Magners Farm is a 20ac farm owned by Kylie Magner and her husband Billy. They bought the farm, which is located near Moyglass, Co Tipperary, in 2004, after the birth of their second child. With both working full time off-farm, they leased the land to help pay the mortgage. In 2009, the family moved to Australia where Kylie established her own PR company and also worked with Coolmore and Darley.

In 2016, the couple, who now had four children, returned to Ireland for a family funeral and decided to make the move permanent. Although they were in debt, Kylie was determined to stay home and create a viable business on the farm.

She started with 10 backyard hens and they soon became 50, then grew to 150, with the eggs being sold locally. As the hen population grew, farm buildings were repurposed to house them and their nesting boxes. The latter were made by Kylie using scrap timber from a nearby sawmill.

Treat them well

With a background in horses, Kylie set out to manage the hens as she would the horses. Plenty of room to socialise without the fear of harm from other hens or predators. A constant supply of fresh rain water and plenty of lush grass is always available.

Kylie aims to keep her hens for at least 24 months, with them laying at a commercial rate for the entire time. There are now 800 hens on Magners Farm. All eggs are still collected, graded, stamped and packed by hand. Most of the eggs are sold through local shops, farmers markets, cafes and restaurants, with weekly deliveries made to Dublin. Eggs are also shipped countrywide by courier.

Value added

Having given her hens a good life, so much so that they can produce eggs at a commercial rate, Kylie wanted them to meet a dignified and useful end. Her idea was to use spent hens to make a chicken bone broth.

After lots of research and many trial batches made at the kitchen table, Magners Farm Chicken Bone Broth was created. Still produced on the farm, this product has gone on to win the Chef’s Choice award at Blas na hÉireann and also won a prestigious Gold Star at the UK’s Great Taste awards. It is available across the country.

Sustainability is a key aim

Kylie’s other aim is to create as closed a circular bio-economy on the farm as possible. By this, she means improving the quality of pasture on the farm and all the micro-organisms it contains for as much feed as possible. She also wants to establish her own breeding programme to replenish her flock of hens. Turnover increased from €2,000 in 2018 to €72,000 the following year. Despite COVID-19, Kylie is forecasting a six-figure turnover this year. And all from a start of 10 hens just four years ago.

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