Sure as eggs, this is the life

BY CHERIE HOWIE

Paul Simmonds' foray into chicken farming was only supposed to be an interim measure until he could buy a sheep farm.

Paul Simmonds only bought his Wairau Valley chicken farm so he could live in the country and, hopefully, eventually save enough money to buy a sheep farm.

He's not so sure the sheep farm is going to happen now – it's just too much money, he says.

But Paul isn't shedding any tears. In fact, he couldn't be happier tending to the 1500 hyline laying hens he runs over three hectares just south of the Wairau Valley village.

"They're pretty relaxed animals, I don't have too many problems. The chickens do the work here, I've just got to clean up after them."

Blenheim and Seddon-raised Paul always wanted to be a farmer and took his opportunity 2 1/2 years ago, leaving a role working with sheep and cattle with land development company Landco.

"I sold everything, the motocross bike, the truck – all the boys' toys – to come here. I've got to work for someone, it might as well be me."

The chicken farm has proved a good fit, he says.

"It's a real lazy job, to be honest with you," Paul admits.

Work doesn't start till 10am – crazily late for a farming job – but good news for Paul who well remembers the 4am starts during milking.

"It scares me thinking about those early starts. A man's supposed to be sleeping at that hour."

The late start is because Paul doesn't use lights to wake up his chickens, so they don't lay until after the sun is up.

By 10am laying is finished and Paul can begin collecting the eggs in old shopping baskets.

The 35-year-old makes quick work of it – collecting the almost 1100 eggs laid daily in about 45 minutes.

That number increases to just over 1300 during the peak laying season in spring.

Paul can pick up as many as five eggs at once, but describes those instances as a fluke. Mostly, he'll grab four at a time.

A short break "for a brew" follows collection. Then he spends a couple of hours washing and packing the eggs.

The eggs eventually end up on supermarket shelves in Blenheim, where they are sold under the Golden Yokes free-range eggs label, and in several Marlborough restaurants.

Paul's biggest buyer is Blenheim New World, with at least 320 dozen eggs heading to their shelves each week.

If demand is particularly high, a further 160 dozen eggs can be added to that number, he says.

Deliveries are also made to Fresh Choice Springlands and Redwood SuperValue.

Paul has also received interest in his eggs from Nelson New World and is hopeful he can secure a contract, but promises Marlborough's supply will always come first.

He doesn't have an issue with supermarket prices for his eggs, although he would naturally be happy to get a bit more in the back pocket.

That will hopefully be the case come October, when Paul plans to start selling some of his eggs at the Farmers' Market for the first time.

The move will put more pressure on his supplies, something he describes as the only stress-inducer in his job.

"That's the only one, especially around Christmas. People just can't get enough eggs at Christmas."

Hopefully, the pressure will be eased by his planned stock increase – he hopes to have 2100 laying hens by November, with an eventual increase to 3000.

Paul's also looking to build new sheds, with automatic lights and feeders on his wish list – which would bring to an end the late-morning starts, but would mean more eggs.

That's good news for his customers, and for him.

Despite dealing with thousands of eggs every day, Paul still likes to throw a few into the pot or the pan.

"I eat s...loads of eggs. Sometimes I'll have four a day for a fortnight because they're just so easy to cook."

- The Marlborough Express