There is no need for our hens to be locked up because they are always protected from predators by their personal guard dogs.
The hens are fed a natural diet of grains with no colouring additives - and they are not  de-beaked. De-beaking, or beak trimming, is not necessary on a true free range farm. If a farm beak trims its birds (removing part of the beak) to stop them pecking each other, it's an indication that the farm is not really free range, but is an intensive production system. 
Hens are gregarious creatures, but they prefer small groups and they tend to  become aggressive when too many are confined in small spaces - which is why the big producers always beak trim their hens even though it is contrary to the Model Code.

We produce over 600 dozen eggs each week on the farm ready for delivery to shops and restaurants - and sales at Farmers' Markets in our region.  Variations in yolk colour are a good indication that the eggs really are free range. If the yolks are always a deep orange in colour, it's likely the hens are being fed additives to fool consumers.
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Yolk colour will always vary, depending on what each hen has eaten. The colour may not be bright when there is not much green feed about - such as in the middle of a drought.

Channel 10's The Circle looks at the Freeranger eggs farm

Aaron Wood came down to the farm to check out what we do.Have a look here:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=340349432715959

Paul Mercurio from Mercurio's Menu also came here and we appeared with Des Dowling on Talk to the Animals as well as many Current Affairs shows.

Freeranger Eggs is also part of the Humane Society International's Humane Choice program.

Phil and Anne Westwood operate the Freeranger Egg farm with their Maremma dogs to protect the birds. The eggs are collected by hand, graded and packed every day on the farm ready for delivery to restaurants, shops and direct to customers.
We don't send off our hens to make  soup when they finish their first laying season. We keep them longer and find  homes with local people who want chooks for their backyards. They lay  happily  for another three or four years and often longer.
Freeranger Eggs is a 200 acre diversified beef, sheep and chicken farm at Grantville,  part of the Mornington Peninsula and Western Port Biosphere  
Reserve.
We have implemented strategies aimed at sustainable land use in conjunction
with biodiversity conservation on the property and adjoining land.
The farm has  Bass River frontage and forms part of the only riparian  forest left on the river.
Our property is a vegetated link between the Grantville Flora & Fauna Reserve and the Bass River and is ecologically vital for the local survival of a variety of species.
Amongst animals living  here are Powerful Owls, Barking Owls, Lace Monitors, Mountain Brushtail Possums,  Swamp Antechinus, Potoroos and Bandicoots. Sixty acres of the property are protected by a Trust for Nature covenant and the farm is also part of the Land for  Wildlife Scheme.
The property is demonstrating that primary production can be  commercially viable without compromising ecological values and that  cost-effective farming, environmental protection and enhancing species  biodiversity are not mutually exclusive. The farm took part in a sustainability  study of free range farms in the Port Phillip & Westernport Catchment  Management Authority area. The study, conducted by an independent agronomist,  found that our production techniques were sustainable and showed that our low  stocking density provided overall cost benefits.
Production includes  chemical-free beef and lamb, wool for hand spinning and free range eggs from  hens in mobile roosts and protected from fox attacks by Maremma guard dogs.  Regular movement of the roost houses which are sheds with slatted floors on  skids, provides natural nutrients to maintain lush grass growth with no additional inputs, also encouraging the spread of native grasses.
Activities on the property have been designed to minimise off-site impacts. All creeks lines are vegetated to maintain water quality run off into Bass River and our management ensures the long term sustainability of our farming activities.
The property is home for the Margo Kroyer-Pedersen Wildlife Shelter which provides voluntary regional care for injured, sick and orphaned wildlife as well as being  a base for environmental groups Friends of Bass Valley Bush Inc Landcare Group  and the Bushland Research Council. These groups conduct revegetation programs,  propagate native trees, shrubs and grasses of local provenance and carry out  research into regional flora and fauna. Species lists and other details are available by contacting bassbush.
The  wildlife shelter operates a regional rescue service with a small vehicle as
an  ambulance and we are part of the voluntary Help for Wildlife network which
uses  the emergency contact phone number 0417 380687 throughout Victoria. All sales assist with this work. The  shelter has cared for native animals of all
types--wombats, wallabies, echidnas,  koalas, lizards and birds--including some
magnificent raptors. 
Below are examples of some of the animals which have been cared for in the shelter.