'All my Eggs Won the First Prize'

James Buckle has been rearing chickens and selling eggs in the North York Moors since the age of eight.
Ever since I was young I have liked chickens. My grandad always used to have them and I used to help him feed them and collect eggs when I was young. Then, when he died, I took over the chickens and made the flock a bit bigger and started to sell the eggs. That was three years ago.The flock is now about 40-something: there's quite a few. I have Rhode Island Reds, which lay brown eggs; Leghorns, Lakenvelders, and a few crossed ones as well, which all lay white eggs. Then I've got Silkies, which are fluffy hens that lay bantam (smaller) eggs. I like Silkies - they have fur down their legs - but I also like the Partridge Leghorn.All of my eggs, the brown, white and bantam, won the first prize in last year's Bilsdale agricultural show.Quite a few of the chickens are old now, so not many lay eggs, but there are still about 20 eggs every day to collect. I collect them when I come back from school, or the next morning. I put the feed out in the yard, go and collect the eggs, then let the chickens out.I sell the eggs at the top of our farm gate in a little hut. There's a poster up. It's £1 for half a dozen eggs. Our house is on a footpath, so my customers are mainly walkers passing the farm.I use the money to buy the feed. With the money that's left over I buy some new chickens. Then I'm going to save up for a new hen hut. The one I have now is 60 years old. My grandad had it when he started. There's nothing wrong with it, but it'd be good to have a new one.I always wanted chickens, but when I'm older I'd like to be a sheep farmer. I would still keep my hens, but I wouldn't grow my hen business. I'd sort of have more sheep. But my hens are making that dream come true.

James' mum's scotch egg recipe

This is great fun for kids to make, because it's really hands-on. Ask your kids to shell the eggs, flatten out the sausage meat, then dunk the eggs in breadcrumbs.Makes 4
4 hard-boiled eggs
225g sausage meat
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
3 tsp chives, snipped
50g fresh white breadcrumbs, toasted
Seasoned flour, for dusting
1 egg, beaten
Black pepper
Oil1 Mix the sausage meat with the fresh herbs and season with black pepper.2 Divide the sausage meat into four portions and pat each piece out on to a floured surface to a rectangle roughly 13 x 7.5cm.3 Place the shelled hard-boiled egg in the centre of the rectangle, then gather up the sausage meat to cover the egg completely. Seal the joins and smooth into a ball.4 Coat each ball with beaten egg and then roll them in the toasted breadcrumbs.5 Heat around 4cm of oil in a frying pan until it browns a cube of bread in 40-50 seconds. Put the breaded eggs in the oil and fry for 6-8 minutes, turning frequently until they are a lovely golden brown.6 Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper. Serve either hot with tomato sauce, or cold with a green salad.James Buckle: 'I sell the eggs at the top of our farm gate in a little hut.' Photograph: Gary Calton for the Guardian