62 | Keeping the chooks laying Hawke’s Bay Eggs is thriving with the old-style cages long gone. Hawke’s Bay: Hawke’s Bay Eggs T T Virginia Wright REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT In the late 1990s, Laurie Horsfall was managing a sheep, beef and deer station in Whanganui owned by Lane Clay, who also owned a large egg farm in Hawke’s Bay. Laurie had successfully steered clear of what he not so fondly referred to as “that stinking chook farm”, until its owner got sick. “Back then, it was probably a very good farm for the time, but it was all the old-style cages. I ended up running them both and when Lane died I couldn’t afford to buy the sheep station so I bought the chook farm. When I told my wife Shirley she said ‘what the hell do you know about chooks?’ and I said ‘nothing but I’m going to learn’,” says Laurie. Twenty-five years later, the farm is thriving with the old-style cages long gone and the Hawke’s Bay Egg Farm a thoroughly family-run affair. Once the purchase was made, Laurie proceeded to surround himself with people who knew more than he did, as he puts it, and it paid off. No doubt his farm-management skills also stood him in good stead. According to Laurie it’s “mostly common sense. You give any animal good feed, good water, and a good environment and they’ll produce”. For the first 12 months, he lived in the office on the conventional egg farm working seven days a week, doing all the deliveries on top of everything else. They had leased out the house that came with the farm, and 11 hectares of land, to a free-range egg farmer and Shirley and their three children were on a lifestyle block in Marton. By the time the lessee was ready to retire, they could afford for the family to shift over. They added the free-range egg farm to the business and Shirley took over running it. A few years later, having seen what was happening in Europe, they made the decision to gradually replace the old conventional cage system, which at that stage was still legal, with a newer colony system as finances allowed, while keeping the free-range egg side going. By the time the regulations changed around egg farming they were already compliant and had been for some years. “The colony system gives them a lot more room. They’ve got nest boxes, perches and a scratch area and generally a better environment. We don’t get the diseases and bugs and rats like they used to in the old days. “It’s temperature-controlled, sitting around 22 degrees in the shed. With good feed they’ll produce, because they’re a pretty sensitive thing the old chooks, and if things aren’t just right they’ll go off the lay and that costs you money,” says Laurie. Knowing that free-range eggs were something the consumer wanted they decided to make use of one of the big empty sheds for the free-range birds to live and lay in, while retaining their access to go outside. At the same time, they invested in an automated system, which could take the eggs from both operations: Shirley would no longer have to pick up all the eggs manually then transport them to the main farm for grading and so on. “So, 99% of the eggs on this farm, both free-range and colony eggs, never get touched by human hands,” says Laurie. Today, Laurie and Shirley have largely retired. Their two daughters Shelley and Rachel run the Hawke’s Bay Egg Farm between them, and their son Aaron takes care of everything mechanical. After 25 good years in the business, Laurie is the first to say that the industry has been good to him and his family. A family affair: Laurie and Shirley Horsfall’s daughters Shelley, left, and Rachel run the Hawke’s Bay Egg Farm between them, while son Aaron takes care of everything mechanical. (06) 876 4486 admin@carymossman.co.nz Knowledge & Expertise Personal Service • Financial Results Your local Chartered Accountant www.hawkesbayeggs.co.nz info@hawkesbayeggs.co.nz P: (06) 879 8712 145 Mangaroa Road, RD4, Hastings Hawkes Bay Eggs currently offer Free Range & Colony eggs with our Hawkes Bay Eggs Brand
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