Living healthy

Each flock has its own dedicated stock person, who is responsible for all aspects of the hens’ welfare.

At WOODLAND farms the hens enjoy a healthy environment, where great importance is put on good hygiene practices and clean living areas. The hens have their own water source (which is regularly tested for potability) and the farm sites were specifically selected for their optimal pasture growth and drainage. The farms follow safe food practices and use high-quality feed products sourced locally.

Fortunately in New Zealand there are fewer diseases the birds have to be vaccinated for; at the same time bio-security is taken very seriously.

WOODLAND meets the NZ Animal Welfare (Layer Hens) Code of Welfare 2012, which compares very favourably with those in place internationally. Our properties are fully compliant with the Animal Products Act 1999.

Every flock is vaccinated against salmonella. The first vaccination is at one day old in the hatchery and then there are two further vaccinations during the rearing stage. We sample eggs from every flock every week to test for Salmonella inside the egg.

It’s important to stress that New Zealand is very fortunate in that we do not have a number of the Avian diseases which other countries are challenged with. All our RMP and QA controls are to protect our hens and our staff, and produce clean, safe quality eggs.