Dead hen in free-range shed

Part of the 2025 Eggs Uncaged investigation of Victorian free-range and cage free egg farms.

South Gippsland Eggs is a free range egg farm in Devon Meadows, 50km from Melbourne. With a philosophy of 'happy, healthy hens lay the most delicious & wholesome eggs,' the farm has made a name for itself in the local community for offering an ethical alternative to caged eggs.

However, the scenes that greeted investigators when they entered the sheds on the property, told a different story. Thousands of hens are packed into long sheds, forced to stand on slatted metal floors. Without even perches to get off the ground, hens will huddle tightly together on the filthy floor, while their waste falls through to pits underneath the sheds.

Like on other farms, hens were found with missing feathers and wounds indicating feather pecking due to overcrowding. Dead hens lay among the living, including one who had become crushed by the door of the nesting box. Even with access to the outdoors each day, hens were found to be laying soft, jelly-like eggs, indicating calcium deficiency.

South Gippsland Eggs supplies to stores across Victoria using images and branding promising quality, free range eggs. It is owned and operated by second-generation egg farmer Gina Magias Abraham.