Drop in lay rate

Our lay rate has dropped considerably because of shorter daylight hours - but now we hope production will start to pick up. Fewer eggs make it difficult to meet our regular orders - and means that we can't think of accepting new orders even though there is huge demand.This is the penalty for genuine free range egg farming. If we joined the majority of other egg producers we could maintain year-round production by locking our hens in climate controlled sheds with artificial lighting. But we don't think that's fair on the hens or on consumers who are prepared to pay a premium to meet the costs of genuine free range production. We get back to our old message - if you want free range eggs don't go to a supermarket because you won't find any there.