Page 1 - National Poultry Newspaper

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NATIONAL
Vol 1. No. 12 Dec 2018/Jan 2019 National Poultry Newspaper PO Box 387 Cleveland 4163 Phone (07) 3286 1833 Fax (07) 3821 2637 Email ben@poultrynews.com.au
Innovative chicken farming concept developed by Elgin Valley Free Range
Engaging with educators and eating insects
IT is estimated that more than two billion people worldwide eat insects every day.
For many people it is the only available meat meal rich in protein, sugars and vitamins.
Ants, bugs, grass- hoppers and butterfly larvae are eaten in Asia, Africa and South America.
This month I took the opportunity to see what all the fuss is about.
Yes, I ate insects – black soldier fly larvae to be precise.
They had the texture of cereal as they had been dried and while they didn’t taste bad, they would be im- proved with a little chilli or salt.
I was also able to see how the insects are be-
ing farmed and discuss the current barriers and challenges these insect farmers are facing.
This is the second time I have visited an insect farm and both times I have marvelled at the science involved and the ability of the insect larvae to turn waste into valuable protein.
As mentioned last
month, we are fund- ing a research project investigating insects as poultry feed and I look forward to bringing you these result next year.
Poultry Hub Australia has also been out and about engaging with schools this month.
We attended a num- ber of schools and al-
☛ continued P3
by TAMSYN CROWLEY Director
Tamsyn Crowley and Natalie Morgan were ready to educate teachers and students alike.
DOING things dif- ferently is a great way to stand out from the crowd, and when it comes to free range chicken farming, that’s quite a crowded space to be playing in.
So when Mount Cot- ton, Queensland-based Golden Cockerel (jointly owned by Woodlands En- terprises and Darwalla Group) looked to branch out and explore a niche in the free range meat chicken industry, the business knew it had to think outside the box if it wanted the venture to succeed.
Most free range meat chickens are permit- ted access to run freely outdoors for a couple of hours a day where they can forage and roam to
their hearts’ content. However, this poses an obvious biosecurity risk in that while out and about in the great out- doors, these chooks can come into close contact with other birdlife includ- ing ducks and pigeons, not to mention the threat of predation from foxes and birds of prey such as
falcons and hawks.
To combat these issues, the Golden Cockerel team concocted a novel solution – enclosing the free range area on all sides with special netting to protect the birds from threats both airborne and on the ground.
And so the Elgin Valley Free Range concept and brand was born.
With the first farms de-
veloped and operational in the foothills of the scenic Glasshouse Moun- tains in February 2016, up to 60,000 birds a week have been travelling for a little more than an hour by truck to the processing facility at Mount Cotton, minimising both stress for the birds and trans- port costs for the busi- ness.
Recently speaking with Golden Cockerel’s Sales Manager Wayne Sulli- van and Business Devel- opment Manager Kerry Stewart regarding Elgin Valley Free Range, the pair was able to reveal that production capacity will be doubled in com- ing months thanks to the repurposing of existing farms in the Redlands
☛ continued P2
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