Hello!! 

We are Wes and Mandy and would like to tell you a little bit about WesEggs. 

WesEggs began in 1990 when I was just 9 years old. I wanted some extra pocket money, and my Pop suggested I get some chickens and sell the eggs. I called my little business WesEggs, and sold eggs to family and friends. I started with 10 chickens, and before Mum and Dad knew it, there were 50 chickens foraging around our small acreage in Leopold, Victoria.

Some of my fondest memories are being down at the chicken coop with Mums hair dryer washing and preening the girls, I  also loved the other side of the business and would often be in my room developing spreadsheets to track profits and loss, budgeting feed and the purchase of more ladies! I always promised myself, that when I was old enough and when it was possible, I would own my own free range egg farm. 

By the time I met Mandy, who was from a large cattle and sheep farm on the Bellarine Peninsula, and who also had a passion for the land, WesEggs was so much more than a 9 year old boy wanting pocket money. When I purchased my initial 10 chickens, I saw some barbaric methods of farming chickens, even at the age of 9, what I saw did not sit well with my own values. There had to be a better way?

Back at my own chicken house, it didn’t take long for me to realise the impacts that stocking densities have on the chickens welfare and how that impacts the quality of the egg. Mandy and I were hell bent on building a pasture raised egg farm that was not only ethical, but practiced sustainable farming methods as well.

We have three amazing boys together, Ted, Mack and Duke and our family of five is embarking on the biggest and most exciting journey together. We are living out our dreams. The dreams that began with a little boy in his backyard, who had big aspirations and was allowed to dream big. Now that is living with no regrets.

WesEggs has been welcomed and supported beyond our dreams since we started in November 2015. We love this, and can’t thank everyone enough for getting behind us and putting WesEggs in a position where we need to grow, in order to be able to keep up with the demand of our community. Please don't mistake WesEggs growing, with us losing sight of who we are and what we stand for. Our feet are firmly on the ground, and if anything, we have only become more passionate about our ethical and sustainable egg farming. In order for us to grow and to be able to meet your demand,  we need a little bit of help to make it happen…….

Here we go…..

We have a huge favour to ask you, it's never easy asking for help, but here we are, hats in our hands, asking for just that. We certainly wouldn’t be asking if we didn't need to, and we are not asking for a hand out, we know just how tight money can be and how some weeks its a struggle to buy milk and bread. What we are asking, is that you please pledge what you can possibly spare to our fund, and in return we will gift you with some great goodies!!

To find out more about our family business checkout our website and join our facebook page

www.weseggs.com.au

www.facebook.com.au/weseggs

Why is WesEggs worth your pledge?

• Our stocking density is currently 80 hens per hectare and will never be more than 400 hens per hectare
• Mobile hen houses
• Rotational grazing for pasture management
• No trimmed beaks or clipped wings
• Chemical freefarming
• The girls enjoy dust bathing, flying, lying in the sun and scratching and foraging for bugs and grubs
• Ample perches for all the girls to sleep at night
• Protected by Alpacas (Johnny and Papa)
• Local family run business, offering home delivery direct from the farm
• Supporting other local farms, by delivering their produce (milk, tarts, cheese, and hopefully more)
• We love the girls and they love us!!

We are aiming to raise at least $40,000, this will assist us in building our next mobile hen house and allow us to welcome an extra group of girls to the WesEggs family, in turn, helping us keep up with the demand of our eggs. We want to be able to replicate what we currently do. We'll build another mobile shed very similar to our existing shed, we build these mobile hen houses ourselves at a cost of approximately $55,000. Our mobile hen house is fully automated, solar powered, self leveling and uses the best products on the market, this allows the girls to live in the best conditions out in open pastured areas.

We currently run a stocking density of 80 hens per hectare, the second shed will take our stocking density to 170 hens per hectare. Our low stocking density is something we pride ourselves on, and is the key to both sustainable farming and ensuring the girls have plenty of space to live a happy and stress free life.

We will also purchase another two Alpacas to help protect our girls from any predators.

Personal funds will also be used to purchase equipment such as - feeders, mobile electric fences, the two alpacas

As with any kind of farming, there is and always will be challenges, countless of them. If we were to be successful with our campaign, we can assure you that we are simply replicating what we are already doing, we are not afraid to ask for help and we are in the fortunate position to have farmers in our family to call on. There is alot of pressure on us, as there’s a lot riding on our success, and we don't define success as purely financial. WesEggs success is defined as living out our dreams, being true to ourselves and what we stand for, working hard, being transparent with our supporters, operating a sustainable farm, animal welfare and engaging with our local community. Above all of this, our greatest personal success will be measured by the happiness of our three children and the invaluable lessons we can teach them when you love what you do, dare to dream and have the strength and courage to grab that dream and give it all you’ve got! 

No regrets!