Strong start for Harbro’s layer feed business in Northern Ireland
Harbro’s layer feed business has made a strong and successful start in Northern Ireland, delivering high-quality, performance-driven diets to producers across the region.
Since launching, Harbro has already manufactured over 1000 tonnes of layer feed, reflecting growing confidence in its nutritional approach, local service, and technical support.
Supplying directly from its new Newry feed hub, producers benefit from consistent, reliable access to premium layer diets designed to support bird health, productivity, and long-term profitability. All Harbro layer feeds are formulated with a clear focus on nutritional integrity, using carefully selected raw materials with no fillers and no dark grains. This commitment to ingredient quality underpins the performance seen on farm.
One of the key differentiators of Harbro layer diets is their unique grist profiling. By carefully controlling particle size distribution, Harbro supports improved gut health, more stable feed intakes, and reduced feed wastage. In practice, this helps birds convert feed more efficiently, supporting egg output and shell quality while helping producers achieve lower feed costs per unit of production.
Working with producers
Driving this success on farm is Harbro’s technical-led approach, supported locally by Poultry Specialist Gavin Rotherham. Originally from Northern Ireland, Gavin brings over 25 years of poultry industry experience, including more than a decade specialising in the commercial layer sector. Prior to joining Harbro, he was responsible for managing nutrition and performance for over half a million layers, giving him deep insight into the challenges and opportunities facing modern layer operations.
Gavin works closely with producers to tailor nutrition programmes to individual systems, flock ages, and performance targets. His approach focuses on sustainable performance improvements, ensuring diets not only deliver results today but support flock persistency, bird health, and efficiency over the full laying cycle.
“Our early success in Northern Ireland reflects the strength of our diets and the value of combining nutrition with hands-on technical support,” said Hannah Legg, Poultry Director at Harbro. “By manufacturing locally from Newry and working closely with producers on farm, we’re able to deliver consistent feed quality alongside practical, data-driven advice that helps unlock performance.”
Beyond feed supply, Harbro provides a comprehensive range of on-farm services designed to support informed decision-making and continuous improvement. These include shell strength testing to monitor egg quality, feed and muck analysis to assess nutrient utilisation and gut health, and performance benchmarking to help producers compare results and identify opportunities for improvement.
Together, this integrated approach allows Harbro to move beyond feed alone, working in partnership with producers to improve efficiency, reduce wastage, and enhance overall flock performance. The strong uptake seen to date demonstrates the appetite within the Northern Irish layer sector for nutritionally robust diets backed by knowledgeable, locally based support.
Producers seeking advice on layer nutrition, performance, or on-farm management can contact Gavin Rotherham directly at [email protected] or on 07967 677205.