Hereford broiler grower takes delivery of £1,000 prize

Herefordshire broiler grower Andrew Morris has taken delivery of £1,000 worth of Safemix poultry bedding, courtesy of manufacturer Arden Wood Shavings and Poultry World.

Mr Morris, who grows 320,000 birds at a time for Cargill Meats Europe, was the lucky winner in the competition run by Arden and Poultry World at the Pig & Poultry Fair earlier this year.

Entrants to the competition simply had to guess how many tennis courts £1,000 worth of Safemix bedding would cover at a depth of 3in.

See more: Look back at all the reports from the Pig & Poultry Fair 2014

While the range of guesses was wide, Mr Morris was the only one of more than 200 entrants to get it spot on, with the answer of four tennis courts.

The prize was delivered to his Staunton-on-Arrow farm in Herefordshire in late September, as part of a larger consignment of bedding for his broilers.

“It was a total surprise to have won,” said Mr Morris. “Bedding is a key input for us, essential to getting chicks off to a good start and keeping the birds in good condition throughout the growing period.”

Arden managing director Chris Stanford explained that the company has been supplying quality bedding to the poultry market for more than 30 years.

“Our blended shavings product, Safemix, was launched in 2008 and plays a key role in keeping the nation’s commercial chicken and turkey flocks clean and dry.”

Pictured left to right: Arden lorry driver Dave Brough, Arden sales manager Sam Haigh, Andrew Morris, site manager Lee Baxter and assistant site manager Paul Chubb.