Around the Village

White House Farm

If we want to buy high quality fresh free range eggs Needham residents don’t have to go far.  We are very lucky to have a supplier in the village*.  

John Elsdon’s family have been at White House Farm since 1911 when his grandfather, Herbert moved  from Thorpe Abbots with his new wife to farm the 50 acres.  The farm gradually increased in size until the Elsdons farmed 130 acres, growing arable crops and keeping pigs and cows.  

In the 1990s it became clear that it was unprofitable to farm only 130 acres so John and his wife Sue searched for another venture before, with advice from a government consultant, deciding on hens.  They started in 2003 with 12,000 hens and now they have 16,000. The capital outlay even before taking on the birds was enormous - £400,000 to build the barn which houses the hens during the night.  During the day they are free to wander the 40 acres and are quite happy to spend the night in the safety of the barn.  The eggs are gathered daily and every other day the packer, Noble Foods, collects them and packs them ready for sale by supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s.  The birds are kept for 72 weeks after which their laying falls off.

The four weeks after the hens have gone are very busy.  The barn has to be thoroughly cleaned of ‘muck’ and then it is steam cleaned.  All the equipment is also thoroughly cleaned and then reassembled before the next consignment of pullets arrives. 

The eggs which are sent to supermarkets all have the Lion stamp on them which indicates that they have been vaccinated against salmonella.  Every 15 weeks a sample is taken to check that the birds are salmonella free.  

In order for their eggs to qualify for Woodland Eggs status for Sainsbury’s, John and Sue have planted trees on their land.  The particular breed of hen which John & Sue keep , the Lohmann Brown,  prefers  shade which the trees provide.

Needham villagers are also very lucky in not having to travel far to buy good quality freshly cut Christmas trees sourced in East Anglia – so a low carbon footprint there! Every December approximately 600 trees are sold, the most popular being Nordman and Fraser Fir. 

Facts

16,000             The number of hens on White House Farm

15,000             The number of eggs laid each day

320                  The number of eggs per hen housed laid during a year

72                    The number of weeks the hens spend at White House Farm

5,100,000      The number of eggs laid during the hens’ time at White House Farm

5 days             Maximum age of eggs when they arrive at the 

                       supermarket    

3000litres        The volume of water drunk by the hens in a day

1 UK 16481  - The number on the eggs which indicates from where the egg originated

(1=free range, UK =country of origin, 16481 = number unique to White House Farm)

150g               The weight of the largest egg laid in November 2011 

300                 The number of tonnes of ‘muck’ cleaned out of the barn after the chickens have gone

88 p                The price per dozen the Elsdons get for their eggs

300p               Approximate price of eggs sold in supermarkets

3000+             The number of trees planted by John & Sue

600                 The number of Christmas trees sold each season

*White House Farm eggs are available from the farm.  (much cheaper than supermarket prices!)