No lights in our laying sheds

Our flocks of Isa Brown hens lead a natural lifestyle – as close as possible to the way of life of their ancestors - jungle fowl. Each flock size is less than 300 birds and every hens has unrestricted access to paddocks with pasture, shrubs and trees. This provides an ideal environment for foraging. The hens are never locked in sheds – not even at night. They are protected from predators by Maremma guardian dogs. Roost houses with nest boxes are provided for each flock with only natural light in the sheds. Most egg producers maximise egg numbers by installing artificial lights in sheds to trick the birds into maintaining their lay rate at times they should be moulting and resting. We prefer to let our hens follow their natural life rythms which means they stop laying once daylight hours are reduced.

hens need to follow their natural behaviour for best performance

Academic researchers often produce theories and reports designed to demonstrate what 'free range' means in the egg industry. Their findings are usually based on carefully arranged criteria set by an organisation which funded the research and expected 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 had 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 has been 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. Allowing the hens to follow their natural cycles keeps them happy - so there should be no lights in the sheds to trick them into thinking its still daylight and to keep eating and laying eggs (they need as much sleep as we do!)

Poultry scientist says her comments on hen welfare were 'misconstrued'

Poultry scientist Professor Christine Nicol from Bristol University sparked widespread controversy in the UK and overseas when a speech she made resulted in newspaper reports claiming that cage hens enjoyed better welfare than free range birds.

She said her speech had been misconstrued. Professor Nicol said that she agreed to appear on a panel of scientists explaining some of the more complex issues about farm size. During an hour-long briefing she said she mentioned that birds on very large farms could have rather good welfare outcomes on some measures. But, she said she could not prevent headlines like 'Cage hens are happier than free range' in the Daily Telegraph and 'Organic isn't better than factory farmed' in the Daily Mail. Even the BBC reported that, 'Welfare standards are on average higher in laying hens kept in cages than in free range flocks, according to a leading veterinary expert.'

Professor Nicol is well known in the poultry industry. Her team at Bristol has conducted research studies on laying birds, including current trials on beak trimming.

Her speech, at an event about the merits of large scale farming organised by the Science Media Centre, came just over a week after Elwyn Griffiths, chairman of the British Egg Products Association (BEPA), stood up at the Egg and Poultry Industry Conference to say that intensive egg production offered the highest level of hen welfare.

New shed ready for the next flock

A rollaway nesting system being assembled for the next mobile chook shed.

I'm putting the finishing touches to a caravan being modified to accommodate a small flock of hens - 200 pullets. Most of the floor has been ripped out and steel mesh installed to allow manure to fall through.

Perches have been set up and an SKA rollaway nesting system has been fitted - even though I'm not sure it is an improvement on traditional nest boxes with wood shavings.

We will see how it goes but I won't be surprised if after a couple of months I pull out the flash nesting system and put in normal nest boxes.

New biosecurity sign for the gate

We have just organised a couple of biosecurity signs for the farm. One will go on the front gate and one will be used at the next set of gates to indicate to people that although we welcome visitors, we need to know they are coming.

The risk of spreading a variety of diseases to our hens is serious, particulary if families have chooks at home or even pet birds in aviaries.

Although all our hens are vaccinated against the most likely diseases they may encounter, it would be dumb to take risks.

Refugee chooks doing well

600 hens from an egg farm in Tooradin - which was inundated by floodwater a couple of weeks ago are doing well here on the Freeranger farm.

We moved a couple of our old sheds into one of the paddocks and rigged some fencing around them and now they seem to be happy.

We don't know how long they will be here as refugees but it will probably be quite a while before they are able to go back home.

Hens foraging in native pasture

Some of our oldest flock of Isa Browns foraging in their paddock. The grass is mainly native pasture - Microlaena Stipoides (Weeping Grass) which is ideal for chooks. It's a very hardy grass which generally stays green longer than exotic pasture and is a high protein feed.