Laid todayLarge eggs, one dozen
Laid this morning, graded by weight
$6.50
Gathered at sunrise, on your table by supper
Sunrise Hill keeps laying hens and slow grown table birds on open pasture above the village. Order eggs and dressed chickens online to collect at the farm gate or for chilled delivery, and send an enquiry for day old chicks to start a flock of your own.
08:00eggs packed daily
10 weekson grass per bird
Saturdaychick collection
- Hens on grass from first light
- Eggs boxed the day they are laid
- Chilled rounds twice a week
- Chicks from our own flock
In the farm shop fridge
Eggs and chickens below are ready this week. Order by 20:00 for the next delivery round, or pick collection and take your labelled bag from the fridge by the gate.
Laid today
Tray of 30, mixed sizes
The whole day’s spread of sizes, for bakers and big households
$13
Duck eggs, half dozen
Large rich yolks that bakers ask for by name
$5.50
10 weeks on grassWhole chicken, about 2.2 kg
Slow grown on grass, dressed and chilled on the farm
$26
Portions box, 2.5 kg
Breasts, thighs, drumsticks and wings
$34
For the stockpotBoiling hen
A hen at the end of lay, for slow stock and soup
$9
Broth pack, 2 kg
Frames and necks for a deep, golden bone broth
$7
By enquiryDay old chicks
Laying breeds, as pullets or straight run, collected on Saturdays
Price on enquiry
EnquireThe delivery fee is added at checkout. Each chicken is sold at the price shown for its weight band, so a bird a little over or under costs the same. Chicks are priced per breed and per brood, which is why they are ordered by enquiry.
Farm gate, village round or wider round
Choose one at checkout. Eggs and chickens travel chilled in insulated boxes with ice packs, and every bag carries the date it was packed.
| Option | How it reaches you | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Farm gate collection | Your bag waits in the shop fridge with your name on it, any day from 08:00 to 18:00 | No charge |
| Village round | Our chilled van on Tuesday and Friday afternoons, to addresses within 20 km | $4 |
| Wider round | Fridays only, for homes 20 to 40 km from the farm | $8 |
| Weekly egg box | The same eggs on every village round, arranged once by message | Round fee |
Order by 20:00 the evening before a round. Live chicks never travel by van or post; they go home with their new keeper from the farm.
Hens on fresh grass, moved every week
The laying hens live in wooden houses on wheels that we tow onto new pasture each week, so the ground behind them rests and grows back. They are let out at first light, scratch along the hedges through the day and are shut in at dusk, safe from foxes.
Eggs are gathered twice a day, held to a lamp to catch hairline cracks, graded by weight and boxed in the farm packing room. Our table birds are a slower growing breed raised on the same hill for about ten weeks, then dressed in the licensed room beside the packing shed.
- Houses towed onto clean grass weekly
- Every egg candled and graded on the farm
- Birds dressed here, never trucked to a plant
Getting ready for day old chicks
Chicks need warmth, water and food from the hour they arrive, so run the brooder a day early and let it settle.
Keeping poultry can require registration, and selling or moving live birds is regulated in many places. Rules vary by country, so check with your local authority before you order.
The day before
Set up a draught proof brooder with a heat source, clean wood shavings and a ring guard, and run it overnight so it holds a steady temperature.
Collection day
Drive the ventilated chick box we give you straight home, and dip each beak into the water as the chicks go in so they find it.
The first week
Keep the warm end at about 32 to 35 °C (90 to 95 °F) with a cooler end. Chicks huddled under the heat are cold; chicks pressed to the edges are too warm.
Weeks two to six
Lower the heat by about 3 °C (5 °F) each week, keep chick crumb and clean water in reach, and move them outside once they are fully feathered.
Breeds we hatch through the season
Each brood comes from our own parent flock. Hatches rotate through the year, so ask which breeds are due when you enquire.
- Rhode Island Red, brown eggs
- Light Sussex, cream eggs
- Barred Plymouth Rock, brown eggs
- Marans, dark brown eggs
- Leghorn, white eggs
- Araucana, blue eggs
- Buff Orpington, tinted eggs
- Welsummer, speckled eggs
Sexing a chick at a day old is never certain, so an order of pullets can still hold the odd cockerel. Any cockerel you cannot keep can come back to the farm once it reaches eight weeks.
A morning on the hill
From the first egg in the basket to the chick box on the back seat.
From the village round (example reviews)
Yolks the colour of apricots, and the date on every box is the day the hens laid them. The Friday van has not missed a week since spring.
The spatchcocked bird roasted in under an hour and fed six of us, then the bones went into a broth that lasted until Wednesday.
Six Light Sussex pullets, a sheet of brooder notes and a call two days later to ask how they were settling. All six lay every day now.
Asked at the farm gate
Are the hens really outside?
Yes. They go out at first light and come in at dusk, every day of the year. When the authorities order poultry housed during a bird flu outbreak, the law keeps them in their houses until the order lifts, and we say so on the egg boxes.
How should eggs and chicken be kept at home?
Keep eggs boxed in the fridge and use them by the date on the box. Store chicken at the bottom of the fridge, away from food that will be eaten raw, and cook it until the thickest part reaches 74 °C (165 °F) and the juices run clear. Food safety guidance differs between countries, so follow the advice where you live.
Are the eggs washed?
No. Shells are brushed clean by hand, and any egg too dirty to brush goes to the farm kitchen instead. Some countries require eggs to be washed before sale and others do not allow it, so the rules depend on where you live.
Can chicks be delivered or posted?
No. Chicks leave the farm only with the person who will keep them, collected on a Saturday morning in a ventilated box. Moving and selling live birds is controlled in many places, and some ask keepers to register, so check the rules where you live first.
Why do chicks have no price online?
The price depends on the breed, whether you want pullets or straight run, and how many chicks are due in that hatch. Send an enquiry and we reply with the price per chick and a collection date before anything is reserved.
Can we visit the hens?
The farm shop is open every day, but the flock fields stay closed to visitors because footwear can carry disease between farms. Families collecting chicks see the brooder room on Saturday mornings, wearing the boot covers we hand out.
Enquire about chicks or a standing order
Tell us which breeds you would like, how many chicks and the week that suits you. We reply within two working days with what is due to hatch, the price per chick and a Saturday to collect. Cafes and bakeries can ask about a standing egg order here too.
- Hatched on the farm from our parent flock
- Brooder notes handed over at collection
- Payment arranged directly with the farm
Find the farm shop
Follow the lane past the church and look for the hen houses on the hill. The shop is the wooden shed beside the gate.
Contact
Hillside farm two kilometres past the village church, shop beside the gate
Farm hours
| Farm shop | Daily, 08:00 to 18:00 |
| Chick collection | Saturday, 09:00 to 12:00 |
| Delivery rounds | Tuesday and Friday |
Collecting from the gate
Park by the gate, take the bag with your name on it from the fridge, and drop any clean egg boxes you would like us to reuse in the crate beside the door.