Port Pirie Farm

PROUDLY SOUTH AUSTRALIAN

Our South Australian Egg Farms

For us to produce the best eggs for you, the hens on our South Australian egg farms need to be able to satisfy their natural foraging instincts, just as they did thousands of years ago under the canopies of vast forests.

Interestingly, this foraging habit doesn’t mean chickens need to wander for miles and miles. In fact, when left alone, our girls tend to stay very close to “home”.

As a result, we have adapted our farming methods across three different models of hen habitat: free-range, barn-laid, and cage. Each of these systems has different qualities, but all are managed with the health and welfare of our hens in mind.

You’ll find our South Australian egg farms at the following locations:

  • Adelaide Plains
  • McLaren Vale

  • Roseworthy

  • Port Pirie
  • Port Germein

We know our forefathers would be proud to see how far egg farming technology has come. And because our mission is to keep ethical and sustainable farming practices as the driving force of what we do today and into the future, we hope you’ll continue buying eggs from the Days Eggs range with pride.

Days Eggs -South Australian Egg Farms photo of chickens foraging outside in hey.

TOUR OUR FARMS

Days Eggs -South Australian Egg Farms photo of chickens foraging outside in grass.

PROUDLY SOUTH AUSTRALIAN

Free Range Egg Farms

Days Eggs has free-range egg farms at McLaren Vale, on the Adelaide Plains, at Roseworthy and in the Southern Flinders Ranges, where our girls get to scratch around to their hearts’ content.

We’re often asked how big our range areas are. The simplest way to describe them is to say they’re as large as footy fields. When you consider how small a hen is, that means our girls have plenty of room to roam, dust bathe and fossick for worms and insects.

Of course, with demand for free-range eggs growing, we have an important responsibility to ensure our farming practices are sustainable. At Days Eggs, we believe the key to sustainable free-range egg production is balancing land use so our hens have plenty of room to roam, while neighbouring farmers retain land for producing grain—which our girls need—and raising livestock to help meet our community’s food needs.

Rather than tying up thousands of acres of farmland, we have created managed pastures enriched with fodder and large bales of straw. These provide interesting enrichment material for our girls to fossick through and dust bathe in.

These bales also help support biodiversity by improving the soil and providing seeds for the regeneration of grasses for our hens.

Under normal farming conditions, our girls aren’t restricted to staying outside. They can move freely in and out of their sheds to suit their needs, with many often choosing to stay indoors.

Outdoor ranging has many benefits, but it can also expose hens to risks such as extreme weather and birds of prey. Their housing provides protection, while our native tree planting program creates shade on hot days and gives our girls extra cover from predators overhead.

Therefore, we’re very proud of our careful, balanced and sustainable approach to free-range egg farming.

Barn Laid Egg Farms

On our barn laid egg farms, our girls live cage-free inside safe, spacious, state-of-the-art hen houses. They’re free to move around, perch and scratch, while remaining protected from South Australia’s searing summer heat and cold winter conditions.

Did you know that chickens don’t have sweat glands to help them cool down during periods of high temperatures? Our air-conditioned housing helps protect them from SA’s famously hot summer days.

Likewise, when hens become too cold, they can become distressed and stop laying eggs. Our gentle climate-controlled systems create a comfortable environment for our girls—and one that our employees don’t mind working in on really hot or cold days either!

Along with automatic feeding systems that keep our hens happy and content, the manure collected from the barns twice a week keeps many local farmers happy and content, too.

This rich organic fertiliser is a valuable source of nutrients for broadacre crops in the surrounding area. Completing this virtuous circle, many of the grains and legumes grown by these farmers then return to us as nutritious feed for our hens.

Biodiversity cycles such as these are a fundamental part of making egg farming on this scale more sustainable.

Days Eggs -South Australian Egg Farms photo of chickens inside a barn on a mess floor.

PROUDLY SOUTH AUSTRALIAN

Cage Egg Farms

Within the range of Days Eggs farms, we have a high-tech cage egg farm at Napperby, near Port Pirie.

Our cage system is the only one of its type in South Australia, incorporating the latest in design for optimum hen welfare, with comfortable perches and scratch areas, in an air-conditioned, clean environment.

Our girls are safely housed away from wild birds and extreme weather, in a carefully managed environment designed to keep them comfortable and engaged.

Another key ingredient in this “eggcellent” production system is the nutritious feed mix our girls receive. This balanced mixture of seeds and grains has been developed with guidance from our expert hen nutritionists and veterinarians.

Along with good food, our in-house poultry welfare specialist monitors the health of our hens and makes sure they receive a high standard of daily care and enrichment.

When the eggs are laid, our automatic collection systems help ensure they’re handled hygienically and in line with careful food-safety practices. The eggs roll gently away from the hens and travel along a conveyor into trays before being cooled and prepared for packing.

This process plays an important role in maintaining the freshness and quality of our eggs.

Lower Light Egg Packing and Distribution Centre

The Lower Light Egg Packing and Distribution Centre is the link between our farms and the customers who enjoy our eggs. Here, eggs from across the Days Eggs farms are graded, packed and prepared for distribution to supermarkets, retailers, foodservice businesses and other customers.

In 2018, the facility at our headquarters was expanded to increase its grading and warehouse capacity. The expansion also included a UV sanitiser, an inline washing and sanitising system, and an oiling plant.

Our high-speed, large-volume computerised egg-grading machine can grade up to 126,000 eggs per hour. Once graded and packed, the eggs move through our 600-pallet warehouse before being safely dispatched to customers throughout South Australia and interstate.

Behind the scenes, Days Eggs has a team of more than 90 employees across South Australia. This includes expert hen nutritionists, veterinary expertise and a poultry welfare specialist who care for our hens and oversee the safe processing, packing and distribution of our eggs.

Days Eggs -South Australian Egg Farms photo of their production line at distribution centre.

OUR PRODUCT RANGE

Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Country Fresh Barn Laid 800g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the McLaren Vale 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Winter Garden 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Light River 900g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Southern Flinders Ranges 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Adelaide Plains 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Country Fresh 800g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Country Fresh 600g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Days SA Regional 600g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Days SA Regional 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Days SA Regional 800g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Fresh Aussie 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the McLaren Vale 600g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Southern Flinders Ranges 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Adelaide Plains 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Country Fresh 800g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Country Fresh 600g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Days SA Regional 600g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Days SA Regional 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Days SA Regional 800g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Fresh Aussie 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the McLaren Vale 600g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the McLaren Vale 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Winter Garden 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Southern Flinders Ranges 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Adelaide Plains 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Country Fresh 800g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Country Fresh 600g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Days SA Regional 600g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Days SA Regional 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Days SA Regional 800g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Fresh Aussie 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the McLaren Vale 600g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the McLaren Vale 700g egg carton
Days Eggs- South Australian egg producer image of the Winter Garden 700g egg carton