Set up your own free range farm

 Strong consumer demand for genuine free range eggs has generated a big increase in the number of people thinking about starting their own free range egg business. A good starting point is reading an eBook on starting a free range farm available from us at Freeranger Eggs. Detailed information is available about things like shed requirements, food safety, egg packaging and labelling. When deciding to set up a free range egg farm, take the time to plan it properly.With the right zoning of your land, keeping chickens may be an as-of-right use. Find out the zoning of the land and talk to your local Council planning department about their requirements. It’s also worth contacting the State Department of Agriculture. Prepare your own planning application, rather than employ a consultant.Contact us at freeranger@dcsi.net.au

Small is Best

 Demand for free range eggs is not just booming in Australia. Americans are also turning their backs on factory-farmed eggs. A report by Watt Poultry says the number of small egg farms registering with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has surged according to the FDA’s consumer safety officer,Gerardo Ramirez. On January 26 he told the United Egg Producers food safety committee that small egg farms now outnumber large operations (farms with 50,000 or more hens) by more than three to one. He said that small producers accounted for 634 of the 749 new farm registrations in 2025, representing 85% of growth in the sector.

Point of lay Isa Brown pullets available

 Until more free range farms are established, the best idea for lovers of good food is to have their own chickens. Point of lay Isa Brown chickens. 20 weeks old and fully vaccinated against all common illnesses, will be available in April at our Grantville farm for $35 each. Email or call Freeranger Eggs to place orders. Freeranger@dcsi.net.au 0356788483

The Freeranger website could be back on line

 

We are still evaluating whether or not our website freeranger.com.au will be re-instated. It has been great tool for letting people gain an insight into how a genuine free range farm operates, but as all our sales are local and customers are able to see for themselves, it could be regarded as  a needless expense for a small business.

Regular customers will be aware that our website has been invisible since our domain name was hi-jacked by someone wanting to use it to promote outdoor clothing. We notified the domain name registration body and now we may be able to reinstate our website. They have just notified us “We have investigated your complaint and determined that the domain name registration is in breach of auDA policy. As a result, the domain licence has been placed under a 30 day suspension. Following that, once a 14 day period has expired, the domain name will be permanently removed from the registry and will become available for registration.” If we go ahead and pay the registration cost, we will need to find a hosting service. We will be very wary as we have already been burned by two Internet Service Providers, Swoop Broadband and Ventra IP over this debacle. Our blog and Facebook page enabled us to maintain an on-line presence with no hosting fees.

Food security strategy

 

The Australian Government is spending $3.5 million to develop a National Food Security Strategy. It says the strategy will be developed with farmers. industry and the community and the aim is to boost the productivity, resilience and security of our food system. A National Food Council has been established to advise on the development of the strategy. Strong consumer demand for free range eggs has generated interest all over Australia in how to start a free range egg business.

A good starting point is reading the eBook on starting a free range farm available from Freeranger Eggs. Detailed information is available about things like shed requirements, food safety, egg packaging and labelling.

When deciding to set up a free range egg farm, take the time to plan it properly. Find out the zoning of the land and talk to the local Council planning department about their requirements. It’s also worth contacting the State Department of Agriculture. You can access on-line resources . Once that is sorted, talk to the Council Environmental Health Department about any specific requirements they have before getting underway. A mistake made by many people is buying everything new to set up the farm. Start off by making use of things you already have such as sheds and equipment. Buying expensive chicken caravans with automatic nest boxes and feeders will give you a crippling debt burden and endless pain – so make do with what you have until you are ready to take another step. It’s essential to choose the right type of hens. Docile birds with calm temperaments and which are prolific layers are what’s needed. We have found ISA Brown’s to be ideal. The Freeranger Eggs farm management plan takes a three pillars approach to how the farm operates. Animal welfare is one pillar, but equally important are land sustainability and food safety. Growth is not a part of our philosophy. We need to encourage people to set up more farms, not upscale existing egg businesses. We believe that will support more people working the land fairly and will ensure long-term food security. One key element for success is to limit spending, If you have a big mortgage and lease payments on vehicles and equipment, it will be hard to stay in business. Regular financial payments will be a drain on resources when there is a drop in revenue for whatever reason. Pricing will always be important if you aim to produce top quality eggs. Work out your costings and don’t try to compete on price because bigger producers will always undercut you, Academic researchers often produce theories and reports designed to demonstrate what 'free range' means in the egg industry. Celebrity chefs usually confine themselves to mistaken comments that bright yolk colour defines whether or not an egg is free range. Yolk colour varies, depending on the hen’s diet. If the yolk colour is always a bright, golden almost orange colour, the hens have almost certainly been fed colouring additives. Academic findings are usually based on carefully arranged criteria set by an organisation which funded the research and expects specific outcomes. Far better to rely on the experience of those in the industry actually running free range egg farms. Some people are fixated on the issue of animal welfare and they lose sight of matters like food safety and land sustainability. Outdoor stocking density is a key example. Academics found it easy to come up with results from research on small scale or short term projects to demonstrate that stocking densities had little or no impact on hen welfare. But it has been impossible for them to demonstrate that high densities have no detrimental impact on pasture quality, pollution of waterways, groundwater and the long term productivity of the land as a result of excessive nutrient loads. Some years ago researchers established that the maximum sustainable stocking density for poultry was 1500 hens per hectare to minimise land degredation and ensure the long-term viability of the land.

Laying hens, like most, if not all other animals, perform best when they are able to follow their natural behaviour. They clearly need shelter, food and water but they also need to wander around freely to forage, scratch, dust bathe and interact socially with others in the flock.

There is growing evidence that eggs from hens raised on pasture have nutritional benefits over the factory farm versions. To minimise transport costs and ensure fresh deliveries to customers, free range farms should be established close to townships throughout the country. freeranger@dcsi.net.au Tel 0356788483

Latest research confirms benefits from eating eggs

 Dr Mickey Rubin, Executive Director of the American Egg Board’s Egg Nutrition Center has published a report on the latest research into the health values of eggs. He says mounting evidence continues to support the role of eggs in a heart-healthy diet. A new Harvard study updates findings first published over 20 years ago, and reinforces that eating eggs is not associated with cardiovascular disease.

The latest study is a follow-up to a landmark investigation first published in 1999. which reported no relationship between egg intake and coronary heart disease or stroke in women from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) cohort and men from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS) cohort. At that time the researchers concluded that an egg a day did not impact heart disease or stroke risk.

The  study included up to 24 additional years of follow-up and extends the analysis to younger people including 83,349 women  and 42,055 men. Additionally, to compare these new findings to the extensive literature base on the topic of egg intake and cardiovascular risk, the researchers performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of 27 other published studies from the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

An important strength of this study is the use of repeated dietary assessments over the course of several decades in contrast to some observational cohorts which utilize only a single dietary measure at enrollment.

The right Balance on welfare, sustainability and food security

 

At Freeranger Eggs we completely agree with a recent article by JAN HENRIKSEN ceo of Aviagen, a world leading poultry breeding business on Balancing animal welfare, sustainability and food security. Our farm’s long-established management plan takes a three pillars approach to how the farm operates. Animal welfare is one pillar, but equally important are land sustainability, food safety and security.

Mr Henriksen wrote: To ensure that the world will continue to be fed, we must strengthen and balance the three central pillars of poultry production.

As our world population grows and resources tighten, our sector stands at the crossroads of three vital goals: protecting animal welfare, caring for the environment and strengthening our food systems.

Like the three sides of a balanced triangle, welfare, sustainability and food security hold each other up. When one weakens balance is lost. Progress means keeping all three in harmony — with welfare and sustainability at the heart of a food system that feeds people everywhere.That balance looks different across regions. Some focus on affordable food; others on environmental protection or advancing welfare. Yet the goal remains the same: building systems that are humane and resilient to feed future generations.

Good welfare isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the foundation of responsible, efficient poultry production. Healthy, well-cared-for chickens are more resilient to disease, adapt better to varied environments and perform more consistently. Welfare supports productivity and food security by reducing loss and improving livability.

The goal isn’t to choose among welfare, sustainability and security, but to recognize how each reinforces the others. When they work in harmony, we create a food system that is responsible and resilient.True resilience comes from local production.