POULTRY farming has always been a specialised sector but, it is proving to be a lot more financially viable than many traditional forms of agriculture.

At Chalmerston Farm, Mauchline, in Ayrshire, the Robb family - Billy and Irene and son Alan - run a successful free range egg business which goes back as far as 1957.

Formed initially by Irene's father, Hugh Strathearn, who retailed eggs at Chalmerston successfully right up until 1991 it was then taken over by Irene and her husband Billy, who originally came from a dairy farm at South Palmerston, Ochiltree.

"I never really had any notion to be a dairy farmer, and was always happier with beef and sheep, so when we came to Chalmerston, we just decided to keep on the retail unit," Billy explained.

Currently, the Robbs have 48,000 Lohmann Brown hens, a hybrid layer, housed in three multi-tier sheds allowing access to the great outdoors.

Alan explained: "The advantage of the free range system is that the hens have the choice of being indoors or outdoors, and they like to go outdoors after they've lain their eggs for the day and eaten.

"Having the multi-tier system inside the shed is also beneficial because it means the birds can stay out of the way of one another.

"With this set up, there's not as much cannibalism, as the stronger birds tend to stay nearer the top - so it's a literal pecking order.

"It also reduces mortality rates - since we have moved to the multi-tiered system, our mortality has reduced from 7% to nearer 2%," said Alan.

The Robbs produce eggs for Noble foods, who in turn supply The Happy Egg Co, which is an organisation renowned for having well-kept, free range birds - something the Robb family had to take into consideration when setting things up on for larger scale egg production at Chalmerston.

In saying that, the same eggs are also sold through Marks and Spencer and Lidl, but the eggs at Chalmerston are so highly audited that they could be sold anywhere if necessary.

Billy added: ""We started to upgrade the sheds in 2009 when the EU had voted to ban battery hen cages across Europe.

"Many people felt the cage ban was a bad decision, but it actually did farmers a lot of good because it allowed them the chance to produce eggs that were worth money again although you need to have a good amount of land to do it.

"Producing free-range eggs is seen as a much more animal welfare friendly system and has bolstered the demand for such eggs."

The three hen sheds at Chalmerston have doors along each side, which open out onto a large patch of land, allowing the hens to come and go as they please, although it has been noted they prefer darker conditions.

On top of this, it is a requirement to plant 1800 trees in total (600 per each unit), to ensure free range certification and provide some sort of cover for the birds.

To prevent predators, a large fence had to be built around the sheds while a length of wire is planted underground in order to prevent digging.

Birds are placed on the farm at 16 weeks of age and begin laying eggs at 20 weeks. They normally lay for 52 weeks, with a life span amounting to 72 weeks.

Eggs are picked up three times per week, with around 300,000 eggs lifted every seven days.

"Scottish egg units are some of the biggest in the UK and twice the size of average unit but this is a small unit in comparison," Alan said.

And, contrary to popular opinion, not all eggs are sold for the food industry.

"Up to 60% of eggs sold in the UK are actually sold in their shell. The rest are used in a number of other food products and even in cosmetics. The list of things that eggs go into is endless!"

Another benefit of working with Noble foods is that the Robbs have a feed tracker contract, which means that when the price of feed increases, the price of eggs increases also, which makes things more financially stable for the business.

Although the family is working with a very high number of hens for their production to Noble foods, Billy also has his own small holding of 6000 hens.

These are used for egg production which are then sold locally.

Billy explained: "For smaller retail, you need to have all different age groups of birds, so that you have a constant supply of eggs, year round.

"These eggs then need to be graded and packed into individual packages.

"I deliver these every day, around 20 cases of 30 dozen, to various different places like the local butcher shop, bakery and some hotels.

"It used to be that the dairy run would deliver eggs but I just do this myself in a small van."

Clearly not busy enough with the two egg production companies, Chalmerston comprises 140 acres which is home to 70 cross cows, 25 in-calf heifers and six pure female Charolais, which were purchased at the Blelack and Maerdy reduction sales.

The family also owns a flock of 20 pure-bred Texels which are mostly run on 60 acres of seasonal lets.

Adding to the overall efficiency of the unit aretwo Xzeres 12kw turbines, set up by VG in 2012, providing valuable power for the farm steading and the poultry unit.

In 2014, the Robbs also installed a 90kw biomass boiler which is run on wood pellets and was set up by Gibson and Gould, to heat the house while also providing hot water both inside and outside.

Billy added: "We didn't actually install the biomass until all three of the children had moved out, so that didn't exactly go down well!"

To which Alan added: "Before the biomass was installed, the house was freezing, but now it's warm everywhere - it's been a great investment!"