Dekalb White flocks set to go to 104 weeks at the Abberley Partnership in Wales

The 2001 foot and mouth outbreak in the UK lasted 221 days and resulted in 6.45 million animals being culled. Farmers, vets, communities, and the government all cooperated to rid the country of the disease and finally succeeded in the UK having FMD-free status in January 2002.

Farming beef and cattle on the family farm near Llandrindod Wells, Powys, Janet and Andrew Abberley weren't hit by the outbreak, but the experience prompted them to look for a way to diversify and reduce their dependency on livestock. After considering holiday letting as an option, like many farmers in Mid Wales, who were putting up layer sheds, Abberley invested in their first 12000 bird flat deck house.

Today the business is headed up by Janet and Andrew’s two sons Ross and Roger, and is a true family affair, with spouses Zara and Fiona and their children, all active in the business.

“We initially chose a full end to end contract with Bowler, starting with brown birds” Zara Ross explains “Bowler had a high profile at the time, and we knew a lot of people in the area were working with them. For a new enterprise the end-to-end deal provided advice and services for the full set up and support including planning, build, feed, pullet rearing, technical, IT and financial performance”.

Following a fire in 2011 and with the help of a Processing and Marketing Grant (PMG) grant funded through the Rural Development Plan for Wales, the Abberley Partnership expanded its business by adding facilities for a further 12,000-bird flock, doubling its output of free-range eggs. The PMG funding helped to pay for the purchase and installation of equipment to process an additional 3.2 million eggs a year.

The Dekalb White

“As our confidence and experience of managing free range flocks grew, we began to look at other breeds” Zara continues, “We were working with Humphries Feed and Pullets at the time and had excellent field support from Gwenda and Colin. We trusted them,and when they suggested white birds, we were happy to put our faith in white eggs. We now have 48,000 Dekalb White layers, in three multi-tier houses”

“We opted for the Big Dutchman system and have found their service to be excellent – it is more money, but better for the hensand the eggs. The system is easy to understand for the layers, they can exhibit their natural behaviours, stay healthy and can lay their eggs under hygienic conditions.

The multi- tier system is good for the birds, and we find the white birds learn the system better than brown birds, manoeuvre around it better and use all levels of the system”

Easy to manage, feed efficient, and capable of laying 500 eggs over a 100-week cycle the Dekalb White is a proven winner for UK free range producers. Egg size is very controllable, with a very flat profile, whilst egg weight is genetically increasing to give a good balance of large and medium sizes. With parent stock farms in the UK, and results demonstrated by years of commercial flock data, the Dekalb White is hatched and distributed in the UK by Joice and Hill.

“We came to Joice and Hill because of their years of experience in white birds and based on recommendations” Zara explains “As we hoped, we have found that white hens are calmer and happier with themselves. We buy our feed from a highly responsive localmill, Bulk Agri and we find that the white birds eat less than brown birds, which combined with the extended cycles and fewer clean downs makes a convincing economic and welfare case. Our two previous flocks went to 100 weeks, and we are considering whether to take the next flock to 104 weeks”.

Abberley sell their eggs to Bumble Hole Foods, who have been cracking eggs since 1961.

Their dedication to and investment in the company has seen it grow from strength to strength and by the 1970’s they were supplying many regional supermarkets. Since then, the companyhas continued to grow steadily, and is now responsible for supplying eggs and egg products to most of the major UK food manufacturers.

“During the egg shortages, created by COVID, we researched the market and decided that a processor like Bumble Hole would work well for us. We have found them excellent to work with, we sell our eggs by the ton, they take all grades of eggs, including cracked eggs, for one across the board price per ton” Zara explains “As our input costs rose, they allowed us a price increase, and they have recently offered a price increase to reflect the fact that egg prices are on the increase”.

Abberley Partnership actively keep an eye on innovations to apply the latest thinking “We are very vigilant for any changes in the hens” Zara says “and we constantly adapt the feed regime to suit the birds. We pay particular attention to ventilation and that was a major factor in choosing the Big Dutchman system”

With no immediate expansion plans, Abberley Partnership are currently content to enjoy the turnaround in the egg sector, with feed prices falling and egg prices rising due to a strong demand for eggs. Zara concludes “Welfare for the birds and high British standards are vital to protect the UK market, but duplication and ceaseless moving of the goal posts inevitably takes more time and money for little guarantee of preventing substandard imports. It would be better if the assurance schemes worked together.”