BIGGEST EGG FARM IN N.Z.

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31783, 13 September 1968, Page 10

BIGGEST EGG FARM IN N.Z.

X’OT many realise it, but the largest egg-produc-ing farm in New Zealand or Australia is situated in Christchurch. It is the Bower Egg Farm at Burwood, started just 14 years ago by Mr C. J. Delamare. Today the Bower Egg Farm has about 75,000 birds —an increase of about 80 per cent in the last three years. It produces an average of 900,000 eggs a month, the highest output in any month so far being 1,080,000 eggs. It is estimated that the farm produces about 25 per cent of the eggs used in Canterbury, and up to 10 per cent of New Zealand’s

total egg production. The birds are housed in batteries in eight huge, insulated sheds. In all, there are five miles of batteries. Started In 1954 Mr Delamare arrived in New Zealand from Germany in 1954, and started his egg farm with 6000 birds running free in two sheds. By 1965 he had 45,000 birds in four laying sheds and a brooding shed. Today he has 75,000 in seven laying sheds each 13,500 sq. ft, and a brooding shed. Every possible mechanical aid is used, making the Bower Egg Farm one of the

most up-to-date in the world Most of the eggs are sold to the C.C.D. egg floor, but for the last three years a modern, bright shop has fronted the property, and an increasing number of eggs are sold through this shop. The shop also sells a wide selection of frozen vegetables, whole chickens and chicken portions. When day-old chicks arrive at the farm, they are kept for 12 weeks in the brooding shed. All sheds have artificial lighting. After nine weeks the birds are introduced to the laying cages, where they spend the rest of their comparatively brief lives.

The young birds begin to lay after 18 weeks, and they continue to do so for up to a year.

Replacements Birds are replaced every 10 weeks—thousands are replaced in the course of a year. The birds which are replaced provide the poultry which is sold in the farm’s shop. Any birds which show signs of being other than fully productive are also culled. The farm’s large freezers provide space for about 20,000 dressed birds.

Each of the laying sheds, 310 feet long and 45ft wide, contains about 10,000 birds in batteries of four or five hens to a pen. Each of the 12 rows of cages in each shed are more than two feet abovedhe ground, and a concrete strip runs the length of the sheds between the cages. Time Clocks

The artificial lighting throughout the sheds is controlled by time-clocks, and when they are first put in the laying sheds the birds are allowed only 10 hours of light a day. This is in-

creased week by week until the birds reach a maximum of 20 hours of light a day. The feeding troughs run the length of each row of cages, and conveyors take

the feed into the shed from the 80-ton hoppers outside. The feed is placed in a motorised trolley which is

then guided between the rows of cages by the concrete strips. Augers transfer the mash from the trolley to the troughs. Water is piped to each cage In the batteries. The eggs are collected from the cages twice a day. Again this is done by using a trolley, and fittings on the trolley wipe the egg-trays clean as the machine passes. Grading Room

After being collected the eggs are checked and cleaned in the farm’s grading room. They are then cooled overnight and three times a week are sent to the egg floor. Getting rid of the manure Is always a problem for poultry fanners, but at the Bower Egg Farm it is removed from the sheds by a motorised cleaner.

The manure is dumped at a central point, where it is mixed with sawdust and allowed to mature. The resulting compost is then sold to contractors for use on farms.

Mr Delamare originally started poultry-keeping in 1929 at his home in Guernsey. He started to earn a little extra cash, and he had just 13 birds.