Grab the opportunity to set up a farm. Demand is expected to stay hot

 

The growing need for more free range egg farms was brought home again today when a 5 tonne delivery truck arrived at the farm this morning and the driver said he had been sent to fill up the truck with eggs.

He could hardly believe it when Anne said we had no eggs available. “But my computer says this an egg farm” he wailed. “Yes” she replied “But all our eggs are laid to order and we are always sold out by this time.”

There is a huge opportunity for more genuine free range farms to be set up, and we have been doing our best to encourage it locally and in every State. There needs to be far more free range farms close to every township in the country.

We have an eBook available for anyone interested. It will be sent as a pdf after payment of $240 is made to our Bendigo Bank account P&A Westwood 633000 53356233

Destruction of bushland at Grantville

 It’s strange how some people can’t see the wood for the trees when it comes environmental issues. In Bass Coast Shire, a  handful of noisy people shrieked about demolishing a few dying trees to allow a road widening scheme for a sand extraction site which had already been granted a permit – yet they have not raised a squeak about cutting down and setting fire to native vegetation and habitat trees in Stanley Road. It is part of the bushland corridor and far more significant than the few trees on the north side of Stanley Road, adjoining cleared farmland which have been the subject of ravings by supporters of Save Westernport Woodlands. That vegetation has little habitat value compared with the senseless destruction of healthy trees and wildlife just undertaken. The State Government's Forest Fire Management has just completed the first burn, but a total of 22 hectares of the bushland is being targetted. It would have been better for activists to concentrate on maintaining the continuity and integrity of the woodland. Even the Shire has been hoodwinked into supporting this nonsense.It’s  hard coming to terms with the senseless destruction of bushland at Stanley Road, Grantville by firelighters from Forest Fire Management, assisted by Neil Rankine, guru of Save Westernport Woodlands. This example of their handiwork demonstrates that they have no respect for or understanding of native vegetation and wildlife. It also shows the absurdity of Mr Rankine’s objection to the removal of a handful of dying trees to make Stanley Road safer for residents. He clearly has a secret agenda which he refuses to share.

Accoustic force-field to protect poultry from infection

 A South Australian company has been using artificial intelligence to develop a system to protect hens on poultry farms from any infection threat posed by wild birds. It can be deployed on a Poultry site to create an acoustic barrier to exclude wild birds.

It is said to create an acoustic force-field barrier to prevent unwanted wild birds from impacting on the poultry within the farm complex.

Extending the lifespan of laying hens

 Work at Sydney University’s Poultry Research Foundation has shown the benefits of maintaining healthy flocks of hens. It says that extending the lifespan of egg laying hens would contribute to decreasing the size of the national flock and the use of limited resources, thereby increasing the sustainability of the Australian egg industry. For extension of flock life to be economically viable, aspects of hen management including hen feed efficiency, eggshell quality, and hen health need consideration. Some recent Australian studies of brown egg producing hens in longer laying cycles have been undertaken. With ongoing genetic selection for improved persistency of lay and feed efficiency in laying hens, the egg industry is pursuing the opportunity to extend layer hen lifespan until they are 100 weeks of age, with an aim for each hen to produce up to 500 eggs. Most intensive producers force their hens into unnatural laying cycles by installing lights in sheds to keep them eating and laying eggs, rather than going into a moult which is normal after about 70 weeks of laying an egg every day.

Continuous egg production places high demand on the organs and tissues involved in producing eggs. This includes the liver, which generates yolk lipid and, the oviduct which produces the egg white, shell membranes and eggshell. Further, the continuous demand for Ca for eggshell formation may impact bone integrity, especially the risk of bone fractures and osteoporosis  Eggshell quality is central to the production of first grade eggs and is a key determinant for the flock to continue through a longer laying cycle. Optimal liver and skeletal health are also critical for the successful extension of flock life. The research backs up our method of low density production with small flock numbers, quality feed and good husbandry practices.