Old Leckie Farm

Discover the heart of Scottish Farming

Welcome to Old Leckie Farm. Nestled beneath the Gargunnock Hills, 7 miles west of Stirling, Old Leckie is surrounded by lush grass and age old trees and has been run by our family for over 100 years. A small 300 acre family farm we're proud to care sustainably for our animals and our environment so that we can grow the very best in fresh, local produce.

You can buy our award winning free range eggs, grass fed meat and homegrown veg through our online shop. If you're lucky enough to live locally we offer a weekly free home delivery service, or for those of you further afield we can courier our popular meat boxes all over the UK. 

If you'd like to visit the farm then check out our 5 star farmstay accommodation for availability or get in touch to plan your own personal farm experience...

Interested to see the farm?  
Check out our short 60 second video below or why not sit back with a cuppa and join our 30 minute virtual farm tour on Go Rural Scotland 

Want some inbox love?

Subscribe to our Newsletter!

* indicates required

Old Leckie Farm Blog

By Alison Younger 25 Mar, 2024
I'm not quite sure where March has gone, but with an early Easter here we are with only a few days left before the schools break off. With lambing about to start, and holidays imminent, this week will pass in a blur. With a quiet moment then I need to highlight a couple of things for our regular customers over next few weeks: Holidays - please don't forget to let us know if you are away. I'm disappearing myself to collect Katie from her overseas study term so Hilary will be holding the fort with orders. She will be in every Tuesday dealing with paperwork so as much notice as possible would be very much appreciated for any amendments or additional meat orders Sizing - Most of the time we are able to supply a good mix of sizes, but sometimes, like now when we have young hens just starting to lay we will have more medium available, and sometimes very few, and vice-versa with Larges and XL’s. This is part of the natural growth cycle of our Leckie Layers. Leckie Layers start laying your award winning eggs at about 5 months old. To begin with these are very small “pullet” eggs, they might be little but taste amazing. As they continue to grow their eggs become bigger and we get Medium eggs, then bigger still as they begin to lay Large ones. As they approach their 1 st birthday eggs start to get even bigger and we get quite a few XL eggs. So, for the next few weeks if you are a regular Large or XL customer you may find you only get mediums delivered. This will just be a temporary change to your regular order and we will get you back to size as soon as we can. On the plus side our young hens lay the most amazing quality shells so they should perform well in any easter egg rolling activity! Hope you all have a fabulous Easter and may your eggs be both Leckie Layer's and chocolate!
By Alison Younger 25 Jan, 2024
As the end of January rapidly approaches I wonder how many new years' resolutions are still standing? If you started the year emboldened to shop more locally, perhaps eat less meat (but better quality) then you'll be delighted our first meat boxes of 2024 are here! Even better if you order by end of day Sunday 28th January you'll get a 10% discount. Jam packed with fabulous quality meat, produced from our family farm we have both outdoor reared pork and grass finished native beef boxes scheduled: Outdoor Pork: w/c 5 Feb February Grass Fed Native Beef: w/c 26 February With a mix of box sizes available our chilled meat is expertly butchered and packed all ready for your freezer. With UK courier options it's the best value way to buy meat from us, wherever you are! We're always happy to butcher to order and can usually accommodate requests for gluten free sausages and burgers too. If you have a special request just let us know. Discount will automatically be applied at check out.
By Alison Younger 14 Jan, 2024
As the first sliver of the new moon rose above the tree line last night I was thinking about what a wonder the night time sky has been this last week. Yes, the days with their beautiful blue skies and cold crisp temperatures have been lovely, but the nights? They have been something else. We are blessed here to have dark skies with little artificial light pollution, so on a clear night the trees provide their own silhouettes. Last night we had an unwelcome call out of deep slumber thanks to an escaped pig. As you might imagine there was much huffing and puffing as we got dressed to head out. It all felt worth it to realise Orion was right there, hanging low above the steading. We've had plenty of dark o'clock activity this week as we get ready for the hen changeovers. The larger house was collected up in the early hours of yesterday morning. Our strategy of red head lamps and darkness worked a treat, letting us move quietly about the hens who were still sleepy and roosting . I wasn't sure how long it would take to get all 825 of them into cases to be re-homed. It's surprising what 4 people looking forward to breakfast can do in 2 hours! The hens however aren't the only part of the team shipping out. Next weekend sees our eldest heading off to study in New Zealand for a term. An amazing opportunity to have an adventure of a lifetime, but as the departure day gets closer my motherly nerves feel a bit more frayed. It seems odd that she wont see the same night sky as us for a few months - but it won't stop me looking up.
By Alison Younger 07 Jan, 2024
The tree is down, the tinsel packed away and the school clothes washed and ready for a return to timetables tomorrow. The kids may be reluctant to say goodbye to the festive sparkle but there is, from my tired kitchen at least, a hint of relief that normal operations are soon to be restored. I am a Monday morning sort of person, excited about the opportunity the week will bring to crack on and get things done. A New Year is then a bit like a Monday and I'm keen to get going. Top of the list is the retirement of our current Leckie Layers. Our chooks have been with us now since Autumn 2022 laying their fabulous eggs and keeping us all topped up with essential proteins. In full production mode our hens lay a large egg most days - at 70g this represents about 5% of their bodyweight. It's the equivalent of you or I growing an arm every 24 hours. So at this stage they are also feeling a bit like my post Xmas fatigue. They start to lay a bit less, and their shells become thinner and more brittle. As in previous years we are really pleased to work with the British Hen Welfare Trust . These guys are great as they help us find new homes for our ladies, so for the next couple of weekends you can think of us out in the hen houses in the wee small hours, head torches set to red lamps, so that we may quietly (and without stress) catch them up to send them off to backyard runs and gardens. What follows is then a full on assault on the buildings themselves as they are stripped down, washed and disinfected ready for the arrival of the new flocks the next week. The 16 week old pullets will arrive and get settled in before they come into maturity and start laying their own eggs at about 21 weeks old. And so where will our eggs come from whilst all this is going on? Corrie Mains Eggs are an award winning family egg producer, based in Ayrshire. They have a great set up and similar quality and, as in previous years, are able to provide an alternate supply over this changeover period. So from now until March and our new hens are laying it will be their eggs in our boxes. Without this partnership we would need to operate a third house and essentially over produce eggs all year round to deal with this short changeover period. So with our low waste policy it works great for us, and we thank you for your patience and support as we welcome our new hens. And as for the rest of the year? We hope 2024 is both a kind and tasty one for everyone - we're certainly looking forward to continuing to supply the very best in local produce to you and your family.
By Alison Younger 12 Dec, 2023
For those of you who have got some speciality meat on order for Christmas - you are in for a real treat. Graham the Butcher is making his way through orders for rib roasts, rolled sirloins, smoked and cured gammons and boy do they look good! If you missed out this time, or if you're sticking with Turkey, then the good news is you can still add some Old Leckie tastiness to your festive feast. All the trimmings now available to order for delivery or pick up next week: - Traditional Stuffing : Chestnut / Sage and Onion - Pork Chipolatas - Streaky Bacon - smoked or unsmoked It's not too late either to order a delicious grass fed beef Topside or Silverside roasting joint, or a large outdoor reared pork shoulder to share with friends and family. If you're looking for some seasonal, locally grown veg to finish off your plate look no further than Upper Ballaird Farm. These guys are located just West of Buchlyvie and if you're interested in how to regularly source local vegetables and flowers read on at the end of the Nwwsletter for more info. Christmas and New Year are kindly avoiding our main delivery days this year, so it's only our Blairdrummond / Sommers Lane Monday customers effected. We will get these out to you a few days early on Friday 22nd and 29th to make sure you are well stocked. If you're looking for extra eggs, or are heading away and need to cancel, just let us know.
By Alison Younger 20 Nov, 2023
The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.
By Alison Younger 08 Nov, 2023
Order your festive meat now - limited stocks to email to reserve: info@oldleckie.co.uk
By Alison Younger 08 Nov, 2023
Here at the farm we do try to let our animals do their thing and not get involved unless we have to. New calves get a quick check and iodine on their tummy button to prevent infection - and the same with lambs. For both we spend time making sure they have suckled - but usually from a distance. Like a litter of puppies a mound of piglets is hard to walk past. Even harder to resist the temptation to pick one up and snuffle into its silky tummy. What's surprising when you do is just how much muscle and strength they have even when really little. They can be hard to hang onto, and when coupled with their high pitch alert squeal the reality is never quite as good as what you imagine. But it doesn't stop me from taking the chance in the futile hope one will one day just coorie in and snuggle up for a while. It doesn't take long for them to grow, and before you know it you've got no chance. The tear-aways that are in front of my mother in laws house are now about 3 months old. Still hanging out with their own mum they don't miss an opportunity to break out onto her lawn and wreak havoc. Today's routines started off with a call to get them back into their pen, and whilst we tried to navigate them round gate and under fence their enthusiasm for breakfast was evident in their attempts to eat my wellies, waterproofs and have a good old nibble on my calf. Any thoughts of picking them up for a snuggle were long gone as I yelled for Fergus to get the feed bucket out asap to distract these teenage equivalents. As you might imagine he found the whole thing pretty hilarious and was in no rush. That's 25 years together for you. Elsewhere it's been a busy old week on the farm - we welcomed a bunch of Swiss farmers for a farm visit, have spent a lot of time prepping wood stores for the next month and this weekend Fergus and the girls got all the Tups (male sheep) sorted and put out with all the ewes. The female sheep have a 17 day fertility cycle so they will stay out with the ladies for 34 days - giving everything 2 chances to get pregnant. With their gestation period at just under 5 months the hope is that they wont arrive much before the spring grass is starting to grow in early April. If you're walking through the farm then keep an eye out for them strutting around - they are usually easy to spot!
By Alison Younger 29 Oct, 2023
Lots of joyful news from the farm this week with plenty of new arrivals. Our Tamworth sow is now the proud mum of 7 wee piglets, born steamy on a thick bed of straw during the wee small hours of Thursday night. In the cattle sheds the first two autumn calves appeared and out in the fields 2 of the highlanders have also had successful calvings. If you are walking along through the farm you'll find the field of highlanders to the western end of the track - well worth a look to spot these two cuties. At this time of year the cow cam in the sheds becomes invaluable. We can access it via our phones from anywhere and it's a great way to keep an eye on the pregnant mums without disturbing them. Our only slight problem at the moment is the wool bags from our summer sheep shearing have still be collected by the wool depot. Stacked on a trailer in the middle of the feed ramp it was a case of sods law that both were born in a spot blocked from view by the towering stack. Chasing the depot has just been bumped up the to do list. The house this morning has been a hive of seasonal activities. Whilst I write the kids have been carving pumpkins grown by Fergus down in our (wild) veggie patch. The Christmas cake is slowly baking in the oven - an annual tradition to get it made before the end of October so I can feed it masses of brandy before we ice and eat it. The smells of nutmeg and all spice have turned my attention to the festive season that will descend on us as soon as Halloween is over. For the first time this year we may be able to access butchery in the run up to Christmas and Graham the butcher has been whetting my appetite with tales of sweet cured ham joints and streaky bacon. Watch out for our Christmas order list - we will have a limited number of cured (uncooked) hams available to order, alongside some choice grass fed native beef specials. So if you're looking for a special something let me know as soon as you can.
By Alison Younger 29 Oct, 2023
The problem with missing a week or two of newsletters is that it can feel a bit overwhelming working out where to pick up. The last one was sent out as I sat at the airport about to fly to Tuscany for aa study trip to learn first hand about how the Italians do Agritourism (extremely well). Since then we've had floods (all animals accounted for), winds (patched the polytunnel just in time) and hosted various visits on the farm (Steading courtyard never looked cleaner). The cattle have come into the sheds for winter (cue morning routines of feeding and bedding) and the sheep have been dosed and sorted (getting ready for tupping). The darker nights make it easier for getting the chooks shut in (they naturally gravitate to the lights of the henhouse as dusk falls) and the TV in the house has been dusted off for our annual viewing season (October - February). I like autumn. I like the rusting leaves and the depth of colour they give to our beautiful trees. I like the low light that pierces through the woods highlighting features that you normally pay no attention to. I like the shortening daylight hours which welcome you with colourful sunrises and reward you with reflective sunsets. I love that I get to do a job that lets me feel the turn of the season and turn myself towards it too. We've had lots of beef, pork and lamb back from the butcher so the freezers are full and stocks updated on the online shop. Our next beef boxes are due out next weekend / start of week after - have a couple still available so if you want one let us know asap.
More Posts

Join us on Instagram

Share by: