Backyard poultry keepers sought
The race is on to find backyard poultry keepers for a project run by Massey University.
An unusual feature of egg producer John Greene's Lakeside Free Range chicken farm, near Lincoln, is that the outdoor forage areas are planted in trees.
Greene and his business partner Steve Smith run about 6,000 free-range layers - a small farm by industry standards.
He told Rural News that contrary to the usual fashion of giving free-range hens open grassed pasture, chickens are not grazing birds but are foragers whose ancestral habitat was the forest floor. Greene believes his birds are much happier than those kept on pasture.
"Anything that flies over here, they perceive as a predator. So, if we get a low-flying aircraft or the Westpac helicopter or something go over, they get a terrible fright," he explains.
"In this environment, they're much more comfortable because they've got all that canopy above them which protects them from predatory attack."
Greene says they have mainly used poplars because they have no low horizontal branches that might encourage the hens to roost in the trees.
Chicks are brought in at one-day-old. Once they have become accustomed to using their indoor layer boxes at about 18 weeks, they are given complete freedom to wander in and out, and forage outdoors to find what they can.
However, they are only fed in their sheds. Feed is never spread outdoors because that would attract wild birds such as sparrows and create a salmonella risk, says Greene.
Rural retailer Farmlands has launched a new casual clothing range available across 42 stores nationwide and through its online store.
Federated Farmers says the health and safety changes announced this week by the Government represent the start of overdue reforms.
The Government is calling on rural New Zealanders to share their views on proposed regulations designed to improve the management of farm plastic waste.
For many urban New Zealanders, stepping into Pāmu’s Pinta dairy farm near Taupo last month was the first time they had had the chance to experience farm life up close.
After tasting 240 New Zealand made cheeses, judges have bestowed medals upon 199 of the entries.
Bay of Plenty’s top share farmers Andre and Natalie Meier are no strangers to the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards winning circle.
OPINION: At last, a serious effort to better connect farmers and scientists.
OPINION: If you believe Maori Party president John Tamihere’s claim that “nothing dodgy” occurred at Manurewa Marae during the last…