The Lakes Free Range Egg Company (The Lakes) announced the winners of their ‘Producer of the Year’ Award at their recent end-of-year meeting.
The winners were the Threlkeld family in North Cumbria, with Matthew and Erica Threlkeld seen here receiving the award.
Based in North Cumbria, Matthew and Erica are part of a family farming operation that includes arable production and clay pigeon shooting. Both Matthew and Erica were keen to diversify into other enterprises and, in 2021 the family invested in hen sheds and began egg production. They then placed their second flock and egg production with The Lakes in December 2022 and have been with them ever since.
Their performance at The Lakes has been excellent, and despite being fairly new to The Lakes, they stood out by achieving an exceptional number of eggs produced.
Jess Elliman, Fields Person at The Lakes, visits the flock on a regular basis and commented “They have a great production record and whenever we go, the site is always immaculate and always audit ready. They have fantastic attention to detail and are very passionate about what they do, so they are worthy winners.”
Reflecting on their award, Matthew and Erica said, “Receiving it was a really welcome surprise and is much appreciated. We have learned that you cannot underestimate the importance of starting a flock with high quality pullets”
“ We take great pride in creating a positive environment for our birds and have learned the value of spending a lot of time in the sheds. We focused heavily on preventative measures to keep the birds healthy and maximise welfare, and everyone working with our birds genuinely cares.”
Working with their current flock, Matthew and Erica recognise that each group of birds brings its own challenges and learning opportunities. “Every flock is different,” they said, “but we have developed a good routine of walking the birds and understand their behaviours, from knowing when they prefer to lay and when they are ready for their lunchtime feed.”
The Threlkeld’s are one of a growing number of producers that supply The Lakes Free Range Egg Company with free range and organic eggs to be packed and distributed to retail and restaurant customers across the UK.
Picture: Roger Gill Agricultural Director at The Lakes, with Erica and Matthew Threlkeld, collecting The Lakes’ Producer of the Year Award
