Wednesday, 13 April 2022 07:55

Trees please chooks

Written by  Nigel Malthus
John Greene believes his hens are much happier than those kept on pasture. John Greene believes his hens are much happier than those kept on pasture.

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.

More like this

Chook sector cracking along

The New Zealand poultry industry is booming in meat and eggs, says Michael Brooks, the Poultry Industry Association executive director.

Egg producers shell out

Law changes requiring the end of battery and colony cages will cost as much as $1 million for a smaller farmer and up to $60m for larger companies, says the NZ Poultry Industry Association.

Featured

Brendan Attrill scoops national award for sustainable farming

Brendan Attrill of Caiseal Trust in Taranaki has been announced as the 2025 National Ambassador for Sustainable Farming and Growing and recipient of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the National Sustainability Showcase at in Wellington this evening.

National

Machinery & Products

Calf feeding boost

Advantage Plastics says it is revolutionising calf meal storage and handling, making farm life easier, safer, and more efficient this…

JD's precision essentials

Farmers across New Zealand are renowned for their productivity and efficiency, always wanting to do more with less, while getting…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Don't hold back!

OPINION: ACT MP Mark Cameron isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he certainly calls it how he sees it, holding…

Sorry, not sorry

OPINION: Did former PM Jacinda Ardern get fawning reviews for her book?

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter