Holbrook Paddock Eggs see true value of chooks

THIS family takes free-range egg farming to a new level, writes JOHANNA LEGGATT.

Sam Pincott among some of his 10,000 hens at Holbrook Paddock Eggs, Holbrook. Picture: Dannika Bonser

SAM and Prue Pincott never planned to start a successful egg farm enterprise.

“If you had told me that this is what I would be doing nine years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Sam said.

The couple from Holbrook, in southern NSW, originally purchased 50-odd chickens some eight years ago as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution to tillage and fertiliser.

The chooks, they were hoping, would follow their 300-strong herd of Angus cattle around, scratching and aerating the ground, and fertilising the paddocks as they went.

As it turned out, the chooks did a lot more than that, opening up a second on-farm revenue stream that quickly eclipsed their first.

“With the chooks out there fertilising, we saw changes in paddocks on a small level and noticed that the old grass species were coming back in, as well as a higher quality of grass,” said Sam.

Bond Brown laying hens in a home-engineered coup.

Pretty soon, the over-achieving chooks were stealing the limelight.

“Even with 50 hens we were getting more eggs than we could handle,” Sam said.

“We approached the local butcher at the time and he put them on his counter to sell, and we got really positive feedback about the colour of the yolk being so bright and them tasting incredible.

“So we quickly made the connection that it was because the chooks had access to fresh grass and all of the bugs and grubs.

“Eventually, the egg business phased out the cattle and we now just keep cattle and sheep on agistment when we need to keep the grass down.”

HEN HEAVEN

THE original 50 hens have swollen to some 10,000 laying hens, with another couple of thousand younger birds out in the paddock alongside them, getting used to the terrain.

Holbrook Paddock Eggs, as the family enterprise is now known, has a stocking density of 40 birds a hectare, essentially making them “paddock roamers” rather than just free-range chooks.

The density is also much more generous than the free-range industry requirement of 10,000 hens a hectare, eclipsing even the CSIRO’s Model Code of Practice, which calls for a maximum of 1500 hens per hectare on an outdoor range.

“I wouldn’t say it is the lowest stocking density in the country, but it would be one of the lowest,” Sam said.

The hens roost and lay their eggs in portable sheds, which are moved every week to ensure the pastures are sufficiently rested.

“If you think of the paddock like a smorgasbord or a buffet we simply move the hens on to that fresh meal,” Sam said.

DAY DOT

THE family started buying in hens at 15 weeks of age, but after experiencing a range of problems, they now take day-old chicks instead. “We were having a couple of issues with the older chicks, especially with regards to poor body weight, which affects when they start laying,” Sam said.

“They would be put in cages and travel for about 24 hours before they arrived at our farm so they would come here stressed and the onset of lay was constantly being delayed.

“So now by getting them at the early rearing phase, if something goes wrong we are able to intervene.”

Roughly 2800 day-old chicks are kept in the brooding shed, which translates to 2550 of those eventually making it out in the paddock.

“Before that, we were getting the same number in our paddocks but they were coming out of sheds that would have had 10,000 to 15,000 birds in them,” Sam said.

“Now, with the day-old chicks, we are opening the door at six to eight weeks of age for them, to give them time to adjust to the paddocks.

“So it’s about reducing the stress of the changes that they go through, which results in a better-tasting product.”

GUARD HOUSE

OF course, where chickens roost, foxes lay in wait, which is where the family’s nine Maremma sheepdogs come in handy.

“The sheepdogs live out with the chickens and guard them at night,” Sam said.

“They do a terrific job. We still lose some to foxes, but not too many.”

Holbrook Paddock Eggs are found in gourmet supermarkets and butchers across the country, and are popular among customers happy to spend a bit more on eggs from chickens that have been ethically reared.

“Our customers’ purchasing decisions are far more based on welfare and ethics, than just solely focused on price,” Sam said.

“We are definitely farming how we want to farm. Also, at the end of the day we are aware that we are feeding people and we don’t want to give them rubbish.”

But while Sam and his family run one of the most ethical egg operations in the country, he doesn’t bang a drum about the correct way to rear chickens.

“As long as consumers are aware of what they’re buying then that is more important than saying we are right and the others are wrong,” Sam said.

“There is room in the market for everybody as long as consumers are aware of what they are getting.”