A couple who grew their small Shropshire farm into one of Britain’s leading poultry breeding centres during the last 25 years are looking forward to a well-earned rest, as they prepare to sell off their award-winning business.

Shaun Hammon with a Silver Laced Spangled Appenzeller

Shaun and Sue Hammon said they were very proud of the success of The Wernlas Collection in Onibury, near Ludlow, but that they felt it was the right time to retire.

The centre has gained international acclaim for the 15,000 rare breed chickens it produces each year and has even appeared on BBC television programmes including Countryfile and Midlands Today.

But Mr Hammon, 72, said: “After 25 years of working 350 days a year non-stop, we really just want to rest now.

“I think we have got to take one stage at a time with the sale and sort everything out, then come to terms with everything being a lot quieter.

“The million dollar question is what we’ll do in our retirement but the first thing we are planning is simply to relax.”

Choosing retirement has been a hard decision for the Hammons, who originally started the business as a hobby.

But Mr Hammon said he was pleased to be able to offer more than 500 top class chickens, including 60 different breeds, to the prospective bidders at an auction run by Nock Deighton Agricultural at the farm on Green Lane in Onibury on September 3.

He said: “Customer reaction has been lovely.

“The response has been absolutely out of this world, with lots of messages of goodwill.

“We just don’t know how the auction is going to go and it will be sad in some ways to see everything go, but there should be some interesting lots for people to buy.

“We aren’t nervous about the sale itself, but it has been a nerve-racking time leading up to actually making the decision to stop, as you don’t start a business like this without taking some degree of satisfaction from the work.”

Poultry will be sold in threes, with more than 1,800 youngsters and stock cockerels up for grabs.

Farming equipment such as feeders and incubators will also be sold.

By Danny Carden