Speaker Richard Morris on 'The Poultry Business [Shoulder of Mutton, Great Bowden]

The Soulder of Mutton, Great Bowden

Speaker Richard Morris on 'The Poultry Business'

JT

Richard Morris: Free-range production on track

Richard Morris of Great Bowden has been involved in egg production for most of his working life. He has seen small pasture egg production evolve into deep litter, before going into conventional cage production while farming with his late uncle. In 1998 a combination of pressures saw them exiting the sector, but with Mr Morris keeping a hand in, packing eggs for local businesses.

Faced with the inheritance of 36ha of land and the need to create a “cash generating enterprise” on it, after much consideration he decided to invest in free range.

It was a decision seven years in the making, though he says the business had “always kept an eye on” free range. He wanted to be satisfied the system was the highest welfare available, before investing.

Mr Morris went for a 20,000-bird unit, split down the middle creating two “houses” of 10,000. Each side of the shed has its own access to range, and the multi-tier is arranged with nest boxes next to a central egg belt, with a gap to a second unit that provides drink and water.

The first flock is in-situ, and he is “very pleased” with the way things are going. Early production metrics are also looking good, with floor eggs standing at about 1%. Birds in one house were laying at 97.6% when Poultry World visited in week 25.

He has a full time stockworker, Gavin Creesey, who tends to the flock day-to-day.

Eggs will predominantly be marketed through LJ Fairburns, but he hopes to build on his separate packing business in the coming months, sending a small percentage there.