All of our free range chickens are Australian owned and grown by farmers committed to producing premium quality produce.
Our story started in 2001 in Lilydale, a picturesque town at the entrance of the Yarra Valley in Victoria.
The region itself is known for its award winning wineries and bountiful produce, making it the perfect starting point for our free range brand.
Today, Lilydale farms are located across various regions in South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia.
Lilydale farms are accredited by Free Range Egg and Poultry Australia (FREPA) and are regularly audited. This accreditation logo features on all Lilydale Free Range Chicken packaging, assuring you that you are buying free range chicken that meets the FREPA standard.
Lilydale believes in FREPA’s standards, which include:
See here for more information about FREPA and its standards.
More about frepa
Lilydale free range chickens, once adequately feathered (normally around 21 days), have the ability to leave their barns and access fenced outdoor range areas during daylight hours.
The outdoor range areas are equipped with shade huts, hay bales and wooden ramps. Whilst many chickens are content with the comforts of a barn, during an average day, a proportion of the chickens will venture outside and return at their leisure.
Various conditions can affect if, or how many, chickens choose to access the range areas and how long they stay outside. At night time and during extreme weather (hot or cold), they are housed in barns to keep them warm, comfortable and safe from predators.
Lilydale’s free range chickens are fed specially formulated diets by our nutritionists. This ensures they receive a vitamin enriched, nutritious and balanced diet comprising of quality cereal grains (such as wheat and sorghum), protein meals. They are supplemented by vitamins, minerals and amino acids to achieve optimum health and well-being. In addition to their diet, the chickens are free to forage for fresh vegetation when ranging.
Under FREPA guidelines, growth promoting antibiotics are not permitted for use. If chickens become ill and antibiotic treatment is required under veterinary direction, those birds will not be sold as free range.
FREPA allows the use of medications to prevent coccidiosis. These medications are used under veterinary direction.
All of our chicken meat meets the Australian Government's stringent regulations for human consumption and this is confirmed by periodic testing of the meat for residues.
Our dedicated veterinarians are responsible for ensuring the health of our chickens and for making all decisions relating to medication use. Our team takes the use of medications very seriously.
Lilydale Free Range Chickens are raised and tended to by farmers who take pride in their welfare.
Our farmers are committed to raising healthy free range chickens and are passionate about farming and growing good quality produce.
We place hay bales in every range area, which encourages our free range chickens to explore what the outdoors has to offer. Some hay bales have wooden ramps leading up to the bales, providing both fun and exercise for the chickens.
Our farmers have planted trees within the range areas of Lilydale farms where there were not already established trees. We carefully choose the variety of trees based on local soil and weather conditions.
When mature, all new trees will provide shade for our chickens. Our farmers are dedicated to safeguarding the wellbeing of these trees and will replant them if necessary.
Just like we avoid direct sunlight, chickens too prefer enjoying the shade on a sunny day. Our farms are equipped not only with trees, but also shade huts providing protection from the sun.