Hello from the farm,
Did you know we have a chicken nutritionist? Neither did I, until we started ordering feed a few years ago. There has been a lot of excitement here this week because our new feed silo arrived.
We often get asked what we feed our hens to keep them happily laying. Our feed is made specifically for us (isa browns in this cold location) by Laucke Mills in South Australia.
And yes - Laucke employ a chicken nutritionist. I'm still not entirely sure how one ends up with that job. I don't remember anyone at school saying they wanted to grow up to be a chook dietician. But we have one. He's a lovely guy. Knows absolutely everything about chickens and what they should be eating.
Getting a 38-tonne silo onto a farm has required a lot of prep. We had to pour a concrete pad and footings (Mark had some help from a few mates), and widen the road into the farm so a semi (and in this case, a wide load with pilot escort) could actually make it in. There's a video below.
Up until now, feeding the hens has involved a lot of lifting, carrying and general repetition. The silo, along with our new 1-tonne feeders changes that. From our perspective, it's about 30 hours a week saved, better systems, and one less thing to think about every day.
The girls, of course, are completely oblivious to their new feed situation, which feels slightly unfair, given the effort that has been involved.
