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

VALE Wesson

 Anyone who has been to the farm has known Wesson, our elderly Dingo/Smithfield cross. Unfortunately he will no longer greet visitors as he died last night. He was always happy even though in recent years he has been virtually blind and deaf. VALE Wesson old friend, we will miss you.  So will the Maremmas as they will have to control the foxes without your help.

We don't get apologies like this from our government leader

 A woman in Moscow had a simple request for the Russian President, Vladimir Putin:  ‘ Bring down the price of eggs.’

Her criticism prompted an apology from Mr Putin who said it was a “failure of the government’s work” that egg prices have soared 40% in 2023 at the same time,egg exports grew by more than 17%..

Economic analysts point to the increase in military spending that has caused inflation in consumer goods as well as sanctions following the Ukraine war.To help solve the problem, Belarus has increased supplies of chicken eggs to Russia - more than 11 million eggs were exported in the first ten days of January -almost twice as much as in the same period last year. 

Australia needs many more genuine freerange farms

Genuine freerange eggs can't be found on supermarket shelves. Help to solve the egg shortage by keeping hens at home to lay eggs for your family or set up your own small business like Anne and Phil  Westwood. Check the freeranger website and our eBook which is ready to be forwarded to you as a pdf.

Trialling feed additive from mussel waste

 

At Freeranger Eggs, we are about to begin trialling a supplementary feed additive processed from Blue Lipped freeze-dried Mussels which could boost the nutritional value of eggs, particularly levels of omega 3 fatty acids. Freeranger Eggs has Isa Brown chickens on our 80 hectare farm run by Anne and Phil Westwood..

The supplement is provided by PETS HEALTHRUS in Geelong after the mussel waste is processed by Forager Foods in Tasmania. Preliminary work on utilising mussel waste has been undertaken in New Zealand by the Government’s Callaghan Innovation Agency but Freeranger Eggs is the first in Australia to try the process. We are awaiting the delivery from Tasmania so we can start.

Followers of our blog and website know that genuine freerange eggs from hens with unlimited access to pasture already have twice the Omega 3 levels of cage or barn laid eggs as well as 7 times the beta carotene, 3 times the vitamins E and A. The supplement adds essential calcium, nutrients and protein to the hens’ diet.

Free range eggs are higher in protein and contain less saturated fats because of their unlimited access to green pasture. “There may well be other benefits from the mussel feed,” said Anne. “We provide our hens with a nutritionally balanced diet formulated for us by Reid Stockfeeds so we are limiting the addition of the supplement to a maximum of 8% by volume. Phil said that the limited use was not expected to result in a fishy taint from the additional Omega 3. “We monitor egg quality constantly and if any change is detected, the trial will be halted immediately,” he added.

Easy to solve egg shortage

 There has been talk of  shortages of eggs in Australia for most of this year but the solutions are simple - stay out of supermarkets, buy your own laying hens  - and set up more freerange farms.

Huge consumer demand for genuine freerange eggs has created exciting opportunities to establish more farm businesses.

At Freeranger Eggs in Grantville, we are unable to keep up with demand and now only supply regular customers. To help resolve the supply shortage, we provide details on setting up your own farm.The starting point is reading an eBook on starting a free range farm available on the Freeranger Eggs website: www.freeranger.com.au . 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 your local Council planning department about their requirements. It’s also worth contacting the State Department of Agriculture. You can find on-line resources in most states. In Victoria, contact: http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agriculture/farm-management/business-management/permits/guidelines-for-rural-planning-applications. Once that is sorted, talk to your Council Environmental Health Department about any specific requirements they have before you get underway. Forget about it if you want a business that provides enough money for a Mercedes every time a new model is released and an overseas holiday every year or two – get a McDonald’s franchise instead.

ISA Brown pullets available

 For those who want their own chickens, orders are being taken now for point of lay Isa Brown Pullets. They will be16 weeks old, fully vaccinated against the major poultry diseases,Mareks and Newcastle as well as things like  Infectious bronchitis and Egg Drop Syndrome. Costing just $35, they will be ready for pick up in the first week of December. Message us, ring or email and we will have them ready for you.

If you are thinking of setting up your own freerange egg farm business, make your life easier, save yorself headaches by checking the freeranger website and order our eBook to ensure you get off to a good start.

Choose the right chickens for your needs

 Some people don’t realize that the breed of chicken they choose will make a difference to the amount of eggs they collect each day. Some chicken breeds lay more than others, so if you want a productive flock, always pick the best egg layer chickens. If you want a pure breed, you can’t go past a Rhode Island Red or a leghorn but if you want to combine good egg production with a docile temperament, good foraging skills and excellent feed conversion, go for ISA Browns or Lohmann Browns which will regularly lay over300 eggs a year – and they are unlikely to go broody.

It’s natural for your hens to slow down production in autumn and winter when there is less daylight. Some people use lights in sheds to con their chickens to lay more eggs. We believe in letting hens behave naturally and have time to slow down rather than force them to keep laying and shorten their lifespan. 

We can supply limited numbers of point of lay ISA Brown pullets from mid November. Pick up at the farm.

World Egg Day

 Friday October 13 is World Egg Day 2023 and  we celebrate the nutritional power of the  egg.  

Recent surveys revealed that 18.9 million eggs are consumed in Australia every day and, as of June this year, the gross production value for the egg industry in Australia was  over $1 billion.