Farm Manager - Breeder in Billinghay, Lincolnshire

Annyalla Chicks are looking for a dedicated Farm Manager to take full responsibility for the day-to-day running of our newly refurbished breeder farm consisting of 2 refurbished sheds and 2 brand new sheds. This is a varied and rewarding role that combines livestock husbandry with commercial farm management. You will play a key role in ensuring that eggs are produced to the highest quality standards, while upholding exceptional levels of bird health and welfare at all times.

The successful candidate will demonstrate a strong commitment to animal welfare, excellent people management skills, and the ability to work to budgets and performance targets. As Farm Manager, you will be responsible for ensuring the highest standards of bird welfare and stock management, following company programmes and guidelines to achieve excellent results in production, hatchability and liveability. You will play a key role in driving improvements across the farm, identifying opportunities for better performance and sharing ideas with the wider Area and Senior Management team.

Managing and developing your team will be central to your role – motivating, training and supporting staff so they can carry out their duties effectively. You will also oversee the work of contractors, service teams and cleaning teams to ensure all tasks are delivered to the required standard. As part of your responsibilities, you will also ensure appropriate alarm cover is in place so that any emergencies on the farm can be responded to promptly, 24/7.

Responsibilities:

• Setting up houses for chicks and carrying out daily checks on the housing and birds.
• General bird management – Ventilation, feeding, vaccinating etc.
• Manage crop estimation.
• Completing daily checklists and all relevant paperwork in accordance with Quality Control.
• Ensuring ongoing Bio Security is maintained.
• Humanely culling and removal of dead birds.
• Litter management.
• Feed ordering.
• Maintaining safe work practices of all personnel and contractors on site.
• Supervising and management of relevant staff.
• Liaise with customers and manage external contractors.
• Basic farm and equipment maintenance.
• Compliance with legislative and assurance scheme standards.
• Comply with company relevant policies and regulations.
• Adhering to all health and safety and environmental procedures.
• You will be required to assist other farms in the area and work alongside the production management team to achieve the best performance from crops.
• Oversee the day-to-day running of the farm with the assistance of other farm and relief staff.
• An emphasis on running the farm as if it was your own business, managing expenditure, maintenance and bird welfare.
• Work with your team and the Senior Leadership Team, alongside veterinary advice to continuously improve farm performance and bird welfare.
• Arrange turnaround procedures.
• Shavings and top-ups are to be ordered direct to site by the Farm Manager.
• Implement a robust water sanitisation programme at turnaround and in-crop.
• Notify relevant colleagues of welfare.
• Ensure Area Manager is alerted if there is any suspicious activity in or around your sites.
• Meet your obligations and those of any staff, for mandatory Poultry Passport training.

Skills:

• The successful candidate will have previous experience within the poultry industry as well as a relevant qualification in Agriculture.
• Must be able to communicate effectively with your team and contractors.
• Mandatory: Previous Farm Poultry manager experience.
• NVQ in Poultry production or Poultry Passport.
• Have an excellent understanding of bird welfare and management skills.

Due to the nature of this role and the business, a property is provided for the successful applicant.