying that such and suchoutcross ruined their strain, but I havenever understood that one! If youabsolutely have to outcross, then youdon’t leave anything to chance. You

always keep your own strain separate,so that if the outcross doesn’t work,then no harm is done. And when youdo outcross, it should be selectedwith great care and attention to itshistory. Then there’s a process ofsetting, so far as possible, theoutcross’ attribute while graduallybringing back your own strain’sfeatures so that eventually the traityou brought in is visible and anyundesirable qualities are bred out. Weare sticklers for detail!”

Having kept Leghorns personally formany years, I raised the point thatolder birds can look quite different interms of weight and conditioncompared to the current year’s crop.Both gents agreed, saying thatLeghorns are absolutely a 1-year showbreed. As we discussed this, we werelooking at an older White male whohad white pigment running from theearlobe into his face, and wassomewhat ravaged by the passage oftime. “See that bird,” said Chris… “IfI could only rescue one bird from anytype of disaster then it would be him.And most people would think we’remad for making such a statement,

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but they would think very differentlyif they could see the sheer number ofquality daughters he’s bred; many ofwhom are prize winners at top level.So looks can be very deceiving!”

Next up were three very tidy PartridgeWyandotte pullets that Chris had setaside as serious show contenders. Buthe was a little unnerved by onefemale’s slight curl to the feather andpredicted that she could be headinginto a moult. He later informed methat this was the case, but he stillwon both Partridge (hen and pullet)

classes at the National. We thenheaded off to see the PartridgeWyandotte pullet-breeding males,which looked a sturdy bunch, andassessed the few Wheaten OEGmales, noting the difference in breastcolour according to show- or pullet-breeding attributes.

Chris, as many people will know, is aself-employed mole catcher, and Ian isa self-employed electrician. It is clearimmediately on visiting them thatthey either approach somethingprofessionally or they simply don’t

bother. I felt very privileged to beinvited, and Chris’ lounge proudlydisplays a few of their past bigwinners mounted and framed on thewall. There is also a very nice oilpainting of a pair of Wheaten OEG onhis kitchen wall. Will Chris’ childrenOscar and Niamh follow in hisfootsteps? Time will tell, but hecertainly isn’t discouraging it andthere is a heartwarming pic of Oscarat the top of the stairs holding aWheaten pullet. So potentially 3generations of poultry fanciers in onefamily - great stuff!

A bird in the hand... balances perfectly!

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1 Partridge Wyandote pullets (2018-bred ) 2 Pullet-breeding males (2018-bred) 3 One of the Wheaten OEG males 4 Chris Jones' commissioned piece of their winners 5 The oil painting on Chris' kitchen wall

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Inside the penning room

Stafford 2014 Champion Leghorn Inset: A Wheaten Pullet showing good shoulders and style