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Giant chicken ploughed into Devon hillside
Friday 27 April 2007
Chicken farmer Mervyn Bulled has ploughed a giant chicken shape into one of his organic fields near the village of Poughill in mid-Devon.
Brushing aside speculation that he's spent too much time in the sun recently, Mr Bulled is happy to explain that he undertook the task at the request of Devon poultry company Lloyd Maunder Ltd.
It took Farmer Bulled just three hours to plough the chicken, measuring 50 meters high by 46 meters wide. The result will now be photographed for a major national advertising campaign by Lloyd Maunder promoting its new Devonshire Red range of higher welfare chicken products. The campaign will be unveiled at the Devon County Show in mid-May.
“I'm sure some neighbours might think I've gone a bit mad,” says Mr Bulled, who rears organic chickens for Lloyd Maunder at New House Farm near Poughill. “The chicken shape was a bit tricky to plough, but I enjoyed the challenge. Now I'm looking forward to seeing my handiwork on posters and buses when I'm out and about.”
To plough the chicken Mr Bulled used his late-father's competition tractor, a 1960s Nuffield, and Ransomes TX86 plough. The two were last hitched for competition five years ago. The chicken shape will have to be ploughed over at the end of this week as part of the farm's organic crop rotation.
“Mervyn's quite a ploughman in our opinion,” says Andrew Maunder, commercial director of Willand-based Lloyd Maunder. “He did a fantastic job and the result is exactly what we wanted, a giant replica of our Devonshire Red logo. It really shows off the rich redness of the Devon soil which is what the ‘Red' in our brand refers to.”
Lloyd Maunder's new Devonshire Red brand has been created for its organic and free range chicken, plus its corn fed chicken which is reared indoors to RSPCA Freedom Food standards. These three higher welfare systems currently represent 60 per cent of the company's total output. Once established, it's hoped the Devonshire Red brand will make Devon synonymous with quality chicken products.
The new Devonshire Red campaign has been devised and managed by Exeter-based RH Advertising.
More press information from Veronica Newport (for Lloyd Maunder) on 01363 866927 veronica@n-pr.co.uk.