Feed Milling and Farms

Rearing Farms

We have fourteen of our own rearing farms and rear around four million pullets per year. They provide point-of-lay birds, both for our own poultry farms and for independent producers.

Pullets are described as being “in rear” until they reach 16 weeks of age, at which point they’re transported to a laying farm. During their important rearing phase, our birds receive a comprehensive set of vaccinations to prepare and protect them through their laying life cycle.

Laying Farms

There are currently four different systems for the production of eggs in the UK; Organic, Free Range, Barn and Enriched Colony Cage. At Noble Foods, we process eggs using all four systems.

During recent years, we’ve placed more emphasis on free-range production as demand for higher standards of welfare for hens and chicks has increased.

Enriched Cages

EU legislation for cage-laying hens was introduced in January 2012 and, in accordance with these higher standards, we have invested significantly to develop two state-of-the-art, Enriched Colony Cage chicken farms. We have also committed to be Cage Free by 2025.

Feed Milling

Originally set up to supply our own farms, the Milling Division has grown over the last twenty years to become one of the country’s major feed manufacturers.

We currently manufacture around 750,000 tonnes of feed every year from five feed mills, supplying poultry and pig feed to livestock producers throughout the UK, as well as being able to supply home mixers with straight raw materials.

Ours is a modern, highly efficient feed business, thanks to our continued investment in IT, infrastructure, manufacturing equipment, process control, vehicles and – most importantly – people.

Each site is fully approved under the feed industry’s Universal Feed Assurance Scheme (UFAS) and is also registered with the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) Lion scheme.

All mills are registered to manufacture medicated feeding stuffs, registered with the Local Authority under Feed Hygiene Regulations and are fully approved under a number of retailer schemes.

Organic Feed

We produce a wide range of organic feed, for which our Finmere and Thornton mills are both approved.