Mid Canterbury's new poultry farm, owned by Kiwi Free Range Ltd, has successfully raised its first run of chickens. It had 50,000 chickens shipped from shed one to poultry giant, Tegel New Zealand, in mid-July.
The farm, on State Highway 1 near Chertsey, north of Ashburton, was still under construction.
It has two sheds completed of its eight-shed development.
Kiwi Free Range director Blair Robinson said the first run of live chickens was trucked to Tegel's Hornby plant to be processed.
The chickens raised were a specific meat-breed sourced by Tegel NZ.
Mr Robinson said Tegel NZ also regulated the farm process and the supply chain based on their market needs. Most of Tegel's chickens went into the domestic market, but 20% of its premium chicken was exported.
In Mid Canterbury, the Kiwi Free Range chickens were raised under the watch of experienced poultry farm manager Len Wilson, and his wife, Ashleigh.
The couple relocated from Pukekohe, Auckland, to take up the job in April.
It's a bigger operation to the usual 5ha chicken farms elsewhere, but they took up the challenge and relocated south with their four young children.
While the farm was under development and with up to 30 construction workers on site, the non-caged chickens were housed indoors.
The farm was expected to be fully operational and free-range in January.
Once completed, the farm's eight sheds, which measure 138m x 20m (2760sqm), will house 40,000 free-range chickens each.
Under optimum growing conditions, via a fully computerised climate-controlled system, birds are raised from 2-day-old chicks through to fully developed at 42 days.
The chicks arrive on site already sexed, which distinguishes between large male birds (typically used in the whole chicken range) and the smaller female birds (used for smaller cuts of chicken).
Each shed has its own food and water supply (four grain/wheat silos each) and adjoining free-range pasture runs alongside the shed, with 25% shade protection.
Mr Robinson said Tegel NZ used its own nutritional specifications on what the chickens were fed, to ensure the end product was up to standard.
''When we're up and running we can use up to 10,000 tonnes of feed [a year],'' he said.
Each shed floor was lined with wood shavings, which were replaced regularly.
The sheds were heated from a diesel-fired boiler and warm water pumped around the wall lining.
The farm has a regulated back-up generator for continued power supply.
Mr Robinson said the chickens' development required a good supply of water.
They drink a lot of water - ''20,000 cubic metres a year'' - or around 54cum a day.
The water on site came from a ground bore, with some supply from irrigation supply scheme Barrhill Chertsey Irrigation (BCI).
There were also 10 x 30,000 litre tanks of water stored on site, to cover a shortage of a few days, if needed.
OPERATIONS
The poultry farm set back from the highway and mostly bordered by arable properties, so many would not know it exists.
It promises to be a no-noise, no-smell, free-range operation, away from town.
Kiwi Free Range took over the property in mid-2017.
It was made up of the merger of two neighbouring properties, and all up has a total of 112ha.
Just 10ha will be used for the poultry farm. The rest will be grassed and used in a cut-and-carry silage operation.
Mr Robinson said no stock would be run on the farm.
Earthworks started on site at the end of November-beginning of December.
NZ Transport Agency denied entry to the farm directly from SH1, and trucks accesss is via a aper road maintained by the farm, at the rear of the property.
Mr Robinson said this was the best outcome, given the busy section of highway fronting it.
By the start of the free-range operation, the farm will have employed an additional two staff, with an assistant manager, due to start in September, and a farm assistant in November.
