FARM REPORT ▶▶▶


Freedom and good feed ensure healthy birds


B BY CHRIS MCCULLOUGH


ased in the Overberg region of the Western Cape, Elgin Free Range Chickens produces around 6.6 mil- lion broilers a year on its own farm and from a num- ber of contract growers. The success of this compa-


ny can be attributed to the dedication of the staff but more so to the passion of its founder Jeanne Groenewald. The busi- ness operates a multi-faceted model with its own farm pro- ducing chickens and its own abattoir to process the birds. It even has its own retail outlets from which it sells the end product to consumers. Jeanne outlined how the company was started and how the key focus always has been on the health and wellbeing of the birds. She first started off raising 100 free-range chickens as a small backyard experiment after


Producing a free-range chicken under the best conditions with plenty of food and freedom ensures a healthy bird for one of South Africa’s largest poultry companies, Elgin Free Range Chickens.


completing a BSc Agriculture degree in animal physiology and genetics at the University of Stellenbosch and gaining experience running a duck farm for her father.


Everything in-house The company owner and chief executive officer told Poultry World, “The company is situated in the Overberg region of the Western Cape in South Africa. I started the business 22 years


There are around 56,000 breeding hens at Elgin Free Range Chickens at any one time.


▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 2, 2020 29


PHOTO: CHRIS MCCULLOUGH


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