Our Story

A Kiwi girl and an Irish boy met in Sydney and one day dreamt of having their own farm…..jump forward a few years, add 2 babies and here we are in beautiful Motukarara, making that dream come true and starting out with pasture raised eggs. We became custodians of this 26ha property in February 2020. Forage Farm is uniquely shaped like a triangle and bordered by the Halswell River, the Little River Rail Trail and the Christchurch Akaroa Road.

Our philosophy here is simple - ‘continue as nature intended’. We will have small flocks of hens who forage outside and have access to their mobile Chicken Caravan 24/7. We apply regenerative agriculture practices to help regenerate the soil and produce great pastures with a variety of tasty bugs for our hens to forage for. We feed our hens a feed that is free from GMOs, soy and yolk colourant (all things that are likely to be fed to layer hens, including most free range ones).

We are not setting out to feed the masses, we want to feed people like you. People who are interested in knowing where their food comes from. People who want to get to know their farmer and believe in their farming practices. People who want to feed themselves and their families a tasty and nutritious product from a hen that has a natural and happy life.

We believe that pasture raised is so much more than a free range system. Our hens are moved onto new pasture several times a week and can choose when to go outside or seek shelter. Studies show that pasture raised eggs are nutritionally better with results showing higher vitamins A, E and Omega 3’s as well as lower cholesterol and saturated fat.