Agricultural engineer Troy Prendergast and his partner Brogan White have custom-built a free-range poultry farm on 11 hectares of land near Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere in Canterbury.
Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
"It was something we could do at a large scale without a huge amount of land," Troy says.
They bought the land off his parents who retired after 20 years of dairy farming.
5,000 Brown Shaver and Hyline chickens produce six eggs each a week at the farm and to meet the growing demand for free-range eggs, Troy is planning to expand the flock to 9,000 birds.
The eggs are sold wholesale to cafes and restaurants and direct to customers through their Old Fashioned Egg Company brand.
