Cheerful chooks make better eggs
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NOVEMBER 2016 | Joanne Eisemann
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PEOPLE WANTING to be sure their eggs come from a farm operating with high standards of hen welfare, may soon be asking the question “Are your eggs pastured?”
In a move to separate themselves from the new national standard for free range eggs, smaller producers using mobile hen shelters to move their hens regularly to new pasture, are beginning to market their eggs as ‘pastured’ rather than ‘free range’.
The national standard adopted earlier this year, allows for 10,000 birds per hectare and meaningful regular access to an outdoor range, but as Nan Tubb of Meander Free Range Eggs comments “What does that mean? Its meaningless really, they are still in barns, they put the food inside and they put in a little door for them to go outside into a dustbowl.”
Nan, with her husband Danny, have been producing pastured free range eggs on their 58 hectare property near Mole Creek since their move to Tasmania four years ago.
They came with a plan to grow eggs as part of an integrated pasture management system that involves chooks, cows and sheep.
“Ideally, the cattle eat the grass when it’s long, the sheep follow and mow it down some more, followed by the chooks who then clean up the bugs, spread the animal manures and fertilise the area,” explains Danny.
Their plan has been a little thwarted by the need to keep the chooks fairly close to the house to protect them from eagles, but the recent introduction of roosters into the flock who warn the hens of an impending eagle attack seems to be working well.
For Nan and Danny, their birds’ ability to live a natural and happy life is of prime importance.
“As a fun thing we call it ‘the happy chook farm’” says Danny “because we try to make the chooks happy and let them live as close as they can to their natural environment.”
Currently they run 400 ‘Australorps’, a hardy docile Australian breed that don’t lay as prolifically as the commercial ‘Hyline’, but produce for longer.
Not wanting to get “too big” they intend to increase their flock over time to a maximum of 600 layers.
New birds were once purchased from a hatchery at Wynyard at ‘point of lay’ (16 weeks old) and would start producing almost immediately, but the closure of that business has meant bringing chickens in from Queensland as ‘day olds’ and raising them to production age on farm.
Pasture and grubs are supplemented with a high protein feed made in Railton.
“We don’t use anything artificial, so we don’t use artificial lighting in the winter to stretch the day out so they lay more, its not fair on the chook” explains Nan.
Natural methods of mite and parasite control including apple cider vinegar and garlic are employed.
Nan cleans, grades, stamps and packs all the eggs by hand and spends a couple of days per week delivering the eggs to outlets in Launceston (Alps & Amici on Abbott Street, Earthy Eats, Kingsway,) and Ulverstone Nuthouse Fruit Barn, Patrick St and attends the Cradle Coast Farmers Market 8:30 to 12:00 on Sundays.
“Our target market is to people who appreciate a good quality egg,” says Nan adding “people often tell us that our eggs taste the best.” Learn more at www.facebook.com/meanderfreerangeeggs/.
[udesign_icon_font name="fa fa-camera" color="#000000"] Mike Moores
