#Betterthanfreerange Really?
Our chickens are happy and healthy free to roam and feed on green grass. They are moved twice a week to fresh grass. At night they settle into caravans.
Are pastured hens eggs nutritionally better?
Yes they are! Boasting TWICE as much Vitamin E as cage eggs, 38% higher Vitamin A, TWICE as much long chain Omega-3 Fats, 25 x more total Omega-3 fatty acids and LESS than half the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 - those are pretty good stats!
Where are your chickens?
Our chickens live happily in pastures on farms in Kangaroo Valley. Eggs are collected daily.
What happens when your chickens no longer lay enough eggs?
So far we have successfully rehomed are chickens. We advertise on Facebook when we have chickens ready to move on.
How many chickens do you have?
We started with 50 chickens. Over the last 4 years as requests came in we have expanded. We now have 6000 chickens.
Do your chickens only eat grass?
The chickens eat a commercial feed, unfortunately they can't get enough protein, calcium and carbohydrates from eating grass only. They eat a locally sourced, ethically produced feed that is GMO, antibiotic and added chemical free. The only additive we have in the feed is a kind of yeast that helps reduce the chance of them carrying salmonella bacteria, this helps improve their gut health and helps prevent mites.
How do you prevent them from getting lice etc?
The chickens do occasionally get lice or mites, having them in a big open paddock allows them to dust bathe regularly with lots of space per bird. This is how they regulate that on their own.
Do you count the chickens each day?
No... with our current flock size at over 6000 it would take too long…And no they don’t have names either 🙂
Why do you have dogs protecting them?
The Maremma dogs are really great at deterring predators. We have never lost a chicken to a fox or wild dog and there are plenty of both in Kangaroo Valley.
Don’t they want to eat the chickens?
As puppies they occasionally do, and get told off for it... however an adult Maremma will rarely eat a chicken. They are bred to have a very low prey drive, which means that they want to protect their flock rather than attack them.
Got a question?
Send us an email and we will get back to you as soon as we take our gumboots off!