Ayrshire success for quality

Ayrshire egg producer retailers Jim and Anne Smillie have taken the top honours in the 2010 Scottish Egg Quality Awards competition, repeating their success in last year’s competition.

Sponsored by the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) and feed compounders BOCM Pauls, the competition is aimed at encouraging the pursuit of excellence in egg quality and consistency.

Entries came from both conventional cage and free-range systems of egg production, and SAC carried out quality assessments on eight key factors: Shell colour, egg weight, yolk colour, albumen quality, shell thickness, freedom from meat and blood spots, external appearance and packaging.

The Smillies beat 21 other entrants by scoring a total of 520 points.

Egg production at their Corrie Mains Farm, Mauchline, Ayrshire, is based on Hy-Line birds housed in Harlow units and kept on a traditional system of slatted floors and scratch areas. The 20,000 layers are split into six flocks, providing eggs of all sizes all year round.

The eggs are graded and packed in a new packing station on the farm. BOCM Pauls feed all the birds on their Caledonian Advance and Ultimate feeds, specifically formulated to promote egg size, yolk quality and colour.

The eggs are retailed direct to shops within a 90-mile radius, in distinctive vans, and there are healthy farmgate sales in addition to a strong support for local farmers’ markets.

“The standard of management at Corrie Mains is exceptional and this is reflected in their continuing success in this competition which they first entered in 1997,” said David Beckley of BOCM Pauls.