0:00:06 > 0:00:11In the UK each and every day, we eat more than two million chickens.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18One in three comes from a single company in Northern Ireland.
0:00:19 > 0:00:20Good afternoon, Moy Park.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24That's nearly 10,000 tonnes a week
0:00:24 > 0:00:29of fillets, nuggets, drumsticks and Kievs.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35These lines are running about 18,000 birds per hour.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38From farm to fork, it's a business worth billions.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43This line I like to see full.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46If this is full, we're making some money, so we are.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51This massive operation takes a small army of farmers,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54factory workers, technicians, and tasters.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58- The sauce is a bit thin, isn't it? - Yes.- Some more work to do but...
0:00:58 > 0:01:00- Are you happy?- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Meet the chicken people!
0:01:18 > 0:01:22All across Northern Ireland, more than 600 farmers work
0:01:22 > 0:01:26seven days a week to supply millions of chickens to Moy Park.
0:01:28 > 0:01:34Organic or free-range, broiler or breeder, these farmers are private
0:01:34 > 0:01:40contractors, separate from but very much a part of the Moy Park family.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Without our farmers, we don't have a business sense,
0:01:47 > 0:01:51so there's a very strong interdependency there.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53They walk into their chicken houses,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56they know the mood of the chicken by how they're drinking the water.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59They know the mood of the chicken by how they are eating the feed.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02So they have a real sense and an empathy with the chicken.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06And that to me is very important, that they really understand
0:02:06 > 0:02:09and get chicken, because if they're looking after the chicken,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12then the chicken will look after them and look after Moy Park.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18At the Downard family's farm,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20it's time for the chickens' weekly weigh-in.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25And Stephen has developed his own particular
0:02:25 > 0:02:27technique for rounding them up.
0:02:31 > 0:02:38Some people describe farming as a disease. And it's in my blood.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40I was born into it.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42Probably don't know anything else.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46But for Stephen, this is all something of a departure.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50He only made the move to chicken farming a couple of months ago.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54This enterprise particularly attracted us
0:02:54 > 0:02:58because of the fact that the workload could be
0:02:58 > 0:03:01fitted in around our children and our family life.
0:03:01 > 0:03:06- What do you want? A ponytail or a bun?- Ponytail.- Ponytail.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08With the arrival of baby Charlie,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Carol now has four young mouths to feed.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15And plenty to keep her busy before setting off on the school run.
0:03:18 > 0:03:19Well done, Charlie.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Right, let's go. Go, go, go. Right, come on.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Yes. Put the stuff in the boot.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Now, come on. This way, this way.
0:03:28 > 0:03:29Easy, now. Easy. Easy!
0:03:29 > 0:03:31But here's the twist.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Come 8.30, Stephen beats a hasty retreat.
0:03:35 > 0:03:41Me now - shower, washed, change of clothes, off to work, you know.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43We're off to job number two.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48As he heads off to his day job, it's Carol who dons the wellies,
0:03:48 > 0:03:52going straight from school run to chicken run.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55My husband first started talking about it, I wasn't sure,
0:03:55 > 0:03:59and thought that it was maybe just a phase and it would maybe pass.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Then I found out I was pregnant with Charlie.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05And realised that it probably would be a better life,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08that I wouldn't have to be going out to work.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Charlie was only born on 3rd April
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and our first crop of birds came in the 6th June.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16So I had nine weeks' maternity, whereas normally,
0:04:16 > 0:04:17I'd have nine months!
0:04:21 > 0:04:25Suddenly finding yourself in sole charge of 50,000 chickens is
0:04:25 > 0:04:30a pretty daunting prospect. Luckily, technology can lend a hand.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35A modern broiler house is more than just a big shed.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39It moderates and regulates every aspect of the birds' environment,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42from the electrically operated shutters that control
0:04:42 > 0:04:45the hours of daylight, to the triple filtered water supply -
0:04:45 > 0:04:48cleaner than the tap water we drink at home.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54And of course, all of this is done automatically.
0:04:54 > 0:04:55This is the control panel.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57There's one of these for each house.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00It records everything from the temperature to the humidity
0:05:00 > 0:05:04and to the body weights, to the water consumption.
0:05:04 > 0:05:05Everything.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08It would be kind of handy if I could have the family computerised,
0:05:08 > 0:05:10just like the farming is!
0:05:10 > 0:05:11It would be...
0:05:13 > 0:05:16..very handy!
0:05:16 > 0:05:20This is only the Downards' third crop of birds.
0:05:20 > 0:05:21For Carol, who gave up her
0:05:21 > 0:05:25office job to work on the farm, it's been a steep learning curve.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27We started our first crop to the start of June,
0:05:27 > 0:05:29which we found difficult enough.
0:05:31 > 0:05:36The first day, they delivered 28,250 chickens for each house.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39So we were extremely scared that we were now responsible for all
0:05:39 > 0:05:42these chicks to survive.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44We were probably in the houses a lot more than what
0:05:44 > 0:05:48we should have been, because we just had this fear that they were
0:05:48 > 0:05:51all going to be lying dead if we didn't keep checking on them!
0:05:51 > 0:05:54I always wanted to work with animals. My dream job
0:05:54 > 0:05:56would have been to work as a veterinary nurse,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59but I didn't want to do the studying.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02But I never, ever would have thought it would have been chickens,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05cos I never really particularly liked chickens, if I'm honest!
0:06:07 > 0:06:11Happily for Moy Park, though, a lot of people really do like chicken.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15The Craigavon factory produces an estimated
0:06:15 > 0:06:19120,000 packs of food every hour.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23But no new product goes into mass production
0:06:23 > 0:06:27without passing through a series of tests and trials.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33This is a big day for the new product development team.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38Today, we're doing the first run of a new design of formed
0:06:38 > 0:06:42chicken product with a sauce, so we've had a trial mould made up
0:06:42 > 0:06:46and now we're doing the first-of-line to see how it works.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56The new recipe is chicken, filled with garlic and herb sauce
0:06:56 > 0:06:58and coated in a crispy breadcrumb.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03If that sounds suspiciously like a chicken Kiev,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06the team is also testing a piri piri tomato version.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08Get them like that.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09Just a little bit longer.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11Yeah, that will fill that hole.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13The shape of the fillet is Peter's design
0:07:13 > 0:07:17and he's very protective of his creation.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Can you leave... No-one touch these, OK. Just me and Ada.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27It's little wonder that Peter is feeling the pressure.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30If this project proves as successful as a chicken Kiev,
0:07:30 > 0:07:35or a southern fried fillet, it could be worth millions to Moy Park.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38A good result is if the product works as we expected to.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40A bad result is it doesn't work at all.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44Anything in between would be good.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47The team is keen to emphasise that Peter's design is not,
0:07:47 > 0:07:49I repeat not, a Kiev.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52In fact, they are still struggling with what to call it.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55We've called it chicken melts, we've called it a filled steak.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57It's just quite difficult, really,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00to put a name on something like this that is quite new.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03I mean, we're producing on the line that we produce our Kievs,
0:08:03 > 0:08:05you know, but it's not a Kiev.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07It's just chicken filled with sauce,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10so any ideas for a name would be good.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Something exotic? Chicken Craigavon? Saucy breasts?
0:08:17 > 0:08:22In 2014, Moy Park announced that it was expanding its operation,
0:08:22 > 0:08:27adding at least 250 new poultry houses in Northern Ireland.
0:08:27 > 0:08:28How is it all going on, anyway?
0:08:28 > 0:08:30Oh, it seems to be going all right, like.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Colm Kelly is building two of them.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35And since he is a newcomer to poultry farming, Moy Park has sent
0:08:35 > 0:08:40someone along to make sure everything is going according to plan.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44I'm Stephen and I'm the Assistant Agri Projects Manager in Moy Park.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48It's a nice job. Basically, it's anything to do with
0:08:48 > 0:08:52house building, renovations, bringing in new equipment,
0:08:52 > 0:08:54just helping the farmers through that process.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58As we've already seen, today's chicken houses
0:08:58 > 0:09:01are like the seven-star hotels of the poultry world.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04But all that luxury comes at a price.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Even Colm's simpler and less expensive free-range sheds
0:09:07 > 0:09:11will set him back a cool half a million pounds.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Not exactly chicken feed for a start-up!
0:09:14 > 0:09:16- What is this?- Eh?
0:09:16 > 0:09:18It's hardly even a oak frame, is it?
0:09:18 > 0:09:20How long has he been here? Is this his first day?
0:09:20 > 0:09:22No, I wasn't...
0:09:22 > 0:09:26I've had very little experience with poultry at all and that's another reason we went with Moy Park,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29because I know they have a good advisory staff there.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33If you're making the sort of investment that's been made,
0:09:33 > 0:09:35you really need a bit of advice
0:09:35 > 0:09:38to keep you going at the start anyway, so you do.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46It's very much we work with them in partnership and we would help them
0:09:46 > 0:09:49to identify sources of funding.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52We work with them to help to get the planning permission
0:09:52 > 0:09:54through for any new houses.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Many farmers have been working with us for over ten, 15,
0:09:57 > 0:10:0020 years, so it very much is a partnership.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04We have Moy Park staff who work with our farmers to help them
0:10:04 > 0:10:08to understand how to really raise the chicken.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Chickens don't raise themselves.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16Most people would probably assume that chicken farming is
0:10:16 > 0:10:18a fairly hazard-free occupation.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24But breeding farmers like Kevin Scullion tell a very different story.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28One that reveals the chickens' little-known dark side.
0:10:32 > 0:10:33A person says to me one day,
0:10:33 > 0:10:35"You would be down at that hen house -
0:10:35 > 0:10:39"What if you took something there, or fell, or took ill?
0:10:39 > 0:10:43"What would you do? Who would know where you are?"
0:10:43 > 0:10:45Cos if you were laying in the middle of all those hens,
0:10:45 > 0:10:49God knows what could happen. They could peck at you or something.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56It's an environment there, if they got the better of you,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59I would say you'd have to worry, but it's never happened to us,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02like. But you're in their territory.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07To illustrate this vicious streak, Kevin recalls a traumatic
0:11:07 > 0:11:11episode from his son Connor's childhood.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17When Connor was about two or three, I let him watch me
0:11:17 > 0:11:22go around the hen houses but I heard this commotion going on behind me.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Connor had followed me into the henhouse
0:11:25 > 0:11:27and then the roosters attacked him.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33SCREECHING
0:11:35 > 0:11:37The roosters are the most vicious.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41There's birds that would take the ankles clean off you.
0:11:43 > 0:11:44You can feel them.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47If you're walking through the henhouse, you can feel them
0:11:47 > 0:11:49patter on the ground.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53You know there's somebody coming at you. You can feel it.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56You just turn around, and there he is, coming in mid air,
0:11:56 > 0:12:00and he's sticking his spurs in you, and the wings is flapping.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03He'll put you on your knees.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Just take it nice and slow.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10There was one day, I was walking through the henhouse
0:12:10 > 0:12:12and there's these two roosters came at me from behind.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15And you know the way when you hit someone in the back
0:12:15 > 0:12:18of their knees and take the legs of you, you'd fall to the ground.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20They put me to the ground.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23You have to get up, you have to beat them off you.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26You just have to slap them off and push them out of your route, like, you know.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Cos if you don't, they'll just walk over you.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Please note, no farmers were harmed in the making of this film.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43The reason why Kevin and his family risk life and limb every single day
0:12:43 > 0:12:46is to send these fragile eggs on their way to the hatchery.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Every single one of these six million eggs has the potential
0:12:53 > 0:12:58to become a fully grown chicken destined for the dinner table.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08To make sure that as many as possible complete the journey in one piece,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12Moy Park uses a nifty little piece of technology
0:13:12 > 0:13:15called the crackless egg.
0:13:18 > 0:13:19This is our crackless egg,
0:13:19 > 0:13:24which we use to monitor impacts through our egg collection systems.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26It's basically an egg-shaped object
0:13:26 > 0:13:28which is packed full of sensors
0:13:28 > 0:13:30and electronics.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34As I put the egg on the system and follow it through,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37we can watch it on the graph where the points of impact are.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Ian!
0:13:52 > 0:13:56The first impact registered - it's just over 12 and a half.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58Which is quite OK, acceptable.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01Anything above 30, that will cause damage to the egg.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20The slightest impact to an egg can cause a hairline crack,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22totally invisible to the naked eye.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27Hairline cracks on eggs in the hatchery, the egg will
0:14:27 > 0:14:32basically dry out as it incubates and we won't get chicks out of it.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41Before long, the patented crackless egg
0:14:41 > 0:14:44proves its worth by identifying possible trouble spots.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52OK, we've had a number of impacts.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56We have this one point here, which is just as the egg comes in there.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58- Another egg banged into it.- Yeah.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02And that could possibly create damage to the egg.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08It's very useful for identifying any places where damage has been
0:15:08 > 0:15:11caused or hairline cracks.
0:15:11 > 0:15:16We are paid by chick, not per egg, so if an egg doesn't hatch, it's worth nothing to us.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18We need chicks.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24A typical flock of breeding birds will lay about five million
0:15:24 > 0:15:26hatching eggs during its working life.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Scaled up across the entire Moy Park operation,
0:15:29 > 0:15:33that's around eight billion potential chickens a week.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41So even the tiniest improvement could make a massive difference.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43It's probably close to £1 million we can save
0:15:43 > 0:15:47if we can reduce the damage by just 1%.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51I guess the device really is all it's cracked up to be!
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Back at the Downards' house, with the chickens taken care of,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Carol turns her attention back to her own brood.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04Up to school for the first pick-up.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Ellie and Molly get out at 2.15, and Lizzie doesn't get out to 3.15.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12With the chickens, if I have to go to something in school,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15or the girls forget something, which happens quite often,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19I can leave whatever I'm doing and run and do those things
0:16:19 > 0:16:23and the chickens don't mind at all if you're half an hour late.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26I'd say Charlie wouldn't be too chuffed about it, though.
0:16:26 > 0:16:27Right, let's go.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31Aren't you going to talk to Charlie?
0:16:31 > 0:16:34CHARLIE MUMBLES
0:16:34 > 0:16:37You're full of talk now, Charlie!
0:16:37 > 0:16:38Yeah.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40Yeah, get it out of you, Charlie.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44I didn't mind working in an office, whenever I did, but now that
0:16:44 > 0:16:47I've had a change, I realise now, you know, I love the flexibility.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50I love, you know, I do actually like working with animals.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52I like the fact that there's no phones to answer,
0:16:52 > 0:16:53no customers to deal with.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57It's fairly stress-free and hassle-free, really -
0:16:57 > 0:17:00provided there's nothing wrong with the birds,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02they're the same every day, really.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11To a busy mum of four, spending a few hours with the chickens
0:17:11 > 0:17:13comes as a welcome oasis of calm.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Sometimes you do feel like your life does revolve around chickens
0:17:19 > 0:17:23and children but I enjoy the fact that I have two hours with
0:17:23 > 0:17:26no talking, no listening, just walking through birds
0:17:26 > 0:17:28and nobody looking at me to take them to the
0:17:28 > 0:17:32toilet or feed them all, you know - it sounds sad,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35but it is probably two hours of stress-free in the day.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40In fact, Carol reckons that in this male-dominated industry,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43the sisters should be doing it for themselves.
0:17:43 > 0:17:44M'hm!
0:17:44 > 0:17:48I would say women are more discouraged, because of the heavy
0:17:48 > 0:17:52work and the smell and the fact that you are in that environment.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55A lot of the people in from Moy Park would say women can actually
0:17:55 > 0:17:59do it better, because women are more attentive to cleaning up after,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02keeping the place clean and tidy and because even with working with
0:18:02 > 0:18:06children, you usually know children and animals are quite alike.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09You know, you usually know when they're sick.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12But at the start of the day, I think most people do think,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15"Wow! You work with chickens - really?"
0:18:15 > 0:18:19So I think it is probably more seen as a man's job.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21But I'll try and prove them wrong!
0:18:23 > 0:18:28Back in Craigavon, it's the moment of truth for Peter's new chicken Kiev.
0:18:28 > 0:18:29I mean...product.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34I'm no expert, but that looks a bit runny.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37- The sauce is a bit thin, isn't it? - Yeah. Could be thicker.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42It could, couldn't it? The sauce, we think it's a little bit runny but as I said, it's early days yet.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44But those are the learnings we get from trials.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Garlic and herb sauce - nul points.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52It's down to the piri piri to spice things up a bit.
0:18:52 > 0:18:53Uh-uh.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03We tasted the sauce yesterday, on its own without any chicken.
0:19:03 > 0:19:08It's better with the chicken, though I feel it lacks taste.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11- Yeah. - Yeah. Did you reduce the heat in it?
0:19:11 > 0:19:13No. It's very tomatoey.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15Do you think it is too tomatoey?
0:19:15 > 0:19:16It is, very tomatoey.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19So we're agreed, it's tomatoey, then.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23But just don't take their word for it, Peter. Have a go yourself.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26I don't like that version at all.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28- Which version is that? - 5A, the latest one.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32- Do you think the tomato... - It is quite tomatoey, yeah.- It is. I think more tomatoey...
0:19:32 > 0:19:36- I like the vinegar. I like that...- Sharpness?- Yeah, sharpness you get from it.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38There's a few tweaks we need to do, obviously,
0:19:38 > 0:19:40but it's the first time we've run the product,
0:19:40 > 0:19:42apart from handmade kitchen samples, so as a first trial,
0:19:42 > 0:19:44it's been very successful.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47- Some more work to do, but... - Are you happy?- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49- After all the effort you put in... - Yeah.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53- ..finalising our first product of the factory.- Yeah. Very happy. No, that's good.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57- And the factory love it!- I can come back. I'm safe to come back! - You can come back any time!
0:20:00 > 0:20:03The recipe for the new product was originally cooked up
0:20:03 > 0:20:06here by Moy Park's team of executive chefs.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10This week, with the Balmoral show fast approaching,
0:20:10 > 0:20:15the chefs have been asked to come up with a special menu for the occasion.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19This is obviously for the Balmoral Show, so we're doing two dishes.
0:20:19 > 0:20:24We're doing breakfast and then moving on to our lunch and this is going to form part of the lunch,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26which we're serving in a little picnic basket.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30It's promotional, it's an opportunity for us as the chefs in the business
0:20:30 > 0:20:32to sort of showcase that we have the skills to really push forward
0:20:32 > 0:20:34some innovative ideas.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37It looks like a cherry tomato
0:20:37 > 0:20:40but it tastes of pate with a blood orange jelly.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Here's some that we made earlier.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47Then you just sort of smash that down onto the pate.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50I suppose "don't eat the stalk" would be the advice.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55I'm sure that will happen tomorrow, actually. We'll get a few people spitting stalks out this year!
0:20:57 > 0:20:59For the breakfast portion of the menu,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01Martin is precooking poached eggs.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05300 of them.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Get them chilled in ice water as quickly as possible.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10Just to set the yolks, to make sure they don't overcook.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Ideally, if we were doing it in a restaurant,
0:21:13 > 0:21:15we wouldn't do this stage.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19You'd poach your egg and then serve for the numbers involved.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22At a large show, it's completely impractical.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26Martin is usually based at Moy Park's Grantham site in Lincolnshire,
0:21:26 > 0:21:29but he has been specially POACHED for the occasion.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33I get brought over for this kind of thing just because of how...
0:21:33 > 0:21:35- You're the eye candy. - I'm the eye candy, yeah.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43And with Aaron's lunchbox looking good enough to eat...
0:21:43 > 0:21:46- That be enough? - Yeah. Looks great.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48..it's time to pack up and go.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59See how fiddly these are? Imagine doing 300 of them!
0:22:23 > 0:22:28One farm in the Moy Park group is quite unlike any other.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32The chickens inside this house aren't destined for the dinner table -
0:22:32 > 0:22:35instead, they're the subject of scientific research.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41What we do here is we test a whole series of hypotheses
0:22:41 > 0:22:46around growing chicken. Oh, heavens. These things are...
0:22:46 > 0:22:48- LAUGHING:- If you swing your leg the other way...
0:22:48 > 0:22:53First crop of birds came through in November last year.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57And the purpose of the farm was for us to come up with a way
0:22:57 > 0:23:01that we could write scientific projects,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05look at different types of feed and look a different types of birds
0:23:05 > 0:23:09and growing systems, but not really be challenged with the commercial
0:23:09 > 0:23:13and the operational challenges of daily running the business.
0:23:14 > 0:23:20The 36 pens in this special facility hold nearly 20,000 birds.
0:23:20 > 0:23:21But for the current set of tests,
0:23:21 > 0:23:25they have basically been divided into two groups.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28At the moment, what we're looking at is
0:23:28 > 0:23:32the difference in components of the diet.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35So we will have half the house set up as what we would term
0:23:35 > 0:23:38a control, which is what the broader farming group would use.
0:23:38 > 0:23:44And we have half the house set up with a potentially different diet.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47- These things look incredibly good for 11 days.- Yeah.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50They all look very consistent.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53Looking for even the slightest changes in the birds' development,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57these guys have to really know their onions. Well, chickens.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59I thought they were a wee bit slow the first few days,
0:23:59 > 0:24:04- but from day four or five, they've really taken off. - They've taken off.- Yeah.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08The facility is designed to test a whole range of new ideas,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11from modifications in diet and water, improvements in the birds'
0:24:11 > 0:24:15welfare, even new breeds of the chickens themselves.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23The overall purpose of the house is to come up with the best way
0:24:23 > 0:24:26to produce chickens. It's not too dusty at all, is it?
0:24:26 > 0:24:28No, it's perfect.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30In a business with close to 40 million chickens
0:24:30 > 0:24:35on the ground at any one time, tiny changes make a massive difference.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37We look at it from a statistical point of view
0:24:37 > 0:24:41and then what we do is roll it out across our farming group.
0:24:48 > 0:24:53It is a blend of technology and science, genetics.
0:24:53 > 0:24:54It is all about the detail.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57It's all about having empathy with the chicken or the chick,
0:24:57 > 0:24:58or with the egg.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01And the more that we can understand the process that they go through
0:25:01 > 0:25:06and how we can tweak, fine-tune and measure and improve, it is
0:25:06 > 0:25:08a constant process of really improving.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18So because of the volume and scale, small changes have a big impact
0:25:18 > 0:25:21on the efficiency and effectiveness of our business.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30The house was built so that we could check out the best way to do
0:25:30 > 0:25:33things and capture all of the data to help us
0:25:33 > 0:25:37validate what's the best thing to do and what's not so good to do.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Kingsley, I notice there's a difference in water consumption
0:25:44 > 0:25:46across three and four, versus five and six.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48What do you think is causing that?
0:25:52 > 0:25:55You didn't think I knew what was going on, did you?
0:25:59 > 0:26:02Kingsley's farm might be at the cutting edge of agricultural
0:26:02 > 0:26:06technology, but his father Desmond remembers a simpler time,
0:26:06 > 0:26:11when chicken houses were called arks and predators entered at their peril.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15The time we had the arks, the farmer used to go around the arks
0:26:15 > 0:26:18every night and close the chickens in.
0:26:18 > 0:26:19The next morning, he came out
0:26:19 > 0:26:23and there was a badger that had crawled in through a hole
0:26:23 > 0:26:24in the side of the ark.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26It ate so many chickens and was so fat, it couldn't get
0:26:26 > 0:26:30back out through the ark hole again, so that was his last supper.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35- Why, what happened?- The farmer put an end to him with a .22.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37OK...
0:26:39 > 0:26:43It's graduation day at Greenmount Agricultural College.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50And among this year's crop of successful students is Carol,
0:26:50 > 0:26:52with husband Steven along to EGG her on.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59One year into her new career,
0:26:59 > 0:27:02Carol has passed her level three diploma in Poultry.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09I have been very proud, of course. She took it on, she took to it well.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13A few nervous days and nights at the start,
0:27:13 > 0:27:16but I think today is a day when we'll have a bit of fun
0:27:16 > 0:27:19and enjoy some of the hard work she put in over the last 12 months.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23Now look to the level three work-based diploma in Poultry.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29Ryan Davidson, Veronica Dickey, Carol Downard.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32APPLAUSE
0:27:36 > 0:27:39I wouldn't consider myself to be brainy at all.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42I'm the one with the common sense. No, I've never graduated before.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44This is the first time for me.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48Never thought it would have been in any form of agriculture, but...
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Sure. Life has changed dramatically for me.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54I never thought I'd make a farmer of her and Carol would be
0:27:54 > 0:27:57the one who would tell you she never thought she would be a farmer.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00You know, while she has fallen into the trap, she's making sure
0:28:00 > 0:28:02our three-year-old doesn't fall into the same one.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04Never marry a farmer!
0:28:04 > 0:28:07Next time on The Chicken People...
0:28:07 > 0:28:08We've no customers.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10I'm just going to have to close the restaurant down.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Ladies, can you not go out and drum up some trade there?
0:28:13 > 0:28:15There's meant to be some passers-by.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22It certainly is a lovely, free way of life, isn't it?
0:28:22 > 0:28:25- Don't paint it too good. - Oh, no. It's very hard.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30I better go before he kills me!