What kind of car do chickens drive? A hatchback

That's eggs-actly the case for Lauren Mathers from Bundarra Farm, Barham.

Whenever Mrs Mathers collects the eggs, she always gets a couple of clucking hitchhikers.

"If I leave the doors open when I go to collect the eggs they jump in straight away," Mrs Mathers said.

"They sit on the roof, on the bonnet or they just jump in."

Bundarra, well-known for its free-range pig farm, diversified its business last October when it began producing broilers.

Mrs Mathers said they did not want to have all their eggs in one basket.

"I grew up on a diverse farm, we grew crops, had fat lambs and cattle, we didn't do just one thing and this way it spreads the risk," she said.

Then when a local egg business closed it's doors in September they took over the chickens and equipment.

They now have 1000 free-range chickens, from which they sell eggs locally and to restaurants as well as grow beef cattle, which was also introduced to their production this year.

"We could ramp it up but we will keep it this way over summer ... but we do want to grow that side of the business," Mrs Mathers said.

She said the chooks were lighter on the land but complemented their pork and beef production in rotation grazing.