Great interest in how to set up a free range farm

 

Anyone thinking about making a career or lifestyle change could do well to consider free range farming.

Strong consumer demand for free range eggs has created a shortage and 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 on the Freeranger Eggs website: www.freeranger.com.au . Detailed information is available about things like selecting the right breeds, shed requirements, food safety, egg packaging and labelling.

When you decide 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 your 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 you get underway. It’s not difficult as long as you have thought through your plans. 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 ISABrown’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. The maximum sustainable stocking density for poultry was established at 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.

In 1974, the British Journal of Nutrition found that pastured eggs had 50 percent more folic acid and 70 percent more vitamin B12 than eggs from factory farm hens.

In 1988, Artemis Simopoulos, co-author of The Omega Diet, found pastured eggs in Greece contained 13 times more Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids than U.S. commercial eggs. A 1998 study in Animal Feed Science and Technology found that pastured eggs had higher Omega 3 and vitamin E than eggs from caged hens.

A 1999 study by Barb Gorski at Pennsylvania State University found that eggs from pastured birds had 10 percent less fat, 34 percent less cholesterol, 40 percent more vitamin A, and four times the Omega 3 compared to the standard USDA data.

In 2003, another study at Pennsylvania State University found that pastured eggs had three times more Omega 3, 220 % more vitamin E and 62 % more vitamin A than eggs from caged hens.

26 billion chickens in the world

 The global chicken population has reached 26 billion, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. The number has almost doubled since the year 2000. Most are confined in sheds, whether for meat or egg production.

Aussie Govt may order free range farms to close

 

The Australian Government may be preparing to order the closure of many small scale free range egg farms as a knee-jerk response to further cases of avian influenza, It splurged $22 nillion to increase the national vaccine stockpile. Health Minister Mark Butler warned that there was no room for complacency, even though human infections with avian influenza were rare.

“The Australian government’s investment increases the number of pandemic flu vaccines we have in storage,” Butler said. The planning is being led by The interim Australian Centre for Disease Control which says it is focused on ensuring Australia is prepared for any potential case of H5N1 avian influenza. Despite a lack of any evidence, politicians and bureaucrats spread claims that avian influenza outbreaks start on properties where the hens are outdoors. The reality is that most of the outbreaks in Australia started on intensive businesses with hens in cages or barns. Infections are often brought in by staff returning from overseas and working multiple shifts at different locations.Chickens on low-density free range farms are generally healthier than those kept in cages or locked in barns because they have sunlight and fresh air and are not overcrowded. There will be dire consequences if politicians panic and order all hens to be locked up. It will cut production and will result in a high level of mortality through cannibalism as free range birds have full beaks and are likely to attack other if they are closely confined in large numbers.

The 'Chicken or the Egg' Scientist says the egg came first

 The question about chickens and eggs which humans have been asking almost since time began, may have finally been answered by scientists who say they’ve discovered that the egg came first.

Humans have bred chickens for at least 10,000 years ago, but one expert has spoken about the existence of eggs as being much older. Luis Villazon is a science and technology educator who trained in zoology. He says "Eggs are much older than chickens. "Dinosaurs laid eggs, the fish that first crawled out of the sea laid eggs, and the weird articulated monsters that swam in the warm shallow seas of the Cambrian Period 500 million years ago also laid eggs.”while these aren’t chicken eggs, “the egg definitely came first", he said. Mr Villazon added that the chicken as we know it today was first bred as a result of the red jungle fowl of Southeast Asia being “hyrbridised” with grey jungle fowl.

“At some point in evolutionary history when there were no chickens, two birds that were almost-but-not-quite chickens mated and laid an egg that hatched into the first chicken." Mr Villazon concluded.

Sunshine great for humans - and chickens

 scientists  confirm that eggs from chickens wandering freely outdoors  contain higher levels of Vitamin D. Research in the US from 2014 shows  that hens spending most their time outdoors produce eggs with as much as three to six times more Vitamin D than eggs from barn or caged hens. Vitamin D3 is said to support bone strength and boost the body’s immunity levels. Other nutrient levels are also higher as a result of the more natural diet. The benefits include protein, vitamin B12, vitamin B2 iodine and selenium. You’ll also find vitamin A, calcium, phosphorous, folate, biotin, choline, thiamine and pantothenic acid inside the shells. They contain beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and little damaging cholesterol.

World Egg Day on Friday

 

World Egg Day is on Friday (Oct11). It is a global celebration of the highly nutritious and delicious egg! There is no other food that provides as many nutritional benefits as nature’s powerhouse.

Since starting in Vienna in 1996, World Egg Day has been celebrated in over 40 countries around the world on the second Friday in October every year.

Another egg shortage in Australia

 Australia has a national egg shortage because slack management procedures on intensive egg production facilities allowed avian influenza to spread like wildfire, resulting in the culling of more than a million egg laying hens. Many buyers have been unable to get eggs from their usual sources, such as supermakets, so they turn to small producers like us without understanding that we can’t quickly ramp up production just because they suddenly say they want our eggs. As with many free range farms, our eggs are laid to order and we have no spare eggs at the end of each day.

Maintaining egg production on a free range farm is often challenging.Like many real farms, we are affected by daily weather patterns and the seasons.To consistently lay eggs, hens need about 14 hours of daylight and 8 hours of darkness when they're roosting. Once less than 12 hours of daylight is available, egg productions slows down considerably if not ceases completely. Some people think colder weather causes the decrease in egg-laying, but even chickens in warm climates produce fewer eggs once daylight hours decline. Big producers maintain egg laying numbers by installing lights in sheds to trick the hens into keeping on eating and laying eggs. This issue is the reason for the development of intensive farming systems. Big production and bigger profits was the reason for companies changing to intensive farming with hens locked in climate-controlled sheds.

 Big producers maintain egg laying numbers by installing lights in sheds to trick the hens into keeping on eating and laying eggs. We prefer to allow our hens to follow their normal rythmns of life.

Establish your own free range farm

 

How to start a free range farm

if you’ve ever thought about setting up your own free range farm, wait no longer. Our eBook on establishing a free range egg farm is available at any time. At a cost of just $245. It is a low-cost way of providing all the ideas and tools needed to establish your egg business and will help you prepare your own application to your local Shire to set up a free range farm. There's no need to engage a costly consultant to write the application for you. Free range egg production is a niche market which is why genuine free range eggs are never found in supermarkets Once payment is made, the eBook will be emailed as a Portable Document File (PDF). send payment to our  Bendigo Bank account.P &A Westwood BSB 633 000 Account 153356233

What is Freerange?

 We are frequently asked what the term 'freerange eggs' actually means. Well the answer was simple before politicians colluded with big producers to con consumers. Politicians were asked to change the regulations to protect big producers from legal action by the ACCC which had won a series of prosecutions for mislabelling eggs in breach of  consumer laws. Each of the companies  increased annual profits by millions of dollars just by adding the words free range to their cartons, so many regarded the fines as simply a cost of doing business. However, the industry had a wake-up call when one shonky operator was hit with $1 million in fines and costs.

Development of the Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals – Domestic Poultry 4th Edition

The Code was approved by the Primary Industries Ministerial Council and printed in 2002, It was a development of an earlier version of the Model Code. Egg farmers realised it was essential for the free range sector of the egg industry to ensure that intensive production standards were not adopted in place of the extensive requirements of the previous code. There has been no science behind high density free range proposals (other than the certainty of increased profits. No scientific review of production processes was undertaken to demonstrate that the standards contained within the voluntary Model Code were no longer applicable to the industry. The stocking density of 1500 hens per hectare for free range hens was developed by applying well established principles of agronomy. The issue of the upper limit on the long term stocking rate was debated strongly at the time, following pressure from local Councils and the EPA about how some farms were operating. Experience was taken into account of people who had farmed free range layers in the 1950’s and 60's, when all egg production was based on free range principles. Hens were often run under citrus trees It was recognised that for an operation to be sustainable, the stocking rate had to be low - less than 300 birds/acre (750/hectare). It was agreed that such a system should be regarded as Free Range egg production and the hens were to have access to the range during daylight hours. There was some dispute by new entrants to the industry who believed that they could design pasture rotation systems around their sheds that would allow higher rates. So it was decided to take an empirical approach and work out what the maximum stocking rate could be to avoid the measurable negative impacts of nutrient run off and soil degradation and still be theoretically possible to maintain pasture cover and avoid the issue of dust. Some argued that as most hens were in sheds at night and may be locked in for part of the day so that only a portion of the hens actually entered the range area at any one time, the impact was lessened. The dairy industry was very big at that time and local agronomists had data on the effects of applying very high rates of poultry manure on irrigated pasture. The agronomists studied the data on the maximum nutrient uptake a well maintained irrigated pasture could support and also avoid the problems of salinity build up observed in the dairy pastures. The stocking rate was calculated and a stocking density of up to 600 birds/acre (1500/hectare) was regarded as the maximum possible for long term sustainability. At the time the Code was approved, it was accepted that to maintain consumer credibility, visitors or passers-by had to see the birds out and about on the range. It was also accepted that there is no valid animal management need to lock in the layers in the morning or during inclement weather. But corporate egg producers, the Australian Egg Corporation and major supermarkets demanded political changes to allow eggs produced in intensive systems to be labelled as free range. The words were simply regarded as a marketing term to increase profits without involving extra work or costs. Supermarkets demanded high volumes of eggs which could not be supplied by traditional free range methods and big producers saw the opportunity to cash in on consumer demand Politicians complied and approved a freerange definition permitting hens to be kept at a density of 10,000 birds per hectare.A laying hen produces half a cubic metre of manure a year. So with a stocking density of 10,000 hens per hectare,  Animal health and land sustainability are at risk as farmers who follow the advice will see their land covered with 5000 cubic metres of manure per hectare every year.

As chicken manure has the highest amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium of all manures, it can render the land useless for farming within a few years. Contamination of groundwater and water courses will also result. Set up your own genuine freerange farm with help of our eBook.

Urgent need for more freerange farms

 

Many egg farms have closed down in recent years, from big producers with hundreds of thousands of hens, to small freerange operators with a few hundred birds. Egg shortages in supermarkets have highlighted the problem and clearly shown the need for more freerange farms to be set up in each region. Clear consumer demand for free range eggs has generated a strong increase in the number of people wanting to start their own free range egg business.Ideally, every township should have n nearby egg producer to limit the food miles created by trucking eggs across the country to supermarket shelves.

A good starting point is reading our eBook on starting a free range farm. For details contact us through the website or directly by email.

Website for small scale freerange farms

 At long last,  Poultry Hub Australia has set up a website aimed at encouraging small scale freerange egg production. There has been nothing like this since the demise of the Freerange Farmers Association Inc. and the Freerange Egg and Poultry Association of Australia inc.The only  information source available has been our website Freeranger.com.au

small scale freerange poultry

Disease transmission between egg farms

 

Some people wonder why diseases like avian influenza are allowed to infect so many birds on different properties. Well there is no mystery about it! Politicians have allowed highly intensive poultry facilities to be established. As a result of high production, the businesses are required to sell huge volumes of eggs through supermarkets. In order to keep their contracts, producers must guarantee supply and the only way they can do that is to purchase eggs from other producers. They stamp the eggs at their packing station and pretend they are their own brand. The eggs are then trucked off to the supermarkets and sold to unsuspecting consumers. This transfer of eggs between properties is a vector for the transmission disease from property to property and most of them also share workers.

The things chickens do for us

 There's more to chickens than just eggs and white meat. It took a while for scientists to work out how to simulate a bird flying into an aircraft engine at high speed. Firing a chicken carcass into an engine has been a regular feature of aircraft safety tests since the 1940s, 'chicken guns' are specialised compressed-air cannons used to hurl chicken carcasses into jet engines and windscreens to ensure they can withstand bird strikes once airborne. The first known chicken gun was introduced in 1942 and could launch chickens at400 miles per hour (640km/h), Modern models versions have modular barrels to use various sizes of bird.

Freerange hens not to blame for Avian Influenza

 Claims by major egg producers that the current Victorian outbreaks of Avian Influenza had been caused by hens on freerange farms are false.The outbreaks around Lethbridge and Meredith have been on large, corporate businesses which cannot be compared with genuine freerange farms. The problem in one of overcrowding. Any disease spreads like wildfire when animals are in confined spaces. Political interference, allowing intensive producers with 10,000 hens per hectare to classify themselves as free range was simply absurd. An adult hen produces half a cubic metre of manure a year. Which means that 10,000 chickens produce a mountain of 5000 cubic metres on each hectare of land each year  - resulting in health risks as well as degrading soil health and waterways. Ohio State University says: "HPAI virus infection in poultry (H5 or H7 viruses) can cause disease that affects multiple internal organs resulting in a mortality rate of up to 100%, often within 48 hours. When H5 or H7 avian influenza outbreaks occur in poultry, infected flocks are typically depopulated or culled. The preferred method of stopping spread is to quarantine and screen flocks that are near or linked to the infected flock."

Beat the egg shortage

 Shortages of eggs on supermarket shelves is almost certain to become more severe in Victoria as currently hens at five major production facilities have been hit by outbreaks of Avian nfluenza.

The growing demand for freerange eggs can be met by people setting up their own farms. More genuine free range farms are needed to give consumers a real choice. Every township in the country should have a nearby egg farm instead of requiring eggs to be trucked across the country to a stupidmarket.

Our politicians changed the Australian free range standard to allow intensive producers to sell eggs with  misleading free-range labels. Egg cartons must display stocking densities, but as there’s no actual requirement for the chickens to go outside, the labels are meaningless. Changes to the freerange definition protects big producers from prosecution under Australian Consumer Law.The ACCC had been so successful with various prosecutions in the Federal Court that corporate egg producers demanded protection.

High stocking densities are more stressful for the chicken. Hens display some aggressive behaviours such as pecking, bullying and even cannibalism as they fight it out to maintain their hierarchy in cramped conditions, making way for justifications for widespread beak-trimming and de-beaking.10,000 hens per hectare is not sustainable or responsible farming.A laying hen produces half a cubic metre of manure a year. So, a stocking density of 10,000 hens per hectare means that farmers who follow that advice see their land covered with 5000 cubic metres of manure per hectare every year. High levels of ammonia, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in hen manure can destroy soil health and leach into the ground, leading to contamination of waterways. labelling requirements and standards for free range egg production introduced by poiticians in 2018 destroyed any remaining consumer confidence in the Australian egg industry.

The standard allowed intensive production systems to be classified as free range and protects intensive producers from prosecution under Australian Consumer Law. We still have an eBook available to help set up your own genuine freerange egg farm. Full details are on our website

Scammers make $millions from gullible people

 

Financial scammers are raking in millions of dollars from gullible individuals – otherwise the scams wouldn’t continue - Here’s a couple of examples we received this week

Woodforest National Bank
Reply-To: woodforestnationalbnk.cathleen@gmail.com
BCC
Message body
Wood-forest National Bank
ADDRESS:45485 Miramar Way, California, MD 20619, USA

The Wood-Forest National Bank California controlling department has
issued a security transfer CODE which the
Authentication section code of this bank concludes the verification of
your file. After going through all the documents of claim received by
this department with justification and verification from the global
strategy United States we are completely satisfied and you have been
confirmed.

The Wood-Forest National Bank has received the sum of $17.5 Million
Dollars from United Nations which has been assigned for you as the
Compensation of the past scam victims you have encountered in the past
and this payment is expected to be in your Account before 3 days.

Considering the volume of your payment, it is right for us to seek for
the approval of some money regulatory Boards here in United States
before we can carry out the Transfer of an amount of such magnitude to
anybody, otherwise any such transfer will be stopped by the
Authorities of Wood-Forest National Bank, and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), Approval Documents from the concerned Authorities
here in United States are needed to avoid stoppage once the Transfer
is carried out and for that reason, you are required to pay the Sum of $100.00

In a separate scam attempt it was claimed that by sending $100.00 I would receive $12 billion US dollars from the Federal Reserve Bank, transferred from four different banks; Royal Bank Of Canada (RBC), Bank of America and Nat west bank London. Millions of emails like this are are sent every week. If only a fraction of 1% of people respond, it's a very lucrative business.

More Avian Influenza problems for big Victorian egg producers

 

A suspected outbreak of Avian Influenza has been discovered in Victoria. Preliminary tests have confirmed the presence of avian influenza on a farm at Meredith in Golden Plains Shire. Samples have been delivered to the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness at Geelong for further tests which will determine the strain of the disease.

The property has been placed into quarantine and Agriculture Victoria staff are on site. In August 2020, Farm Pride Foods confirmed that it had lost a third of its productive hen stock after an outbreak of the H7N7 avian flu virus at two of its farm facilities in Lethbridge, near Geelong. The outbreak affected a total of 380,000 hens, with the company subsequently downgrading its full year FY2021 revenue forecast by $18 – 23 million.Avian influenza  spread to a second poultry farm in Victoria, , which has resulted in more than 500,000 birds being euthanased. Thankfully it is normally only a problem on intensive farms were large numbers of bird are held. Here's the infected location, near Lethbridge.

Point of lay Isa Browns available soon

 Point of lay ISA Brown pullets will soon be available for pick up at the Freeranger farm in Stanley Road, Grantville.

The vaccinated birds are 15 weeks old and ready to start laying any day. Details on husbandry, feed etc can be found on our website. If you decide that you want signifant numbers to set up a commercial operation, an eBook is available to guide you through the process. We can put you in touch with our pullet supplier who can provide hens in quantities. If you want good eggs, make sure to provide a balanced grains-based ration as well as full outdoor access. Don't feed pellets which often contain colouring additives, fillers and tallow (which may be derived from dead chickens). Our young chickens always go quickly when available so please reserve a few by phone or email to ensure you don't miss out.Our pullet supplier always provides excellent chickens so there is no point in us raising them ourselves.Raising chickens from hatching to point of lay (15 or 16 weeks) is a very specialist job and we already have enough to do on the farm. Growers need to create a solid foundation for the birds so they reach the right body weight in.time.  During the first four weeks of life, pullets should gain a significant amount of weight in muscle, which will help in proper bone development.  At approximately 10 weeks, pullet body weight should continue increasing. This should include an increase in fat content. Specifically, from 11 weeks, growers begin preparing layers for start of lay by increasing feed intake to its peak. 

Set up a real freerange farm

 Anyone can help to meet growing demand for freerange eggs by setting up their own farm. More genuine free range farms are needed in Gippsland and the rest of Victoria to give consumers a real choice. Ideally,every township in the country should have a nearby egg farm instead of requirng eggs to be trucked across the country to a  stupidmarket.

Our politicians changed the Australian free range standard to allow intensive producers to sell eggs with  misleading free-range labels. Egg cartons must display stocking densities, but as there’s no actual requirement for the chickens to go outside, the labels are meaningless. Changes to the freerange definition protects big producers from prosecution under Australian Consumer Law.The ACCC had been so successful with various prosecutions in the Federal Court that corporate egg producers demanded protection.

High stocking densities are more stressful for the chicken. Hens display some aggressive behaviours such as pecking, bullying and even cannibalism as they fight it out to maintain their hierarchy in cramped conditions, making way for justifications for widespread beak-trimming and de-beaking.10,000 hens per hectare is not sustainable or responsible farming.A laying hen produces half a cubic metre of manure a year. So, a stocking density of 10,000 hens per hectare means that farmers who follow that advice see their land covered with 5000 cubic metres of manure per hectare every year. High levels of ammonia, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in hen manure can destroy soil health and leach into the ground, leading to contamination of waterways. labelling requirements and standards for free range egg production introduced by poiticians in 2018 destroyed any remaining consumer confidence in the Australian egg industry.

The standard allowed intensive production systems to be classified as free range and protects intensive producers from prosecution under Australian Consumer Law. We still have an eBook available to help you set up your own genuine freerange egg farm.We will send it to you as a PDF. Full details are on our website

Background of Freeranger Eggs

Meet Anne and Phil Westwood, Freeranger Eggs Grantville

Anne spent years as an office systems manager before moving into farming. She was brought up in Cranbourne where her dad established Faceys Nursery, so she has an extensive knowledge of the area with its native vegetation and wildlife. She took part in a bushland management course with the National Trust, learning with experts, Randal Robinson and Darcy Duggan For several years she was the voluntary Co-ordinator of the Friends of Bass Valley Bush Landcare Group, primarily responsible for office administration as well as organising native vegetation and wildlife surveys.

She was appointed West Gippsland Regional Manager of the Trust for Nature – a Victorian Government Statutory Authority. Once she started work with the Trust she quickly identified the need to protect stands of native vegetation providing linkages through the Strzelecki ranges down to Westernport and started the process of evaluating them for covenants on private land.Her role was to protect, in perpetuity, native vegetation providing linkages from Mullundung through the Strzelecki ranges down to Westernport and started the process of evaluating them for covenants on private land. She worked with Friends of Gippsland Bush and Friends of the Earth to protect key areas from logging, culminating in an agreement with the Victorian Government known as the Bruatalong Park linking Tarra Bulga National Park in the east with the Gunyah Gunyah Rainforest Reserve in the West.The Banksia Environmental Foundation awarded her a Banksia Medal in 2006 for her work in protecting native orchids. She also operated a native wildlife shelter on the farm, The Margo Kyoyer Pedersen Wildlife Shelter, and was instrumental in revegetation works at Corinella’s Settlement point and in establishing a community garden at the Corinella Community Centre. Anne is also an Environmental Auditor, having a completed a course designed by Professor David Bellamy. She set up Grantville Action Group with Phil in a bid to ensure adequate controls on sand extraction companies when plans were revealed in the area. We later established Friends of Bass Valley Bush Inc. Landcare Group to generate awareness of the natural landscape and wildlife in the region. Our farm was the Australian winner of the 2012 Energy Globe international Award for sustainability. Anne and Phil moved from their 20acre property on the Powlett River in Wonthaggi to the 200 acre farm on the Bass River at Grantville where they established Freeranger Eggs.

At various times, Phil has been a Board member of Westernport Water, the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority and the Central Coastal Board. He was the community member on the Working Group established to prepare the Regional Sand Extraction Strategy, Lang Lang to Grantville.

Phil was a journalist with experience in the UK and Rhodesia before being recruited in London by legendary Age editor, Graham Perkin in the 1970’s to work as a finance journalist on The Age and then he moved into public relations with Jennings Industries, followed by the Housing Industry Association, the Real Estate Institute of Victoria and Australian Jewish Welfare, then editing a variety of magazines, including Power Farming and Prime Time. He also provided public relations services to a number of companies, including South Gippsland’s Coldon Homes. He is an Environmental Auditor and was a co author of the Report funded by the Natural Heritage Trust, ‘Baseline Studies of Bass River’ published in the 1990’s.

Anne and Phil ^lhave encouraged other people to establish genuine free range farms using the principles set out in an eBook and various on-farm workshops. The farm has a website, freeranger.com.au and this blog.  Phil also publishes a political blog ‘politics is a dirty word’ As a result of experience in activating community groups and a hassle with a builder he wrote a handbook on direct action ‘Fighting to Win’ which was used as a text in some community development programs.He has been national President of Free Range Egg and Poultry Association of Australia Inc. and an auditor for the National Egg Quality Assurance Program (Egg Corp Assured).

Smoke from the Hazelwood coal mine fire in 2014 hung around many parts of South Gippsland and created breathing difficulties for Phil which led to his first- ever asthma attack and triggered heart failure with atrial fibrilation and a stroke. He survived, but hasn’t been much use around the farm since then, leaving Anne to shoulder all the work. They are now facing problems maintaining the sustainability of the farm because actions of Bass Coast Shire threaten vegetation management and water flows.

Double yolkers are great

 We are often asked why some eggs have two yolks. A double yolk occurs in an egg when a chicken releases two yolks into the same ova. They are often produced by young chickens as their reproductive systems have not fully matured prompting the release of two yolks instead of one.

20 million chickens can't keep up with Australia's demand for eggs

 With 20 million chickens in Australia and an average of 18 million eggs consumed each day, farmers throughout the country struggle to keep up with demand. Even a slight drop in production creates an immediate shortfall.One simple solution to help solve the egg shortage is to have your own hens at home to lay eggs for your family or set up your own small business. Check the freeranger website and our eBook which is ready to be forwarded to you as a pdf.

Lamb bbq for Australia Day

 nothing better than lamb chops on the barbie to celebrate Australia Day.

Maybe some loud music from Cosmic Psychos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtSUEIOJ398