‘Hosking Family Farm’ is 44 ha owned and managed by Brian and Bron Hosking at Rochester, Victoria – 180km North of Melbourne.
Certified ‘Demeter In-Conversion’ in 2025, the farm had previously been a camel and dairy farm when the Hoskings took it over in 2022, and with the help from retired Demeter egg farmer Ian Onley from ‘Bullfrog Gully’ they are now Biodynamic egg producers.
“It’s been 3 years now and it’s still a big learning curve and a lot of work” says Brian, “the soil is changing for the better since we took over as it was pretty flogged, and we are now seeing life and even with the dry, there is some green and the chooks seem to like the lucerne pasture. You can taste the difference in the eggs and it’s very rewarding to gain Demeter In-Conversion status!”
“Everyone who tastes them go ‘wow’ and I know apart from the ‘BD’ pasture, it has got something to do with the cows and the chooks having that biodynamic milk protein in their diet.
“This is something that Ian Onley has helped us with and from what we know, we are the only ones milking cows on farm like Ian did, and we know the reputation of Bullfrog Gully eggs! It does mean I’ve got extra work to do milking my 15 cows twice a day but that’s a decision and the system works for us.”
Hoskings’ Hy-Line chickens (density less than 120 birds per ha) have free access during daylight hours to forage and flap around for their natural diet of grubs, bugs, grasses and weeds and supplemented with the soured ‘BD’ milk and sprouted Demeter wheat.
With the help of ex ‘Bullfrog Gully’ Maremma dogs; Bonnie, Alby, Spot and Dash, they are well protected from foxes and wedgies and roost in the portable sheds at night.
Every few days the sheds are moved along the paddock to new ground eventually taking a year to complete the journey around the farm. This helps maintain pasture growth and combined with the ‘BD P500’ soil activator spray, improves the life and structure of the soil which is vital for the health of the chickens and the farm.
For Brian and Bron, “… we farm biodynamically because we want to grow the best quality food we can!”
