A Free Range Egg Enterprise and a Meat Bird Enterprise operates at the Ruse Farm. The Free Range hens are a hybrid breed similar to ones that are commonly used in commercial enterprises.
A student Poultry Squad complete daily operations on a rostered fortnightly basis. The collected eggs are sold at the canteen to the school community.
The Meat Bird Enterprise produces five batches of sixty broilers every year. They are raised for the entire seven weeks in a barn environment. Three batches are part of our Preliminary Course assessment, where two brands of meat chicken starter feed are compared.
Over recent years we have rarely seen a significant difference in the performance of the two feeds, demonstrating the efficiency of the Cobb 500 hybrid meat bird.
In the mid 2000’s JRAHS performed a feed trial for the Australian Meat Chicken Federation to assist in removing the myth from consumer perception that meat chickens are given hormone treatments to increase their growth rates. Layer Chicks and Meat Chicks were raised on the same diet, under the same conditions. Results showed the growth rate of the meat chickens to be twice as fast due to their genetics and successful selective breeding.
Broilers are sold to the school community, dressed and frozen.
We continue to prepare a small selection of pure breeds for exhibition at local shows. Currently Light Sussex and Plymouth Rock pairs produce our show stock. Students also love spending time with our resident Wyandotte bantam, Lucy.