HILLTOPS FREE range eggs

The crime

10/8/2026

“Little Birds are hiding
Crimes in carpet-bags”
-- Or behind the tarp, behind the cabinet, behind where I store my special plastic rake for collection of hidden eggs. And why, little birds, why? When you have nice soft grass, and nice soft nesting boxes? And how have you rolled these so neatly under the cabinet, oh, you, little birds?
#discovery #hidden #eggs #pastured #why

--from the poem “Little Birds” by Lewis Carroll

Odd and Distinct

10/1/2026

“The Soul has special times --
When Dimness -- looks the Oddity --
Distinctness -- easy -- seems –”
As odd and distinct as a soft-shell egg, one can only wonder, what is this soul going through? 😃
#softshell #eggs #odd #distinct #pastured
--from the poem “Of nearness to her sundered Things” by Emily Dickinson

A Love Gift

9/24/2026

“A gift, a love gift
Utterly unasked for
By a sky”

That time of the year when poppies are taller than the chickens and the silos 😃 A gift, a small gift in a day of back-breaking work.

#gift #poppies #flowers #pastured #eggs

--from the poem “Poppies in October” by Sylvia Plath

Takes a lot of work to look this good

9/17/2026

“All-endearing Cleanliness,
Virtue next to Godliness”
Chickens are always cleaning, preening, scrubbing, grooming, bathing, some of the best kept ladies in any town 😊It takes a lot of work to look this good 😊
#dustbaths #clean #eggs #pastured #bathing
--from the famous poem “Cleanliness” by Charles Lamb

Soft is the Grass

9/10/2026

“Soft is the grass, and let foot be like feather!”
It’s that time of the year when it’s best to take off shoes and socks, the hen and I both.
#grass #barefoot #feather #pastured #eggs
--from the poem “All Ye Joyful” by J R R Tolkien (and yes, he wrote a lot more than ‘The Lord of the Rings’ 😝)

Quite alone

9/4/2026

“Be alone, and feel the trees silently growing.
Be alone, and see the moonlight outside, white and busy and
silent.
Be quite alone, and feel the living cosmos softly rocking,
soothing and restoring and healing.”

There is always that hen who likes to be quite alone. Doesn’t want to join the flock in the evening, doesn’t care about the evening ‘guiding lights’ we have put up, and just enjoys the moon, in silence. #alone #hen #pastured #eggs #outdoors #unusual

--from the poem “Lonely, Lonesome, Lonely—O” by D.H. Lawrence

From Grey to Yellow

8/27/2026

“The bush was grey
A week to-day
(Olive-green and brown and grey);
But now the spring has come this way”
-with the smell of diesel, the little lambs, eggs and this crazy, crazy yellow! 😀
#wattle #yellow #spring #eggs #pasturedeggs
—from the 1912 “A Wattle Poem” by Veronica Mason (nothing changes in the Bush, from 1912 to 2026 🤣)

Equipment fails and the plastic rake for $5

8/20/2026

“Buy our equipment,” they said, “it’s all automatic,” they said, “super easy to use,” they said, “best in the industry,” they said.
Here we go, with the plastic rake, trying to get the eggs out of the nesting boxes Best tool in the whole farm, $5 😃
😃😃 #equipment #fails #eggs #pastured #farmlife #tools

“Light breaks where no sun shines”

8/13/2026

Our experiment this winter was to put battery-powered, very low-power strip light, to guide the birds safely back into the sleeping roosts at night. A bit like the gentle strip lights guiding you on the plane when all passengers are asleep and the plane is quietly humming.
The chooks go very, very, very quiet once the sun is down. The mobile shed looks magical and reminds me: there is always, always a light at the end of the tunnel.

There is always hope in better things coming.

--from the poem “Light breaks where no sun shines” by Dylan Thomas

Dog kisses

8/6/2026

The Joy! The JOY! 🤣🤣🤣 The only true love that lasts forever 🤣❤️ #joy #Maremma #love #pasturedeggs #dogkisses

"Every flower must go through dirt"

7/30/2026

Working from darkness to darkness, in blistering wind these last few days, tears streaming on my face just from being absolutely frozen… and then suddenly in one hidden place around the back of the house, coming upon this early flower. Maybe a seed spread around by accident from one of the hens? Maybe a leftover from some pots that got broken by a puppy below the windowsill a few seasons back? We never planted this.
There is plenty of good left in the world.

#flower #dirt #hardship #eggs #pastured #farmlife
-- quote by Laurie Jean Sennott

Snowman in July thrive here

7/23/2026

“Seasons come and seasons go,
And the greatest ice must crumble
When it's flowers' time to grow.

And as one thing is beginning
So another thing must die,
And there's never been a snowman
Who has ever seen July”

We welcome all snowmen to see July – just come to the Southern Hemisphere at the farm! 😃 brrrr cold mornings this week, freezing but pretty, even the creeping thistle!

#frost #thistle #pastured #eggs #snowman #beauty
--from the poem “Snowman” by Shel Silverstein

Retirement and school holidays - who wore it better?

7/16/2026

In #retirement, just like in school holidays, one wears baggy, fleece Pyjamas all day long and one can’t do everything lying down: eating, drinking, watching the world go by 🤣🤣🤣 - don’t know who does it better, our retired Maremma Jack or the school holiday kids! #lazy #maremma #pyjamas #farmlife #pasturedeggs

Eating your greens

7/9/2026

“Eat some spinach and you'll turn green”
- If the hens eat lots of greens, could the eggs turn green?
Just asking for a friend who bought some ham. 😃

#greens #eggs #pasture #greeneggsandham #poetry

--from the poem “Vegetables” by Shel Silverstein

Typical July rains

7/2/2026

:) "Oops! [Mud] on my jumper... Oops! [Mud] on my leg...Oops! [Mud] on my hair."
There is no clean piece of clothing nor a dry feather left at the farm this week, heroic effort by the whole farm team! The usual July #rains, here we go!
#mud #eggs #heroes #rainy

--from the poem "Honey sandwich" by the wonderful Elizabeth Honey, with some substitution of honey for mud, just as sticky but a lot less sweet :)
--Photography by Jonathon

Soccer egg (football egg)

6/25/2026

The world is World Cup and all of the farm is its playing field 😊 Go Socceroos! The whole chicken farm is staying up to support you
An #egg as a #soccer #ball #pasturedeggs #socceroos

Pilates for chickens

6/19/2026

“If you’ve let your body sag,
Pilates ought to be your bag,
Results are great and effort small,
On your back in the village hall!”
#pilates for #chickens is minimal exercise and great for stretching #pasturedeggs and #freedom to stretch at our farm. #eggs —poetry from the wonderful Pam Ayres

Narrow Fellow

6/11/2026

“A narrow Fellow in the Grass
Occasionally rides -
You may have met him? Did you not
His notice instant is -“

Our slim Maremma enjoying some #afternoon #sun while we are looking for some lost #pastured #eggs -from the poem “A narrow Fellow in the Grass” by Emily Dickinson. Photography by Mario

The Van Gogh of the Egg Farm!

6/5/2026

The swirling, eddying patterns of the skies from his ‘Starry Night’ painting, recreated on our eggs this week!
#vangogh #eggs #weirdegg #pastured #chicken art

The chicken which decided to unravel the complex, mathematical laws of atmospheric turbulence and fluid dynamics and project her feelings and inner turmoil on the canvas of an egg, one true artist. 😂

Ramses II, The Pharaoh of Hilltops Free Range

5/28/2026

“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Ozymandias (better known as Ramses II) is actually right here at the farm, guarding our flock 😊 The King of Kings, in his typical Pharaoh posture, overlooking his kingdom and the courtiers & nobles of his Estate 😃

#pharaoh #Maremma #sheepdog #kingofkings #pasturedeggs #farmlife
-- from the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy B Shelley
Photography by Mario

What we look like after two days of rain

5/21/2026

"If you want to please us, Sun,
(don't take this as a warning)
if you're going to pierce the clouds,
please do it in the morning."

This is what we all look like, casting off two days of nonstop rain and seeing sunshine for the first time today :)

--from the wonderful poem "The Sun Just Had a Nasty Day" by Denise Rodgers
#sun #aftertherain #rain #pasturedeggs #eggs #autumn

Of Hens and Worms

5/14/2026

The love story of hens and worms
#eggs #pastured #worms #goterra #favouritefood #sustainability

To keep the heart warm

5/7/2026

“Let the mind take its photograph
Of the bright scene, something to wear
Against the heart in the long cold.”

We got bright yellow leaves to keep the heart warm today, welcome to the first blistering winter winds.
#cold #gold #leaves #pasturedeggs #eggs #autumn
--from “A Day In Autumn”, by R. S. Thomas

Sustainability in maggots, hotel food scraps, eggs and wine

5/1/2026

"Commitment is an act, not a word." — Jean-Paul Sartre

Being sustainable is actions, not only words and reports. Overcoming all obstacles, we are proud to be collaborating with the teams from @fourwindsvineyard, @goterracbr and @hyattregencysydney, and attend the official launch of The Circular Vintage 2025 Shiraz at the Hyatt Regency last night, who are the dream team that can make anything happen.

Three of our chickens, Henrietta, Princess Lay-a, and Bok Bok, got to stay at the luxury 5-star Heritage Atrium and mingle with glitterati guests at the event.
#sustainbility #circulareconomy #pasturedeggs #fullcircle #commitment

Winter-ready

4/23/2026

“beauty is twice
beauty,
and what is good is doubly
good,
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool
in winter.”

Are you ready with the thick woollen sweater and two good woollen socks? It’s certainly very chilly at the farm, frost on some mornings. Our alpacas are fleece-ready 😊
#wool #winterready #sweater #pastured #eggs

-from the poem “Ode to My Socks” by Pablo Neruda (yes, he did write about socks too 😊) and translated by Robert Bly
Photography by Mario

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