Feather & Peck was founded in 2016 after our Founder John Byrne completed a regenerative farming course with Joel Salatin, a world-renowned farmer known for his environmental farming techniques.
Through this course, it was clear that we could raise hens and produce eggs in a way that was so much kinder to the earth - and to the hens themselves.
With the help of another local farmer who raised beef cattle, we started small—just 300 birds. But within two years, that number grew to 2,800.
Today, Feather & Peck has expanded to multiple farms (currently seven and growing) that all follow the same regenerative, pasture-raised farming practice.
We’re essentially a collaborative cluster of family owned South Australian farms, and we manage every step of the process, from grading and packing to marketing and delivering our eggs.
It's been a fast-paced journey and currently we have 180+ active customers, including resellers, cafés, and restaurants, who love our pasture-raised eggs and say they taste amazing, separate better, and give a premium lift to menu staples.
Moving hens are happy hens
One of the misleading labels on eggs has to be “free-range.” The standards in Australia mean that 10,000 hens can be crammed into a single hectare. Close quarters like that don’t lead to the happiest, healthiest hens - or the best tasting eggs.
Our approach is to give hens the most natural and healthy lifestyle possible. That means that each week, our hens are moved to fresh pasture, which provides 30% of their diet, while the rest comes from a carefully chosen mix of non-GMO, non-soy grains.
The key to true free-range farming is moving the flock around. If hens stay in one place, they can completely strip the land of vegetation, turning it into bare dirt.
Our stocking density is incredibly low—less than 75 hens per hectare. To give you an idea of how spacious that is, imagine just 150 hens on a space as large as the Adelaide Oval.
Giving hens this much space ensures the welfare of our birds but also regenerates the soil they graze on. Moving the hens frequently prevents soil degradation, while their natural waste enriches the earth, reducing carbon emissions and increasing soil carbon levels.
A system of sustainability
Our farming practices are both sustainable and regenerative, with every aspect of the system contributing to the health of the land.
For example, all the waste our hens produce is composted and returned to the soil, improving its quality and helping to sequester carbon.
Our farmers also integrate hens into their broader livestock operations. This method, called "stacking enterprises," is brilliant because the hens naturally fertilize the pasture, which boosts the yield of other animals like sheep and cattle. It’s a win-win for the environment and for farmers’ bottom lines.
Even our packaging is designed with sustainability in mind. All our egg cartons are fully compostable, so they won’t end up in a landfill, further reducing our environmental footprint.
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What's next in the egg world
From a business point of view, our growth strategy is straightforward: partner with more local, regenerative farmers who share our vision and passion for sustainable egg farming under the Feather & Peck label.
We’re also committed to promoting the term "pasture-raised" as a way to distinguish our eggs from the misleading "free-range" label.
More broadly speaking, caged eggs will be phased out by 2036 in Australia both from an animal welfare perspective, and because consumers are simply demanding it. The highly automated, high-density operations that have dominated the industry and seemingly given rise to higher profits are just not working anymore from a sustainability perspective.
Ultimately, we hope pasture-raised eggs become the standard, not just the premium option, as more people recognise how much better these eggs are for our planet - but also how much better they taste too!
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