FARM VISIT ▶▶▶
Eggs from hens on pasture have a higher concen- tration of vitamins A and E.
Bruce runs his hens on his own land and on a neighbouring dairy farm.
fatty acids, and less than half the ratio of omega-6 to ome- ga-3 fatty acids. The vitamin A concentration was 38% higher in the pastured hens’ eggs than in the commercial hens’ eggs, but the total vitamin A per egg did not differ,” she added.
Moving to online sales Bruce has a number of outlets for his eggs but these changed a lot during the Covid-19 era as lockdown regulations were enforced and some outlets were forced to close. “Our eggs are normally sold through farmers’ markets, retail shops, baker- ies, butchers’ shops, food service outlets, such as cafés, and online to individual households,” Bruce explains. “The eggs range in price from NZ$ 5.00-8.00 per dozen (US$ 3.5-5.5). At the start of the lockdown in New Zealand I lost all my hospi- tality, food service, retail and farmers’ markets outlets which accounted for about 90% of my business.” Bruce immediately converted to online sales through his facebook page. “My loyal farmers’ market customers immedi- ately signed up and as a result I was sold out for most of
16 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 10, 2020
Around 660 eggs are collected by hand every day and sold online.
lockdown,” he reports. “As the orders flowed in I was able to make contactless deliveries to the customers as, thankfully, farmers were considered essential workers and could travel and deliver during the pandemic. My business actually grew during lockdown and my revenue increased”.
Success
Maintaining a healthy flock is paramount to the success of Bruce’s business and to ensure that he runs a programme to keep them healthy. “By keeping a small flock the birds have a better chance of staying healthy,” Bruce says. “Giving outdoor access comes at a price. Hawks are major predators in New Zea- land and are a protected species. Hawk attacks account for 50% of our flock mortality.” That said, one of the biggest advantages of Bruce’s mobile system, aside from top quality tasty eggs, is that the land is well fertilised. “As the houses are mobile with no floor, the manure falls directly on the grass,” Bruce notes. “The houses are moved regularly which means the land is well fertilised. It also means I don’t need to clean out the houses!”
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