Animal welfare
The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
Mahatma Gandhi
In 2012, the European Union banned farmers from keeping egg-laying hens in barren battery cages smaller than an A4 sheet of paper. Instead, the minimum requirement now is that hens are kept in a cage the size of an A4 sheet of paper, with an extra postcard-sized bit of shared space that allows them to scratch and nest. These are known as enriched cages. Factory farming means that 40,000 chickens or more can be kept in one shed and Brexit has recently prompted a boom in large scale chicken farming in Wales. The Council for Protection of Rural Wales claims that chicken manure is running into rivers and affecting plant diversity when spread on fields and airborne emissions of ammonia from the sheds are also being deposited on soil and plants.
We deplore these corporate farming practices aimed at making money no matter what the consequences. We aim to increase our flock to just under 50 laying hens with full access to grassy pasture during daylight hours. We cannot match these producers on price particularly when supermarkets use generic products such as eggs as loss leaders knowing customers will price-check them against competitors and assume that everything they sell will be cheaper. Not true of course, just another way of deceiving the public.
We have found however that there are many people out there who are aware of the cruelty involved and are willing to pay extra for eggs when they know not only how well the chickens are kept but also the amazing difference in quality they can expect. We therefore do not view ourselves as being in competition with such suppliers but more the antidote. Effectively, our eggs are an entirely different product sold to an entirely different market. Whats more our chickens are open to inspection at any time. So where are you going to buy your next eggs……?
Caged hens 
Barn hens 
Our hens