soy free-chemical free-pastured eggs

We believe that we are producing the best quality eggs and we will continue to add extra value when we learn of new and better ways. We study Weston A Price and have modeled our operation on Joel Salatin's methods plus help from numerous producers within Australia. We are still learning how to improve our land that goes beyond sustainability and into regeneration and nutrient dense foods.

We use organic & biodynamic methods and preparations.

• Our husbandry practice is based on a number of pastured egg farms that we were lucky enough to look at and have tried to use the best parts of all of these systems to produce the healthiest hens possible and a truly superior egg.
• We feed our hens based on a free choice system developed by Prof. Cummings (UNE) The feed available is a four grain mix, calgrit, shellgrit, dolomite, seaweed meal, lucerne and meat meal, poultry saver, apple cider vinegar tonic, molasses and any amount of green grass, herbs, forbes and fresh shoots, bugs and grasshoppers - whatever the girls find. Hens are omnivores (meaning they require food from both plant and animal origin.) Hens require approximately 17-20% protein to produce eggs on a regular basis. We do not feed soy proteins as some people choose not to eat soy products for a number of reasons, one being to remain in optimum health - read more from the Weston A Price website
• Our shed system is set up to be moved around daily, the floor is mesh so the manure falls to the pasture below, the roosts are made from timber, the laying boxes are easy to access; have astro turf instead of straw as it can harbour lice and other insects that are parasitic to the birds.
• We run Maremma dogs with the birds all the time so they protect them from foxes, snakes, eagles and hawks.

But what does 'pastured eggs' mean? What does 'free range' mean? Well, the term free range seems to be quite loose and may just be that the hen has more space than a cage she shares with a couple of other birds or she really could have access to any amount of grass and the outdoors. But we are never too sure.....(seek more information)

What do our 'pastured eggs' mean? Well, just that - but with all the freedom, diversity of grasses, insects, sunshine and a well planned diet. The hens are usually in a paddock of about 20 acres (because that is what is already set up here) and have access to that whole paddock all the time. They live in mobile sheds that are moved everyday to ensure a clean and grassy area to seek shade, dust baths and forage around. The greatest part about moving the hens around the paddocks is that they clean up the cow pats and spread that manure more evenly. Over the course of the year, 500-1000 hens have access to about 60 acres or 25 hectares. The paddocks are rotated and get good rest to recover the pastures ready for the cattle to graze.

Being farmers and being in the food business we need to know how to produce food that is nutrient dense, clean, green and energetic.

We have been educating ourselves for over 30 years on farming techniques, business management, technologies BUT do you know what it all came down to? BALANCED SOILS. Once we were confident we could balance the soil in an organic way, we were then confident we could produce nutrient dense food that can potentially increase other peoples' wellbeing. There is plenty of research to support that, animals who eat healthy pastures will produce balanced fats and proteins that are a very important part of anyone's diet. There is a large amount of research done on nutrition and how important it is to eat healthily grown food and you find out more from the www.westonaprice.org. There are books available almost anywhere, plus we read a lot of material from the book list on the Acres USA website.

We have been operating the egg enterprise for over 2 years and are seeing some good progress with our pastures. Because we move the hen house daily we distribute the manure more evenly around the paddock and also reduce the impact the hens have on the ground. We have noticed that the soil in our No: 2 Paddock is very soft underfoot. A good sign!.

This year the growth rates on our No: 2 Paddock are phenomenal and are looking forward to increasing/intensifying the impact on No:1, Cherry Tree paddocks and the old tip paddocks. We thought our pastures were pretty good two years ago, but now I can see what a good pasture looks like. (Please Note: we only use organic fertilizers on our pastures and cropping paddocks)