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.

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.

Free range hens follow their normal life rythms without lights in sheds

Maintaining egg production on a free range farm is often challenging.As with many real farms, we are affected by daily weather patterns and the seasons. Egg production has been dropping here in recent weeks because of the drop in daylight hours. 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/ We prefer to allow our hens to follow their normal rythms of life. This issue is the reason for the development of intensive systems with hens locked in climate-controlled sheds (whether or not in cages).Clearly,the intensive system is far more cost-effective and profitable,especially for the crooks who label those eggs as free range and charge a premium.

Lighting in sheds can lift egg production - but increases stress on hens

Intensive farming operations are able to produce more food at lower costs - that's why food such as eggs from hens on genuine free range farms can be more expensive than the type typically bought in supermarkets. Many producers - even some who call themselves 'free range' have installed lighting in laying sheds to increase short-term production - and profits. There are no lights in our sheds,so at Freeranger Eggs, our hens follow their normal life rhythms - sleeping when it gets dark then waking up at daybreak.