Powys chicken farm to replace free-range egg business

The farm will be converted after housing free range hens

A 200,000-bird chicken farm has been given the go ahead by planners.

The application to Powys County Council for a meat producing broiler unit development, was made by Geraint Powell of Glanmiheli Farm.

It will be built between Kerry and Glanmule, near Newtown, replacing the free-range hen egg-laying business at the farm.

The proposal involves the building of three poultry sheds, feed bins and a hardstanding.

Current sheds where free-range hens are housed will be converted, with day-old chicks brought, reared for 37 days and then taken to a meat processing factory, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Volatile prices

The cycle would then begin again once the buildings were thoroughly cleaned and readied for the next batch.

In a planning application, agent Nick Williams said the development would allow the family's "younger generation" to stay at home and farm.

It would help shelter them from the volatility of cattle and sheep prices, that they also rear at the 540-acre site, he added.

In June 2019, Kerry Community Council discussed the application and decided to support it.